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Selectric

Tesla offers loaner cars, valet service

Tesla announced today that it would offer its high-end Model S Performance edition, with an 85 kilowatt-hour battery pack, and the Roadster as loaner cars for when owners' cars are being serviced. As Tesla sells cars directly to owners, the company, rather than a dealer, handles all service and loaner-car issues.

No matter what Model S version is in for service, owners will have their choice of the Model S Performance edition, which retails for $87,400, or one of the older Roadster models as a loaner car. Further, Tesla said it will let owners who would like to upgrade … Read more

IBM celebrates 50 years with the Selectric typewriter

Later this month, IBM will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Selectric typewriter.

Released on July 31, 1961, the Selectric was unarguably a game-changer in the typewriter space. The device--which took seven years to develop, due mainly to its 2,800 parts--featured a "golf ball" head that moved across the page as users typed. Thanks to that head, the typewriter was the first of its kind to eliminate carriage return, IBM said.

The Selectric has also been tapped as an inspirational predecessor to today's word-processing programs. Users could add different golf balls to the device, allowing them … Read more

The hottest new Webware apps, according to MTV

With a freshly signed check for $30,000, some student Web developers won't have to eat instant ramen, that venerated mainstay of U.S. student diets, ever again.

Each year, five groups win grants from Digital Incubator, a contest co-sponsored by mtvU (MTV University) and Cisco to reward up-and-coming, college-age Web application developers. One project, cryptically called The Osiris Project, links MP3s to Flickr's photo library to create on-the-fly music videos tailored to a given song. Intrigued? So were we. Pull over for more about The Osiris Project and the other winners--including a rap studio and social networking espionage game.… Read more