Ziggy21 Slade

Zanara Zenovka wrote: Partner and I have talked about going to somewhere like India or Thailand to maximise our slacker time, since we both do work that could be done anywhere with power and internet. (Tropical beaches aren't a great allure since we already live in north-east Australia.) But too many social commitments here at present. I would point out though, if there's one thing that less-developed countries specialise in, it's government corruption While the lack of regulations is great because you can do whatever you want, so can everyone else, and there are very few protections against unscrupulous practices on the part of business, government, etc. eg - in Belize, Skype is blocked by the local telecommunications monopoly, which doesn't want to lose their (outrageous) profits on international calls, and there's nothing to stop them. Yes I have to admit, I am a bit of a 'grass grows greener' type of chap, however I realise everywhere has it's downsides. When I was child my family emigrated from UK to NZ, it was a truly wonderful place to grow up and when i see photos now it looks like garden of Eden, but I can remember as a child there were all sorts of things we disliked about the place, and it's funny now to read expat forum sites where us Poms are whinging about the same stuff - mostly the lack of TV channels and good quality sausages! Interesting about Belize and Skype - I didn't know that, any other little tit bits like that?

Alisha Matova wrote: Let's all chip in and start our own country. =P http://www.privateislandsonline.com/ Sigh, wouldn't that be nice, there is one of the front page there for only $1.7 million, there are houses around the corner from me that cost more than that.

I think you seem to be doing quite well for numbers, most people don't bother, which, as others have said is often a blessing. I wonder why you place such a high value on receiving reviews, I glance at them occasionally, usually there are 2 nice ones, which I assume are from the creators mates and a bad one from some noob who's delivery failed, not really much help in making a buying decision. Very few people are going to bother reading more than first 3 or 4 in the list anyway, and I am quite happy to allow these to build up naturally. How useful would reviews be, if customers knew other customers had been paid for writing them?

Currency Converter Pro - for the Iphone, if you have one, is pretty useful. Or you can just kinda - Double it and divide by 10, for the answer in pence - i.e. L$10000 x2 /10 = 2000 pence (£20), its actually slightly more, but by the time you have converted and cashed out, you won't be far adrift.

LOL Medhue! You sound exactly like me, although I say similar things about the UK. I should never have watched Michael Moore's 'Capitalism', I haven't been happy since. I am pencilling you in for a room in my 'Belizean Hippy Commune for Disgruntled Lifers'.

You can use the VB script here http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/XyzzyText#How_to_produce_textures_with_alternative_fonts_for_5_character_version_.28Photoshop_VBscript_version.29 http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/XyzzyText#How_to_produce_textures_with_alternative_fonts_for_5_character_version_.28Photoshop_VBscript_version.29' title="Xyzzy Wiki"> to produce a font table in Photoshop, once you have the first one made - making others is very easy, you just select all of the layers in the layers palette and change the font. I actually have loads made already, but you ain't getting em : )!

This is following on from a question raised in another thread, where we were discussing living off one's SL income. One of the things revealed in this other thread was that although there didn't seem to be any shortage of people making a living here, for most it wasn't a great living from a financial point of view. So one way of making those L$s go further would be to live in a country where things are cheaper and hopefully one could gain a few more fringe benefits too - better climate etc. I have been considering this for a while, I have been looking mostly at Central and South America and particularly at Belize, which is politically and financially stable, is pretty easy to get in as a foreigner, is an offshore tax haven and has a Caribbean style climate and beaches. I also quite fancy the Mediterranean, Spain and Portugal undoubtedly offer some cheap property since the Credit Crunch, but if their economies are going the same way as here in the UK, inflation is probably running riot. Now if you think this is a silly pipe dream, firstly I want to say - indulge me - I am allowed a silly pipe dream every now and then. Secondly lots of people are already choosing this as a lifestyle, there are now a few sites offering help and advice to potential 'LIPs' (Location Independent Professionals). Some are working solely over the internet, often operating several online businesses, others are topping up their online earnings with RL money earned locally, teaching English, for instance. So, is anyone else thinking along the same lines? and if so, where do you think looks good? or Do you already live somewhere where the cost of living is low and the Sun is mostly high, that you would like to recommend?

Amiryu Hosoi wrote: That brings me to the next question. Have anyone of you ever considdered moving to a country where living is better and cheaper? All you really need is a stable internet connection. Ami I have Ami, in fact I think about it all the time, I wonder what places you have considered, Central and South America seem to still offer some bargains. Belize is a place that seems like a good bet, it's politically and economically stable, you can avoid income tax if you aren't trading with the natives, plus Caribbean sunshine and unspoiled beaches, sigh! Actually I think this would make another interesting thread so I will go and start it rather than hijacking this one.

Although this question has been asked before I am very glad you asked it again, because in the 4 years I have been lurking here this is the first time I have seen this question provoke such a positive response, normally there is a barrage of comments from disaffected merchants who have tried something that failed, or from people who have never tried but will still swear blind there is no way to make decent money here. The fact is most people don't see the bigger picture and at one time this was even true of some of the posters to this thread, including myself, who kind of stumbled across our respective lucrative ideas. Something like 90% of RL business startups fail in the first 2 years, as its easier to start a business here than in RL I have no doubt the figure here is even higher and consequently you wont have to wait long before someone is telling you about their friend who was doing really well and then because of LL (cos its always their fault) the business failed and they had to sell up. When you hear this, CHALLENGE IT!, not only will this reduce this negative publicity, but it will give you the opportunity to learn of the monumentally stupid mistakes that people have made and are still making. Usually it follows the same pattern of far too much emphasis on looking cool and hardly any thought of Profit and Loss. So my answer to your question is OH YES! you can cover some or even all of your real life costs with an SL business and anyone who tells you otherwise is just plain wrong! Here's a few tips I have found useful along the way... Spend only what you need especially when it comes to rent, if you are an overnight success and you need to move to a full sim next week, you can do that here. Best kept secrets don't make money, advertise, advertise and advertise again. Do not expect to be an overnight success, most of the successful people I know here have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours creating, studying the market and looking after their customers, in fact most of us 'Eat/Sleep' our SL businesses. Learn to convert Linden Dollars to your local currency in your head, think only in RL money, the Linden Dollar will deceive you into thinking you have made more than you actually have and scare you away from spending what you need to on advertising. Good Luck!

Ishtara wrote: tl;dr. If you want anyone to read that wall of text, you should add some line breaks. ... or hope most people aren't too lazy to read 32 lines of text

Particles are one solution, personally I think animated textures look better, but then I would say that.... Firestarter Megapack My Megapack even includes a ready made torch and torch flames in several colours. Shameless Plug Ends.

I have been looking for a homestead for the last few days and I can't seem to find one either, if anyone does know of one available full transfer, please let me give me a shout

Actually SAM could be the one as it has a free 14 day trial YAY! Also from the SAM website... Easy payment plan Purchase SAM Broadcaster with our easy-payment-plan! 3 installments of $99.00 per month. With each payment you will receive a key that extends your SAM Broadcaster license for another 35 days. After 3 payments you receive a FULL SAM Broadcaster key that will never expire. I wish more software companies would do that.

Merry Christmas to you Emma, Thanks all for the replies, just to reiterate, I know how to stream music to my parcel, my problem is as stated above and below. One big track means people arriving at different times will hear different things (hoping some of my chums will hang around for a bit you see) Lots of little tracks means lots of little gaps. Will check out the software mentioned, anymore good ideas gratefully accepted.

Without any gaps between tracks?

Hey all, I have just whipped up a 2 hour megamix of cheesy christmas music to play in my store, but I have a few minor troubles playing it out. I have mixed the tracks together so its wonderfully seamless. I can keep it as 1 huge file but then if two people arrive at different times they will be hearing different things or I can split it up into say 5 minute chunks so the tracks are still mixed and play it through my MP3 player thingy, trouble is this way I get a little gap as it switches to the next track. I know I am being a bit anal about it, but is there a way I can do this better?