CORPORATE BLOGGING

A corporate weblog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads.Company blogs executed well build credibility and project a message of selfconfidence.Examples of reasons to start a corporate blog would include; Employment Branding, ProductLaunch, Public Relations, Marketing Campaigns, Consulting Services, Vendor Relations, Media Relations,and Innovative Ideas used to established Industry Expertise.

Blogging evangelists often speak of a conversation taking place in marketplaces.Participating in the blogging world gives companies a competitive edge in that conversation. Bloggers are early adopters, expert networkers, and skilled at gathering competitive intelligence. Companies who start a blog canbring those skills in house and learn the language and etiquette of blogging, learning to engage these individuals in achieving goals. Companies that fail to engage in this conversation now will find themselves playing catch-up for years to come.Corporate blogs primarily are used for national branding. They allow companies to present accurate information without the filter of the media or advertising.

Marketing blogs can be used to amplify marketing messages through traditional channels. The use of a blog allows a company to provide a destination of information for consumers, from commercials to promotional coupons, to directions on how to use products.Employment blogs allow a direct connection to online communities, increasing the number of qualifiedapplicants by identifying communities of interest and building a loyal talent pool. Public Relations blogs allow a corporation to put a human touch in place of the often used “corporate speak.”

From pictures of employees to CEO blogs, to instructions on how to interview, public relationsblogs remind readers that your company is staffed by real people.These are few examples of successful corporate blogs Microsoft, GM, T-Mobile, Emerson, IBM, Pfizer, Boeing, Google, Sun.

So, the things that consumer take note to prevent e-auction fraud would be as follow:

• User identity verification. A voluntary program, encourages users to supply auction's compamy with information for online verification. By offering their Social Security number, driver’s license number, and date of birth, users canqualify for the highest level of verification.


• Authentication service. Product authentication is a way of determining whether an item is genuine and described appropriately.Authentication is verydifficult to perform because it relies on the expertise of the authenticators.Because of their training and experience, experts can (for a fee) often detect counterfeits based on subtle details. However, two expert authenticators may have different opinions about the authenticity of the same item.


• Grading services. Grading is a way of determining the physical condition ofan item, such as “poor quality” or “mint condition.” The actual grading system depends on the type of item being graded. Different items have different gradingsystems—for example, trading cards are graded from A1 to F1, whereas coins are graded from poor to perfect uncirculated.


• Feedback Forum. The auction's company Feedback Forum allows registered buyers and sellers to build up their online trading reputations. It provides users with the ability to comment on their experiences with other individuals.


• Insurance policy. Auction's compamy offers insurance underwritten by Lloyd’s of London.Users are covered up to $200, with a $25 deductible. The program is provided at no cost to users.


• Escrow services. For items valued at more than $200 or when either a buyer or seller feels the need for additional security, auction's company recommends escrow services(for a fee). With an easy-to-access link to a third-party escrow service, bothpartners in a deal are protected. The buyer mails the payment to the escrow service,which verifies the payment and alerts the seller when everything checksout. At that point, the seller ships the goods to the buyer. After an agreed-uponinspection period, the buyer notifies the service, which then sends a check to theseller. (An example of a provider of online escrow services is tradenable.com.)


• Nonpayment punishment. Auction's company implemented a policy against those who do not honor their winning bids.To help protect sellers, a first-time nonpayment results in a friendly warning.A sterner warning is issued for a second-time offense, a 30-day suspension for a third offense, and indefinite suspension for a fourth offense.


• Appraisal services. Appraisers use a variety of methods to appraise items,including expert assessment of authenticity and condition and reviewing what comparable items have sold for in the marketplace in recent months. Anappraised value is usually accurate at the time of appraisal but may change overtime as an item becomes more or less popular in the marketplace.


• Verification. One way of confirming the identity and evaluating the conditionof an item is through verification.With verification, neutral third parties will evaluate and identify an item through a variety of means. For example, some collectors have their item “DNA tagged” for identification purposes. This provides a way of tracking an item if it changes ownership in the future.

Pre-paid cash card

The prepaid card is far from a new idea. The concept is basically the same as a prepaid gift card or a mobile phone SIM card. A prepaid cash card looks like a credit or debit card, and gives users the ability to purchase products and services with a card but with a crucial difference which means a person can only spend the balance that has been preloaded onto the card. This means there is no risk of running into debt as it has no credit or overdraft facility.

One can simply start using prepaid cash card when money has been loaded on to a prepaid card by cash at a bank, Post Office, at Payzone or PayPoint terminals, bank transfer, through your employer or even by credit card.

When using for purchasing at a high street store, they work in exactly the same way as a credit or debit card. When purchasing just simply hand over the card and then you will be asked to enter your PIN number (supplied with the card) on an electronic keypad or to sign a payment slip so your signature can be matched with that on the back of the card (if there is no Chip on the card). The total amount will be taken from your card immediately and the transaction is complete.

To shop online, you'll find the item you want to buy and click on to the website's "checkout" page before filling in your details and those of your prepaid card. As long as you have enough cash loaded on your card, the purchase is completed and your item will be shipped to you.



Application of pre-paid cash card for consumers

• Buying groceries and petrol



• As a replacement for travellers cheques or travel cash for a low cost alternative to paying for goods and services abroad



• Topping up your mobile phone



• Internet shopping including eBay



• Paying bills



• Transferring money to friends and family either in the UK or overseas (known as remittance)



• Withdrawing cash from an ATM



• People who wish to use foreign currency on a holiday



• Newly arrived immigrant, who although earning, cannot yet obtain credit due to having no credit footprint in the UK



• A person who has a poor credit rating or a history of bad debt who cannot get a credit card



• Parent of a young person travelling abroad.

Electronic Currency

Characteristics of E-Currency

On-Line

Off-line
Off-line means that a transaction can be conducted without having to involve a bank directly. Off-line electronic money systems prevent fraud in basically two different ways. There is a hardware and a software approach. The hardware approach relies on some kind of a tamper-proof chip in a smart card that keeps a mini database. The software approach is to structure the electronic money and cryptographic protocols to reveal the identity of the double spender by the time the piece of e-money makes it back to the bank. If users of the off-line electronic money know they will get caught, the incidence of double spending will be minimized, at least in the theory.

Alternative systems
Technically electronic or digital money is a representation, or a system of debits and credits, used (but not limited to this) to exchange value, within another system, or itself as a stand alone system, online or offline. Also sometimes the term electronic money is used to refer to the provider itself. A private currency may use gold to provide extra security, such as digital gold currency. An e-currency system may be fully backed by gold (like e-gold and c-gold), non-gold backed, or both gold and non-gold backed (like e-Bullion and Liberty Reserve). Also, some private organizations, such as the US military use private currencies such as Eagle Cash.

PayPal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. It is also a European bank based in Luxembourg. It serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as cheques and money orders. PayPal performs payment processing for online vendors, auction sites, and other corporate users, for which it charges a fee. It sometimes also charges a transaction fee for receiving money (a percentage of the amount sent plus an additional fixed amount). The fees charged depend on the currency used, the payment option used, the country of the sender, the country of the recipient, the amount sent and the recipient's account type[citation needed].

Paypal

G-cash (phillipine's Mobile Cash Solution)

Credit card debt is an example of unsecured consumer debt, accessed through ISO 7810 plastic credit cards. Debt results when a client of a credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt accumulates and increases via interest and penalties when the consumer does not pay the company for the money he or she has spent. The results of not paying this debt on time are that the company will charge a late payment penalty (generally in the US from $10 to $40) and report the late payment to credit rating agencies. Being late on a payment is sometimes referred to as being in "default". The late payment penalty itself increases the amount of debt the consumer has. When a consumer has been late on a payment, it is possible that other creditors, even creditors the consumer was not late in paying, may increase the interest rates the consumer is paying. This practice is called universal default. Nowadays, credit card debt is a burgeoning problem on campuses. Although most students handle credit well, a significant minority get into debt.


Causes
One of the following causes of credit card debt might mirror our financial situation:

• Excessive medical expenses: If one of our family members suffers serious illness and our health insurance cannot cover the medical bills then our credit cards are probably the only source of funds to pay off the difference.


• Gambling: Gambling is fun and entertaining but if it becomes addictive it'll be hard to stop. This won't become a problem if we spend our spare money for gambling. But borrowing money through our credit cards for gambling will surely lead us to a financial disaster.


• Reduced or lost of income: A divorce, death of spouse or unemployment may cause a serious debts. If there is a huge gap between income and expenses, the easiest way to fill in the gap is with credit card debt.


• Poor money management: Do we really know where our money is going? What percentage of our income have we saved each and every month? If we don't have an income and spending budget chances are, we cannot set aside some money for saving and emergency needs.

• Only sign up for companies that are willing to offer us a low percentage rate.


• Avoiding the expensive purchases and not buying things that you don't really need on credit is an important step to getting on the right track.


• We should pay off whatever we can as soon as you can do it, so our balance not grow exponentially as time passes.


• We have to make sure you are also reading all of that fine-print that comes along with the agreement, because there could be hidden fees that we want to know about ahead of time.


• Being aware, and being conscientious about our payment schedule are just a few little things that could keep us from adding to a debt we may have already created.


• Don't ever use credit cards to reward ourself for a good day, or to fulfill a bad day by trying to cheer ourself up with a purchase.


• Keep our credit card spending to amounts that we know we can pay off, don't go over-board with unnecessary purchases, and budget how we plan on paying back our charges.

The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other resources of the World Wide Web(WWW).

(i)Virus
Virus is a Malicious software that attaches itself to other software. For example, a patched software application in which the patch's algorithm is designed to implement the same patch on other applications, thereby replicating. It replicates within computer system, potentially attaching itself to every software application.

(ii)Worm
It's a malicious software which is a stand alone application. It's often designed to propagate through a network, rather than just a single computer. When your computer is infect of worm, computer will slow starting or slow running. It'll also face unexpected or frequent system failures.

(iii)Trojan Horse

1. Limit connectivity. Limit downloads


2. Use only authorized media for loading data and software


3. Enforce mandatory access controls.


4. Viruses generally cannot run unless host application is running


5. Always remember to scan your computor with Anti-virus
   
6. Delete all the cookies in the computor to prevent track on the history/password.


7. On your firewall to prevent hackers.
   

As conclusion, internet has the advantages and disvantages. If we prepare well before we online, surely we'll be secure and safe from internet threat.

Nowadays, it can be said there are more and more threats over the Internet. Malware is a general name for all programs that are harmful; viruses, trojan, worms and all other similar programs.

A computer virus is a program, a block of executable code, which attach itself to, overwrite or otherwise replace another program in order to reproduce itself without a knowledge of a PC user. There are a couple of different types of computer viruses for example boot sector viruses, parasitic viruses, multi-partite viruses, companion viruses, link viruses and macro viruses. These classifications take into account the different ways in which the virus can infect different parts of a system. The manner in which each of these types operates has one thing in common: any virus has to be executed in order to operate. Most viruses are pretty harmless. The user might not even notice the virus for years. Sometimes viruses might cause random damage to data files and over a long period they might destroy files and disks. Even benign viruses cause damage by occupying disk space and main memory, by using up CPU processing time. There is also the time and expense wasted in detecting and removing viruses.

Viruses don not just appear, there is always somebody that has made it and they have own reason to so. Viruses are written everywhere in the world. Now when the information flow in the net and Internet grows, it does not matter where the virus is made. Most of the writers are young men. There are also few university students, professors, computer store managers, writers and even a doctor has written a virus. One thing is common to these writers, all of them are men, women do not waste their time writing viruses. Women are either smarter or they are just so good that never get caught.



Why do people write and spread viruses?

It is difficult to know why people write them. Everyone has their own reasons. Some general reasons are to experiment how to write viruses or to test their programming talent. Some people just like to see how the virus spreads and gets famous around the World. The following is a list from news group postings alt.comp.virus and tries to explain why people write and spread viruses...

• they don't understand or prefer not to think about the consequences for other people


• they simply don't care


• they don't consider it to be their problem if someone else is inconvenienced


• they draw a false distinction between creating/publishing viruses and distributing them


• they consider it to be the responsibility of someone else to protect systems from their creations


• they get a buzz, acknowledged or otherwise, from vandalism


• they consider they're fighting authority


• they like 'matching wits' with anti virus vendors

How viruses spread out

Viruses mission is to hop from program to other and this should happen as quickly as possible. Usually viruses join to the host program in some way. They even write over part of the host program. A computer is infected with a boot sector virus if it is booted from an infected floppy disk. Boot sector infections cannot normally spread across a network. These viruses spread normally via floppy disks which may come from virtually any source:

• unsolicited demonstration disks


• brand-new software


• disks used on your PC by salesmen or engineers


• repaired hardware

A file virus infects other files, when the program to which it is attached is run, and so a file virus can spread across a network and often very quickly. They may be spread from the same sources as boot sector viruses, but also from sources such as Internet FTP sites and newsgroups. Trojan horses spread just like file viruses. A multipartite virus infects boot sectors and files. Often, an infected file is used to infect the boot sector: thus, this is one case where a boot sector infection could spread across a network.

What to do when you find viruses

First thing what you should do when you find virus is count to ten and stay cool. You should keep notes on what you do and write down what your virus programs and you computer tells you. If you are not sure what to do, you should call the administrator for future action. In some cases it is not good to start you computer from hard disk, because the virus may active and then do some harm.
Second,make sure that you should get sure that it is virus and what virus it is. It is important to know what kind of virus we are dealing with. Companies that make anti-virus programs knows what different viruses does and you can ether call them and ask about that viruses or you can go to their web pages and read about the virus you have.
When you start you computer you should do it from a clean (non-infected) floppy diskette and after that run the virus program. The boot diskette should be write protected so that virus can not infect the boot diskette too. It is good to take a backup of the file that was infected. Virus program could do some damage to the file and that is why it is good to have a backup. It is good to let you administrator to know about the virus, so viruses would not spread around so much. In TKK PC classes are protected by anti-virus program and that virus program reports to a person, responsible for virus protection.

This is an example of a phishing scam targeting Washington Mutual Bank customers. This phish claims that Washington Mutual Bank is adopting new security measures which require confirming ATM card details. As with other phishing scams, the victim is directed to visit a fraudulent site and any information entered on that site is sent to the attacker.

Install up-to-date antivirus and antispyware software. Some phishing e-mail contains malicious or unwanted software that can track your activities or simply slow your computer. Try new antivirus and comprehensive computer health services like Windows Live One Care To help prevent spyware or other unwanted software, use Windows Defender. Windows Defender comes with Windows Vista and is available at no charge for Windows XP SP2

Rather than merely clicking on the link provided in the email, type the URL into your web browser yourself (or use a bookmark you previously created). Even though a URL in an email may look like the real deal, fraudsters can mask the true destination.

Don't enter sensitive or financial information into pop-up windows - A common phishing technique is to launch a bogus pop-up window when someone clicks on a link in a phishing e-mail message. This window may even be positioned directly over a window you trust. Even if the pop-up window looks official or claims to be secure, you should avoid entering sensitive information because there is no way to check the security certificate. Close pop-up windows by clicking on the X in the top-right corner. Clicking cancel may send you to another link or download malicious code.

Secure the hosts file – A hacker can compromise the hosts file on desktop system and send a user to a fraudulent site. Configuring the host file to read-only may alleviate the problem, but complete protection will depend on having a good desktop firewall such as Zone Alarm that protect against tampering by outside attackers and keep browsing safe.

HiStOry...
Ecommerce is any business related transactions partially or totally carried out by electronic medium especially on internet using Open networks or Closed network.The most important feature accountable for the success of internet is electronic commerce that allows people to buy or sell anything they want at anytime of the day or night.The process of advancement in Information Technology to evolve into a business transaction is the ecommerce history.

During prehistoric period before invention of electricity, transactions of all the business were done face to face or via letters. Later on this was substituted by telegraph, telephones and in mid 1980’s by fax machines. As large companies invested vastly in researching in order to develop more reliable electronic means of transaction, old technology was replaced by new technologies that were more consistent and spread much faster than the previous technology.

To interchange data and to carry out business deals electronically in 1960’s Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was formulated. Initially ecommerce was facilitating business transactions electronically mostly using technology such as EDI (electronic data interchange) and EFT (electronic funds transfer) to send business documents such as purchase orders or invoices. Previously in 1970’s and 1980’s it also involved data analysis.

Lets have a look into how gradual technical development attributed to the growth of ecommerce:

• In general the first business deal carried out on telephone or via a fax is mainly considered as first ecommerce transaction.
• In 1960’s Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was formulated. This is a set of standard
  instructions to interchange data and to carry out business deals electronically.
• In 1969 ARPANET, was developed by Americas department of defence for researching new reliable networks and later this enhanced into Internet that was purely used as a research tool for nearly 20yrs.
• In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee developed World Wide Web at CERN that started the first Internet transaction. These technology supported exchange of data that was in text format only.
• Later in 1993, Mosiac was developed by Marc Andreessen, this is the first graphic web browser launched to interchange text and graphics and loads of people started downloading it.Netscape the most successful graphic browser was later developed by Marc Andreessen. On the other hand, Microsoft came up with Microsoft Internet Explorer.The first business deal took place in 1994 and since then there have been billions of dealings.
• Later in 1998 DSL was launched into the market that provided much faster access and
  persistent connection to the internet.* In 1998, AOL swamped the market and had about 1.2 billion sales over a period of 10 weeks from online sales.* Ecommerce spread to a significant group globally within a span of 4 years from 1996 to 2000.
• Another major improvement in ecommerce came with the development of Linux a platform more reliable and open source that allowed itself to be customized by its users and put a tough competition to Microsoft that compelled it develop much better versions of networking.
• Amazon and eBay were the first International companies that implemented electronic
  transactions. Initial public offerings by Netscape, Amazon, and EBay had tremendous success and almost every one started implementing business on internet.
  
  
  
  

EvOluTion...

The evolution and acceptance of Credit cards, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Telephone banking and later in 1990’s ERP (enterprise resource planning), data mining and warehousing are different types of e-commerce. Activities such as purchasing products over the world wide web which had secured links(HTTP) with e-shopping, carts, electronic payments such as Credit Cards authorization. Today it includes of a very extensive range of activities and methods, from e-banking to Offshore manufacturing to e-logistics. The increasing dependency of ecommerce gave momentum to the advancement and growth of supporting systems, backend systems, applications and middleware. Few examples are Broad-band, Fibre –optic networks, supply-chain management, client management software, client relationship management software and inventory control systems.

The swift growth of ecommerce is due to business ventures implementing the effective policies of ecommerce that embraces the following four crucial principles:

• Security of logical assets - Tough copyright, exclusive rights and other forms of logical asset security are important solutions to reviving the information economy.
• Online reliability, Safety and confidentiality - Advancement in ecommerce is basically due to Customers certainty in the protection, safety measures and confidentiality of information. Safeguarding data and links on the Internet is very important for the steady success of Internet and economy of information. Bias dealings and closed market slow downs the growth of e-business. The laws of information must reflect internet as a global medium. Internets potential will be recognised only in free, open markets.
• Investing in an e-commerce technology infrastructure- Maintenance of the essential physical communications to deliver digital matter (primarily through telecommunications deregulation and government efforts to reduce the digital divide) is very important to encourage technological growth.
  

As a conlusion,the first business deal carried out on telephone or via a fax is mainly considered as first ecommerce transaction.Ecommerce spread to a significant group globally within a span of 4 years from 1996 to 2000. E-commerce technology continues to progress to change personal communication and global trading at an astonishing speed. This not only assures to bring a significant section of global population online but this also brings about major challenges to policymaker and business alike. By 2009 it is estimated that some 47 percent of Business to Business (B2B) commerce will be carried out online.

REDUCING CYCLE TIME

E-commerce also can facilitate customer support because it can provide unlimited shopping hours for customers to place their order as it is run on a 24 hours basis.E-commerce facilitates customer support by providing a wide range of technological solutions and communication opportunities . Retaining customers by satisfying their needs is the core of customer service. By enabling customers to find detailed information online, customer service can be greatly improved.

The one area in which online retail commerce seems to have been a success is eBay. Almost everyone who has made a transaction on the Internet has used the global online marketplace that trades just about everything, either for thesale itself or to compare prices.

eBay Inc. is an American Internet company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping web sites in which people and businesses buy and sell goods and services worldwide. In addition to its original U.S. Web site, eBay has established localized web sites in thirty other countries. eBay Inc also owns Paypal, Skype, StubHub, and other businesses.


History
The online auction web site was founded in San Jose, California, on September 3, 1995, by French-born Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb, part of a larger personal site that included, among other things, Omidyar's own tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Ebola virus.

The very first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. Astonished, Omidyar contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood that the laser pointer was broken. In his responding email, the buyer explained: "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers." The frequently-repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade PEZ Candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media. This was revealed in Adam Cohen's 2002 book and confirmed by eBay.

Chris Agarpao was hired as eBay's first employee and Jeffrey Skoll was hired as the first president of the company in early 1996. In November 1996, eBay entered into its first third-party licensing deal, with a company called Electronic Travel Auction to use SmartMarket Technology to sell plane tickets and other travel products. The company officially changed the name of its service from AuctionWeb to eBay in September 1997. Originally, the site belonged to Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyar's consulting firm. Omidyar had tried to register the domain name echobay.com (the domain has recently been put up for sale) but found it already taken by the Echo Bay Mines, a gold mining company, so he shortened it to his second choice, eBay.com.

eBay went public on September 21, 1998, and both Omidyar and Skoll became instant billionaires. The company purchased PayPal on October 14, 2002.

The domain ebay.com attracted at least 902 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study. This was thrice the numbers of walmart.com


How eBay can be so succesful


Access
open access, level playing field, transparency, equal access to information are attributes of any environment with positive outcomes.


Connection
enabling individuals to connect and interact with one another. Market solutions, collaboration and wisdom of crowds.


Sense of ownership
skin in the game lets individuals feel there is an investment required to participate and accountability (e.g. reputation systems).

Strategic Evaluation of eBay

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• eBay.com
• eBay Motors
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