I really must say I am sorry. If you didn’t notice, CricketSoda was down for almost a month. I had some issued with my domain name company, but not all is resolved and the party can get back to normal. To make up for the long spell of dry thirst, I am making big plans for the CricketSoda empire.

1. Expanding the budget: CricketSoda is in serious need of some operating funds. Not only do we have hosting bills to pay, but we need camera equipment, food for our staff, and someone to clean up the front yard. To accomplish this task without having to put burden on the readers of CricketSoda, I have register a new website (beyondsimple.info) and I plan for many more in the future. On this first website I am going to write a bunch of basic tutorials on how to work your computer. Once I finish a few and get a little traffic, I am going to sell it on eBay. Not only will we have extra ad space on the new site, but if I can sell it for $500, we can pay our hosting fees for the year.

2. More Videos! : When I show people CricketSoda the first thing I go to is the videos. The problem with just writing a bunch of stuff is that, while it can be funny and entertain for those many hours you spend bored on the computer, showing your friends a quick peek isn’t easy if they have to sit down and read 2,000 words. So, as soon as we expand the budget enough to get a charger and battery for my camera, we will be back in business, barfing up classics like “Breaking Bank.”

3. Music makes the world go round : Recently Popmatters.com did a little review of Denton, our little town. They labeled our city as a up and coming hotspot for music and really we couldn’t agree more. CricketSoda has always provided a look into our favorite music, but from this point on, we are going to work especially hard to bring you the latest live shows, reviews, interviews, and anything else we can manage. Heck, we even have ideas for a music festival in the near future.

4. The Future 2.0 : Flash is a really cool tool once you get past the daunting task of figuring out what all the little buttons do. Over the past few months I have learned more about Flash than ever, and I hope to bring some cool games and such to CricketSoda.

5. Design Service = Jobs : I am also going to start several small companies that will specialize in different aspects of design. A tri-fold pamphlet design company wouldn’t be an impossible company to start. If I kept cost low enough we would only need a few customers a month. I’m sure one of my friends or roommates would love to sit and design pamphlets in Photoshop all day for fat cash. Then once that was up and running I could move on to band posters. My main idea is to keep the companies very specialized, so that the customer gets something special from a company that does just what they are looking for.

6. A CricketSoda Store : A place where anyone can sell their stuff. Kind of like a free flea market.

7. Expand our comics : I love comics, and so do many many many nerds. We need to tap into this market.

I am going to stop there even though I could list many more. I can’t make the list to long or the ideas at the bottom will go bad before I can get to them. Funny how ideas are a lot like milk.