The White Zombie is a 1972 Datsun with an electric motor that leaves gas guzzlers for dead over 1/4 mile drag races. In this video it breaks its own records a number of times finally coming in with a time of less than 11.5 seconds over the quarter mile.
The secret? The torque provided from electrric motors is able to reach 100% of capacity immediately. This provides incredible acceleration that the petrol cars cannot match.
If you want an electric car of your own have a chat to the lads at earthling EV. They've done the research and can help you build the car of your dreams.
This morning while doing a quick check of my spam folder I came across a scam e-mail from someone pretending to be New Zealand's Inland Revenue Department. They were telling me that I was owed a refund of over $1000 and all I had to do was click on a link and fill in a form.
The most terrifying thing about this scam is its potential to catch people out through its use of a legitimate looking link.
While the link appears to take you to www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax-individual/ (a legitimate website operated by the actual ird) the link itself will take you somewhere else entirely if you choose to click on it. In fact if you hover over it and inspect where it's going to send you it tells you the link will send you to
http://www.ingelam.cl/ingelam.php
This is a Chilean domain, not a New Zealand domain.
I have not visited it myself and would strongly advise you against visiting it yourself.
In the least dangerous scenario it will look like the official IRD site and ask you to submit personal details that will be used to steal your money or identity.
However it is also entirely possible that it will steal data more surreptitiously as well/instead through infecting your computer with malware that could track personal and financial details and send them to the scammer.
Reasons to believe it is a scam:
- It sends you to a site that differs from the one it says it is sending you to
- The IRD does not usually communicate via e-mail
- The IRD does not usually inform you that you are due a refund (although you can ask them to check to see if you are due for a refund for free by calling them)
- Our Tax year ends on March 31st, this e-mail was received in December
- The refund is specified in NZ dollars, I've never received anything from the IRD that has specified an amount in this fashion
- The e-mail is addressed to undisclosed recipients (meaning it was sent to a lot of people)
- There is no mention of a name or IRD number, these would be required in order to make a refund calculation
The E-mail Itself:
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you
are eligible to receive a tax refund of 1,478.20 NZ Dollars. Please submit the tax refund
request and allow us 2-3 days in order to process it.
Click link below to submit your tax refund request.
www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax-individual/
Note : A refund can be delayed a variety of reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline.
Guidelines:
Appropriate dress - usually formal. If it's not formal have a good reason such as 'we wear these clothes to demonstrate that we will be there on the ground getting the work done.'
Visual Impact
Unintended Consequences:
raises expectations
Getting the wrong idea across
Practice Makes Perfect
Know your presentation
Know how your product works and practice your demonstration
Know your numbers
Know it all inside out and back to front. This will tie back to the first point, it will be part of making your first impression
Keep Your Nerve
Practice will help with this and, again, it will feed into helping you make a great first impression.
Avoid Arrogance
Don't confuse confidence with arrogance.
Don't try to replace knowledge with false bravado.
Be Passionate
This should come across in your attitude, your presentation, and your personal financial and time investment in the business. If you're not passionate about it, if you wouldn't invest in it, why should anyone else?
Get Real
While Passion is good don't lose touch with reality. Passion alone will not sell a product. It must also be marketable, provide a point of difference, and be profitable.
Be Honest
This is similar to getting real, in fact getting real is a subcomponent of this point. Answer everything and answer it honestly. Don't inflate numbers to make things look better than they are. This will have the opposite effect. In fact it is best to take this a step further. Don't just be honest about your business proposition, be honest about yourself. Let the real you shine through.
What is a VC looking for?
The single most important thing is YOU
Most pitches are 15-30 minutes if you're lucky.
In Reality you have far less time than this to make your first impression
What then do you need to convey?
- Integrity
- Passion
- Experience
- Knowledge (domain expertise, know your market and your area)
- Skills (in you and/or in your team)
- Leadership (especially when leading a team)
- Commitment
- Vision
- Realism
- Coachability (You must be prepared to listen and learn)
How deliver these and other messages?
All pitches are emotional.
At the start you have about 10 seconds to get people's attention.
Make sure you grab their emotional attention and keep the emotions positive.
Make things better, and better, and better until you reach your knockout punch at the end.
Things that will help your pitch:
- Logical Progression (don't skip steps)
- Link to things your audience will understand
- Validate your idea (sales, success, evidence that the world wants your product)
- Show a believable upside
Things that hurt
- Things that are untrue
- Things your audience doesn't understand
- Things that make the audience think for you
- Inconsistencies
- Basic errors including typos etc.
Presentation tips
- Keep the focus on YOU during a presentation. That is what they are interested in afterall
- Avoid bullet points, aim only for images
Include:
Company Logo
Business Overview
Management Team (highlight relevant experience and skills)
Market
Product
Business Model (how do you make money?)
Strategic relationships (helps with validation)
Competition and how you're different (all companies and products have competition, even if it's only the old way of doing things)
Barriers to Entry
Financial Overview
Use of Proceeds
Capital and Valuation (how much do you want?)
In the video above there will be a phrase that will catch your attention:
Find the Pepsis
At first this is unlikely to make sense, afterall surely there is only one Pepsi, right? Wrong is actually the correct answer.
Instead of looking for the single best combination of ingredients to satisfy everyone you should look for the combination of ingredients that satisfies each group.
With the right data this could be achieved through Factor Analysis.
This review of Freakonomics may look a little different to other book reviews you may have seen. This may be related to the fact that Freakonomics is likely to be different to others books you have read but is most likely due to the fact that most of this review is a video. Why review a book with a video? The answer is simple - the video is the book. Rather the video is one of the authors of the book presenting information outlined in the book in a similar style to the way the book is written. As such if you enjoy this presentation, in terms of information and style, chances are you will also enjoy reading Freakonomics.
The above post on PhotoRumors suggests that Olympus are aiming to tackle the challenge of creating 3D images through the use of an additional camera that mounts onto a standard camera via the hot shoe. A second camera will provide a second viewpoint (like a left eye and a right eye). Assuming it will mount a simpler camera to a dSLR (as suggested in the pictures in the patent application) this would suggest that you don't need high quality information in both visual channels. In many ways this makes sense. The brain is very good at working with impoverished information. Exciting if it works.
