Sim-OnDemand is a paid service right from the outset. You need to subscribe to it in order to use it.
How Exactly Does Sim-OnDemand Subscription Work, and How can I Trust it?
Trust is central for a paid service to work. We will take a moment to review how trust is facilitated by Amazon Payments such that it is a win-win for all involved.
When you subscribe to Sim-OnDemand you are actually subscribing to use an Amazon Machine Image(AMI) that is pre-configured with a ready to run version of OpenSim. When you start using the subscription by launching Sim-OnDemand instances, your usage is metered by Amazon Web Services(AWS).
At the end of the month, your usage under different heads are consolidated and charged on to the credit card associated with your AWS account. Here is how the usage information is translated into end of the month payment transaction. Your usage details are always accessible via aws portal: You only need to trust the publisher of the AMI to make true claims about the content and functionality of the package. All usage accounting and financial transactions are handled by Amazon Web Services/Amazon Payments.
How Much Will It Cost?
Sim-OnDemand follows a pay-only-what-you-use model, thus different dimensions of usage are measured to calculate the usage charge. Here is a spreadsheet illustrating charges for three typical scenarios. The first one is on sheet name Explore in which the user spends about 2-3 hours per week to explore OpenSim( week end geeking). The next scenario is more serious exploration on sheet named Prototype spending about 20 hours a week( perhaps part of 'Work'). The last sheet named AlwaysOn tabulates usage charges for keeping the Sim running all the time. You are welcome to construct scenarios that reflect your anticipated usage and get a good idea of how much it is going to cost. Remember the numbers entered will be reset on browser
Subscription Sign-Up Screen Shots
Here are screenshots of the subscription steps. Initially you will be prompted to loging to your Amazon.com account. If you dont have one, you will be able to create one. The credit-card and personal information attached to your Amazon.com account will be used to setup your AWS account.
Once you are signed into your Amazon.com account, you will be prompted to signup for Amazon Web Services Elastic Computing Cloud EC2 service. If you you are already a EC2 user, you will not be prompted. Signing up to EC2 is essential as the Sim-OnDemand indeed runs on EC2.
Then you will be prompted to subscribe to Sim-OnDemand paid AMI. Just press 'Continue' button to subscribe.
You will be informed about the charges, the terms of conditions etc to complete the sign-up to Sim-OnDemand.
Once you have signed up to Sim-OnDemand, you will be assigned an Activation Key and taken to the product page. Where you will be able to download the Sim-OnDemand launcher application.
That completes the singnup. You will be able to configure the launcher in just a few simple steps and ready to launch your own Virtual World!
Please help, I have subscribed but cannot get the plugin/launcher to work. I get a blank white FF page and nothing happens. When I check my FF addons, it says this APP is not compatible with FF 3.6.12 (latest version). So which version must I use. Thanks
I get the same error. Especially frustrating since we have to pay first instead getting a trial which would have allowed me to move on! :( I cannot recommend this service at present.
Uploading ....
Thanks