Virtual 'investors' buy online property; Latest Internet fad has buyers scooping up virtual property
Meet Tony D'Andrea, the "other" mayor of Kelowna.
D'Andrea is not only the virtual mayor of Kelowna, he bought the whole city.
D'Andrea found a new Canadian website called Weblo.com that allows members to buy and sell in the virtual world everything that exists in the real world.
"Weblo.com is a giant, multi-player online world that has been referred to as Monopoly on steroids," said Weblo media relations manager Colin Trethewey.
"A virtual copy of every real city, province, state and other properties is up for sale. Over 7,300 cities have sold for real money, and the virtual mayors of these cities are making money from all transactions in their territories."
Weblo is headquartered in Montreal.
D'Andrea figures he is in on the ground floor of the next Internet phenomenon. He paid about US$80 to buy Kelowna.
"It's supply and demand," said D'Andrea. "It's what anybody wants to offer for it. For instance, I was the first person to buy Dubai, so I got it for $5. I've had at least 15 to 20 offers for Dubai, up to $50.
"This is the new thing that's coming up on the Internet. I figure this is eventually going to be worth something as soon as people catch on."
Members can place money in their accounts using a credit card or the PayPal online money transfer system. They can remove their money - real money - using PayPal.
Gela Chisholm paid $5,000 for ownership of B.C. and thus also became virtual premier.
She also owns 16 cities.
"I bought one city for $5, and someone gave me $200 for it," she said. "That's a good deal."
"I own stocks and bonds and real property, but I was told I need to diversify. Computers being what they are, it sounded like an interesting thing to invest in."
Chisholm hasn't withdrawn any money from her account yet, saying she is willing to sit on it for the long run.
"For me, it's a long-term investment," she said. "I'm making money regularly. I'm betting on the fact that the more people who know about it, more will get involved. It's only just started."
Weblo members can buy any piece of property by just supplying an address. They can also market their properties on the website.
Real-world advertising is placed on some web pages by companies that provide that service. For instance, there are hotel ads on the Montreal webpage. If someone clicks on the ad, the "mayor" of Montreal gets a small commission.
Weblo makes its money by setting the initial purchase price of a property and then charging a five per cent transaction fee for any properties that are traded.
Trethewey noted that Ontario recently resold for $16,900, a profit of $5,350.
California sold for $53,000
CraigsList, Yellow Pages, and Web Directory Lists as Information Providers
Phone books have by now outlived their usefulness. Well, there was that one time when my husband left the toilet paper roll on the floor, directly beneath the waiting empty roll, for the 72nd time in a row. But for its actual end of providing information to me, I cannot remember when I last used it. In this day and age my computer is always so much closer than the phone book, although admittedly, it is much harder to throw across a room when frustrated. But yet I keep the thing around, try to cloak the unsightly machine with my decor or what have you. I have to keep it out and in plain sight for the whole world to agree that yes; I have a phonebook available for your information pleasure. Heaven forbid I lose another useless monstrosity. Right, because something that is 6 inches thick and could be injurious when thrown appropriately could be lost easily. But seriously, do you think I know where it is? No, because I never use it. Just about anything that I need from it can be found on the Internet. The people that want to be found will be in the phone book, but I can try to find out about them on the Internet as well. And if they don't want to be found, well, I am not going to find them in either place. But every year, Bell unfailingly drops one off at the end of my driveway, and within minutes, it ends up - somewhere - just in case I have an immediate phone number emergency where 911 does not apply (I have that one memorized, anyway).
Gone are the days of letting our fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages. In fact, even the Yellow Pages are on the web as well. The Yellow Pages can't be knocked; they still remain one of the most useful information services out there. When looking for local information on businesses or services, it is the most effective provider of information. But I don't raise the level of my strength training program by flipping through hard copy information. I log on. In fact, it is faster for me to find my pizza place on the Internet than to find the phone number in the book. With the rise of terrific local information providing sites like Craigslist or web directory sites, I have many more options available to me within seconds if I need information. Craigslist and web directories operate very similarly to the Yellow Pages, with a few extras. Craigslist is primarily a classified ad site, but it can give a whole lot of useful information. Not only can I find local business information, but can also look for housing (which will come in handy for my husband if he attempts the toilet roll conundrum one more time), look for work, social activities, or whatever other community classifieds information you might want. What makes it even better is that I will be free from the attack of the ads while I am doing so, as I am in so many other places on the Internet.
In fact, Craigslist is so easy to use, and now, widely accepted, having over 15 million users a month, that even my online Yellow Pages are becoming archaic. The information on Craigslist is also current information, which does not always hold true for the Yellow Pages, online or otherwise. And now, with eBay controlling some of its shares, it is holding its own even in the company of bigger sites like Google and Yahoo. Clearly, the providing of local information is on its way to become the exclusive function of websites.
Ajeet Khurana is an Internet enthusiast, futurist and teacher. If you liked this article, also visit: Craigslist Phoenix, Web Directory List and Yellow Pages.
CraigsList, Yellow Pages, or Web Directory List?
I can't even remember the last time I picked up a phone book. Well, there was that one time when my husband left the toilet paper roll on the floor, directly underneath the waiting empty roll, for the 72nd time in a row. But for its actual idea of providing information to me, I cannot remember when I last used it. In this day and age my computer is always so much closer than the phone book, although absolutely, it is much harder to throw across a room when frustrated. But yet I keep the thing around, try to cloak the unsightly machine with my decor or what have you. I have to keep it out and in plain sight for the whole world to recognize that yes; I have a phonebook available for your information pleasure. Heaven forbid I lose another useless monstrosity. Right, because something that is 6 inches thick and could be injurious when thrown appropriately could be lost easily. But seriously, do you think I know where it is? No, because I never use it. Just about anything that I need from it can be found on the Internet. The people that want to be found will be in the phone book, but I can look for them online as well. And if they don't want to be found, well, I am not going to find them in either place. But every year, Bell faithfully drops one off at the end of my driveway, and within minutes, it ends up - somewhere - just in case I have an immediate phone number emergency where 911 does not apply (I have that one memorized, anyway).
Gone are the days of letting our fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages. In fact, even the Yellow Pages are on the web as well. The Yellow Pages can't be knocked; they still remain one of the most useful information services out there. When looking for local information on businesses or services, it is the first place I go to. But I don't raise the level of my strength training program by flipping through hard copy information. I log on. In fact, it is faster for me to look up my pizza place on the Internet than to find the phone number in the book. Also, with the advent of sites like Craigslist or web directory sites, I have so many choices available to me within seconds if I need information. Craigslist and web directories operate very similarly to the Yellow Pages, with a few extras. Craigslist is primarily a classified ad site, but it can give a whole lot of useful information. Not only can I find local business information, but can also look for housing (which will come in handy for my husband if he attempts the toilet roll conundrum one more time), look for work, social activities, or other kinds of community classifieds information. What makes it even better is that I will not be inundated with ads while I am doing so, as I am in so many other places on the Internet.
In fact, Craigslist is so easy to use, and now, quite the rage, having over 15 million users a month, that even my online Yellow Pages are becoming out-of-date. The information on Craigslist is also current information, which is not always the case with the Yellow Pages, online or otherwise. And now, with eBay controlling some of its shares, it is holding its own even in the company of bigger sites like Google and Yahoo. Clearly, the providing of local information is on its way to become the exclusive function of websites.
Ajeet Khurana is an Internet enthusiast, futurist and teacher. If you liked this article, also visit: Craigslist AZ, Web Directory List and Yellow Pages.
