Can Odd-Looking ‘Diwheel’ Be Electric Vehicle of the Future?

As the electric automobile industry tries to get manufacturers and consumers alike to think out of the box while global warming necessitates a drastic move toward cleaner transportation technology, could it be that all the revolutionary electric vehicles appearing on today’s automobile market are not really out of the box at all but just inside a slightly larger box?

When it really comes down to it, every transportation device on today’s streets, even the strangest prototype from the most cutting-edge electric start-up, is fashioned in the likeness of either a typical car frame or a typical motorbike frame. That is as true for the Smart ForTwo as it is for a van, a semi, or even an electric scooter. Each of these models is just a glorified version of either a motorbike or a car.

Whether this is a good thing or not, those two basic frames have so dominated the transportation market that they have become the automatic ground zero for practically all attempts to create cleaner, greener vehicles. Even the most revolutionary personal transportation prototypes and the most fuel-efficient, battery-powered EVs all seem to begin from one of these two given starting points, the car or the motorbike.

With this mind, undergraduates from the University of Adelaide have attempted to develop something so completely out of the box that it relies almost not at all on either of these two typical basic automobile building blocks. They have come up with a transportation machine they call the Electric Diwheel With Active Rotation Damping – EDWARD, for short. EDWARD is unlike anything you may have ever seen and is definitely no car or motorbike.

Two huge, parallel wheels make up the majority of EDWARD’s girth. Inside the hollow cylinder framed by these wheels sits the tiny passenger cabin, dwarfed by the mammoth circles that circumference it. This device is controlled by a joystick and has a top speed of about 40 miles per hour. It also boasts regenerative braking technology and a lead acid battery, identical to those found in regular cars, with a lifespan of about an hour of intensive driving. EDWARD makes use of lightweight materials for its construction and, as a result, weighs practically nothing.

Although EDWARD is certainly not the first diwheel, it is definitely the first to be powered by something other than human effort or an IC engine. EDWARD also features an active damping system that solves one of the diwheel’s major problems ever since its inception: stopping. Because of the disparity in the size of the wheels compared to the size of the passenger cabin, diwheels have been known for their jarring stops. The cabin would tend to swing forward heavily every time the brakes were applied. EDWARD solves this dilemma with a slosh control system that stabilizes the cabin and its occupants during harsh acceleration and braking.

While you probably shouldn’t hold your breath for mass production of these vehicles, what this invention really illustrates is that there is more than one way to skin a cat – in this case the cat of fossil fuels. Electric engines and lithium-ion batteries no longer have a monopoly on reducing our carbon footprint and reliance on filthy energy. There are other options.

Filling out a quote at Kanetix.ca will let you see which insurance companies in Ontario provide the most affordable rates of insurance for your particular vehicle. Doing a comparison of quotes at Kanetix can help you find cheap insurance and save you hundreds of dollars on insurance.

 

The Last Cadillac DTS Goes to the Bulgari Car Collection

The last Cadillac DTS in existence is going be getting a new home. The car will join the Bulgari car collection, which is owned by Nicola Bulgari. The Cadillac DTS will be joining many other Cadillacs in its new home. This specific model of Cadillac, is the last model in existence and Bulgari wanted to hold on to this piece of treasure.

Nicola Bulgari currently owns several models of Cadillacs. Each model ranges in year and style. Some of the current Cadillacs that are apart of the Bulgari collection include the 1932 Cadillac 355B V-12, 1954 Cadillac Series 54-62, and the 1970 Cadillac Coupe DeVill. Bulgari continues to add to the impressive collection of Cadillacs in order to have a truly diverse collection.

The DTS was introduced during the year of 2006. It features a V-8 engine that is impressive. Many people consider the Northstar engine to be one of the best engines ever made. This is because it runs well and performs well. This current model was the last DTS to be made at the General Motors‘ Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant. It’s now on it’s way to the Bulgari collection of Cadillacs.

Nicola Bulgari was thoroughly impressed with this specific Cadillac. Bulgari feels that it’s a great sedan and especially appreciated the engine that it had. Bulgari thought it would be wonderful to be able to hold on to the last DTS that was ever made. It will be interesting to see if this model holds a favorite spot in the heart of Bulgari, or if it will sit on the sidelines.

The DTS has been a main competitor over the last few years. Along with the DeVille, these vehicles have been the main market in the large model Cadillac vehicle collection. Last year, the DTS continued to thrive. It outsold all other luxury models of its size. This included the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Lincoln Town Car. BMW 7 Series, and the Lexus LS430.

Cadillac already has a replacement model in line. It was previewed to car enthusiasts as the XTS, a few years back. It will be interesting to see how popular newer Cadillac car models become. It will also be interesting to see how many features are kept the same from the DTS model, or whether it will be a completely unique model on its own. It’s safe to say that Bulgari will probably someday own the newer Cadillac, as well.

Not all auto insurance companies provide the same rate of insurance for your particular vehicle, so it would be wise to do a quote comparison if you are trying to save money on auto insurance. Doing a price comparison at Kanetix can save you hundreds of dollars every year after you have filled out a quote online.

 

Three Ways to Build an Email List

Marketing your dental practice in the internet is the same way as a business owner would promote his products online. And by that, it is just as important for dentists to start building an email list of prospective clients as it is for internet marketers. When you’re still starting out, of course your email list will be short. However, with time and with the help of an effective strategy, dentists will see that list grow longer and the email campaign will have more impact on one’s practice. To help you capture more emails, turn to these trusted methods.

Website
First and foremost, every dental practice should have a decent website. Because your website is usually the first thing that future patients would visit in search of answers, you need to make sure that your website can entice its visitors to sign up for your email list. To do this, make sure to post a sign-up form on your homepage and design it in a way that your visitors will not be able to miss it. Try to lure visitors with freebies as to make them give up their email addresses. For instance, offering a free dental checkup or minor treatment will not only make visitors sign-up to your email list but also move them to visit your clinic.

Printed Materials
Never underestimate the power of paper. Although people turn to the internet for almost everything, the convenience of handing a piece of paper with the name of your dental clinic and its website to a random person passing by is still unparalleled. For that reason, make use of printed materials and brochure and make sure that you direct the readers to your website. You can also include your website in your business card. This way, patients can show your business card to friends when they are recommending and their friends can easily check you out online.

Patients
You do not have to look far and wide to get more emails. Your current patients may be seeing you now but you’ll never know if they’ll switch dentists in a month or so. So ask for your patients’ emails and send them an e-newsletter every now and then. If you keep on sending them helpful articles and tips, they’ll feel that (1) their dentist really does care about their oral health and (2) welcomed. By doing something as simple as that, you’ll get your patients’ loyalty.

Elliot Pearson Writes as a specialist for Dentist Identity who provides Dental Marketing and Dental Practice SEO

 

The Most Common Reasons to Use a Data Center

If you are the CEO or IT manager of a large corporation, chances are that you have a lot of computer-based data, telecommunications, storage systems and other technologically based necessities. As such, you may want to look into a state-of-the-art Dallas datacenter to house your sensitive business data and keep it safe for future access. The following are four reasons why using a Dallas data center is a smart move for big businesses:

1) You can focus on other things besides data storage.

When you are the leader of a big corporation, there are a lot of things to worry about. One of those many, many things is the storage and maintenance of sensitive data. Perhaps you have lots of financial records on a variety of servers, or maybe you have data including information that requires a great deal of security. Either way, wondering if your data is safe and backed up is just one of the many important things that businesses have to consider on a regular basis. Luckily, Dallas data centers make it so that you don’t have to worry about any of this yourself—all of your servers, documents, programs and telecommunications are in one place, secure and in a temperature-controlled environment to maintain viability. Now you can worry about advertising, client relations and other important ways to improve your business.

2) Using a data center is a green solution to information storage.

In days past, many businesses have used rows upon rows of filing cabinets and other in-house methods to store documents that were physically printed out. This isn’t just difficult to catalogue and locate the exact information you need, but it’s also unnecessarily cluttered and a waste of paper. Save trees by keeping all of you information within online servers, which helps the environment. Also, it’s easier to locate files by searching computer systems rather than having to leaf through (literally) millions of papers and files. Pull up the items you need immediately online, eliminate the need for paper records and keep your data nice and neat. You can also save precious office space by limiting the need for filing cabinets and other storage items that take up floor space.

3) Computer systems are faster with remote storage.

When your office computer network isn’t bogged down with countless bytes of storage used, computers work more efficiently. This means that employees can work quickly and accurately, and they will have to worry less about system crashes and other time-wasting inconveniences.

4) You have a variety in your data center options.

Not all data centers are built the same, because not all companies are identical. You have a lot of options for your data center needs, from POD Architecture Services, to Turn-Key Datacenters, to Build-to-Suit Datacenters and more.

Jessica writes about a wide variety of topics.  She especially enjoys writing about data. You can learn more about Dallas Datacenter at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com

 

Blogs: Academic and Social Boons

Technology is changing the world in more ways than its founders ever would have expected. For example, blogs and other internet networking services are having a profound effect on the manner in which college students are approaching their educations. By utilizing the benefits of modern technology, students are able to learn more effectively and more efficiently than ever before. This in turn is boosting graduation rates and yielding more knowledgeable workers.

Solving Coursework Problems

Blogs allow college students to instantly pool their knowledge. For instance, if a student is unsure of how to perform a scientific calculation, he or she could blog about his or her confusion. The student’s peers would then respond with tips and assistance that make the process clear. In the future months, other students who have the same question could consult the written blog for speedy help on their coursework. This saves college students countless hours that would have been spend researching an issue in the library or in their dorm rooms. In this respect, it is easy to see how blogs can be extremely beneficial to a college student’s studies.

Shared Memory

Blogs are also useful in preserving information that has been delivered in lectures or in labs. Before the advent of the internet, it was rather difficult for college students to catch up on missed work. Unless he or she had a friend whom the student could copy handwritten notes from, the student would be essentially lost after missing an important class. Blogs solve this problem. Many professors post outlines of the day’s lesson on their blogs, allowing students to easily catch up on missed information. Even if the professor chooses not to provide such a service, it is remarkable easy for the teacher’s aide or members of the class to transfer typed notes from a personal computer to an internet blog. U.C. Berkeley has determined that the internet is very beneficial to college students in this manner; if a student is ever sick of has other vital responsibilities during a class, his or her grade will not suffer as a result.

Staying Connected on Campus

Blogs are not only useful to college students in an academic sense. These internet tools also allow students to stay connected on a social level, enabling them to take full advantage of the college experience. For example, various campus clubs and organizations can use blogs to their great advantage. They can post pertinent news, special activities, and important upcoming dates. Blogs can also be used to advertise the club and attract new members.

However, perhaps the greatest benefit of college blogs would be their ability to keep friends and family in touch. Especially if the student is attending school far from home, blogs can be very valuable to friends and family who would otherwise have had a difficult time communicating with each other. After going away to a university, young adults no longer have to worry about losing contact with those who are close to them.

Miles Walker usually blogs about where to get the best auto insurance comparison over at CarInsuranceComparison.Org. He recently looked at the best options for cheap car insurance.

 

Why Workers Need Vacation Every 2 Months

A recent study by prominent health experts has revealed that it is becoming necessary for workers to take more breaks. The increase of work hours and work loads has become so stressful it is becoming harmful to the mental and physical health of workers. While breaks throughout the day do help, they also need lengthier breaks from the entire atmosphere in order to reinvigorate themselves and return more productive.

The Post Office Travel Insurance performed a study that revealed the conclusion that workers need six holidays per year. This breaks down to a vacation every 62 days. By taking this breaks from the workplace, they returned fresh and focused, and they avoided potentially burning out.

In addition to increasing the positive attributes of the workers, it decreased the negative. Workers who waited longer than two months to take a break are more likely to display aggression in the workplace. They also report becoming anxious far more easily and get sick more frequently.

Cary Cooper, a professor of organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University, commented on the study. He believes that it is absolutely necessary for workers in every field to take these intermittent breaks. It prevents overworking which ultimately leads to burning out. While employers may cringe at the idea of letting their workers take these vacations, Cooper believes it is good for the business as well. The workers return with a better attitude and a willingness to do their best.

Cooper goes on to say that those who do not take regular vacations are at risk for becoming anxious and aggressive, but also withdrawn in both the work environment and their social life. Relationships will suffer, and communities as a whole will become less productive.

Overworking has been known to depress the immune system. Back pain is one of the most common ailments, but it often does not have a direct cause. The stress from not taking a break from work causes people to develop aches and pains. It also disrupts the sufferer’s sleep schedule which results in an inability for the body to energize itself. While many people experience this in the form of feeling drowsy throughout the day, it also prevents the body’s immune system from working at full speed. People who do not take vacations from work every two months put themselves at risk to catch a cold or the flu more than their counterparts who do give themselves a break.

Encouraging workers to take a vacation every two months promotes health for the individual and a more effective company for the employer.

Reducing the amount you pay on automobile insurance is easy if you go online to compare quotes from multiple insurance providers. Using a service like Kanetix.ca, you can compare the rates from over 40 insurance providers across Canada. All you have to do is simply fill out a quote at Kanetix and you will be able to see which insurance provider offers the most affordable rate for your vehicle.

 

IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT?

 

Would You Like A Brochure With That?

Advertising is all about information. TV and Radio commercials and print ads are all about packaging information about your company in a creative way.

Media advertising is how your company lives. It is media advertising that tells people all about you, your company, your products, and your services. If people don’t know about you, then it’s like you don’t exist at all. It doesn’t matter if you offer the best services in the world, or offer the best products in the world. If no one has ever heard of you, then your products and services don’t matter. That’s why it’s important for you to have good media advertising campaigns and techniques.

Create An Effective And Creative Media Advertising Campaign

Now there are different ad strategies available nowadays. You can use the internet, you can use posters, you can use radio and TV commercials, promos, etc. It’s all about packaging your company, brand and product information in a concise and creative way.

One of the easiest ways is to make a commercial. Get your product out there. Make it catchy and easy to remember. It is important for you to remember that good media advertising doesn’t stick to one media arm. Try to mix up your options. Make print ads for magazines and newspapers, create TV commercials, have radio spots, create online campaigns. Make sure that all of these compliments and supplements each other.

Why? Because more ad arms provides a feeling of competency and credibility. If you just use online ads (which are cheaper and easier to make and publish), people are bound to be dubious. However, having more media advertising arms gives you the appearance of a big company. It makes you look like a formidable and trustworthy company.

And Would You Like A Brochure With That?

Now you can create commercials and print ads all you want. They can be as gimmicky and as funny as you want, but in the end, people just want the honest to goodness truth. Brochures can give you that.

People want to learn about products and services before they pay their hard earned money for them. Brochures give it to the people straight. They provide people with the information they’re looking for. Information that they won’t likely find in 30 second spots.

You have two options. You can have actual print brochures, or you can have online brochures. The benefit of having print brochures is that people get them at stores, shops and malls. They can read as soon as they get it, and they can store it for future reference. The problem however is that even though they’re made for long pieces of text and information, they’re still limited. You can only print so much info.

Online brochures on the other had, don’t have that limitation on space. You can provide as detailed an explanation as you’d like. However, it requires people to have a computer or a cellphone to see, and an internet connection. If they’re offline, then they won’t be able to get the information needed.

George Peterson works for one of the leading media agencies (interesting to know is that the Danish term is mediebureau) in Denmark – Maxus. He likes to share his knowledge and experience in popular blogs such as Tech Wench.

 

Goodbye My Friend: May the Streets of Heaven be Lined with Porterhouse for You!

You guessed it; another dog story.  I still haven’t gotten over Daisy Mae of the Redwoods leaving us, and that was in 1999.  Last night my good friends lost their boy Harley to cancer.  We just spent last weekend with him and his family in the El Dorado Hills, and knew that it would be the last time we saw him. I’m not sure if it is residual grief or that he was just that special of a dog, but it feels like someone kicked me in the chest.

It is an amazing phenomenon how attached we get to our pets, for me particularly dogs.  There is a sense of loyalty that you just can’t get from a cat, an unconditional love and acceptance that you can’t get from another person, and a wisdom that seems to come from something not earthly.  If one believes in such spiritual nonsense as re-incarnation or multiple lives, it seems possible that certain animals are just born with “old souls.”  They have been around for a while, and have certainly been here before.

 

Daisy (among her many attributes) was the one that was the most patient with my two daughters from when they were born,through their teens.  She let them dress her up, ride her around the house like a little horse, and pull and tug at her ears and tail without any sign of protest – ever.  It always seemed that the reason she endeared herself so much to me and the family was that she was such an integral part of the girl’s development.

Harley didn’t have to endure the physical abuse of my friend’s daughters growing up, but he was a special companion in other ways.  My buddy Dennis has his own business and is able to work from home much of the time.  Aside from his wife of 30 years, Harley was his best bud and constant companion.  Head constantly in the wind, the open water of the Delta was his domain.  The hours on the boat in silent communion evoke a bond that can’t really be written about, or explained by anyone that hasn’t felt that with a dog.  When the kids leave the house off to school, and the professional life winds down to fewer hours and meetings, when life slows down from the blur that had been the early yuppie “life in the fast lane,” it gives one time to truly appreciate an honest friendship.  A friendship like this with a dog (or anything else) just doesn’t happen all the time.  It is something that, if you are really lucky, you are able to earn once or twice in a lifetime.

It makes it hard to think about “getting” another animal.  Sure we can excuse the feeling by reminding ourselves that we have spent the last 30 years of our lives cleaning up dog poop.  We can trudge on with a stiff upper lip and act around our friends like it really doesn’t hurt all that much, that the dog was more trouble than it was worth.  A good stoic approach is probably advisable lest we fall into self pity. We may just get tired of going through this kind of loss every ten or so years, I’m not sure.  What I am sure of is that with the loss of a friend like that a little bit of us dies too.  It is imperceptible, but there is a tiny hole in the heart where Harley used to be.  There is nothing that can fill that, and that’s OK too.  He would want it that way.

 

15 Tips For A Successful Facebook Ads Program

Column: Let’s Get Social

 by Adam Riff

If you’re a marketing or advertising professional, then lately you’ve  probably been running ads on Facebook or have heard the phrase ‘paid social’ or ‘Facebook ads’.

That’s because according to eMarketer, social media is the fastest growing digital media channel. As impressive as that is, it doesn’t tell the whole story. First, let’s consider some statistics:

• “More than half of 25 to 34-year-old social network users say they can’t live without their social media sites” – eMarketer 2011
• “9 out of 10 Internet users visited a social networking site each month in 2010”– comScore, February 2011
• “74% of consumers are influenced to buy AFTER soliciting feedback from social media ” – comScore, February 2011
• “67% of Twitter users who become followers of a brand are more likely to buy from that brand” – comScore, February 2011
• “60% of Facebook users who become fans of a brand recommend that brand to a friend ” – comScore, February 2011

With the demand for social media continuing to skyrocket, it’s critical that we, as advertising professionals, hone our craft to leverage this channel on behalf of our clients.

To help you succeed for your clients, I’ve put together this Top 15 list of ‘secrets’ that will benefit your paid social campaigns. I’m going to focus primarily on Facebook and a bit on LinkedIn. Twitter ads are still in beta and can be rather cost-prohibitive.

1. Automate Your Creative Refresh & Rotate Ads Often

Like Google, Facebook makes its money when a user clicks an ad. As such, it’s in their interest to drive CTR. Since Facebook users can easily get banner blindness, the social network values ad freshness above all else.

It is arguably the most critical factor in a successful Facebook paid social campaign. Make sure you rotate your ads often and if possible automate this rotation so it’s constantly changing every week.

2. Segment ‘Bins’ & Micro-target

The beauty of Facebook targeting is it allows you to get super-granular. And, as we know, segmentation in any marketing program leads to efficiency. Paid social advertisers should take advantage of this by targeting as many relevant demographic bins as possible and creating ads that specifically speak to those demographics.

3. Use Automated Bid Optimization Based On Conversion Events

With dozens, hundreds or even thousands of bins and ads, it’s important to leverage automated bid technology. There are several platforms specifically designed for Facebook ads. Do your homework to determine the best one to help you achieve your campaign goals.

4. Don’t Stop At Solely Tracking Engagement, Track Conversions

Some companies and agencies make the mistake of only tracking front-end engagement KPI’s, namely Facebook Likes and LinkedIn connections. It is important to track all KPI’s including:

 

 

5. Leverage Your PPC/SEO Data To Help You Target New Bins

If you’re running a paid social account you’re probably also running PPC campaigns or managing organic SEO. Don’t look at them in silos because the data you have through those channels can translate into paid social gold.

To start, take the keywords that you know drive conversions for your client via PPC and/or SEO and test-target those keywords as an interest. If it shows sufficient reach, create a bin and a targeted ad and you’ll see results.

6. Test ‘Friends Of Connections’ Targeting

There is a little known targeting option in Facebook that allows you to target users whose friends are connected to a page, event, group or application:

 

 

Think about the potential on this one. The average Facebook user has 130 friends. If you find a page that has 1,000 fans and you target friends of connections to that page, you’re going to reach 130,000 users.

7. Test Occupation Targeting

A very powerful but underutilized way to reach specific consumers is through Facebook occupation targeting.  CEO of aimClear Marty Weintraub spoke about this at SMX Advancedand touched on this recently in Search Engine Watch.

When discussing the proper ways to conduct occupation targeting, he pointed out that selecting job titles within the Precise Interests and then entering a keyword like ‘Marketing Manager’ would result in the following bin:

 

 

You can extrapolate this data to any number of job titles depending on your client’s product.

8. Target Decision Makers On LinkedIn

Facebook isn’t the only paid social platform that allows you to do occupation targeting. LinkedIn is making a great run at the B2B market and allows for some really sophisticated targeting.

Similar to the powerful testing capabilities recently highlighted by Marty Weintraub, LinkedIn was shown to drive comparable results not only test-targeting job titles but high-level decision makers with a presence on the social network.

 

 

9. Test Leading Consumers To Your Fan Page vs. Website

Don’t just lead users to your Facebook page. You should test results by rotating your ads to drive users to every part of your online presence. A completely optimized paid program is essential.

Whether you place a higher premium on your social fan page or website, giving your users more choices will encourage brand awareness, loyalty and conversions.

10. Test Leading Users To Multiple Page Landing Tabs

An update launched this past February now directs users to any location on your Facebook page, i.e. wall, info, etc.  Rotate your ads to drive users to these various pages and optimize based on the conversion rate.

 

 

11. Try Embedding Your Lead Capture Form Within Your Facebook Page

Get the best of both worlds by embedding the same lead capture form on your website within your fan page. Here’s an example:

 

 

As always, conduct continuous testing to measure which approach is most effective.

12. Don’t Use The CPM Option

Facebook CTR’s are traditionally very low, even with a great program. As such, don’t pay Facebook a CPM to simply show your ads, which in tests have not resulted in any lift in impressions, cost savings, click-throughs or conversion rate.

Always select the CPC pricing option.

13. Try Geo-targeting ‘Affluent’ Areas & Luxury Interests

Have a client selling luxury goods or big ticket items? Try cross-targeting affluent areas of the country with luxury interests. For example, target users in Beverly Hills that like cosmetic enhancement brands or users in New York City that like investor services.

You can also go further by digging into the Facebook interest tool. There, you can target relevant ads to ‘owners clubs’ across a wide range of luxury verticals.

14. Leverage Your Facebook Data To Do Other Media Buys

The great thing about Facebook data is that it can give you insights about your consumer base that you might not have otherwise known. Leveraging, among other things, a user’s gender, age and interests can help you make smarter buys across television, display, search and other media channels.

15. Track Every Path To Conversion

If you can get your hands on technology that allows you to conduct cross-channel tracking, its resulting data can be hugely beneficial. It can influence budgeting decisions and help you identify channels that assist the buying process.

 

 

Remember – the overriding principle guiding these 15 secrets is if you’re going to take the time to segment and execute micro-targeting strategies, make sure you build tightly-themed ads that match the segment. This will increase CTR, lower your cost and give you the best chance at having paid social success.

If you want more info on Facebook ads check out these resources:

• How To Quickly Customize Your Facebook Page To Attract More Fans – Danny Sullivan’s guide
• Facebook Advertising – Facebook’s dashboard
• Inside Facebook – a Facebook blog for developers and marketers.
• AllFacebook –  another Facebook blog for marketers