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[joel]

The more people to join the Xara community the better for all users of the software. Brendon, maybe you should make an offer to Xara, with Kim Bong-Soo's talent, enthusiasm and expertise the Asian market could become a Xaran Haven.

I'm all for making nice. I'm happy, excited and thrilled to make my textures available to all that find them useful in their work and play. Now that I have a better understanding of the situation I probably should be ok with it…

Regards, Joel

[ivca]

Hi Kim and by all means, welcome to the mothership.

The reference to "copyrights", although not a joke in general, was meant as an inside joke because of a recent post. hardy har har ... ooooo K.
About that Astro Boy crack .... gulp. Boy, is my face red

Wayne

[kimbs]

Thanks everybody [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[bacarr]

I'm glad to see Mr. Kim has joined our little group, and that he's been warmly welcomed.

To Gary Priester: Your name's on his site in the context of telling users where the best tutorials are to be found. I haven't had a chance to plumb the depths of every link on his site, but I would guess that Mr. Kim has the idea to translate some of the tutorials.

The language barrier here in Korea is strong. English is hard enough, but computer English can be completely mystifying. Without localized versions of software and the instructions, it's impossible for people to use them. I would hope that Gary wouldn't mind if Mr. Kim got around to translating some of Gary's tutorials.

Does Xara still have its affiliate program? That could be one way for Mr. Kim to earn money from his worthwhile effort to support the small Xara community in Korea.

[Soquili]

Hello Kimbs,

I'm glad to see someone from Korea join our group. I spent two years living in Korea when I was in the Air Force. It is a beautiful country as Gary said. My favorite place was Hansa, about 70 kilometers north of Taegu.

I apologize if I misspelled the greeting, hope you understood what I meant to say.

Soquili [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Ross Macintosh]

I add my welcome to Kimbs too!

I had the pleasure to visit Korea for three weeks a few years ago. I'm with the others - Korea is a beautiful country. Everyone should have the pleasure of a visit and get to know the beautiful friendly Korean people. Great food too!

On my business trip there, I had the opportunity to demonstrate Xara to some graphics people who worked at Hyundai's Livart division. They were very impressed and seemed to really appreciate its flexibility.

Now, given the growth of the internet, companies like Xara do have the opportunity to sell their products around the world. I would think that with a few tweaks Xara could sell well in Korea. Translating the help files would be crucial. Translating the menus should also be top priority as well as the "tool tips". If Xara has problems working with the Korean fonts that would have to be addressed too. (If I recall correctly most Korean Windows-running machines utilize individual fonts that are several mb in size! The fonts are extremely taxing on the systems and many programs crash and are bearly usable).

The Xara affiliate program known as the XaraClub is a strong opportunity for Kimbs to make a business out of his efforts. The program is generous and quite professional. Kimbs and Xara might have to translate some of the online ordering stuff for it to be an effective sales tool in Korea. An alternative would be for Kimbs to be more of a middleman and take orders and process them himself in a less automatic manner.

Best wishes to Kimbs.
Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[Ross Macintosh]

Brendon - I thought I'd write to say how much I enjoyed your firm's website. I actually added it to my "favorites" - that's not something I ever would have anticipated doing with a law firm's site. (That's a compliment!). I admire how you and your partner are trying to do something different with your firm. I too work in an industry with unreasonable demands on staff in regards to billable hours, and so your approach really appeals to me. (My hours last year approached 3000 - far to much and I've been cutting back for the sake of my family and my health).

I also enjoyed reading about your beautiful children. Again that was not something I expected to find on a law firm's website.

I applaud you on the site and I hope my mention of it will encourage others to visit. I think its an excellent example of how companies should effectively use the internet - that's why I added it to my favorites.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[bacarr]

I got a nice e-mail this morning from Mr. Kim Bong-Soo (family name Kim, for everyone's understanding). He's really pleased to receive so many messages from members of the English-speaking Xara community who have fondness for Korea.

He says that translating the help files and tutorials is almost a full-time job (sound familiar, Gary?).

I do think there's a market opportunity here for Xara, especially given that Korea is in the midst of a campaign to crack down on piracy. CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator sell for $350 and $600, respectively, so a $149 alternative that works better may have some appeal to graphic artists. Let's throw a Xarapalooza here in Seoul to introduce the product!

[amoore]

Ross -- Thanks for prodding us to check out Brendon's website. No wonder you've made it a Favorite. :-) It's a wonderful example of the power of simplicity.

Brendon -- Thanks so much for speaking up! However you feel about your artistic skills, you've made valuable contributions to the Xara community on several levels. As for your website, it makes me wish I could give you some work (and I can't think of a higher compliment, given its purpose).

BTW, do your daughters have Korean names as well as English names?

Mr. Kim -- Welcome to the forum. You have some interesting work on your website. I particularly like the Xara character, and the magnifying glass animation is nice, too. I look forward to seeing more of your images. I also hope that your efforts in promoting Xara prove fruitful.

Your English is better than my Korean. In fact, all I know how to say is "sang il chook ha ham ni da" (which, for everyone else, I understand to mean "happy birthday".) Since the forum includes Xarans from all over the world, we find that communication can be a learning experience for all of us, and we usually greet the hiccups with good humor.

You probably know that we English speakers tend to address each other by our first names. Some of my Korean acquaintances have used surnames in that way (one of them calls me "Moore"), and others have preferred to use nicknames. Please advise how you would like for us to address you.

Moore Allison