Money Making Schemes

Nagesh answers:

I know that the government is much LESS efficiently run in Italy than in France. Getting things done in Italy would probably be harder because of it. Other than that Italy is nice. France is nice too, but you are going to have to make a concerted effort to learn French quickly. French people are particularly hostile to foreigners (especially Americans) who approach them expecting that they know how to communicate with you in your language. Social services are more efficiently run though and are less corrupt in France. If you choose Italy, you should know that southern Italy is almost a different country. The south is much poorer than the north. Naples even has trouble getting garbage to be removed from streets. France is more segregated though. Stay away from French “suburbs”, they are not safe. Both countries have pick-pocketing problems. As for economic circumstances, I would suggest making sure you can find a job before living in either. France’s unemployment rate is particularly high among young people. Italy, not so sure, but if you get a government job, make sure you have enough money to support yourself for a couple months because getting the paperwork sorted out to get a paycheck could take almost a year. Good luck!

Nagesh answers:

I know that the government is much LESS efficiently run in Italy than in France. Getting things done in Italy would probably be harder because of it. Other than that Italy is nice. France is nice too, but you are going to have to make a concerted effort to learn French quickly. French people are particularly hostile to foreigners (especially Americans) who approach them expecting that they know how to communicate with you in your language. Social services are more efficiently run though and are less corrupt in France. If you choose Italy, you should know that southern Italy is almost a different country. The south is much poorer than the north. Naples even has trouble getting garbage to be removed from streets. France is more segregated though. Stay away from French “suburbs”, they are not safe. Both countries have pick-pocketing problems. As for economic circumstances, I would suggest making sure you can find a job before living in either. France’s unemployment rate is particularly high among young people. Italy, not so sure, but if you get a government job, make sure you have enough money to support yourself for a couple months because getting the paperwork sorted out to get a paycheck could take almost a year

Nagesh answers:

File suit in small claims court provided the amount due is within the jurisdictional limit. Some states call these municipal courts, or county courts. Just go to the local state courthouse and find out.

Your claim is likely for breach of contract and if there’s a lien on a car or home or something, you may need to plead that. Since we don’t know what kind of repairs you did, its impossible to know what it is that you have. Also, since we don’t know where you are or where the other guy is, we don’t even know which court it is.

Finally, you don’t get possession. Typically you get a judgment and you try and levy what’s called a writ of execution or sometimes called a fieri facias or FiFa writ. The sheriff acting on your instructions, goes to wherever the defendant has property and levies on it. After that the sheriff sells the property and whatever is left over after the costs of the sale goes to satisfying your judgment. If there’s a surplus of money, it goes to other judgment holders, possibly, or divided up between you and any other judgment holders.

Another route is a garnishment of wages or a bank account.

Point is, you can definitely make the guy nervous but if he’s bound and determined not to pay you, at least you have a piece of paper that says he owes you money.

Another thing, most states have a statute of limitations so you should act quickly before time runs out to sue.

Nagesh answers:

Speaking from experience as a game tester, and as someone who knows several people that write reviews for major gaming sites, here’s what I can tell you.

Game Testing:
You need to be at least 18 years old. Most console game testing positions don’t require much education or skills. All you really need to be able to do is find bugs and write bug reports. Knowing some programming will probably help you get noticed, thus hired more quickly. So once you’re 18, apply at for a QA position with any of the major publishers. They are usually always looking for people, especially during the spring/summer when most game development is ramped up to reach the holidays goal.

Game Reviewer:
Start a blog and start writing reviews. Post them on Facebook, twitter, anywhere that will get them noticed. Submit them to n4g.com. Of course you won’t get paid for these reviews, but nobody starts off getting paid. You need to put in your time basically. After having a healthy amount of reviews under your belt, start emailing gaming sites about writing reviews for them. You probably will have to do that for free as well. After a while, you’ll make a name for yourself, and then you can actually start making some money. After gaining experience, check out major gaming sites and find out whether they are hiring reviewers. I think this is a tougher part of the industry to break into since there is a lot of competition out there willing to do it for free.

Good Luck!

Nagesh answers:

It depends. If you have an employer in mind and they are willing to sponsor you for a visa, it can go very quickly. If you have no idea where you want to work, who you want to work for and just want the “opportunity” to go live in the US and find a job, you have to wait your turn. People from all over the world want the same opportunity and each country is given a number of green card opportunities each year. In Mexico, these are in demand. You must wait your turn. How long depends entirely on how many people are in line ahead of you.

The paperwork and hoops you have to jump through are exactly the same for Mexican citizens and citizens from every other country in the world.