modeling

Steve Jurvetson says electric vehicles are undoubtedly the cars of the future. Not too surprising, given that his VC firm, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, was an early investor in electric vehicle company Tesla Motors. But to really get an idea of how passionate he is about EVs, you have to hear the story about how he wound up getting the keys to the new Model S -- beating out even Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Musk had been dodging Jurvetson's numerous requests to put down a deposit on the car, saying that reservations for the vehicle couldn't be taken until … Read more

FREMONT, Calif.--Lined up before me were 10 examples of the Model S, newly off the production line, the result of years of investment and development. This silent herd awaited a group of journalists eager to finally get their hands on the wheel and foot on the accelerator. We were here to see if Tesla had fulfilled its promise of building an electric car that could compete with those from likes of Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.

Certainly from the exterior, the car looked desirable. Although it's billed as a sedan, a hatch sat between the Model S' big rear … Read more

You may not be one of the lucky ones picking up keys to a Tesla Model S this week, but at least you can watch how each of the electric sedans gets made.

Tesla uploaded to YouTube a "behind-the-scenes" video of the Model S assembly process in advance of the vehicle's delivery start date. The 2-minute video shows the electric sedan being built by uniformed plant workers at the company's Fremont, Calif., manufacturing facility.

Customer deliveries of the electric vehicle will begin on Friday, as will customer test-drives. So far, two are in the hands of … Read more

The dating Web site eHarmony got hit by the same group that released a list of LinkedIn member passwords yesterday, so be sure to change your passwords for both if you have accounts.

Buzzfeed also parsed through the list of leaked passwords to reveal some pretty depressing sentiments from employees. While many accounts used overly simplistic passwords like "LinkedIn" or "password1," some of the more disturbing pass phrases include things like "suicide," "solonely," "iwishiwasdead," and "divorce." They're still not very strong in terms of security, so be sure to add a special character or a number during the bleak changeover.… Read more

Tivoli Audio's PAL radio has been out for several years and while it's pretty pricey, it remains one our favorite portable speakers.

Over time Tivoli has done little to change the PAL except to offer it in more colors and stick an "i" in front of its name for a white model that includes a cable to hook up your iPod. But now the company has finally added a wireless Bluetooth option to the PAL and its tabletop radio cousin, the Model One. Keeping things simple, the products are called the PAL BT ($299.99) and … Read more

Suspected of collusion with intent to drive up e-book prices, Apple and some of its major publication partners are now negotiating to settle a suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Negotiations continue, but sources close to the talks tell Reuters that Apple and its partners are looking to avoid a long litigation process by bending on some of the wording used in contracts with publishers and retailers.

The "most favored nation" clause, as it has come to be known, states that the price of an electronic book published using Apple's iBookstore cannot be higher … Read more

A law passed late Monday in Israel is not only banning underweight models from appearing in local advertising, it's also requiring publications to disclose when models -- male or female -- have been digitally edited to appear thinner than they are.

"We want to break the illusion that the model we see is real," Liad Gil-Har, the assistant to the law sponsor, told the Associated Press.

Supporters of the law, which appears to be the first of its kind anywhere, say they hope it will help reduce the rate of eating disorders, which in many developed countries (… Read more

Tesla Motors today detailed measures to prevent a full discharge of the batteries in its forthcoming Model S, saying drivers of the electric sedan would have to be particularly negligent to cause a costly battery replacement.

The company published a response to a blog earlier this week that recounted the problem of "bricked" Tesla Roadster batteries. The blog claimed that five owners of the Roadster electric sports car allowed their batteries to be completely discharged, rendering them inoperable.

Tesla on Wednesday did not deny the stories of Roadster battery problems but noted that Roadsters can remain unplugged for several weeks … Read more

With just 2 percent of the Smithsonian's archive of 137 million items available to the public at any one time, an effort is under way at the world's largest museum and research institution to adopt 3D tools to expand its reach around the country.

CNET has learned that the Smithsonian has a new initiative to create a series of 3D-printed models, exhibits, and scientific replicas--as well as to generate a new digital archive of 3D models of many of the physical objects in its collection.

Representative of that effort, the museum is touting the 3D printed replica of … Read more