A newsletter is long overdue, and I must confess that I keep putting it off. I'll definitely find the time to write one very soon!
You can extend the serial port (within reason), and as far as insulation goes, just make sure that none of the pins can short to ground.
I got a bit bored with the "Uses for the serial port" section and so wound it up shortly after taking over the newsletter from Hugo. That kind of content will have a home on the forthcoming empeg Geek Site (which is starting to look better than our main site!).
I think the empeg developer community will take off in a big way over the next couple of months. Watch this space!
Rob
PS "Link" is the Ethernet link light - a trendy blue one.