Science fantasy novels are a fusion of science fiction and fantasy elements. Go to almost any mainstream bookshop and you will see shelf after shelf of science fantasy books for sale next to the science fiction books. Frank Herbert’s Dune novels and Anne McCaffrey’s Pern novels are great examples of the genre.

When it comes to distinguishing science fantasy from science fiction that may be a littel tricky. However, I really like Rod Serling’s definition, which is that “science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible.”

This is a great name for a really interesting site. Visit Science Fantasy .co.uk NOW!

I realy like this name an it will be hard to let it go.

To me ‘the original poker organisation’ domain name, as I call it is just as brandable as the .com or the .net. Even more so because there can only be one original poker organisation.

But the name also has lots of other uses. For example, a retailer selling ‘old time’ poker and gambling equipment would suit this domain, as would a poker retailer (poker chips, tables, books etc) who had be around for a long time.

Perhaps I should stop now! But before I do I will just remind you that OriginalPoker.org is for sale on Sedo.

SEO, Search engine optimization, Search engine optimisation

Technorati tags: Poker, Domain Names, Sedo, Domaining

A highly recommended article from a great SEO website.

Technorati tags: SEO, Search engine optimization, Search engine optimisation

Planned changes to eBays search results will hit some store owners hard. While eBay justify these changes in terms of improving the customer experience on eBay, sellers now find that their goods will only be displayed if an item search brings up a small number of results from sellers without a store. Anyone who has sold on eBay for any length of time will remember how eBay always encouraged sellers to open eBay stores. Now products sold through these stores are potentially ‘downgraded’ in eBay search results, and from 21 August, eBay will also change the fees for Shops Listings which could result in higher fees for some sellers.

This is a sorry tale in the rise and potential fall of an industry giant who may have take its eye off the ball once too many times.

The small but growing angry band of UK sellers feel strong enough to propose an eBay.co.uk listing strike on the 15th August, 2006. According to the discussion forum on eBay.co.uk this is a proposal that many eBay UK sellers support.

In Australia just over 1,800 eBay Australian sellers have signed a petition protesting against fee rises there.

Some eBay sellers are so unhappy with their eBay experience that they are petitioning Google to establish an auction site of their own, reports the AuctionBytes website. At the time of writing over 1,100 sellers have signed a petition to Google to establish a Google auction site and you can join the discusssion on establishing a competing auction site, here. The discussion forum puts their case like this:-

We are ebay store owners who have been “dismissed” by ebay through extreme rate hikes. We are searching everywhere for a new “home” and google is the ONLY name on the internet which we feel would be totally trustworthy and woud actually get auction traffic and get it quickly.

According to an article on BloggingStocks.com there were 17 members of the discussion forum on August 3, 80 on August 9 and today, Aug 13, there were 354, most of whom appear to agree with the idea.

Where that leaves eBay sellers is anyones guess. This issue is likely to do the rounds on various forums and the blogosphere and one mainstream UK national newspaper picked up the UK sellers strike on Saturday August 12. It remains to be seen if this issue gets more and wider exposure. I can’t help feeling that eBay’s monopoly position is not healthy, and is ultimately unsustainable. I feel that internet retailers and buyers are crying out for an alternative with a cheaper fee structure and more consumer protection. However, with new and emerging web technologies coming into existence I think the next generation retailing platforms will be radically different from the auction system we have today. Whether Google is likely to be the company to deliver it remains to be seen, but I doubt it.

Technorati tags: eBay, eBay sellers strike, Google auctions, eBay UK sellers strike, eBay petition, alternative to eBay

Virgin Galactic are based in Spaceport America, in New Mexico and they could be the first of many space related businesses to move into the area which could possibly become the center of this amazing new industry.

Virgin plans to begin launching its SpaceShipTwo within the next two years. Potential touronauts, or space tourists, are lining up to board the first tourist flights. Some have even paid in advance but with suggested airfares of $200,000 a head, space tourism is likely to be for those with deep pockets at least for the forseeable future.

Technorati tags: Virgin, Virgin Galactic, Touronaut, space tourism, space tourist, Spaceport America

Thousands of these 419 scam emails, named 419 scams after the section of the Nigerian penal code being broken, are sent out every day. These letters offer the recipients a share for a massive fortune - but only if they send the scammers cash first.

Wired News reports that a group of online vigilantes are taking on these scammers and winning. The article highlights the work of online one vigilante “Shiver Metimbers”

………….Metimbers has most recently spun counter-yarns that have compelled 419ers to make elaborate wood carvings, pose for comical photos and fly from London to Scotland. In one episode…………he succeeded in having a Nigerian fraudster tattoo “Baited by Shiver” on his body in order to claim a fictional $46,000 prize.

This is a hilarious article which praises the vigilantes efforts and has links to the correspondence with scammers and photos of Metimbers victims in humourous poses.

Technorati tags: scambaiting, 419 scam, cyber vigilante, scambuster, internet scams

Games such as Ultima Online, EverQuest / Ever Quest, World Of Warcraft and more recently Second Life allow players to interact in 3d virtual worlds. Some people are making money from their entrepreneurship and many are making a full time living.

Lets go back a few years, to start with…………

Wired Magazine contributing editor Julian Dibbell announced in 2003 that on April 15, 2004,

“I will truthfully report to the IRS that my primary source of income is the sale of imaginary goods — and that I earn more from it, on a monthly basis, than I have ever earned as a professional writer”.

Julian blogged about his money making activities in a game called Ultima Online and by all accounts his success was very impressive.

At the moment the next big money making site is Second Life . In this game users can create items and sell what they make on a range of sites, including eBay and SLBoutique providing a market place for virtual items.

There are many success stories on Second Life and one of SL’s biggest succes stories is Anse Chung. According to Anse’s entry in Wikipedia

Anshe Chung is an avatar in the online world Second Life and was originally created by Ailin Graef. Together with her husband Guntram Graef, who goes by the name “Guni Greenstein” in Second Life, she has built an online business that engages in development, brokerage and arbitrage of virtual land, items and currencies. Since February 2006 the company has been legally registered in Hubei, China, under the name “ANSHECHUNG Studios, Ltd.”

According to Wired Anshe Chung, reportedly makes more than $150,000 a year from her Second Life virtual property development business activities.

Similarly, Tony De Louise, from Long Island, New York and business partner Alice McKeon run a full time business renting out the 17 islands in their cyber archipelago. Other people are making money designing things for partipants characters to wear. For example, Aimee Weber, is a Second Life character whose fashion line of skirts, tops and plaid lingerie is doing very well .

In the past if you wanted to change your virtual money into real cash you had to sell it online, such as on eBay, however, as reported in techdirt.com

The creators of Project Entropia are now offering a card that can be used at any ATM to instantly convert the game’s currency into actual cash.

This is an emerging area with a range of exciting developments. If you want to do your own research around this subject, here are a few more interesting articles:-

Making the most of virtual worlds

My Virtual Life

Second Life to Real Life business intersections

Telecommuting to Nowhere

Online Opportunities Beyond the Usual

ProfitsGuru.com will revist this area a few times a year to see how its developing - is this a money making opportunity, or only something people who ‘got in’ at the begining can benefit from? Only time will tell……

Technorati tags: My Space, Hi5, Ultima Online, Julian Dibbell , Ever Quest, World Of Warcraft, Second Life , Anshe Chung, Project Entropia

However, the BBC are bringing back the series for a third time in August, 2006. I cover what Dragon’s Den is all about in a previous post, but in broad terms entrepreneurs get to pitch their business ideas to 5 wealthy business owners with money to invest in profitable business ideas.

In Dragons Den, Series 3, which starts on Thursday 3rd August at 8pm on BBC 2, two new dragons replace American entrepreneur Doug Richard and former accountant and owner of UK gift experinece company Red Letter Days, Rachel Elnaugh. The two new dragons are:-

Deborah Meaden who is a British multi-millionairess who launched her own glass and ceramics export company before setting up one of the first Stefanel fashion franchises in the UK.

and

Richard Farleigh who is an Australian multi-millionaire and a full time business angel.

They are joined by three Dragons from the last series,

Peter Jones - multi-millionaire and founder of a large telecommunications company,
Duncan Bannatyne - retirement homes and health clubs made Duncan a multi-millionaire
Theo Paphitis - experienced in turning around ailing businesses. Turned around UK firms Ryman, Contessa, La Senza and Partners the Stationers and currently heads up a 350 store chain with a group turnover approaching £250m.

Technorati tags: Dragons Den , Deborah Meaden, Richard Farleigh , Peter Jones , Duncan Bannatyne , Theo Paphitis , Rachel Elnaugh, Doug Richard

In June ‘06, journalist Larry Seltzer wrote in eWeek, in an article called Bad Taste: Another Way ICANN Blew Domain Registration a searing condemnation of domain regulators ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) for its continuing support for “domain tasting” through permitting a grace period of 5 days which is abused by domain name speculators. During the five day grace period domains are registered and put online plastered with adverts to see if they generate any revenue. Those that do not perform are released. If they are released within five days of registration, this process costs the speculators nothing, and can be very, very profitable.

Seltzer followed this up last week, in an article called Whois Hijacking My Domain Research? reporting the problems uncovered by someone wanting to research and buy a domain name. The article shows how attempts to research domain names, revealed that an apparently unconnected company registered the domain names within a relatively short time of the initial search taking place and released the domain names a few days later. In the mean time the domains were displaying the same type of affiliate ads described above.

Although there is no proof of any illegal behavour whatsoever on the part of any of the companies involved, the author shares his thoughts on the subject and speculates on how the company might have got hold of the search data from the search page.

Technorati tags: ICANN , Domain Name, Whois

Many young small-business owners - particularly in fields like clothing, graphic design, photography, publishing, and real estate - are discovering that they can effectively advertise on the site to a narrow, but often enthusiastic demographic.

The article says that entrepreneurs are very active on MySpace, with about 8,000 MySpace entrepreneur groups and the most active ones target specific niches, like filmmakers or real-estate.

Tags: Make money, Social networking, MySpace, Friendster, Hi5, orkut, Bebo, MSN Spaces, BlackPlanet.com.