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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-02

RT @kristinbrianne: You won't believe it… I just entered to win the #KodakSweeps on http://tweetphoto.com/contest Pls RT #
RT @wilw The single most insulting thing you can tell a creative person is, upon viewing their creation, "you have too much free time." #
Hmm. I share a birthday with Linus Torvalds. #
@freefrombroke I'm following you and would love to be followed back. in reply to freefrombroke #
RT: @SuburbanDollar: New Post: : The Art of Delayed Gratification http://bit.ly/5gsKXy #
RT @FrugalYankee: #NEWYear's #QUOTE: All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal or fattening. ~ Alexander Woollcott #
Crackberry is certainly accurate. I may be too connected. #
MIL thinks a Kitchenaid stand mixer will make it easier to remove the snow in the driveway. Bad logic, but she's buying one for us, anyway. #
What magic is in a saw-palmetto capsule and why does my prostate need the power of 1000 of them? #
RT: @SuburbanDollar: Sounds like he's asking you to rent him a date. #
RT @hughdeburgh: "I'd rather die fighting for freedom than live as a slave." ~ Judge Andrew Napolitano #Iran #in2010 #USA #
Happy New Year, 3 minutes early. #
Billy Jack vs Chuck Norris. Winner? #
Getting my hair brushed by an 18 month old while watching Married With Children. It's a good evening. #
RT @FrugalYankee: #NEWYEARS #QUOTE: The most important political office is that of private citizen. ~ Louis Brandeis #
RT @ScottATaylor: 40,697 Laws Take Effect Today http://ff.im/-dFXNR #
5AM. It'd be so easy to go right back to sleep. #

Saturday Roundup – Side Hustles Rock

: Image via Wikipedia

We’re busy cleaning for our party next weekend, followed by spending an evening lying in a coffin in my yard, scaring the crap out of kids and giving them candy.

The best posts of the week:

Right now, I am actively pursuing 4 separate side hustles, 3 of which are generating actual cash. It’s about $500 a month at the moment, but each of them are growing. My goal is to hit $1500 a month by spring and have full replacement income within 2 years. Everybody should have some kind of side income, just as a safety net.

One of my side hustles involves training in a niche with 200 companies competing for about 10,000 one-day students each year. I could try to compete on price, but that’s an arms race to bargain-basement pricing. Instead, we compete on value, and as such, we’re on track to bring in several multiples of our share of students this year, with growth projected to go well beyond that next year.

Knowing how much more I enjoy my side projects over my straight job, I want to encourage my kids to develop their own lines of income that will allow them to live the lives they want to live, without being a leech on society.

If they can start to get some of their own income, they can learn the value of the things they own, instead of assuming that everything is free. I will not spoil my kids.

Finally, a list of the carnivals I’ve participated in:

Actions Have Consequences has been included in the Festival of Frugality.

If I missed anyone, please let me know. Thanks for including me!

Can EverQuest Next Compete with World of Warcraft?

News

Legions of MMORPGs have graced the internet to do battle against Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, yet no challenger has bested

everquestnext_human (Photo credit: NewGameNetwork)

Blizzard’s massively multiplayer online juggernaut. Huge marketing campaigns and years of development by the makers of games like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Rift have left players less than satisfied, with an initial big burst of player excitement and eventual failure.

Every software developer that creates an MMO that tries to take a slice of Blizzard’s pie invariably ends up as a “free to play” model. The latest MMORPG slated to try and take a shot at fighting Blizzard’s dominance is EverQuest Next. The developers are looking to lure players to EverQuest from a variety of other games such as EVE Online and Warcraft, but the design of the game seems to straddle a few different genres.

As with other game releases, the developers at Sony Online Entertainment have tried to suggest that their game will be “new” and “different.” It’s not difficult to understand why skepticism is high. Every game that has seen release in the past few years has had developers boast the same and has crashed and burned just a month or so after the release.

Players of EverQuest Next will find a game focus that includes some familiar fantasy elements of an MMO game (like elves), but developers have sought to step away from the traditional, linear questing experience and offer some world-building opportunities for players (much like EVE Online). One of the interesting features expected of the game is the ability for players to impact permanent change upon the landscape.

For example, during wartime a player might decide to build a wall somewhere, and he or she can accomplish this and actually have that wall erected as a permanent feature in the game world. Similarly, when players fight one another or monsters, a spell or explosion that creates a hole in the world will remain permanently. One of the developers likened this feature to the idea of putting Minecraft into an MMORPG.

Although absolutely everything in the world can’t be destroyed (certain structures will be permanent), this opportunity to build, create, and destroy represents a jump forward from the same opportunities players have had in games like EVE Online. World of Warcraft has occasionally offered players the opportunity to change the landscape, but not on a regular basis. Such changes have generally been implemented after a reset with all the realms taken offline, after which players would log in and see the changes.

However, the lack of appreciable impact on the environment hasn’t stopped players from flocking to World of Warcraft for nearly a decade, and EverQuest Next will need to bring an amazing player experience to lure away current players as well as retain them. The ebb and flow of Warcraft’s player base often coincides with the new release of another MMORPG, but after a month or so the new game’s servers are ghost towns. It won’t take long to see whether EverQuest Next can compete with World of Warcraft.

Link Roundup

Misc

What has happened to this week? It’s already Friday afternoon, and I’m short a post today. Since I skipped the link roundup last week while I was off with family, I’ll do it early this week and cheat you out of a real post today.

Finance links:

I enjoy trying new foods and eating out. Christian PF provides tips on doing that frugally.

Trent talks about “Family Dinner Night”. Invite a bunch of friends over to help prep and eat a buffet-style meal. Good time for everyone on the cheap.

Free Money Finance shares his 14 Money Principles.

MoneyNing shares how to buy school supplies for less.

Miscellaneous links:

Netflix just volunteered to shaft its customers again. There’s a 28 day wait to get most new releases, now. If I didn’t have almost 500 movies in my queue, I’d be royally ticked.

Mother Earth News has plans for a smoker/grill/stove/oven. I’d love to build a brick oven with a grill and smoker. A complete, wood-fired cooking center would be perfect for my house.

Major kitchen cleaning on Lifehacker. We’re doing this tomorrow, as part of our April Declutter.

That’s the highlight of my trip around the internet this week.

Why You Should Invest in Oman? Tapping the Help of International Banks

Finance, Misc

Oman - Muscat - Main Highway Light Trail — Oman – Muscat – Main Highway Light Trail (Photo credit: © Salim Photography/ www.salimphoto.com)

This is a guest post.

The Sultanate of Oman is located on the southeast coast of the Arabian peninsula, bordered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Yemen, the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian sea. Oil is an important source of revenue here. According to an article reported in Arabian Business, Oman’s average daily oil production rose 4% to 918,000 barrels per day (bpd) from an average of 884,900 bpd in 2011. However, as reported in the Al Arabiya News, British oil firm BP estimated that Oman’s oil reserves will run out in 17 years unless the country raises its output from the current levels. To reduce its dependence on oil, the Oman government is diversifying its economy into the non-oil sector and encouraging foreign direct investment in order to enhance the economic growth of the country. Here we will find out why the Oman government is encouraging foreign investment, which non-oil industries present attractive investment opportunities and how international banks can assist and advise foreign investors.

Employment

The unemployment rate of Oman is one of the issues faced by the government. The International Monetary Fund has estimated the unemployment rate at more than 20% of the workforce. According to Muscat Daily, since the last census in 2010, the total population has increased by 38% to 3.83 million at the end of February 2013, of which 56% are Omanis and the remaining 44% are expatriates. The expatriate population has increased by 106.4% while the Omani population has grown by 9.7% per cent since 2010. The number of Omanis employed in the private sector remained fairly unchanged, with only 1.7% increase since 2010.

On the one hand, the Oman government needs to maintain global competitiveness by attracting foreign talents to diversify the economy such as developing large industrial and infrastructure projects. On the other hand, the Oman government is struggling to create enough jobs in the non-oil public and private sectors for Omanis. The ruler of Oman, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, pledged to support citizens in establishing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the creation of a 70 million rials fund that will be increased by 7 million rials each year. In order for new start-up SMEs to gain a more competitive edge, the Sultan also ordered state land to be given free to entrepreneurs. In addition, the Oman government is hoping that foreign investment will create more employment opportunities for Omanis.

Investment opportunities in Oman

Oman’s Vision 2020 and Oman’s eighth Five Year Plan (2011-15) set clear objectives for economic diversification and development of Oman’s business and investment potential. Oman’s Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (PAIPED) is the government-run authority whose main mission is to facilitate investment in Oman and promote exports of Omani products and services to overseas markets. PAIPED’s 2009 Oman Investment and Promotion Strategy has proposed some industries that would meet Oman’s goal of economic diversification. These include automotive, infrastructure, ports, manufacturing, logistics, ICT, management and professional institutes, venture capital, financial services, international trade, insurance services and tourism.

Due to its strategic location, archaeological and historical remains, varied climate conditions and numerous sightseeing attractions, the tourism sector is an important and growing industry that offers lucrative investment opportunities. According to Albawaba Business, the chairman of Sundus Investments and vice chairman of National Bank of Oman, Mohammed Mahfoodh Al Ardhi, said that the Oman government is committed to boosting the tourism sector by investing in prestigious projects and encouraging foreign investment.

There are many benefits of investing in Oman, including a world-class infrastructure, incentive packages, attractive corporate tax and tax holidays, competitively priced industrial and office space, free zones and ports and a talented multilingual workforce. The Oman government also encourages foreign investors to collaborate with local companies in utilising its untapped resources, facilitating technology, innovation and management skills transfer and opening new markets for Oman products and services.

Roles of International Banks

Companies and entrepreneurs seeking to set up, expand and relocate to Oman should use international banks, which offer a range of products and services for corporate customers such as trade services, treasury services, corporate credit cards, and custody and clearing services.

If you are an exporter and need a loan to fill the gap in trade financing, you can apply for export financing in Oman to transport your products overseas. For example, with HSBC Bank, you can get pre-shipment finance to bridge the cash-flow gaps as well as post-shipment finance. If you are an importer, you can apply for documentary credits to help reduce the risks associated with international trade.

While there are numerous opportunities in the non-oil sector in Oman for foreign investors, the benefits and risks should be weighed before venturing abroad.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-06