BITS Limited had a fantastic year. And this summer was one of our busiest. We did some creative, exciting, exhausting things... too much to list. So we've listed some of them. Without further ado, the "Top 10 BITS Summer Activities":

#10: THE SMART STRIP TURNS SEVEN

We sold our first Smart Strips in 2002, and the vast majority of them are still working. We're kind of proud of that.

They're expected to have a useful life of 10 years, though the newer models will last even longer than that.

#9: A BRAND NEW WEBSITE

It's completely redone. We're not stopping here.

A tiny online shop that only a handful of people knew about has grown into a website that gets tens of thousands of visitors. Like you. Thank you so much! Come say hello on our Smart Forums.

#8 FORUMS, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, OH MY!

We're a good crew of people. We're here for you, wherever you are. Talk to us. We want to build a community where our customers, merchants and fellow Green enthusiasts can find help and support from us and from each other.

We like Twitter. :) We don't use Facebook much yet, but some of our customers and merchants definitely do, so we've opened a bare bones profile and we're dipping our toe in. (Want to help? Become a Smart Strip fan!)

#7: A NEW, TRIPLE-SIZED FACILITY!

Selling everything we make and running out of stock is a nice problem to have. But we want your business. What to do?

Get lucky.

The warehouse next door, almost three times as large, was made available to us. More space means more stock, and more stock means we don't run out; so naturally we jumped at the chance. A lot of hard work later, our new address is official, and waiting lists have decreased drastically despite almost doubling our sales.

#6: THREE TIMES THE OFFICE SPACE

At our old warehouse, the office was a one-room air conditioned space that we'd built inside. The new place has a pre-existing offfice space that's far larger; it even has a front door.

Our workload has increased along with the space, so we're not resting on our laurels.

Being the handy types, we promptly added a second floor of office space. The paint is drying as this is written.

#5: BIGGER STAFF

We've added three new associates on our staff: Don Forrester (who technically isn't new, but was working on a contractual basis) has been hired full-time to manage online efforts, branding and PR; Bryan Johnson as our sales interface and communications manager; and Pete Lauster as a microelectronics expert.

#4: OUR REFURBISHED PRODUCTS PROGRAM

We've always done this to recover costs, but recently we made it an official policy: we attempt to repair and resell all the Smart Strips that are returned to us AT COST.

We know that our Smart Strip if discarded haphazardly in a landfill represents an ecologic threat from poly-vinyls, lead, and other byproducts of electronic components. We won't let that happen if we can help it! SEND US YOUR OLD POWER STRIP. We'll pay for the shipping, fix it up, and sell it. We do not profit from this; in fact, it costs us a little bit of money every time, if you factor in operational costs.

#3: THE SUSTAINABILITY MODEL

Our void-fill has the lowest waste footprint possible. Front to back, our primary concern is in creating a product and doing business under a model that really does benefit our consumers and our planet.

We have a lot to say about that. So if you want.... read about the BITS commitment to sustainability here.

#2: WE WON STUFF!

In April we won the first prize at Retail Vision for “Best Product: Accessory.” If you're not a retailer, you're still affected by this event: Retail Vision has attendees representing 6 billion dollars worth of the retail market, and it's a peer review reward. It was not expected for us to win, but after all the votes from other manufacturers and retailers were tallied up... we did. And that is a Big Deal for us.

And finally...

#1: THIRD GENERATION SMART STRIPS!

We made it safer, faster, more reliable and more sensitive. The new Smart Strips are better in every category, and you should buy one. The older versions are still quite worthy; they have the same warrantee the new ones do, after all. Most consumers should really notice no difference, since the changes are all very subtle. But we do have to say one thing. These new Smart Strips operate in standby at an unprecedented .36 kw/h!!!

Proofed and edited by Don Forrester