(The very first Tesla/Mercedes Benz electric A-Class, at Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto, California. (Jim Motavalli photo) PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA — I got an unexpected treat during a recent visit to Tesla Motors’ headquarters near San Francisco: They let me be the first journalist, ever, to drive the electric version of the Mercedes A-Class. Let me say up front, I was totally captivated by this car, a product of the growing collaboration between Tesla and Daimler

Here is the original post:
An exclusive first drive of a Tesla-powered electric Mercedes

On Friday, September 10, 2010 around 5pm EDT, TeleRead’s new site design should go live.

View original post here:
Redesigned site to go live Friday afternoon

APP.com : The Coraopolis, Pa.-based National Veteran-Owned Business Association believes New Jersey should join nearly a dozen other states in the union and set aside 3 percent of all funds offered through state contracts for veteran-owned businesses. And, not surprisingly, some Shore-area vets who own businesses agree

See the original post:
Vets Seek Help On State Contracts

Back in 1997, I was working on a newspaper which supported Tony Blair’s election campaign and included colleagues who went on to join Blair’s inner circle. The optimism and excitement during election night exploded as it became clear that the young moderniser of Britain’s Labour Party had won a landslide victory. These were heady days for all who believed in Blair, the charismatic young leader with a radical new voice.

View original post here:
Why Tony Blair’s Leadership Journey Failed

Don’t know anything about the Australian legal system, so I can’t comment on how much of a precedent this is. However it is an development worth watching

Read the original post:
Australian judge rules there is no copyright in headlines

 I’m chairing an absolutely amazing panel of speakers this weekend at the Mountains To Sea book festival. The discussion is about books, readers and writers in the digital age. I’m including the description below and tickets can be booked HERE Readers, Writers and the Digital Revolution Recently, Jeff Bezos reported that Amazon now sells more e-books than new hardbacks.

More:
The founder of Waterstones & publisher of “The Life of Pi” discuss the future of books

The world’s four biggest news agencies have voiced concerns to South African President Jacob Zuma that controversial new regulations for tighter media controls may hurt press freedoms.

Originally posted here:
News agencies caution Zuma over media freedoms

From the press release : Kobo, a global eReading service, today announced the Kobo Desktop Application, a free, downloadable application now available from www.kobobooks.com that enables users to read, build a digital library, and shop for eBooks directly from their computer or laptop. The new application also allows Kobo customers with 3rd party eReaders, such as the Sony Reader, to easily connect to Kobo to download or purchase content

Original post:
Kobo desktop application now available for download

Paid Content is reporting that the single issue $4.99 iPad app will be converted into Atlantic Premium which will be a daily compilation of all the magazine produces, and it will charge a monthly fee. Developed with Portland-based Urban Airship, Atlantic Premium will deliver a constant flow of content daily

Read the original here:
The Atlantic “Premium Edition” to replace the current iPad app

Here are two important posts from Boing Boing about what is going on behind the closed doors of a government in the pockets of the entertainment industry. Latest leaked draft of secret copyright treaty: US trying to cram DRM rules down the world’s throats  Michael Geist writes in with the latest news on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the secret, closed-door copyright treaty that will bring US-style copyright rules (and worse) to the whole world.

See original here:
New info from Boing Boing on the secret copyright treaty

From the Tools of Change blog comes important information for those with disabilities: For years we’ve supplied our digital files to Bookshare , a non-profit that provides accessible reading material to the print disabled. For qualifying readers, our books are made available worldwide, and we’ve really enjoyed working with Jim Fruchterman and the Bookshare team along the way (I’m also on their Advisory Board).   Although the DRM-free EPUB files in our ebook bundles are compatible with many reading systems for print disabled customers, many readers prefer the DAISY format that Bookshare provides, and either don’t qualify for access via Bookshare, or would prefer to pay for the ebooks.

See the original post:
O’Reilly ebook bundles now include DAISY talking book format

Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines, producers of the Publishing Business Conference & Expo, have announced the speaker line-up for their second-annual Publishing Business Virtual Conference, called “Digital Content Day @ Your Desk,” to be held Sept. 16

Read more from the original source:
Free virtual conference on digital content

I have spent the last years not making a living at being a writer; in particular the last 4 writing 2 novel manuscripts.  The first  went nowhere.  The second may soon follow suit. For nearly all of that time I had as my credo an outlook very similar to this one , as outlined by Douglas Glover , writer (if you read the whole post, I got involved in quite an exchange with him, one that included regular Don Merritt, too): A person writes because, through writing, he comes to know himself and the world better. A person may write for money or fame or to achieve social position by posing as a writer, but these are secondary and, to some extent, inauthentic motives that often result in inauthentic and second-rate writing

View post:
What is good writing? What is successful writing?

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 8 (HealthDay News) — Health reform will put insurance cards in the hands of tens of millions of previously uninsured Americans

Read more:
Health Care Reform: Is There a Doctor in the House?

If you want to get thousands of new readers for every article you’ll write in the future, you’re in the right place. Web publishing has become progressively competitive over the last 4-5 years. There’s more people online now then ever before, yes, but there’s also far more content available online than before.

More here:
Before You Write: Three Keys To Attracting Massive, Longterm Traffic – How to Promote Your Article, Part 1

Hi everyone! This week’s mid-week quote is from Blaise Pascal: When we see a natural style we are quite amazed and delighted, because we expected to see an author and find a man. Here are your job leads for today.  Have a productive Wednesday! New Around the Freelance Writing Jobs Network Are You Interested in Finding Editing Jobs? Do’s and Don’ts of Hot Topic Writing The Importance of the Shower That Whole “How to Write Good” Thing Freelance Writing Jobs Content Writing Jobs Ambitious Freelance Writers for Demand Studios Freelance Writers for Groupon Freelance Writers for About.com Tattoo Writer (Houston, Texas) Website Content Writer (Remote) Appliances Expert Writer Web Freelance Writers Blogging Jobs Freelance Law Blogger (Telecommute) Blogger for Upscale Gypsy (New York) Tech Bloggers for Software Review Business/Entertainment Bloggers (Manhattan) Tech Blogger Copy Writing Jobs Copywriter for Small Business Website (Lincoln Park, Chicago) Freelance Senior Interactive Copywriter (Manhattan) Proofreading/Editing Jobs Copy Editor for Bloomberg Affiliate TV (New York) Freelance Technical Editors (USA) Proofreaders (Brewster, NY) Journalism Jobs Freelance Writers and Photographers (Wilmette and Winnetka, Illinois) Part-time Reporter (San Diego) News Writers Wanted (SF Valley, LA County) Freelance Writers for Irving Weekly (Dallas, Texas) Freelance Government Reporters (New York) Freelance Multimedia Reporters (Boston) Technical Writing Jobs Technical Writer/White Paper Writer Contract Tech Writer (San Francisco) Plan/Proposal/Grant Writing Jobs Part-time Grant Writer (Redmond, Washington) Travel Writing Jobs City Experts & Writers (USA) Sports Writing Jobs Resume Writing Jobs Part-time Resume Writer (Omaha, NE) General/Misc.

See the article here:
Freelance Writing Jobs for September 8, 2010

The good news is that the cost of failure with having your own home based business is very small. Make sure your home business is one that will be in demand ten or twenty years from now. See it you know how your work from home is doing

See the rest here:
Home Based Business Opportunity Uncover The Quick And Easy Way To …

TUESDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) — Are American consumers “health literate” enough to play a leading role in their health care and coverage decisions?

Go here to read the rest:
Health Care Reform: Will It Empower or Perplex Consumers?

The News of the World scandal, back in the spotlight thanks to The New York Times Magazine, continues to grow. The Guardian reports that former Home Secretary Alan Johnson is now all but accusing Scotland Yard of lying to him about the extent of the News Corp. paper’s spying.

Read more from the original source:
Audit Notes: News Corp. Scandal, HSBC Hire, Dodd-Frank Repo

Physicist Sean Carroll, one of the people behind Cosmic Variance here at DISCOVER blogs, tweeted yesterday: “I think Stephen Hawking could say ‘ice cream is delicious’ and get massive media coverage.” He’s probably right. Last month the renowned physicists made the news by warning of the great threat of human extinction over the next couple centuries, but kindly softened the blow by saying that we’ll be fine if we can get through our growing pains and get off this planet. Back in April, the …

Go here to read the rest:
Hawking Says God Not Needed to Kick-Start Big Bang; World Freaks Out | 80beats