Lipcrack Business History and Structure
Lipcrack.com as a business trades under the registered business of A for Alternative. ABN. 71759970273
A for Alternative runs as a Sole Trader activity.
History of Hosting Accounts and Web Service Providers.
Pre History : The Bodymap Website, not yet included.
The history of Lipcrack.com inception goes back to my first position held as an Internet Sales Representative for, what at the time was called Cobweb Internet Services, I worked for this company in 1996/97 for a number of months, the business was sold to Chariot Internet Services.
Initial site development began in the area which is allocated to users as per their account purchase. It was run off the domain of the service provider as a user name e.g. http://www.cobweb.net.au/~alena and http://www.chariot.net.au/~alena. Once the site began developing it soon became evident that 10 Mb was not going to be enough space to host the site. After a period of time on line, I moved the files to a free hosting service called http://www.bravepages.net. As far as statistics go from this site, I can only estimate that our time on line with this hosting service provider was around July 14th 2002 when the first site hit counter was incorporated into the site. There were actually two sites created which again ran off the free services section of the site. These were http://www.soularts.bravepages.com and http://www.iceexplosive.bravepages.com. At some stage, the Bravenet hosting services became associated with another company called http://www.Ocatch.com. I don't really recall why this occurred, but it resulted in half of our files being hosted with one company, and the other with another, which in fact was a little too messy.
At some stage, with no real recollection for how the name Lipcrack came into existence, other than deciding I wanted a name for the business that gave some form of meaning and expression to all things that Lipcrack was to become. I decided that this was a very dynamic name that fitted the medium's that I was working in, mainly music, sound, aromatherapy, computing and arts. The original Business plan name, Soul's Haven was dropped as the business moved into new mediums, although Soul continued to perpetuate through the existence of the building.
In fact Soulmissing@yahoo.com.au as an email, was initiated as a response to a number of instances that were occurring at that time, this being one of them, the loss of Soul's Haven, the other being that when ever I was trying to send email's to individuals that I had met in the music industry via email addresses that I was provided with, the email's didn't go through or some other form of mystery surrounded the matter, basically it was created to inform people that I was missing in action.
Meanwhile the first inception of the band name Lipcrack for Soul Uzers was dropped and shortened to Lipcrack. There were many word anagram's and perceptions that were being portrayed by this naming, some of them sexual in reference, some of them taking a dig at the lack of feminine representation in music, and some just as a basic slap in the face to people that were not giving the feminine aspect of creation much more credence than being a piece of meat for sexual exploitation. So that's where Lipcrack started getting heavy, although when initially moving in all mediums it was not much more than a joke and something to have some fun with.
So of course in between times the internet services war's had commenced and various business groups were starting to take their claim of market share for service provision and of course pocketing high end takings from the consumer market. Lipcrack came into the market place with little knowledge of how the major's were going to start eating away into the small amount of income we were being provided via social welfare. However to sit still and do nothing to further our position in life would be suicide, although in doing so it seemed again, suicide.
So from service provider to service provider we hopped in an effort to maintain the asset, while trying to minimize the cost of production for running it, while also trying to keep it running from people who were obviously working at making it not run. This was no easy task with service providers that were capitalizing on booting systems for dial up accounts which would boot you off the system so that you had to radial into the company via the telephone system and thus being able to maximize profit's all the while at the consumers cost.
Around December of 2003 the Lipcrack name was finally decided upon as the name that would be registered for website development. This was in fact a very important stage in the building of Lipcrack.com because it established that I was willing to put money into this business for furthering it's development. The site could in fact still be run as a free site, but in terms of creating an identity for what was being built this established a more concrete presence for those that were willing to join us on the journey of developing a band, a site, a brand, and whatever else Lipcrack.com would become.
Little remain's of the initial site developed on numerous servers, although by now Onetel.com.au which was to become Iprimus.com had taken their fare share of hosting and telephone dollar's from our pockets, with little in return from anyone that was visiting the site and downloading from us. Again, why Souluzers was incorporated into the naming. Basically it felt with each download with no monetary return it was soul destroying. So thankfully we still had our Social Welfare Benefit, which it seemed would be the next item that they would try and take away.
Meanwhile when connecting with the Iprimus account I was unable to get the user name I wanted, I recall being asked what user name do you want ?, as nothing really sprang to mind, I said "Uzer", and this was how the "Uzer", part of the name became incorporated into Lipcrack. We were computer Uzers and there were Lipcrack for Soul Uzers.
From there the list of Web Hosting Service providers grew, with each alleged Spam Complaint, or failure in provision of service. It didn't take long to realize that all shapes and all sizes of people and business groups were going to make our life a hell on Earth, rather than a pleasure to do business with. This update shall continue soon.
Business Growth and Development
1995 : First Business registered X-Cell Live, a music industry promotions business that focused on promoting Australian hardcore music.
1996 - 1997 : First inception of web site for business owner run off member page of dial up account's with various
ISP's . Commencing with
Cobweb Internet Services (later to become Chariot), followed by One-tel which later became Iprimus. Currently run from an ISP in New South Wales under a Broadband account. Confidential for privacy.
2001 -2002 : A for Alternative registered as a business. Accounting procedures were put in place, business activities prior to this have been recorded through tax agents.
Following the preparation of a business plan under a small business training course, an art's business was commenced. Item's were purchased for inclusion into an online website that had been providing natural healing and metaphysical health information for customers and web site browsers. Following this the site expanded to include song lyrics and musical inserts. A number of different business concepts were tested for inclusion however these were not continued.
2003-2004 : Purchases in line with business development and evolving internet technologies were continued. Most relevant for this period of purchases were the software components that facilitate the back end marketing to email addresses. The main benefit of this process is that list's do not have to be stored on competing business servers and decreases the likelihood of list pilfering. What this means is that mailing list's do not come into the hand's of business groups that can duplicate them and utilize them for their own business practices.
Some art's purchases were made, along with item's for musical development.
2004-2005 : Purchase of art items ceased this year, it is considered that there is currently enough stock on hand. Market is monitored for future purchases. Commenced trading account in finance sector. This account remains open for future business development. Major purchases including updating computer to new
laptop considered the main operational business asset of the business.
2005 -2006 : This year expenses increased due to an international round the world promotional tour. Details of tour can be found on website main page. This caused a sharp increase in expenses.
Business expenses have increased from 2001 to 2006, however business has diversified in that time creating more
revenue streams. Although some expenses have increased the benefit's seem to outweigh the costs in terms of efficiency. For example an upgrade to a broadband account has increased speed of managing day to day business activities. Although business is currently running at a loss due to expenses, stock on hand has increased over time, also art appreciation must be taken into account in the event of sales.
2006-2007 : This year saw more effort going into Research and Development with some very pleasing results. Lipcrack were able to establish which program's to continue to update as a part of continuing business development due to their excellence in performance, these are utilized mainly in creation of products for the marketplace, these decisions had an overall effect on expenses. Along with this research we were able to develop new skill's for further reach into the marketplaces we are targeting mainly Entertainment Based Industries. This saw the introduction of Switch The Channel Productions. Along with new MP3 updates we also added a new Video Section to our range of products. Although Lipcrack.com currently provide services for the distribution of Lipcrack.com products we still are interested in making it an Alternative Service for other product producers.
In terms of business relationships we have maintained our position with our Overseas's Hosting Company and after many unsuccessful attempts at locating an ISP locally we currently have an ongoing business relationship with a Melbourne based ISP.
In terms of overall business performance we increased stock only marginally. Business expenses decreased significantly however this mainly would be attributed to international travel and promotion cuts. Future business development and sale of capital items will require some travel. We increased asset's ready for production in terms of a new movie script completed and registered with the Screen Writers Guild of America.
Investment income increased and business income loss was decreased. In terms of movie creation, this is not currently included in expenses as it is being assessed in terms of inclusion in business development. No costs so far incurred have been included in business assessment, however it may at a later date be incorporated into business costs through a project pool.
Overall the business performance indicated an improvement in cost management and income revenue increased. It would be reasonable to say in terms of business operations it would be unlikely that costs could be reduce further without decreasing efficiencies of business operations.
Item not yet included but will be - list of ISP's that have hosted the site and dates of hosting.
An ideological look at Lipcrack and its evolutionary path.
A look at business area's for further development.
Including pervious business plan.
Also complete Lipcrack Business Infrastructure details.
Also include a chronology of Music releases.
Include 3-D Programs and there current place within business development..e.g. renders to clothing and other product range.
This inside look at Lipcrack.com is by no mean's complete, it is the intention of Lipcrack.com to keep this record as up to date as possible.
Further additions will include the History of Lipcrack, where we started and where we want to take it. Lipcrack.com realize that the potential to build upon the base product is quite large. Lipcrack has always been an evolving phenomena, and we hope to keep it that way. Although it is not our intention to sell Lipcrack.com we believe that good records provide the basis of professional advancement and help other's to understand how we would like to see it evolve.
Lipcrack Business Infrastructure
Lipcrack Laptop Computer
Acer Extensa
Intel Celeron M340 Processor
40 Gig Hardrive
500 RAM
DVD/CD writeable
1.5 GHz, 400MHz FSB
Lipcrack External Storage Facility
500 gig. Currently personal usage.
Lipcrack.com Domain.
The Lipcrack.com Domain has been in operation since 2001 when first purchased from Bravenet.com. Previous to this it was run as a free website on the Bravenet service at http://www.soularts.bravepages.com. A secondary site was also opened at http://www.iceexplosive.bravepages.com, this has often been disputed however records and receipts show this clearly to be the case. Prior to that the site including health information and musical releases made available via website pages run from member accounts of local and interstate ISP local dial up connections.
The Lipcrack.com site has been transferred to a number of different web hosting services in that time due to alleged Spam Breaches. In the event that the Lipcrack.com domain were made available for sale, there would be no requirement that the Lipcrack.com site continues as a release site for Lipcrack.com music, however a penalty installment price would be applied for the change of business practice.
The Lipcrack.com domain is registered to :
Alena Housego
100 Upper Sturt Rd
Upper Sturt
S.Australia 5156
Ph 61 8 83393523
It is registered until 2009. Current registrar is private however will be disclosed in the event of a sale.
Lipcrack WebHosting.
The Lipcrack.com Domain is hosted in the United States. Hosting company details currently unavailable due to privacy, however in the event of sale would be disclosed.
The current hosting company provides 24 hour support, and have been most helpful in resolving technical difficulties. The site hosting service provides an easy to use panel for updating the site and includes a number of additional services including statistical monitoring.
The benefit of this site is it's no limit hosting policy. In terms of hosting the potential for expanding the core Lipcrack.com base this implies limitless opportunity. There is a 99.99% uptime guarantee. Multiple domains can be hosted and billing is currently on a yearly plan. Database management is available along with the most typical web site developer functions. In the event of further information, do not hesitate to contact the registrant at the above address or at lipcrack@lipcrack.com email.
Lipcrack Internet Connection.
Currently the Lipcrack site is run on a broadband ISP connection. The connection enables Lipcrack.com to promote itself using various marketing techniques available to Internet Marketers. These processes are restricted knowledge processes, in terms of the working's of
internet and its evolving market places, but one such example is news groups. The connection enables mail to mail promotions via email lists. This service can be upgrade to an ASDL account via the modem. Currently Lipcrack.com place of business does not reside on an upgraded line so better results may be achievable from infrastructure if located elsewhere. Currently all infrastructure is easy to relocate due to the size of the main capital items, which include a laptop computer and ASDL modem.
One Trading Account with 2 Checkout.
This is not time limited. Account has been purchased and enables business owner to add items for sale within the guidelines of salable items. Please check 2CheckOut.com Inc. web site for prohibited items list. In the event of a sale of the Lipcrack.com site, this account would be included along with details of account and password. This section of the Lipcrack site can be found at http://www.lipcrack.com/saleitems1.htm
One Graphic Animations Account.
This is an account with an established online animations supplier. Access is on a year to year subscription basis with a discount for ongoing subscription. Subscription can be upgraded to a gold package which provides access to many other web development functions. Designs can be used in T- Shirt manufacture and other advertising mediums without infringement. The flexibility of this account enables the Lipcrack site to be redeveloped yearly if one so chooses due to the constant updates of the animation library.
This does not include items on the Free Gear page, these are copyright property of the site designer and are only available for sale through negotiation.
Lipcrack Telecommunications Service
Lipcrack run a telephoney service through the broadband service. This is a VOIP service run through an online telecommunications carrier.
It has numerous advantages due to the lower costs for making calls to land lines, mobile phones and other users of this service, to which call's are free. Installed on the computer it also incorporates into the Explorer Browser, therefore when you click on a website that display's a telephone number all you need do is click the number which also has international extensions automatically inputted. Conversations can be run through telephone headsets attached to the computer or just by talking into the computer mic.
Lipcrack New's Section.
Run by a news updating software application, Flash Blogger. Requires news to be compiled in a word document processor, cut and pasted into the news software and uploaded to the web hosting service. Software application has a number of adjustable features and can be changed to give almost any look and feel, including backgrounds, colors and layout. This application does not require renewal, and will need to determine if it has a transferable license, also will need to check, for free updates function. To be completed. See below process for updating news section.
This program is run from the External Hard Drive.
Lipcrack MP3's.
A number of Lipcrack Mp3's are available on the site for free download. In the event of a sale of the Lipcrack.com site a price would be required for settlement transfer of music and lyrical copyright of these items. Previously published items and non released items are not included and would have to be considered in the terms of sale. These releases will be cataloged. To be completed.
Transfer of this unreleased item is by negotiation.
Lipcrack Extreme Cubism 3-D Music Screen Saver.
This item is available for resale and at this stage has an ongoing life in perpetuity. It is currently offered for sale at approximately $5.00 AU. on the website. In the event of sale of site, price would be negotiated for its sale. Product was developed with software and need's to be
determined if license is transferable. To be completed.
Lipcrack Pop Up Blocker.
This item is currently made available free on the website and would be made available free of charge in the cost of sale of Lipcrack.com.
For the selling of this web application, please note that the software that produces this application is upgradeable and a licence can be
purchased for selling the pop up blocker. Currently it can be offered for free, and can also be upgraded to include a range of useful functions which can be distributed for free. Basically if you wish to sell the application you need to pay for the license to do so, which provides you with access to sell the item at whatever cost you like. The software provider seem's very approachable and is willing to negotiate on these terms.
This information would be available on request, and would also be included in the event of a sale of the Lipcrack.com website and domain.
It should be known that evolving technologies and upgrades of different internet browsers affect the longevity of this item. Currently it does work on the Microsoft Explorer browser, but competing products do try to remove the application.
Need to include a list of other functions of Toolbar. Also need to create a thank you install page and thank you uninstall page.
Lipcrack Photo Gallery
The items in this gallery are not for sale and would not be included in the sale of Lipcrack.com. This is merely a photo gallery of Lipcrack's first world tour experiences. That is not to say that Lipcrack.com would not be willing to negotiate on this item. Currently the gallery is updated via an application that came with the computer. It has a number of small coding errors. Due to the unlimited hosting application, this area of the site, could be continued as a photo gallery by running a different gallery publishing application.
Lipcrack Email
Lipcrack run a state of the art email program, so no longer is receiving email's from the boss a drama and mailing your friends is a pleasure with 3-Dimensional emails and 3-D rotifers. This part of the program is for personal use and is not part of the List Management Software listed below. This company is listed on NASDAQ exchange where its mission includes creating an entertaining email experience. Recent updates to the program include a translator that automatically translates from all number of languages, it also has a back end dictionary connection. Numerous skins are available to enhance your mail experience and a skin kit enables your business to build it's own. A VIP customer service desk enables a clarification on any mail problems.
Click here to see a sample of mail deliveries.
This service has been paid for in full. It can be updated at a nominal fee to Gold Status.
Lipcrack Animations
Lipcrack has a page which details small animation releases from developmental work with 3-D Animation. Currently available free to download via http://www.lipcrack.com/video.htm
Robby The Robot.
Robby the Robot is a program application provided by Microsoft. It is a free application that can be run on any one who runs a website. It is quite difficult to develop into a website, however once there, very easy to run and manage as on the Lipcrack site. See instructions below for maintaining the talking robot.
Computer Diagnostic Operations
The below items are new items for maintaining the operations of the Lipcrack.com website on The Crack Machine (refer's to the computer that holds the life of Lipcrack.com).These item's maintain the security and functionality of the computer.
Computing Monitoring System
Currently removes spyware and clean's registery of invalid entries. Also repairs system config files along with removing junk files.
Firewall System
This system currently run's two firewalling systems along with the Window's XP firewall. Current firewall software allow's for better user management of resources, with the ability to clearly identified possible security breaches. Currently the firewall system on the Lipcrack machine requires an authentication of any process that is about to take place via user end and internet end. This has proved useful as it provides a security alert the moment any program is gaining access to the internet. Some programs have been found to be communicating without user
knowledge.
Extra Programs
Winzip -used for opening zipped files. Registered Version.
FTP Program
The computer has an ftp program installed, and records and logs ftp processes. This refers to the process in which a file is created, saved and transferred to a web hosting facility to display the file. It refers to the actual process of the transfer of the file. While not necessary to have a program, there are benefits of maintaining logs by using an ftp program. One can also use Microsoft Explorer Browser as an ftp facility. The current web host control panel also has an ftp process, where by you log into the command panel, and can upload via the command panel's ftp process.
Data Flow Mechanism
Due to being informed of data excess in terms of web flow traffic via Internet Services, a data flow mechanism has been installed on the computer, it monitors all traffic input and output from the computer and graph's all data. In the case of a dispute regarding traffic flow this provides clear and concise evidence of the data flow from the machine.
File Management System
This useful item, does a diagnostic of a computers resources, programs and file management. By utilizing it one is able to determine which programs are consuming system resources and which programs run duplicate files within the Windows Environment.
Lipcrack Business Divisions Found on Site Map
The Lipcrack site came into being after a number of business restructuring and renamings. Initially called Soul's Haven the business plan was published at http://www.soularts.bravepages.com. Lipcrack.com are considering re :publishing this item. It has provided a basic framework for the development of the site, and over time due to market conditions has changed to reflect evolving markets. It is now the
Lipcrack.com site.
Included on the site map :
1. Art Department.
The art department holds images of art items, first included in the business plan for Soul's Haven. Some item's are of a business nature in that they are available for the wider community to view and make purchase off. Some items are of a personal nature. This is currently being cataloged.
2. Marketing
The Lipcrack site is run by a back end marketing software that send's email's to our lists. It is a useful program as it manages lists of considerable size that might not go through your traditional mail server. Lipcrack's background educational experience is in marketing, that is, in it's basic terms getting products and services in the view of likely purchasing customers. An online library of marketing products is being built and provides a basic course outline for developing personal attributes as Internet Marketers. A number of software products were made available via numerous professional groups however at this stage until further effort is invested in developing the part of the site, it would be difficult to determine how many of these software products would now run given site closures and upgrades of internet technologies. These items would be made available in the event of a sale, and are quite a surprise package if I say so myself. Most likely will be cataloged at some stage.
3. Health.
The Health Section of the Lipcrack site was one of the initial area's of the site, and contains information on Holistic Health Care along with Metaphysical Health Care. This was removed when it was decided that the information would be better made available to the web community as an e-book. This information is no longer hosted on the Lipcrack site, but it was hoped that it would be. Time constraints and developments in other area's of interest have put this on hold.
4. Vacancies
To develop Lipcrack.com it was always the intention of having other individuals involved in the process. This includes a number of positions available.
5. Script Development
Lipcrack's first Screenplay "Steel City Skater" was written and registered with the Screen Writers Guild of America on 30/06/2000. It has been renewed and is effective until 2010. The sequel to this screen play has recently been completed and is currently going through a number of processes in terms of registration and copyright protection. Lipcrack intend to further develop this section of the site, in terms of product offerings to their wider audience.
6. Free Gear Section
The Free Gear Section of the Lipcrack site is not for sale. This section of the site has been used for testing various applications for the
development of a future release. At this stage until further investigations are completed this site remains a free access area on the Lipcrack site for downloads to site visitors. All property remains the copyright property of the site owner Alena Housego. Depending on future business development this area may remain, however it may be in the best interests of the development to be located on a new site. Still to be determined. This area of the site may become available for sale and will be itemized as such if it does.
7. The Lipcrack Main Site
The Lipcrack site was developed using a software application that manages HTML encoding. Although Lipcrack are familiar with HTML language for the purpose of this site, it is easier and more efficient to manage it with a software application that does the "hardwork" for you.
Although the application is quite old in terms of it's release date, it does and continues to serve the purpose of developing the Lipcrack site.
In fact I don't use many of it's available functions. This item was given to me years ago and if needed by future developers would be included in the sale of the Lipcrack.com business. Further information about the item would be made available at that time.
Chronology of Lipcrack Releases. (Not Yet In Order or Completely Listed)
Acid Man
Hate Me Mp3
Sample : 20 sec http://www.lipcrack.com/val.htm Track Length 2:33 mins Genre : Country Rock
Lyrics released 2003 as Daydream renamed Hate Me for web release 14th Feb 2007. (c)Lipcrack
Dance Of The Dragons MP3
Ohm Song
Sample : 22 sec. http://www.lipcrack.com/ohm.htm Track Length 1.36 mins. Genre : Acid Punk.
Published Friday September 6th 2002. First Authorized Release April 4th 2006 (C) Lipcrack
Hope Mp3
Sample : 20 sec. http://www.lipcrack.com/hopes.htm Track Length 1:32 mins. Genre : Ambient Soul.
First Recorded March 2003. First Authorized Release 2005 (c) Lipcrack
The Blow Mp3
Sample : 20 sec. http://www.lipcrack.com/blow.htm Track Length 1:32 mins. Genre : Punk Rock.
First Authorized Release November 2004 (c) Lipcrack
Saloon Mp3
Sample : 13 sec. http://www.lipcrack.com/saloon.htm Track Length 3:10 mins. Genre : Acoustic Cowboy Blues.
Sample of Saloon Released April19th 2004.
Software Applications
Flash Text . This software application is responsible for building flash animation's for the website.
An example of this application can be found at http://www.lipcrack.com/join2.htm. It has been utilized quite successfully
on the front page of the site in pop up applications for special promotions. Although this page has not been updated recently
there are plan's to, this software application comes with 200 text effects and various backgrounds. The software makers
periodically create updates, which can be downloaded free of charge. Can export to AVI and gif format. 39.95
List Management Software.
Lipcrack site run's two mail management program's for extensive lists that we run promotions too. Most of these list's were purchased some time ago. They have been kept up to date in terms of removal requests and are referred to as clean lists. In terms of sending to these lists, some difficulties have arisen from issues including bounce back emails. This occur's when servers have limitations put on them by management of a server or ISP company. This refer's to such things as fire wall's blocking MX records, Spam filters and various other blocking devices which can prevent mail from reaching it's target destination. When sending mail to lists a point to remember in mailing is that just because someone receives an email from your business, it does not mean that they are going to open it. Lipcrack appeal's to a certain audience and our promotions are aimed at bringing our audience back to the Lipcrack site for new updates.
Mail management programs include a targeted list search program for managing lists. Lists can be merged, split into smaller lists, duplicates and improperly formatted files removed, and statistics on those lists e.g. names, number of email, and domains recorded. Removal software attached to list software can download removal requests which can then be managed through the mail manager function of the program. Lipcrack have recommenced using this facility, however the difficulty is if there is a mask (false identification) placed on the return email. May also be subject to random errors, although this is highly unlikely. A number of facilities of the program have become obsolete with time they have not been mentioned here and have been removed from the computer. Functionality that does still exist put's this program in a league of it's own.
This section of the Crack Machine (the name of the computer), turns the computing desktop into it's own self generating advertising and promotions agency. In event of a sale this part of Lipcrack operations, or our Electronic Marketing Department need only be configured via the software by the purchasing business.
The second set of List Management software run by a different software application can be utilized to verify that an email box exists at the end mailing destination. It us useful for removing invalid email accounts due to closed email accounts. This can be a useful time saving function in terms of list management.
Flash Blogger Software : Stand alone program, that is utilized as a new's service in the Lipcrack site. It enables one to provide a news service with little or no HTML programming, just input your text, create link's to other pages or input images. There are no size requirements and you can also include background images to give a different look and feel. A pop up calendar allows for easy navigation to previous news releases and can be edited to make corrections if required. There is a built in ftp program for uploading to the web host. I prefer to use the Internet Explorer ftp function.
3-D Development Tools.
For animation production, Lipcrack currently run three 3-D development tools. They are as follows :
1. Landscape and Modeling Development Tool. Currently using first version of program, have had problems with getting updates to integrate into new releases. Basically the program runs two modules, and there seems to be some problem with the program however it is functional.
If funds become available will reinstall all updates on new computer, however at present not a requirement.
2. Figure Modeling Tool. Have not yet purchased the update of this program as initial program run's with functionality required to perform task,
most likely will update, however given experience of previous updates and recommended advice update would only be done on new computing systems.
3. 3-D Modeling and Animation Creation Tool - As yet have not really explored the functionality of this program. Purchased the syllabus course which is high end technical for creating models where as the above two programs are more concerned with model manipulation. Of interest is the ability to use this tool in game development, although once learnt would have a multitude of functionality within development of film, game, and advertising mediums.
4. Landscape Generation Application - Purchase of secondary landscape generation package. Program was made available through sale, and while not a pre-requisite, additional staff utilizing program development features would be useful for feature creation.
All item's are operational, and work within the current requirements of the business.
WebSite Development Tool.
This is an old website development tool that still servers it's purpose. Used for developing the Lipcrack site, it's functionality is only touched upon. It also incorporates a VRML component, a picture editor and illustration drawing program.Various scripting languages can be incorporated into it, and it has a database management facility. The Lipcrack site is designed for easy functionality. By that I mean to suggest that a home user could run the Lipcrack.com site with few problems. While many other sites require high end scripting language the Lipcrack.com site was developed so that when new software products with functionality required to improve the site come on the market, they can be easily incorporated into the site. For example, any product with HTML compatibility, e.g. text makers, game facilities, calendars, could all easily be added to the site with few problems. It also has a web site manager, so that any script of missing page links can easily be traced and replaced. If a potential purchaser of the Lipcrack.com felt compelled to change the site, this could easily be done with no programming language. It would just require opening the program, clicking on the item you wish to change and cutting and pasting it to the new location.
Mail List Management Software.
Lipcrack manage a number of lists developed over the time of it's inception. These include subscriptions to Lipcrack along with purchased lists with list management software. When mailing to these lists it is the duty of the mail manager to maintain clean lists. This means if you get a request for removal from the list you must make every effort to honor it. While not the perfect system due to a number of issues with large lists in
different geographic locations the applications make the process relatively easy to manage with the lists so far held by the business. The process which has worked, is requesting that individuals that no longer wish to be on the mailing list return a remove request within a three day period. That mean's that as we send to mailing lists with new updates subscribers can be removed almost immediately. This is done via a subscription manager which is attached to the main mailing server. When the software detects the reply remove request it downloads that mail. Following this, the removes list is imputed into the mail manager software which removes the mail based on the email address criteria. This process is managed now through a firewalling system that only opens when requested by the program. Various other mail functions can be performed with the mail management software in terms of managing clean lists.
There are two problems faced with managing lists this way, they are as follows :
1. If a subscriber on a list requests a removal and they are not in an area currently being mailed. It is difficult to trace which list the email came from, although with determination, the email can usually be found, or an email can be sent to them requesting their location so that the removal can be made via the location.
2. Some return the email with Remove spelt wrong or with Unsubscribe now in the header. The software program only picks up the word remove. This issue has been resolved by accessing the mail server prior to download of remove requests and determining which have been incorrectly submitted.
There is also a mail verification system. When lists are purchased in most cases one can determine if it is a valid mail list by using the verification process which sends a message to the server to determine if a user exists at the giving address. While not perfect due to mail serves sometimes rejecting mail requests. It is a good process to determine the validity of lists, and removing address which have expired.
Mailing lists managed from External Harddrive.
Business Procedure.
As time permits one must develop new products to offer initially to the Internet Community as this is the current place of business or business market for Lipcrack.com. Although MP3's are the current range of products that Lipcrack.com has develop, it is envisaged this core base will be expanded upon.
1. Keep Firewall System Maintained.
2. Run Computer Monitor System.
3. Start up Browser Check Mail Accounts.
4. Start Mail Program , open promotions email, attached appropriate list, start mail program.
5. Remove unsubscribe requests from lists.
6 Prepare new promotions email's as required for new mail outs.
7. Create new product range for Lipcrack.com site visitors.
Updating News Section.
1. Prepare new's item in word processing program. Currently use the Lipcrack email program mentioned above due to it's spell check facilities. Any word processing program is fine.
2. Transfer document to Flash Blogger program, save files to New's folder, currently call Lipcrack Blog on the computer External Drive..
3. Import saved document into the Web Designer program, this allows you to change the background color of web page, add link buttons and if you want, to develop the page further. Currently the page is kept very simplistic.
4. FTP files to the hosting server, as per above ftp process.
Updating Main Page.
1. Edit the Robby the Robot Text by accessing the code source in the Web Development Program. In the line of code where Robby has text imput, add a weekly robot rant.
2. FTP to server.
Maintaining Mailing Lists Procedure.
1. See above Mail List Management Software
2. To be completed in step by step process.
Managing Computer Resource.
1. Clear out dated files via various file clean up methods.
2. Create Restore point when necessary.
3. Copy files over to disc, for back up purposes.
4. Defrag computer every month.
5. Make back up copy of all new software purchases.
Current Lipcrack Project.
1. Keep an eye on prop's market place and bookmark for later purchase after comparison of products.
2. Registering of script and copyright protections.
3. Continue Development of site and products.
4. Network for work opportunities.
Accounting .
1. Document quarterly expenses.
2. Complete yearly tax return.