Monday 17 August 2015

Event: My ASIALEX Talk & One-ish Months Before PhD Confirmation



Photo by Dr.Vincent Ooi

My apologies for writing a little too much of Tesla and EV-related posts these days, but being my most concerned topic recently apart from writing my PhD confirmation report (which is boring to talk about), I just cannot resist the temptation.

On the 25-27 June, ASIALEX 2015 held at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, I presented the same research as I did at CAES Faces of English at the Hong Kong University, but unlike the last time when there were only less than 10 people attended (including 2 seminar helpers), this time I almost get a full house! Let's just say there were at least 25. I'll say most of the audience actually knew that House M.D. is a TV drama, and a number of them are even fans of Dr. House. What's more, they know corpus linguistics way better than audience at CAES. Still, I took precautions and played the videos first.


The next video is the best there is out there but since embedding is disabled, please click on the link below to watch it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLxsNTC5KGk

Photo by Dr.Vincent Ooi
I consider my talk was a success, in a way that my audience looked to have enjoyed it, there were a number of questions asked from the floor, and most importantly, I have got to know some fabulous people in those 3 days, including Dr. Vincent Ooi from The National University of Singapore who took these two great photos of me. It is very good when I didn't have to take photos of myself to prove my presence. 

And yes, this time round I got to be on the official photos! In fact, I am the person who managed to appear the most in the photo album, a total of 7 times!!!! Here they are below:

Where's Locky?
Image from ASIALEX
Okay, here's a larger one of me
Image from ASIALEX
That's my back
Image from ASIALEX

Larger head by cropped out
Image from ASIALEX
Full head but blurred
Image from ASIALEX

Can you tell this is me?
Image from ASIALEX
Finally a clear, recognisable photo of me my back
Image from ASIALEX
In summary, the back of my head must be really good-looking, much more good-looking than my face. Oh~~~ boy!

Well, at least I got this to cheer about


I'm very glad to know that my paper has been included in the conference proceedings!!! My first formal publication apart from those on my blog @ ASIALEX 2015 #ASIALEX #ASIALEX2015
Posted by Locky's English Playground on Wednesday, 24 June 2015

Resources:

Message: Three Months Before PhD Confirmation & My CAES Talk @Locky's English Playground

All 3 House M.D openers/themes/intros (American, Singaporean and European) +YouTube 

House MD - The Funny Moments Compilation +YouTube 

ASIALEX 2015 Photo Album

Tuesday 11 August 2015

Auto & Message: Tesla's Owner Referral Program Saves You HK$10,000 And More!!!


Modified from Official Tesla's website screen capture


While some analysts are saying that Tesla is burning cash and that it is losing US$4,000 on every Model S sold, Tesla certainly don't think so. Evidence shows that Elon Musk wants to sell even more Model S! And that's why he sent out this email about Tesla's Referral Program to all existing Tesla Model S owners, including myself:

Subject: Trying something new (plus party at the Gigafactory and a Founder Series Model X)
Word of mouth has always been a major part of how Tesla sales have grown. When I meet Tesla owners, one of the first things they often tell me is how they have convinced many others to buy the car.
As you may already know, Tesla does not advertise or pay for endorsements or product placement. Maybe by doing so we could sell more cars, but I don’t like the idea of trying to trick people into buying a product by false association. If you see somebody famous driving a Model S, it is because they genuinely like the car. If you see it in a movie or TV show, it is because the people associated with that production genuinely like the car.  
Besides word of mouth, another way that our cars are sold is through stores. These will always be important to allow people to check out new models and ask our product specialists detailed questions. However, stores are quite expensive to set up and operate. In reviewing the Tesla cost of sales, we found that it is approximately $2,000 to sell a car through our stores, higher in some regions and lower in others.
Both ways of reaching potential customers are important, but, if we can amplify word of mouth, then we don’t need to open as many new stores in the future. So, we are going to try an experiment. This is similar to the customer growth program that I worked on at PayPal/X.com back in ’99. What worked for PayPal may not work for Tesla, but it is worth trying, as the net result would be lowering our costs by $2,000, allowing us to give that money to our customers.
From now through October 31st, if someone buys a new Model S through your link (XX include link XX), they will get $1,000 off the purchase price and you will get a $1,000 credit in your Tesla account, which can be applied to a future car purchase, service charge or accessories. To put some limits on the experiment, each Tesla owner can grant a maximum of ten $1,000 discounts.
Just for fun, there will also be some things that money can't buy. If five of your friends order a Model S, you and a guest will receive an invitation to tour the Gigafactory in Nevada – the world’s biggest factory by footprint – and attend the grand opening party. This will be awesome. At ten orders, you get the right to purchase a Founder Series Model X, which is not available to the public, with all options free (value of about $25,000). The first person to reach ten will get the entire car for free.

It didn't take long before Bjorn Nyland, Norway or perhaps the world’s most influential Tesla owner, won the first Model X for Europe from Elon. With all his cool Tesla Model S videos he has made over the years, everyone on this planet will agree that he truly deserves it! The competition is still on for North America and the Asia-Pacific though.

My car door's dent, since 1st Jan 2015, after challenging Lake Silver car park
Image from Locky's English Playground
As for me, I am not a greedy person, I do not want to own a Model X as I really cannot afford to rent another parking space to put it, but I do need to get some referral bonus to fix my car door's dent (since 1st Jan 2015, after challenging Lake Silver car park), and the best way to fix it is to have door replacement (this is what the renowned Dent Doctor at Kwan Tong recommends that I do), which costs HK$16,000.

Image from Locky's English Playground
To achieve this goal, I will need two referrals! Of course, no one can guarantee what will happen to anyone's car in the future, so the more referrals the safer. Then again, the bonus must be spent before 31 December 2016, so if there is any bonus money left, and I hope that will mean no further damage to my car, I will turn them into accessories then give them out as donations to charities in Hong Kong (choices of charity organisation are to be decided).

Tesla Online Shop
Image from Tesla Motors 

So please support me by sharing my referral code, here at http://ts.la/lokhei21 or share the image at the top of this page. Do take note that the referral code can only be used to purchase Model S in Hong Kong! So if you are from overseas, thank you for your support, you will need to find another referral code from your country. Still, you can share my code to your friends in Hong Kong!



Resources:
Locky's Tesla Model S referral code +Tesla Motors
http://ts.la/lokhei21

Tesla burning cash @CNBC Video
http://finance.yahoo.com/video/tesla-burning-cash-202500778.html

Tesla Said to Be Losing Over $4,000 on Every Model S Sedan Sold @The Street
http://www.thestreet.com/story/13250661/1/tesla-said-to-be-losing-over-4000-on-every-model-s-sedan-sold.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Elon Musk says Tesla will pay you $1,000 to get someone else to buy a Tesla +Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-tesla-will-pay-you-to-get-your-friends-to-buy-a-model-s-2015-7

First ‘Winner’ of Tesla’s Referral Program Confirmed by Musk Read more at @Teslarati
http://www.teslarati.com/bjorn-nyland-first-winner-tesla-referral-program/#aTd5d9tdhBAZubMl.99

Referral Program +Tesla Motors
http://www.teslamotors.com/en_HK/support/referral-program

Tesla Accessories and Charging Adapters — Accessories +Tesla Motors
http://shop.teslamotors.com/collections/accessories