Unveiled was the Kindle Touch ($99), an updated non-touch Kindle ($79), a new Kindle 3G ($149). And the product that many expected the Amazon Fire ($199).

The Fire ships Nov. 15, but it will probably be best if you want one to put your pre-order in as soon as possible.

The Fire is a 7-inch dual-core Wi-Fi tablet although it doesn’t have a camera or 3G. The specs says it will come with 6GB of internal storage.

The Fire also features Amazon Silk, a new browser that can render pages either locally on the device or on Amazon’s cloud, which Bezos says will lead to faster performance.

Perhaps most importantly, however, the Kindle Fire features deep integration with all of Amazon’s content services (apps, movies, music, cloud storage, eBookes, magazines, billing system).

“The question is: Why is Kindle working? Why is this working? I believe it’s because Kindle is an end-to-end service,” Bezos said, according to a live blog of today’s event posted on Engadget.com. “And I believe it is because we have been inventing and improving that service at a rapid pace for the last four years.”

The bill makes this a secondary offense which means that one can only be given a ticket if they are observed committing another offense, such as reckless, speeding, etc. Punishment is a $40 fine for a first offense and $100 for subsequent violations. No points are levied against the motorist’s driving record for a first offense unless it contributes to an accident.

Last year Maryland passed a ban on texting while driving, which is a primary offense.

At this writing there are seven states (Maryland, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington) as well as Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands which has in placed bans. Other than Maryland all of these have it as a primary offense.

A list of all Cellphone and Texting Laws can be found at www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

You may be asking, What’s WordPress?
WordPress is one of the most used blogging software. Many Web developers have even moved to using WordPress to create Web sites. And for SMBs, it does create a very nice looking and easy to update site. It is billed as a full featured content management system with thousands of plugins, widgets, and themes.

It is the engine that is used for this site. And we have performed the upgrade. I can report that it went flawlessly.

From the WordPress site:
“The coolest new stuff from a user point of view is:

1. Global undo/”trash” feature, which means that if you accidentally delete a post or comment you can bring it back from the grave (i.e., the Trash). This also eliminates those annoying “are you sure” messages we used to have on every delete.
2. Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images to show them who’s boss. This is the first wave of our many planned media-handling improvements.
3. Batch plugin update and compatibility checking, which means you can update 10 plugins at once, versus having to do multiple clicks for each one, and we’re using the new compatibility data from the plugins directory to give you a better idea of whether your plugins are compatible with new releases of WordPress. This should take the fear and hassle out of upgrading.
4. Easier video embeds that allow you to just paste a URL on its own line and have it magically turn it into the proper embed code, with Oembed support for YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv (and more in the next release).”

WordPress is free and can be downloaded at WordPress.org.

There are 19 models in the Vaio TZ series affected by the recall. The voluntary recall covers 73,000 VAIO TZ notebooks that were sold in the United States and built both here and in Japan. It covers notebooks in Sony VAIOs VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VG-TZ2000 series.

The Tokyo-based consumer electronics company says a faulty wiring connecting the main body of the laptop and its display could cause overheating near a power plug or the rim of the screen.

Users are advised to go to the recall Website and input the product code and serial number located on the bottom of the notebook to determine if their VAIO notebooks are affected. That information will be checked against the range of affected units. Users who find that their notebook is affected are then advised to follow instructions on the site and make arrangements for an inspection. Users can also call the VAIO TZ customer hotline at 1-888-526-6219 to determine if their notebook is affected.

Sony said the inspection and on-site — home or office — repair is free. Affected laptops can also be shipped to a VAIO service center.

The affected VAIO notebooks were sold through SonyStyle stores and its Website. They were also sold through electronics retailers and authorized resellers. The affected models were sold between July 2007 and August 2008 for between $1,700 and $4,000.

Note:
Updated at 11:40 am 9/5/08 to clarify that 73,000 laptops were sold in the US and added information on repair procedure.