# The Sizzle

### Issue 385 - Thursday, 4th May 2017

The Sizzle is in light mode whilst I'm on holiday in Perth. Normal Sizzle resumes 9th of May.

- Tesla's latest financial results & other related Tesla things
- Fast spreading piece of malware hits Google Docs
- Labor party's SMART visa fantasy alternative to 457 visas

- eBooks stink and the market realises this

NEWS

Tesla's latest financial results & other related Tesla things
During Tesla's Q1 2017 financial announcements, Elon Musk dropped a lot of info on what's going on inside the company that makes the car I want but cannot afford. Apparently that semi-trailer truck he mentioned at TED on the weekend uses a lot of parts from the Model 3. The Model 3 is coming together nicely, with a fancy metal press now operational and that Tesla will make 5,000 Model 3s a week in 2017 and 10,000 a week in 2018. Tesla will also be opening heaps more stores and body shops in time for the Model 3, so it can cope with the influx of new Tesla customers. Elon talked about the Model Y, a crossover SUV/hatch car that'll be out in 2020 and based on an all new platform that'll help Tesla reach its goal of shipping 1 million cars a year. Oh and those solar roof tiles will start production in the next 2 months.
Discuss

Fast spreading piece of malware hits Google Docs
There was an insidious piece of malware going around doing a solid job pretending to be a Google Docs login page, but was actually a 3rd party app that would gain access to all your email and contacts. Here's a video of the attack's workflow. It'd look like a pretty normal email saying someone's invited you to a Google document, ya click it, you go to a Google hosted URL that says an app called Google Docs (which isn't actually Google Docs, but an app someone made that Google approved called Google Docs) wants permission to basically everything in your Google account. It then uses the permission its been given to send an email just like the one you got, to everyone in your contacts. Google's said it's stopped this piece of shit, but others will probably pop up, so stay frosty.
Discuss

Labor party's SMART visa fantasy alternative to 457 visas
Bill Shorten, a sack of sawdust wearing a suit to impersonate a politician, has come up with a thought bubble to counter the recent 457 visa changes if they win the next federal election - the SMART visa. Because it covers the Science, Medicine, Academia, Research and Technology sectors, which are full of smart people. Get it? Amazing branding. A new department will be formed to oversee the job market and see if people immigrating on the SMART visa are actually required. If they are, companies and unis can keep these useful forefingers around for 4 years. All good noises I'm sure, but let's see if this is even a dot point on some glossy brochure a month out from the election.
Discuss

COOL SHIT

eBooks stink and the market realises this
eBooks are crap. Yeah, I said it. I'm not a fan of the book in electronic form and it looks like I am not alone in my old fashioned ways. The UK's Publishing Association has released stats saying that the sale of eBooks has dropped 17%, but dead tree books are up 8%. People are buying books, but they don't want to read them on a screen. But, it seems like a lot of people kinda aren't reading them. The attraction of dead tree books for a lot of people is mainly just assembling a collection of things you'd like to read that look nice. Either way, if a nerd like me who likes to read and likes gadgety things enough to write a daily email newsletter about them, doesn't like eBooks, there's no hope for 'em.
Discuss

Here endeth the sizzle (until tomorrow!)
--Anthony

The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers. Know someone who could use a bit of Sizzle in their life? Buy them a gift subscription!