Newport Computers : North Carolina Facility’s R2 / RIOS certification.

If you’re looking for a quintessential New England town that exudes all the history, culture, art, and architecture that New England well is known for, then Portsmouth, New Hampshire is just what you’re looking for.

Portsmouth is a popular stop for visitors touring the seacoast, being less than 1 hour north of Boston, less than 1 hour south of Portland, Maine and located along the highways of Route 95 and Route 1. Not to mention being picturesquely perched alongside the swift-flowing Piscataqua River on its route to the nearby ocean only ½ a mile away. For many, its a few days of an enjoyable waylay while on a driving trip through coastal New England or with its many moorings and yacht clubs, a boaters haven.

With its near 400 years of European history, Portsmouth is one of the oldest cities in the United States, being settled in 1623. Pristine examples of every era of architecture can be found in town. Don’t miss visiting the museums around town of which there are many. From oldest surviving wood-framed house in New Hampshire, built in 1664, the many Federal-style mansions around town now maintained by Historic New England, and the over 30 historic homes from many different eras that can be toured at the Strawberry Banke Museum. Neighborhoods solely comprised of only early colonial homes can still be found, packed in side by side tightly on windy and narrow roads.

The downtown area was obliterated by fire not once, but 3 times. After which they reconstructed in a less flammable material of brick and stone. The Portsmouth Athenaeum, located in Market Square is a gorgeous example of the rise from the ashes, and was constructed in 1817, only 4 years after the last great fire. Its Federal-era style of brick and white elaborate ornamentation is rarely seen.

Portsmouth’s early elite built grand, opulent mansions all over town. The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion was built in 1750 for then England’s Royal Governor Benning Wentworth. New Hampshire’s first Governor, John Langdon (also signer of the US Constitution) built his masterful residence that is also now a museum located on Pleasant St.

The town was once on par with Boston as one of the major merchant seaports in this hemisphere. Portsmouth’s harbor was once filled with sailing vessels from all over the world. Boaters from all over the world still fill the harbor. To celebrate Portsmouth’s heritage, Tall Ships still visit this area a couple times a year and are welcomed with grand entrance parades.

But to truly enjoy Portsmouth and the seacoast area, you should tour it from the waterside. Boaters here enjoy spectacular views all along the coast of Kittery Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Two historic lighthouses stand sentry at the mouth of the river still in use to light the way for coming and going ships. If you don’t have your own boat don’t worry, day trips are available on several vessels including those from Portsmouth Harbor Cruises, Isles of Shoals Steamship Company and Tug Alley Too.

The brick row houses downtown that now hold restaurants, art galleries and boutique shops were once storehouses and shops from this merchant-shipping era that sold goods from China, India and other exotic places. These and other antique buildings around town make interesting settings for the unique shopping and dining experiences that Portsmouth now holds in store.

One of the more unique and antique venues is that of the Blue Mermaid Island Grille. Located in the old Nutter-Rhymes House built in 1810 in the cluster of antique structures now known as The Hill (in between Deer and Hanover Streets), this Caribbean-inspired restaurant serves its fare in a building built in 1810 and features a rarely seen carriage-way through the middle of the building.

But if this type of food doesn’t inspire your stomach, don’t worry, there’s plenty in this town that will. The town is abound with restaurants of every type, from take-out, casual and the finest dining. You can even buy a traditional lobster roll right from carts on the street. If you prefer water views with your dining or outdoor seating, don’t miss a tour of Bow Street, Ceres Street and the waterfront area known as “The Decks.”

The riverside of Portsmouth holds not only history, beautiful scenery, sumptuous drinks and dining but also the festive and event-filled Prescott Park and Gardens on Marcy Street. Here you can find events from April to October in food festivals, musicals, plays, and concert productions. You can find beauty in the gardens as long as they’re in bloom.

The shopping here is fantastic. Most are unique boutiques only found in town or in New England. Some, in the old tradition, import goods from around the world (Fa la Lo, Celtic Crossing, Par’s Oriental Rugs, Worldly Goods). Admittedly the apparel shopping here is more favorable towards women (Serendipity, Ganesh, Second Time Around), but there are some men-shopping opportunities, particularly at the Manporium which is focuses on selling items with guys in mind. But there are plenty of opportunities for those who love art, antiques, gourmet items, artisan crafts and all things New England.

Portsmouth is truly a pleasant place to visit any time of year to have a true New England experience.

Jenn Marcelais is a photographer, resident of Portsmouth and owner of Soul Oyster Web Studios, http://www.souloyster.com providing web design, graphic design, SEO search engine optimization and Internet marketing services. She also documents early New England gravestones and history at A Very Grave Matter, http://www.gravematter.com. You can see more of her photographs at Seacoast Photographs http://www.seacoastphotographs, http://www.flickr.com/photos/souloyster, and purchase prints at http://souloyster.imagekind.com.

This article was also featured as a guest post on New England Blogger.

ROCHESTER — With many millions of computers and other electronic goods being manufactured worldwide every year, the north Rochester firm Newport Computer Systems is part of a team that is developing an analytical tool to help companies address the adverse impact on the planet associated with the manufacturing process.

Last year, NCS was one of the first three companies, worldwide, to receive the prestigious Basel Action Network e-Steward certification for the responsible reuse and recycling of electronic materials.

Now, NCS, as part of LCAnalytics, is helping to develop a model to measure accurately the environmental impact of computers and their components. The working name for the project is LCAT, or Life Cycle Analytic Tool, and it audits not just the manufacturing process of the various electronic parts, but the impact of their transportation, years of use and final disposal — hence life cycle. International global warming accounting standards, including the ISO 14000 series, are being adhered to throughout the process.

Read full article at http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20110822%2FGJBUSINESS_01%2F708229999%2F-1%2FFOSBUSINESS

Cool Tools on the Web: Trunk.ly pulls in all the links you have submitted across all your Social Media accounts for Twitter, Delicious, Facebook, and RSS blog feeds, and it allows for multiple accounts. It’s a very cool tool to aggregate all the links you’ve submitted across the Web pulled into one place. It also lets you Follow others, see their links, and be followed. There’s also a neat little counter that tells you how many times others have linked to that site as well.

I love the fact that it shows the actual photos I’ve submitted from my Flickr account rather than just the link, making it quick for me to determine which ones I’ve broadcast through Twitter and which ones I haven’t.

I’m just testing it out, but I’m willing to bet there’s some SEO value here as well.

http://trunk.ly/souloyster/