Bart Z. Lederman wrote:
In article .com, "ve3..." writes:
I was at our local Pro Hardware store the other day and espied a new
item: an LED flashlight. Now that the hoots and jeers have subsided,
this was an entirely new device with the potential to destroy the
western world as we know it. This innocent-looking device used a new
method to generate the electricity to run the powerful LED . A strong
round magnet runs up and down a cylinder as the flashlight is shaken.

If anyone is looking for one of these, check carefully. There are reliable
reports that some of them in fact contain a battery that does all of the
work, and the 'magnet' that moves back and forth actually does nothing.
Once the battery runs down, the flashlight is dead. (And the battery
isn't normally replaceable.)

As far as the magnet ruining your credit cards, it's very unlikely.
You'd need to actually run the magenet in touch with the stripe to
likely do any damage. (Check the Mythbuster's web site for the results
of actual tests.)

.................................................. .................................................. ......................
As a matter of fact, I was rather surprised that the flashlight was
fully charged when I picked it up, but I thought that the few shakes I
gave it had charged it. This is in contrast to the furious cranking
that my other devices need. If it is a fake, they sure went to a lot of
trouble to make it look good. Time will tell.

In article . com,
"ve3..." wrote:

Bart Z. Lederman wrote:
In article .com,
"ve3..." writes:
I was at our local Pro Hardware store the other day and espied a new
item: an LED flashlight. Now that the hoots and jeers have subsided,
this was an entirely new device with the potential to destroy the
western world as we know it. This innocent-looking device used a new
method to generate the electricity to run the powerful LED . A strong
round magnet runs up and down a cylinder as the flashlight is shaken.

If anyone is looking for one of these, check carefully. There are reliable
reports that some of them in fact contain a battery that does all of the
work, and the 'magnet' that moves back and forth actually does nothing.
Once the battery runs down, the flashlight is dead. (And the battery
isn't normally replaceable.)

As far as the magnet ruining your credit cards, it's very unlikely.
You'd need to actually run the magenet in touch with the stripe to
likely do any damage. (Check the Mythbuster's web site for the results
of actual tests.)

.................................................. ............................
...........................................
As a matter of fact, I was rather surprised that the flashlight was
fully charged when I picked it up, but I thought that the few shakes I
gave it had charged it. This is in contrast to the furious cranking
that my other devices need. If it is a fake, they sure went to a lot of
trouble to make it look good. Time will tell.

In the mean time, please take that dog out!


Greg