Strongly looking into the "Free" business (yes, I said 'free' AND 'business') I ran across a world called "Second Life". I know, they're a silicon valley company funded by venture capitalists and hence, they are inherently evil and all. There source code is not released as GPL (yet). But. A whole lot of people 'come' there to get away from their lives, which is a tremendous opportunity for musicians like us. Here's how it works. You download a client (linux client is available in 'alpha stage' and has proven stable for me, XUbuntu 6.06 LTS, Dell Inspiron). What you get is essentially a cross between an online roleplaying game, a chat network, and a rich set of 3D modelling tools. So you go into this vast world, and all these other people are there. What's most amazing, they have a currency that can be converted into U.S. dollars at an exchange rate that works similarly to converting to other currencies. And the beef is, they support streaming audio into virtual 'land parcels', and the beef of beef is, they support doing that in OGG Vorbis. Since I am building my concept of Online-Centered audio promotion that also enables people to make a living, while preserving everyone's authority over their own computers, this thing appears to be a godsend. There are already musicians broadcasting LIVE concerts in there. Anyone who would like to look into the possibilities with me is very welcome to drop me a line: theman -AT- carlocapocasa -DOT- com. Or just would like some help getting sat up. The URL is: http://www.secondlife.com. My Second Life persona is called 'Carlo Andree'. With this information you can add me to your 'friends' list, and as a LAU participant you are warmly invited to. We have the potential here to: Be grande artists, retain creative control, earn a wealthy living, AND preserve and further the goals of a free society. Warm invitations to participate, and I feel this is just one more useful tool. Carlo
