Seems like Nuclear War Now! is releasing it as an Lp, I guess Yosuke managed to get in touch with the band members in the end. Good luck to him then, it will certainly be made better than I could ever try. It was a secret project I have been nurturing for some time, but having a semi-dead label means time passes and ideas get snatched.
Maybe in another life.
So, I finally moved to my new flat. Things are finally getting quiet and I have collected all the old distribution items in one safe and spacious place, namely my new basement. I am checking piece by piece the conditions of each record and Cd and piece of clothing, and updating the distribution lists every evening I manage to get the time. Unfortunately I also have some personal issues to manage in the basement as well so the pace is not super-fast as I’d like it to be. To counterbalance this, I am now considering relaunching the distro first using simple text files, just to make it move again. I still need some time to update the shopping cart software and all the cool fluff that I had planned, but I am still in the same mindset to use a powerful and great looking new website for Buio Omega 2.0. The move took too much time and I am a bit out of sync in relation to the original project, but I want to start again so badly I might be online sooner than expected.
Seems like someone took BO’s forum as free ground for growing spam turds. The forum has been despammed once more, and from now on, to register to the forum one needs direct approval by ME. I really didn’d want to take care of this duty as well, but since there is no other options to keep spambots in check, so be it.
So here it goes. 2010 has come and with a new year, new delays. Seems like it will take some more to finally move to my new place. I am still working on the new website which, boy, is looking quite good already. But until I am moving to this new place, I won0t be able to update the catalog with the whole stock, so right now I am on hold, again.
I just wanted to write one more post, so you could be sure that the project is still active. Do not despair, the wait will be worth all the pain.
When I awoke
a man wearing black is between my legs
tongueing my vagina
lapping me like a thirsty dog…
Through my revulsion
I feel some mild pleasure
then the man wearing black stands
pulling my hair from his teeth
but I noticed nothing
dangled between his legs
He was a female down there-
and from his vagina came a toungue
followed by many fingers…
I awoke again
this time I’m chained to an altar
There are six women
wearing habits around me
and they are cutting their own throats…
Through my revulsion
I feel some mild pleasure
then they fall upon me
soaking me in arterial blood
I thought they were dead
but then they stood
the gashes in their throats yawning
and from each gaping tear comes a penis
followed by many tongues
I entered their world not to worship
but to feel pleasure through the
darkness of revulsion
and as I lay down to masturbate
among the gore of many animals
I realize I am a woman
but when I entered their world
I WAS A MAN!
I have downloaded three interesting 200-page manuals on the new e-commerce platform. Even if I at the moment am a bit stuck on the configuration of the shipping options (there are several variables to take into account – for instance you cannot use the registered mail solution for shipping 12″ records in Italy, as the maximum width of this package is 10″), I have already gone through the first one, and definitely have a clear overview of how this thing works now. Manual II is on my desk right now, and will be the main homework for this weekend.
On a less theorical level, broad product categories have all been finally defined and coded! Now I am sorting each item in the database in its container: tapes with tapes, Cds with Cds and so on. It’s nice to see some order from chaos at last!
So far, there hasn’t be a single day I have not worked on the new shop. I have done my homework, boy! Yesterday in particular was a very productive day as I finally decided how to categorize and tag the products in the store. Every item, depending on its nature, will have multiple attributes: DVDs with have director, length, zone, format etc. while CDs will have packaging, country, musical genre etc. Sounds like an easy task, but it took a few hours just to get rid of useless complications and stick to the basics for the best user experience. Sadly that meant losing some of the older work I did, as many translations of products in Italian were erased while shaping all the inserted data. The good point however is that I have finally understood the foundations of this new software and I am now able to quickly edit even a lot of items together. Product insertion will be very quick and that’s a huge step forward compared to the old shop, and it will mean a much better handling of orders and restocks.
Other good news are that I plan to split Buio Omega in three separate shops. I haven0t yet decided the definitive names for them all but shop A (which will almost surely retain the Buio Omega brand) will take care of music related merchandise including CDs, vinyl, shirts, music DVDs etc; shop B will take care of the celluloid aspect of Buio Omega: horror DVDs, movie shirts, some action figures, movie posters etc.; shop C will be the merchandise only shop with will have basically just clothing, pins, jewelry, that kind of bollocks. Since the new software allows me to keep track of stock in a single place, some products will appear in all three shops at the same time. However it will be easier to browse only through the kind of products that interest you without all the visual clutter that a single shop that offers anything could create.
This might be the single most important post in this blog so far. It was VERY tricky and I had to contend with a multitude of glitches and twists but in the end I managed to import over 400 single products from the latest webstore – including detailed description and images. The next step in the roadmap is to “normalize” the rest of the store. Normalizing is a IT-term that is also not incredibly correct in this specific topic but for normalizing I mean I have to fix some products which have incomplete details.
These are more or less the next steps I need to do with the webshop
“normalizing” actual content
read and sort every single old Access database that used to contain product data and consider whether to import something
read and sort every single old Excel files that used to contain product data and consider whether to import something
browse all old item pictures and put everything aside for when I might need some in the next step
“normalize” everything I imported from Excel and Access files. Also consider very old text lists. Pick pictures from previously saved ones
go through all the rest of the backups, saving wantlists etc.
set up remaining shop data: missing categories of products, calculate shipping rates and payment methods, consider discounts and record lots (this will be a tough one)
start opening every single box in the basement and go through every single Cd and insert it into the catalog. Repeat for vinyls, merchandise, books etc.
translate the shop in Italian
compile trade and overstocks lists
open accounts on Flickr, twitter, and update other 2.0 related websites on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube etc.
wait for the designer to complete layout design – also study a new corporate identity (including letterheads and other paperwork)
prepare storage for the b.o. stocks including safe storage boxes and shelves – set up temporary office there and buy material for preparing parcels (label printer, scotch, pencils etc.)
plan label releases starting with Nuclear Death and Necrotion Cds and define release details
publish website
This is a quick list that surely will need reworking, but this is a general overview on what’s to come. Adopting a good method of working was absolutely indispensable for this ambitious project. The trickiest part – speaking about programming – has been done. The shipping and payment implementation on the web shop will be hell, but I am confident in my ability and stubbornness. The ball still rolls…