Is this a GREAT idea or what ???? Legal ??? Can we do it ??? why do I get the first system...because I thought of it :) As an alternative...even Renderosity could launch this...as long as I get mine first :) ---------------------------------------------------- The Pitch: So, here's the prospective deal.... I'll, or "osity, sells entries at $1 U.S. each for inclusion in a contest to win a new, speed demon computer system. RULES: Enter as many times as you like. No Refunds. Minimum entries required. You can only win 1 system. We can get someone or some place to handle the cash so there are no surprises. I'm an honest guy and wouldn't steal any of it, but I'm sure some security measures would have to be in force. small print: 20,000 entries minimum. I get mine and you get yours. //all money beyond the cost to build my speed demon system, will be distributed to build additional systems...as many as can be built from funds available. There could be many winners of a super fast computer system. If Renderosity sponsors and manages the contest, portions of the proceeds, maybe 10% or some other figure, would go to them for adminstrative costs and also operating expenses...A GREAT WAY TO HELP THE RENDEROSITY COMMUNITY We could even buy a copy of P5 and some other graphics software to include preloaded and ready to roll...Lightwave, Maya, whatever....a complete graphics studio....maybe a WACOM Intuos, etc.... Just think about it...maybe you can't afford a new system, but surely you could afford to spend $1, $2, $3, or even $10 on the chance to win a demon fast desktop system... How about $1 from each of you...that's over $100,000 .... WOW !!! Just from Renderosity members.... A super duper system with loaded software would be around $10,000...if Renderosity administered this...at say 15% fee...and they take in $100,000...thats $15,000 in the coffers...plus 7 folks would win the systems, (actually 8, but 1 would go to me for this excellent idea)...that leaves $5000....which could be given to charity or something. Well, what do you think ???? Should we get it rolling ????

It may be illegal - online gambling or lottery in competition with states' or countries' lotteries.

it may be...not sure, although there are plenty of this type of raffle... If it is legal, I think Renderosity could administer it fairly easily...a great way to help the site, and the users would benefit...plus a few would have a very happy day :)

Actually, it'd be no different than a raffle, which, provided certain conditions are met, are perfectly legal...

'How about $1 from each of you...that's over $100,000' Make that $999,999, dave, since you won't be getting a buck from me. I prefer to buy myself a coffee with the dollar. LOL Nice try, tho' mac

And I'd be happy to shell out a few bucks if... ... you gave a Macintosh option. ; )

Oops! $99,999, I meant! Just in case you thought I was going to pay $899,999 for my entry. You might also want to give an extra incentive to people by advertising in large type 'NO POSER 5 INSTALLED ON THESE MACHINES!!' LMAO mac

Ok....no POoser 5... Hey, we can do Macs....no problem... So they make a demo speedy machine ??? Actually, probably better at rendering than PC...or not ?

Work more??? I already put in 50+ hours a week at my day job...then go home and feed the kids, do laundry, clean the house...on and on.....oh yeah..mow the lawn, walk the dog, take out the trash... Give me a break :)

This could also be worked as a killer promo. A Renderosity driven promo backed by prizing from hardware and software companies. Think big here! This negates an entry fee and keeps the government from seeing this as gambling. This benefits the entire community with increased traffic etc. Either way you do it it is a great idea to get people focused on creating again. A few media mentions could help drive this too...like Tech TV's "The Screen Savers". You want traffic... build it and they will come! I love brainstorming! Endorphins for everyone!

How about entry with purchase. A little incentive to buy through the store? After all, thats where the 'sity makes it's money.

Keep the comments comming, then we can all formulate something great here. This has big possibilities.

Yep...as long as I get my new system from this first. No one wants to contribute to my collection from that other thread...so need to come up with something here :) I can't believe Karyn has collected nearly $20,000 from contributors to help pay off her credit cards, and all I get is stale cheesy poofs.... once again, what the hell are cheesy poofs????

If everyone here would just send me 1 dollar, everything would be great. I only need about 6,000 people to do it. C'mon, it's just a dollar. Hey, I only really need 3,000 people here to send me 2 dollars, or 1,000 people just send me a five. Hey! I think I found out a way to get RICH! Why don't we all do this . . . everyweek, we'll all send a dollar to a new person. That person will get alot of money. Then a new person. And we'll all just rotate, and get rich! Woo-hoo! Mo money! Mo money!

Hey I think you have discovered what the Rockerfellas and the Banker boys have know all along!

that would be a good lottery.... We draw 10 names a month..everyone registered on Renderosity has to send those guys $1 each....wow... :) At the most you'd only be out $120 a year, but there would be some pretty happy folks....guess that's an illegal lottery... why should they care...they get theirs every year...why can't we at least do something t make a few bucks....Suppose the government has to TAX it...freakin morons

There was a guy on the radio one day explaining how you could have your own medical clinic, doctors, nurses, and everything right in your own neighborhood and save thousands on medical insurance if peope could work together. The frst year or 2 would be a bit tough, but if you had 100 families contributing $100/month....$10,000/month... $120,000/year... you also have the cash collecting interest...not too great right now, but it would start to compound pretty fast... So, you can see that in a community of perhaps 20 or 30 thousand..if you could convince half of them to contribute to the local medical/dental association, say 10,000 families, it wouldn't take too long to get rid of insurance and have pretty much free medical coverage. You may say, well that's a lot of cash, but most people blow off a lot more than that per month on useless trivial stuff.... It would in the end cost almost everyone a lot less for medical.dental...and you know that you could keep the cost under control as well...even reduce the overall medical cost.... Do you realize that 10,000 families paying $100/month for medical would contribute $12 MILLION dollars annually to this fund ???? plus interest gained Yes, people get sick, but if you had control of what it cost...hell, you could hire a couple of doctors at great salary...a couple of nurses, etc, etc...some admin , the whole deal and stay under budget and have cash left over... Insurance companies are sure some greedy people.

Dave, judging from your post above about having nothing when rendering with firefly, I think you might not be in the running for first prize. Just a thought. ROFLMAO

I got first rapped up for sure... Thst's what I must need to have P5 work, a new system... what's a few thou here and there... My wife and kids don't need food...as long as Poser works, hey, that's all that matters.

Actually, dave, you can build a really kewl system for under 500 bucks on ebay. I don't know how computer hardware savvy you are, maybe a bare bones system would be good to start with if you're not used to building. I hate those cuz I'm kinda picky about the components and manufacturers I buy. Asus ATI Match the ram mfgr if you use multiple sticks AMD decent power supply I'm on my fifth asus/amd system. Thinking about building another after the first of the year. Might go dual processor (and of course, matched amd chips). I spent 6k on my 486 back in '95. Watched purple flame blow out the back on Diamond Speedstar card, etc. Blew up and fought incompatability like crazy. IMHO, the only way to go is tried and true components and NO junkware that comes with storebought brands.

Ok, I hope I don't make anybody sick with this... Depending on what you already have, you may be able to turn it into a top of the line computer, for as little as $200. I just upgraded mine about a month ago. It's now an AMD XP 2000, with new board and 1gb (Corsair DDR 2700). Total cost: $302.59 (after shipping). That was a month ago, the prices have already dropped. Heck, I'm willing to bet, somebody can do better. ~DM

Yep...cheap again....I was..now I"m broke...going to update my kids system..he has a k6-2/300... Newegg has a mb and 1600+ for $100... Plus, like you guys said, you can get screamin stuff for less than $300.

newegg, eh? That's where I got the board and proc form. One of the better online sellers I've delt with. The other one is Spartan Tech, but only because they're local. Would hate to order form them online. Stupid Illinois online sales tax. It's higher than the regular in-store sales tax. O_o; ~DM