A comprehensive business plan for a new start-up venture Essay

A comprehensive business plan for a new start-up venture - Essay Example The head quarters is expected to be run by a total of 5000 employees comprising those in the production unit, assemble plant and various positions of marketing. Each distribution shop is expected to have 3 shopkeepers. The mission of the company is to become the gateway to academic success for students at all levels of education in the UK, especially those at the pre-tertiary level who hardly have any opportunity of owning their own Tablet PCs. The company’s business composition comprises three major aspects of work, which are production, marketing and servicing. For each of these components of business, the company has different capabilities, which are spread across different stages of the company’s lifeline. These are briefly summarised in the table below Different components of business are expected to be made up of different personnel in terms of numbers, qualification, job type, and job description. There shall however be no specific requirements by way of gender. The table below outlines the number personnel and qualifications needed for each component by timeline of the company. The three major components are going to be managed by different hierarchies of managers, administrators and supervisors. The hierarchy is needed to make the practice of organisational reporting easier and free flowing. The chart below gives an overview of the organisational hierarchy to be in place at the workplace The product named Slate is a basically an academic Tablet PC. This means the product can be described from two major perspectives, which are academic and Tablet PC. The academic component is simply made of both pre-installed and customised educational tools. The pre-installed educational tools focus on school based syllabus for different courses at different stages of education. At the secondary level for example, there will be syllabus on courses such as Biology, Geography, Home Science, etc. The tablet component is basically a

The very important process of recycling

The very important process of recycling Introduction: Recycling is one of the most important methods used to reduce or preventing environmental crisis. It is the process of reprocessing used objects and turning them into new material. Waste is mostly used in recycling and it has a massive shocking effect on our nature like global warming and recycling the waste is an effective way to reduce the global warming problem. It also helps reduce the use of natural resources which is as well a very big problem because we abuse natural resources these days. The usual method of waste dumping or disposal is either by air or water which causes severe pollution to it and by using recycling as useful method its can help reduce the pollution a lot. We can also save space that is usually used for dumping waste and turning it into useful places. The lack of the basic materials and the need to create new ways to help fulfill the needs of humans made recycling one of the biggest important industries in the world. It became such an important industry becau se it helps get rid of the trash and waste and the toxic substances and its releases gases in a way that suits the environment and not affect it badly. Around the world, the recycling issue became an essential topic of all important gatherings and events because it is a very crucial matter. Global warming, the extreme weather changes, extinction of animal and the sea and ocean pollution and the death of plants all occur due to the carelessness of some factories and their wastes and the gases coming out of it. Recycling Paper The process of recycling 1. Sorting The first step in recycling paper is making sure the paper is free of any contaminants like food, metal and trash. 2. collection and transportation Secondly you take either to a nearby recycling center or a recycling bin after that it will be collected by a worker. 3. storage A very important part of the recycling process because the workers separate the different types of paper and then sort them together to make different kinds of recycled paper items. 4. Re-pulping and Screening The next step is called re-pulping, the enhanced paper is put into a machine called a pulper, and this machine contains a mix of water and chemicals. It cuts the paper into small pieces of fibers which turns into soft mix and that is called a pulp. The pulp is poured into a strainer which keeps the contaminants out of the mix and keeping just the pure pulp. In a large cone shaped machine pulp remains in a spinning process until all the heavy contaminants stay at the bottom of the machine and the lighter ones stay in the middle and then removed. 5. Refining, Bleaching and Color Stripping Refining is the next step in which the pulp mixture is crushed to make the fibers bigger to make it ready for the next process. If the paper is colored it will need some chemicals to remove the color and if its white it will need oxygen to make it lighter and if its brown then it does not have to be bleached. 6. Deinking The last step is papermaking; pulp has to be mixed with water and chemicals. This mix goes into a huge machine called a head box and its sprayed on a straining wire track that moves very quickly. The water from the paper mix starts to drop and the fibers start to attach to each other and form wet sheet. The wet sheet goes into rolling presses which compresses the sheet and sheds all the excessive water and dries the sheets out. After that the sheets goes through heated metal roller to dry them out and the paper is made. Positive Effects of Recycling Recycling paper is the economic process of the first degree as it, helps to reduce imports of raw materials for papermaking and reducing unemployment and this through the prevision of job opportunities for young people. Preserves the Environment Recycling paper is working to safeguard the environment. For example, the paper is manufactured. There is also became a growing demand for paper, many of the trees divided for the production of paper. For recycling paper is available to prevent the destruction of forests. These days, we see a large number of forests to produce shatter for the production of the growing demand for paper. Recycling a ton paper helps to preserve our natural resources and saves equivalent 12 trees. Also, recycling paper helps in getting rid of the paper is doomed sound environmental manner, rather than burned or buried, leading to increased pollution and reduces the demand for wood and fiber and to allow the forest to increase their capacity to absorb atmospheric carbon. In addition, working on protection of agricultural land and places of throwing waste paper. Recycling Saves Energy Processing raw materials requires a great deal of energy. But any processing used materials reduce the energy requirements for instance recycling paper. Also the process of recycling paper reduces a lot of pressure on energy resources. How Does Recycling Affect The Environment? Positives and Negatives http://www.allfreeessays.com/search_results.php?query=Positives+of+recycling+paper The Negative Effects of Recycling Paper Recycling paper conserves energy and landfill space, maintains the trees and reduces defilement. Although it is a procedure that produces some emissions and products harmful secondary. This process is working to develop a lot of ground techniques. Energy Use Recycling paper conserves 28% to 70%. This keeping is debatable for of the sort of energy utilization in two operations. Using recycled paper fossil fuels whereas the production maiden paper appoints the litter products from wood to provide high rate of its energy needs. In addition, recycling paper requires less energy from the plastic but for the recycled paper bag requires more energy from the plastic bags recycling process. Harmful Chemicals In this process is necessary that the indelible ink from used paper. The facilities of recycling use several of chemicals like chlorine and process. There is a particular problem is print from laser and copy machines. The Chemicals that is much more from chemicals caustic than level requires removal de-inking chemicals. De-inking chemicals includes some ponderously mental and other vehicles. Solid Waste Recycling waste paper teems sludge that includes solids (very small fibers). Often these waste sent to the landfill including mental. Incineration is an ersatz however the incineration serves to disseminate dangerous emissions like dioxins and hydrocarbons. For the residual ash also is sent to landfills. In summary, recycling is extremely essential and we should raise awareness because people mostly are very oblivious and clueless about it. We have to recycle in order to maintain a healthy environment we can live in happily. Try to minimize the use of paper and raw material so that we can save natural resources. We should be able to live in a healthy planet a thoughtful life. We have to consider the fact that there are other species living with us in the same planet that our silly acts and unhealthy behavior have negative effects on. http://www.livestrong.com/article/159591-the-negative-effects-of-recycling-paper

The Sophistication of the Brain Essay -- Neurology

To what extent is it true that the brain is a sophisticated information processor? The human brain is the most important part of the nervous system. The brain along with the spinal cord makes up the central nervous system and together they control all of the body’s important functions, such as motor functions, speech, vision, hearing and also involuntary functions like breathing. Many of these functions are localised to a specific area of the cerebrum. The cerebrum is split into four lobes; the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes, which are specialised to carry out their different roles. The cortex is divided into two hemispheres; the left hemisphere is associated with motor control, speech and language functions and logic; whereas the right hemisphere is linked to spatial perception and creativity. Communication in the brain occurs via neurons which transmit electrical impulses to other neurons by neural conduction (Wickens, 2009). They are connected by synapses which are small gaps between two nerve cells. There are approximately one billion neurons in the brain (Wickens, 2009), meaning that there are even more synapses. Synapses allow electrical impulses to be passed from neurone to neurone as chemical messages in the form of neurotransmitters, since electrical messages cannot cross the synapse. Cognitivism was developed in the 1960s to help explain what behaviourism and the biological perspective could not. It aims to find out how conscious thought processes can affect behaviours. The theory likens the processes of the mind to the way in which a computer processes information. The modularity of the mind theory was mentioned by Jerry Fodor in his 1983 book ‘Modularity of Mind’. He suggests that the mind is compos... ...splayed on the screen. However, the brain is not as fast as a computer when completing tasks that involve calculations or retrieving information from the stores. Nevertheless it is capable of understanding emotions and storing data by the depth of processing. It can encode semantically which does not require rehearsal and allows memories to be retrieved easily without cues. Works Cited Baddeley, A. (2000). The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Science. 4 (11): 417–423. Jarvis, M. (2000) Theoretical Approaches in Psychology. East Sussex: Routledge. Lytton, W. W. (2002). From Computer to Brain: Foundations of Computational Neuroscience. New York: Springer-Verlag Parkin, A.J. (2000) Essential Cognitive Psychology. Sussex: Psychology Press. Wickens, A. (2009) Foundations of Biopsychology. 2nd ed. Essex: Pearson Education.

Management Informational System

Answer Review questions 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 16, 18, & 22 in your own words. First, write the questions, and then answer with proper explanation. 1. Define the term database. How is it different from a database management system? Database is simply a collection of data. A database helps and provides managers and decision making people with timely and relevant information that leads the company to organizational success. A database management system is totally different than regular database. A (DBMS) is a group of programs that manipulates the database. . What is the hierarchy of data in a database? The hierarchy of data in a database is bits, records, files, database, fields, and characters. 3. What is the purpose of a primary key? How is it useful in controlling data redundancy? The purpose of a primary key is identifying records and make sure they can be accessed and organized. It makes sure that each record in a file is unique; therefore, no two files can have the same informat ion. 4. What are the advantages of the database approach over the traditional approach to database management?Most companies use database approach more over the traditional approach because it allows them the ability to share data and information. It allows them to share a pool of data with multiple different types of information systems. 5. What is data modeling? What is its purpose? Briefly describe three commonly used data models. Data modeling is an approach to modeling organizational objects and associations that employ both text and graphics. To come up with a solution to a problem after the company has gathered and analyzed information. Enterprise data modeling investigate data and information needs of the organization * Entity-relationship diagrams uses graphical symbols to show the organization of and relationship between data * Data model diagram of entities and their relationships 6. What is a database schema, and what is its purpose? A database schema is a description in cluding the logical and physical structure of the data and the relationship among the data. The purpose of database schema is to define the tables and other database associated with a user. 7.What is the difference between a data definition language (DDL) and a data manipulation language (DML)? DDL is a set of instructions and commands used to define and describe data and relationships in a specific database. DML is a language that allows user to access and modify the data, to make queries, and to generate reports. 8. What is a data warehouse, and how is it different from a traditional database used to support OLTP? A data warehouse holds all of the business information such as the processes, products, and customers of a company.It was designed to help with decision making for management and also stores historical data from operational systems and external sources. Data warehouse is more advanced and complex compared to using a traditional database. 9. What is the relationship betwe en the Internet and database? The Internet transmits data from one computer to another and database is a collection of organized data. 10. What is predictive analysis, and how does it assist businesses in gaining competitive advantage?Predictive analysis is a form of data mining that combines historical data with assumptions about future conditions to predict outcomes of events. It helps them find new market segments that could be profitable for their businesses. PART II Fill in the Blanks with appropriate words: 1. A(n) Database Administrator is a skilled and trained IS professional who directs all activities related to an organization’s database, including providing security from intruders. 2. A(n) Character is a basic building block of information, consisting of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numeric digits, or special symbols. . A(n) Entity is a generalized class of people, places, or things for which data is collected, stored, and maintained. 4. A(n) Primary Key i s a field or set of fields that uniquely identifies the record. 5. A(n) Data Model is a diagram of entities and their relationships. 6. A(n) Relational Model database model that describes data in which all data elements are placed in two-dimensional tables, called relations, which are the logical equivalent of files. 7. A(n) Flat file is a simple database program whose records have no relationship to one another. 8.A(n) Data Definition Language (DDL) is a collection of instructions and commands used to define and describe data and relationships in a specific database. 9. A(n) Data Administrator is responsible for defining and implementing consistent principles for a variety of data issues, including setting data standards and data definitions that apply across all the databases in an organization. 10. A(n) Data Warehouse is a database that holds business information from many sources in the enterprise, covering all aspects of the company’s processes, products, and customers. 1. A(n) Data Mart is a subset of a data warehouse. 12. Data Mining is an information-analysis tool that involves the automated discovery of patterns and relationships in a data warehouse. 13. Predictive Analysis is a form of data mining that combines historical data with assumptions about future conditions to predict outcomes of events, such as future product sales or the probability that a customer will default on a loan. PART III Case #1 Managing International Trades with Powerful Database Systems Discussions questions 1.What unique challenges do databases that deal with financial markets face? They use the database to fuel business intelligence tools to allow it to process data. The company maintains a data warehouse on which it runs queries. 2. How does Internaxx separate data in its database for annual reports from the data that fuels real-time analytics? Inernaxx data warehouse provides data that gives out the annual reports that are updated frequently. Whereas, the functional databases that feed into the warehouse provides it with the real-time information.Critical thinking questions 1. In what ways does Internaxx use its database to provide the company with a competitive advantage? The Internaxx database fuels both wise investment decision-making for Intenaxx customers and wise business decision-making for Internaxx executives. It uses it database to fuel business intelligence and the company maintains the data in the warehouse. This insight helps to make a competitive advantage. Their database allows consumers to watch the rise and fall stock prices and market conditions. . What unique capabilities must the Internaxx database have in order to support trading in 15 stock exchanges around the world? They must deal with a numerous amount of data and the data collected by Internaxx originates from the many trading operations carried out by its customers. The company needs to make sure they have reliable network connection to make sure the exchanges are ef ficient and happen. Internaxx must have both a e-commerce and m-commerce to accomplish all of these exchanges around the world.

Descriptive- the Book I Want Essay

There are moments during the day when there is just too much noise. White noise hisses from the television in the corner. The high pitch buzz of rock music blares from earbuds implanted into the ears of someone nearby. Even the insistent clickity-clack of fingers across a computer keyboard seem to add to the flurry of traffic already flushed into my mind, via my overwhelmed ears. For me, there is one moment in my day that quiet is treasured. When I can no longer take it, I escape to a brick and mortar bookstore and treat myself to a hardback book. When I walk in, I am always taken aback by the towering displays of tomes; the precariously perched novels appearing like high divers waiting to plunge to the earth below. I find myself tipping-toeing around the pyramid tables, holding my breath to keep their descent from happening. I scan the plethora of shelves for something to read. Then, without warning, I see it. Hiding away, leaned back against a cold metal shelf, is the one I want; my book of choice, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. The glossy red and yellow book jacket stands in sharp contrast to the harsh, dulled brown of its perch, like a square apple hanging from a gnarled tree. The crisp, jacket edges fall like a neatly pleated skirt around a strong sturdy backing. Embossed letters softly raise themselves to my eyes as if to say, ‘hello’, and bid me to take them home. I spy uniformed ivory pages sandwiched between the black binding, small gaps in the spacing attempt to cry out with a silent, ‘open at me first’. My mind reels at what might be uncovered once I take it home, do I dare? The hardback emits such a yearning to me, that I cannot stop a gently quivering hand from reaching out and lifting it off the ledge. At first touch, the novel is cool and smooth beneath warm meager fingers. The imprinted title on the book’s sleeve rolls beneath my fingertips, like gently sloping mountains surrounding wide expansive valleys. Tracing outside the lettering, I find the rest of the cover faintly akin to sandpaper, and draw my fingers back. I rest the digest atop flat palms to feel for its weight & length. It is not so light that it may be mistaken for a mere picture book, yet it does not carry enough weight as War and Peace might. It would make a lovely specimen in my growing collect. I tenderly run my fingertips across closed pages, savoring the minute detail of mismatched page lengths. Subsequently, I soothingly open the story just enough to hear it murmur to me. My ears delight in the sudden recognition of hundreds of small birds fluttering, as if startled by someone traipsing through their habitat. Closing the lid on this glee, I am met by the crackling pop of the book’s spine; a tribute to a roaring fire that would be waiting for us once we reached home. Sighing softly, I make my way to the front of the store to purchase my indulgence. I brush off the jacket only to find the swishing of my hand calls to mind the gentle simmer of butter in a hot pan upon the stove. For an instant, my desire for my book is momentarily eclipsed by my hunger, as I place my prize upon the cashier’s stand. The echoing thud sounds like a dropped suitcase on a marble floor in an empty airport terminal, always louder then you expect it to be. I swipe my credit card as the smiling young lady behind the register: hurriedly wraps my treasure in plastic, places a paper receipt inside the bag, presents me with my purchase, and thrusts me towards the exit. Walking out, I have a sense of anticipation building within my chest. I have my prize, and all that remains is to get home to the safety of my quiet room and secluded chair. My breath catches in my throat as I think of how wonderful it will be to relish in the first written words of the story. I imagine myself like Neil Armstrong, except taking a step into a new fantasy and not onto the moon. The drive home is marred with endless lines of cars braking at multiple stoplights. We pulse between the gas and brake pedals, like the jerky motion of a springy horse at a public playground. The constant rocking forward and back has started to slowly lull me to sleep, so I turn up the air, unexpectedly puffing the bag around my reward. Immediately, the vents push the scent of new paper into my face, I breathe deeply. The lingering spice of aged leather and printer ink reminds me of long hours curled up in the quiet, delighting in an author’s heady language. I slowly exhale my valued lungful of air, when I notice I am within reach of my home. My heart leaps at the memory of my hushed home; its tranquility will only add to the soothing moments I plan on spending with Mr. Cline, an escape from the hustle of noise. Pulling into my driveway I get a twinge in my heart of something gone wrong, like the smell of looming rain before a massive storm. The car door slamming should be thunderous, but its noise is drowned out by the riotous thumping of a bass drum. Making my way into the house, the clash of a high hat cymbal rattles the glass, distinctly reminding me of lightning doing the same during the last storm. Somehow, I get the distinct feeling that my attempts to have a quiet, relaxed noiseless reading time will be trumped by the clamor next door. And wouldn’t you guess it, I was right.

Dustin Hoffman essays

Dustin Hoffman essays After watching several of Dustin Hoffman's films, I have concluded that he is a great actor with a lot of talent. He can play a lot of different types of roles and characters. His acting is very convincing. The film's I've watched starring Dustin Hoffman are:  ¡The Graduate, ¡  ¡ Little Big Man, ¡  ¡Kramer Vs. Kramer, ¡  ¡Tootsie, ¡ and  ¡Rainman. ¡ The first film I watched was  ¡The Graduate. ¡ I thought that this film was absolutely hilarious, but I'll try not to talk less about the films and more about Hoffman's performances. He played a young man named Benjamin who has just graduated college, but has no ambition and doesn't make his own decisions. Everyone around him tells him what to do. Benjamin is usually a pretty quiet and shy person and Dustin Hoffman plays this character well. It seems like he has this blank look on his face throughout the whole film. This was one of my two favorite films he did. The second film I watched was  ¡Little Big Man. ¡ It was hard for me to really look at Hoffman's performance because I didn't like his character. At first I thought that the producer of that film had casted the wrong actor but after watching more of the film I changed my mind. His character in this movie was probably difficult to act because of the events that took place in the film. His character's personality and surroundings changed so much. One minute Hoffman's character is a white Indian and the next he's a I thought that the role that Hoffman played in  ¡Kramer Vs. Kramer ¡ was fairly simple, however it showed how he could play diverse roles in different movies. In this film he played a father who's wife left him and his son but then returns and attempts to obtain custody of their eight- year-old son. Hoffman shows how he can act his emotions in this movie. I was convinced that he probably is a father....

Free Essays on Water Quality And Sanitation

Chemistry in Water Surface Water Quality Case Study Background Surface water is defined as run-off from rain and snow (precipitation) that flows on the earth’s surface in rivers and streams, and collects in lakes and reservoirs. Ground water collects in underground aquifers and springs after soaking into the ground and percolating through fissures. Overuse and contamination of both water sources is a major concern in the U.S. and around the world. Water quality can be compromised through overuse of the resource, resulting in changes in the ecosystems supported by these resources. Aquifers in the Western United States hold billions of gallons of water. These resources have been used in irrigation to bring millions of acres of otherwise unproductive farmland into production. As a result of these actions, major aquifers have been seriously depleted over the past thirty years. Since many aquifers are fed at a relatively slow rate, this water deficit may take hundreds of years to replace. In some geographic areas, the depletion of aquifers weakens surrounding rock structures that collapse and form sinkholes. Such consequences of the overuse of ground water are seldom observed, so much of the potential damage of this behavior go unnoticed. Links to resources on aquifers Artesian Aquifers, Kansas City Area Aquifer Protection The consequences of overusing surface water are usually much more evident. Streams are dammed to provide power, flood control and water for irrigation. This disrupts the natural ecosystems that have evolved around free flowing rivers. In the Northeast, the migrations of salmon stocks from the ocean in their freshwater breeding grounds have been disrupted, resulting in a dramatic drop in the population of this popular and beautiful species. River ecosystems rely on periodic floods to provide nutrients for plants that grow along riverbanks and for aquatic life that lives in the river delta. Two ... Free Essays on Water Quality And Sanitation Free Essays on Water Quality And Sanitation Chemistry in Water Surface Water Quality Case Study Background Surface water is defined as run-off from rain and snow (precipitation) that flows on the earth’s surface in rivers and streams, and collects in lakes and reservoirs. Ground water collects in underground aquifers and springs after soaking into the ground and percolating through fissures. Overuse and contamination of both water sources is a major concern in the U.S. and around the world. Water quality can be compromised through overuse of the resource, resulting in changes in the ecosystems supported by these resources. Aquifers in the Western United States hold billions of gallons of water. These resources have been used in irrigation to bring millions of acres of otherwise unproductive farmland into production. As a result of these actions, major aquifers have been seriously depleted over the past thirty years. Since many aquifers are fed at a relatively slow rate, this water deficit may take hundreds of years to replace. In some geographic areas, the depletion of aquifers weakens surrounding rock structures that collapse and form sinkholes. Such consequences of the overuse of ground water are seldom observed, so much of the potential damage of this behavior go unnoticed. Links to resources on aquifers Artesian Aquifers, Kansas City Area Aquifer Protection The consequences of overusing surface water are usually much more evident. Streams are dammed to provide power, flood control and water for irrigation. This disrupts the natural ecosystems that have evolved around free flowing rivers. In the Northeast, the migrations of salmon stocks from the ocean in their freshwater breeding grounds have been disrupted, resulting in a dramatic drop in the population of this popular and beautiful species. River ecosystems rely on periodic floods to provide nutrients for plants that grow along riverbanks and for aquatic life that lives in the river delta. Two ...

The History of the Computer Game Spacewar

The History of the Computer Game Spacewar If I hadnt done it, someone wouldve done something equally exciting, if not better, in the next six months. I just happened to get there first. - Steve Russell aka Slug on inventing Spacewar. Steve Russell - Inventing of Spacewar It was in 1962 when a young computer programmer from MIT named  Steve Russell, fueled with inspiration from the writings of E. E. Doc Smith, led the team  that created the first popular computer game. Starwar was almost the first computer game ever written. However, there were at least two far-lesser-known predecessors: OXO (1952) and Tennis for Two (1958). It took the team about 200 man-hours to write the first version of Spacewar.  Russell wrote Spacewar on a PDP-1, an early DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) interactive mini computer which used a cathode-ray tube type display and keyboard input. The computer was donated to MIT from DEC, who hoped MITs think tank would be able to do something remarkable with their product. A computer game called Spacewar was the last thing DEC expected but they later provided the game as a diagnostic program for their customers. Russell never profited from Spacewars. Description The PDP-1s operating system was the first to allow multiple users to share the computer simultaneously. This was perfect for playing Spacewar, which was a two-player game involving warring spaceships firing photon torpedoes. Each player could maneuver a spaceship and score by firing missiles at his opponent while avoiding the gravitational pull of the sun. Try playing a replica of the computer game for yourselves. It still holds today up as a great way to waste a few hours. By the mid-sixties, when computer time was still very expensive, Spacewar could be found on nearly every research computer in the country. Influence on Nolan Bushnell Russell transferred to Stanford University, where he introduced computer game programming and Spacewar to an engineering student named Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell went on to write the first coin-operated computer arcade game and start Atari Computers. An interesting sidenote is that Doc Smith, besides being a great science fiction writer, held a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and was the researcher who figured out how to get powdered sugar to stick to doughnuts. Spacewar! was conceived in 1961 by Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen. It was first realized on the PDP-1 in 1962 by Steve Russell, Peter Samson, Dan Edwards and Martin Graetz, together with Alan Kotok, Steve Piner and Robert A. Saunders. Try playing a replica of the computer game for yourselves. It still holds today up as a great way to waste a few hours: Spacewar Online - The original 1962 game code runs on PDP-1 emulator in Java.Play Spacewar - The a, s, d, f keys control one of the spaceships. The k, l, ;, keys control the other. The controls are spin one way, spin the other, thrust, and fire. Steve Russell is a computer scientist who led the team that invented Spacewar in 1962, one of the first games ever written for the computer. Steve Russell - Other Achievements Steve Russell also contributed to the IBM 704, which was a 1956 upgrade of the 701. Steve Russell - Background Steve Russell was educated at Dartmouth College from 1954 to 1958.

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN ADVERTISING Research Paper

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN ADVERTISING - Research Paper Example Therefore, the researcher found that a mix of Spanish and English is most effective in these populations, as it mixes accommodation and respect (the Spanish part of the ad) with a positive feeling of linguistic security (the English part of the ad). Meanwhile, in all countries, there is a negative side to advertising. This negative side is that advertising encourages a feeling of inadequacy, and advertising also denigrates traditional social norms. The question that needs to be answered is what are the specific connotations that English convey in the different countries that are covered by the research, and why is advertising considered to be negative in some instances? I. Sociolinguistic Aspects of English Advertising A. In Japan The use of English in the country of Japan is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon. The attribution of the high number of loan words in Japan dates back to the Meiji Restoration in 1868, in which Japan was transformed from feudal to a modern state by adopting Western civilization (Takashi, 1990, p. 327). There are a high number of English loan words in the Japanese language, much more so than loan words from European nations. English loan words represent 80.8% of Western loan words in Japan, with the other western loan words coming from France, Germany, Italian and Dutch (Takashi, 1990, p. 327). This is because the Japanese study English more than any other foreign language. There is some thought that the Japanese people regard English as representative of something cosmopolitan and international, and modern English words are seen as conveying sophistication and modernity, especially in they are used in advertising. (Takashi, 1990, p. 327). Part of the reason for this is because, before, 1931, English words were used in Japan for new concepts and things (Takashi, 1990, p. 327). Previous studies indicate that Japanese males use English loan words more when talking about academic subjects, as opposed to every day life, while Japa nese females use English when speaking on every day topics, as opposed to academic topics. (Takashi, 1990, p. 328). Other studies indicated that commercials that were aired in European languages, such as English, German, French and Italian, and used Western imagery, such as background music, scenery, and a Western person, conveyed the social values and stereotypes attached to these languages. (Takashi, 1990, p. 328). Still other studies showed that young Japanese girls use English loanwords when they want to appear fashionable. (Takashi, 1990 328). Takashi's (1990) study focused upon the language of contemporary advertising, particularly the usage of English in the Japanese contemporary advertising. The focus was on the use of English loan words in Japanese advertising, with 506 Japanese commercials with English loan words and 413 print advertisements with these loan words. For the purpose of this study, the term â€Å"loan word† denoted any English word that had been morphol ogically, phonologically and syntactically integrated into the Japanese language. The study also delineated advertisements that were aimed at specific populations, such as female, young and old, and sought to discover how loan words were used in these specifically targeted advertisements. The study found a total of 5,556 English loan words

Organisational Culture of Google and How It Impacts Its Operations Essay

Organisational Culture of Google and How It Impacts Its Operations - Essay Example The researcher states that employee performance is enhanced by the existence of an effective work environment as illustrated by the case of Google. Google is an American based company that specializes in offering communication technology such as internet services. Since its inception, the company has been guided in its operations by valuing the needs and interests of the employees. The major strength of the organization, which can be attributed to its culture, lies in its ability to motivate the employees, which has contributed to its productivity. Employees are encouraged to be innovative, and they are rewarded for their ideas. An analysis of the case study, as well as the video footage, shows that Google is regarded as the best place to work in America as the employees are motivated and their needs and interests are satisfied. Motivation is seen as the key aspect of the effectiveness of the organization in its performance since the employees share the same goals with the organizati on. For instance, mistakes made by the employees do not warrantee a punishment, but they are treated as an effective tool for learning. According to Stahl & Mendenhall, culture is believed to shape the operations of the organization in various ways. It contributes to innovation and success, which allows the managers to be able to cope with problems related to adoption as well as integration. Organisational culture at Google is considered to be very effective given that it has recently been named the best company for employees by Fortune Magazine. The core values of the organization’s culture are intensely held and shared.

If you could make one scientific discovery in your lifetime, what Essay

If you could make one scientific discovery in your lifetime, what would it be and why - Essay Example Let me explain why: I might offer a rather unsupported claim stating that many individuals devote a significant portion of their early adult life to medicine and health care for the monetary benefits that this industry can potentially provide. This assertion might sound a tad bit presumptuous, however it does not diminish the capabilities and ultimate competencies of these ambitious individuals. However, there are those people, such as myself, who view the efforts of contemporary medical communities to be an attempt at sustaining the health and well-being of generations to come. I think this might be an argument which can be supported by the successes of other pioneering professionals in the medical field, such as the reduction of various, ancient plagues and diseases which once wreaked havoc on society, but are no longer threatening to contemporary communities. Though these researchers primarily contributed to disease warfare appropriate for their individual time in history, their long-term legacies t o social and physical health improvement are most notable and remarkably sustainable. Having offered this, the elimination of the genetic factors controlling the aging process would become a significant project with everlasting, positive consequences for the way that we, as humans, would live our lives. I believe that with this discovery, the future global community would no longer experience diminished human morale and would virtually eliminate problems with suicide. Why, you ask? With the prospect of eternal life would come greater opportunities for cognitive growth and emotional maturity, helping individuals to mold their ambitions toward self-discovery and methods by which to make contributions to society. Where todays society is plagued by the realization that the accomplishment of lifelong goals is limited by progressive aging, tomorrows culture would likely learn crucial elements such

Changes and trends in management function, relationship between human Essay

Changes and trends in management function, relationship between human resource and line managers areas where line managers make - Essay Example This means that they direct the work and ensure high employee productivity in their areas of work but do not carry out administrative duties for the employees. These administrative duties include discipline, promotions, demotions, and salary administration among others. The line manager is charged with the responsibility of meeting corporate objectives in his or her field. In the recent past, however, other aspects like risk management, Human resource function and finance have crossed into the line management. Research shows that the human resources in an organisation contribute to almost eighty percent of the organisation’s net value. This means that if human resource is not managed properly, the organisation can undergo a great loss. It is, therefore up to the Human Resource Department to bring out the best in all workers and thus leading to the realization of the set organisational goals. As such, the management of Human resource has recently become every manager’s j ob. This means that the main functions of the HR Department are increasingly being devolved to other Managers, and this is where the relationship between the line manager and the HR department becomes crucial. ... (Handy 1999) The functions of the HR department will include Manpower planning, Job analysis and description, Determination of wages and salaries, the recruitment and selection method for performance appraisals, training and development, Employee welfare and motivation, employee grievances among others. These functions are interrelate the HR function in that they require the participation and feedback from the line managers. The role of the line managers include: 1. Managing the daily running of the line 2. Managing the operational costs of his area of production 3. Providing technical expertise 4. Organising the allocation of work and duties 5. Monitoring the work process 6. Checking and ensuring quality production 7. Dealing with customers and clients 8. Measuring operational performance of the line More recently, these functions have been widened to include: 1. Providing coaching for employees 2. Performance appraisals 3. Handling discipline and employee grievances 4. Participatio n of the line managers in the recruitment and selection function From the fore-mentioned responsibilities, it is evident that the HR department relies so much on the line managers to get things done and get a follow up on the set policy. It is as if the HR department formulates the policies and the line managers implement them. This makes the HR department appear like a ‘big Brother† to the line managers refusing them to do their work properly. Emerging trends and changes in the HR function Training and Internships Norbert (1967) notes that not all employees who go through the recruitment process successfully are best placed to produce quality work in the

The collapse of the Atlantic cod fishery is generally understood to Essay

The collapse of the Atlantic cod fishery is generally understood to have been multi-causal. Describe the various factors that co - Essay Example Previously, the fishermen caught fish only in certain areas and there too they were unable to fish at a great depth. This limited the amount of fish that were caught and hence a balance in the ecosystem was not majorly disturbed. With the introduction of efficient machines, huge areas were covered and fishing could be done at greater depths, which resulted in a rapid decline in the fishing stocks. The Collapse of fishing industry has left a strong message to the Government and to all the companies linked with the utilization of natural resources. Natural resources are the assets of a country and to over exploit them just for the sake of making extra profits is harmful for the future of the country. Canadian forests are now facing similar threats and it is being feared that they may meet the same end as the Fishing industry. Ten percent of the world’s forest land is present in Canada and the wood industry generates billions of revenue for the country (Canada, 2010). However the forests are suffering from overcutting of wood and if Government does not introduce policies to barricade the practice, Canadian forests may be doomed like the Atlantic Cod Fishery.

Mini Case Study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mini Case Study - Research Paper Example The specialist helps the clients to solve the particular problems by developing various techniques. Question to the Store Manager The store manager has been asked three questions by the performance improvement specialist to get proper information about the growing number of returned merchandises in their electronic store. The first question was asked regarding the service facilities rendered to the customer during purchase of goods and it was found that the customer was not provided with adequate knowledge about the products. The second question was regarding the sales staff qualities in the store and it was found that the staffs lacked in skill and knowledge about the electronic products available in the store. The third question was asked to the store manager about the brand of the electronics products they are using in their retail outlet and it was observed that they deal with the poor quality products and not the renowned brand available in the market. Thus, all these are the ou tcomes of various returned merchandises. Problem Fixation The term ‘return merchandise’ is referred to the return of goods by the recipient to the supplier because of certain problems within the products.

The collapse of the Atlantic cod fishery is generally understood to Essay

The collapse of the Atlantic cod fishery is generally understood to have been multi-causal. Describe the various factors that co - Essay Example Previously, the fishermen caught fish only in certain areas and there too they were unable to fish at a great depth. This limited the amount of fish that were caught and hence a balance in the ecosystem was not majorly disturbed. With the introduction of efficient machines, huge areas were covered and fishing could be done at greater depths, which resulted in a rapid decline in the fishing stocks. The Collapse of fishing industry has left a strong message to the Government and to all the companies linked with the utilization of natural resources. Natural resources are the assets of a country and to over exploit them just for the sake of making extra profits is harmful for the future of the country. Canadian forests are now facing similar threats and it is being feared that they may meet the same end as the Fishing industry. Ten percent of the world’s forest land is present in Canada and the wood industry generates billions of revenue for the country (Canada, 2010). However the forests are suffering from overcutting of wood and if Government does not introduce policies to barricade the practice, Canadian forests may be doomed like the Atlantic Cod Fishery.

Sustainability and Waste Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sustainability and Waste Management - Assignment Example There are different methods that can be used to extract unwanted solvents, for instance, boiling, grinding or distilling the unwanted solvent with appropriate solvents which are used less frequently. Blending could also be used especially if it is on a large scale and it is a continuous project. According to Limbachiya & London, determination of the method to use for removing the solvent requires that environmental concerns need to be taken care of, in that the method has to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Regarding this, most United States EPA methods list sonification, a method of blending as a valid mode of extraction. This is very vital since using unauthorized methods could lead to penal action. The efficiency and cost of the method also have to be considered, methods like blending work in 10 to 15 minutes while solvent extraction could take up to twenty-four hours. However solvent extraction is much cheaper, therefore, a balance needs to be created in coming up with a method; costs versus efficiency. Light globes if discarded carelessly present a huge hazard to the environment and it is necessary that appropriate mechanisms should be adopted regarding their disposal. It is even better if the light bulbs are recycled to save vast resources. An office can save on its expenditures if it decides to recycle light globes. To develop an efficient recycling program, an office needs to follow the guidelines outlined in the subsequent paragraphs. A lot of research and learning should be carried out regarding recycling programs around the state the office is located that specifically deal with particular items like light globes. Office equipment should also be included as one of the recyclable items in the chosen company in case there is a need to recycle other items as the recycling system grows.

Using Computer Forensics to Investigate Employee Data Theft

Using Computer Forensics to Investigate Employee Data Theft Introduction Over 25 percent of employees steal proprietary data when departing a company or organization.[1] To that end, our experience shows that departing employees have a sense of ownership over the data that they copy. Intellectual property commonly stolen includes customer lists, secret formulas, source code, strategy documents and other trade secrets. The information is often used against the organization when the former employee goes to work for a competitor or decides to start a new company.   Ã‚   When suspicions of employee data theft arise, it is important to engage a computer forensics expert to perform a theft of IP analysis in order to preserve electronic data and uncover important evidence. Using specialized software, the expert can reveal digital footprints such as: USB activity Files recently opened Cloud storage usage Files sent to personal email accounts Recently printed documents The results of the analysis can provide the foundation for legal action such as a temporary restraining order, permanent injunction, subpoena of personal devices, or other litigation to prevent the misappropriation of company data. When Employee Data Theft Is Suspected Employee data theft occurs most frequently just prior to, or immediately after, an individuals termination or resignation from an organization. Telltale signs that an investigation is warranted include unusual activity by the employee, such as: Plugging a personal USB thumb drive or hard drive into a computer Coming into work at odd hours or establishing remote desktop connections during off-hours Transferring large amounts of data on the company network Visiting file sharing sites like Dropbox or Google Drive Sending emails with attachments to personal accounts If there are concerns that a departing employee has stolen proprietary data, then it is important to take steps not to delete important electronic evidence located on his or her computer. If the computer is powered on, then leave it on, because important evidence may be stored on the computers random access memory and could be deleted if the computer is powered off. Also, ensure the computer cannot be accessed remotely by disconnecting it from the network. If the computer is already turned off, then place it in secure storage. Furthermore, confirm the employees login credentials are disabled or have been changed, but do not let the IT staff reinstall the operating system or reassign the computer to another employee. Such actions could destroy or overwrite any evidence of wrongdoing. Finally, resist the temptation to take a peek at what is stored on the computer by turning it on and accessing files because this could alter the data, thereby making the investigation more complex. If the suspected employee had a company-issued cell phone, then place it in secure storage as well. Smartphones hold an abundance of useful information such as text messages, emails, call logs, internet activity and more. The simple act of resetting the phone, however, can permanently destroy this data. IP Theft Investigations Preserving and Analyzing Electronic Evidence The first step in a theft of IP investigation is to forensically preserve the data on the employees device(s). The computer forensics expert will create chain of custody documentation, photograph the hardware, and verify the integrity of the preserved data, among other things. These steps ensure that the electronic evidence will be admissible in court. Once the data is preserved, the next step in the investigation is to perform an analysis to identify software and artifacts that may be indicative of IP theft. These areas on a typical Windows installation include: USB activity Files recently opened or deleted Cloud storage Personal email accounts Internet history report Printed documents USB Activity Analysis Many of todays USB devices, such as thumb drives and external hard drives, have enough storage capacity to save an entire copy of a users hard drive. As such, they are one of the most common tools used to steal data. The good news is that using a USB device leaves behind a trail of digital evidence that can prove invaluable to an investigation. Analyzing a users USB activity can reveal several key facts regarding what was connected to the computer and when. In most cases, forensic experts can determine the serial number and/or brand of the USB device, as well as the first and last time the device was connected to the computer. In some instances, they may also be able to verify each time a specific USB device was connected. Oftentimes, the analysis will reveal that an external USB hard drive or flash drive was connected for the first time during an employees last week of employment. While most analyses reveal a new USB connection, it is also possible that a device used throughout the duration of the suspects employment was never returned. A device such as this would likely contain numerous documents and files that were related to the employees day-to-day activities and could contain value to a competitor. If it is a requirement that employees return company-owned USB drives at the end of their employment, forensic experts have the ability to verify whether or not that policy was upheld. Files Recently Opened While confirming that a USB device was connected to a computer is significant, it is even more important to know what files were accessed and potentially transferred to the device. The Microsoft Windows operating system creates various artifacts when a user opens a file or folder. These artifacts indicate what was opened, when it was opened and where it was opened from. A classic red flag is if the employee was opening files during the last week of employment that were not related to the work being performing during that time. Another consideration is the organizations data access policy. If data access restrictions are not in place, then the employee may be able to access company files unrelated to current work that are stored on the network. The existence of these artifacts when combined with a USB activity timeline can indicate a high probability that data was copied off the system. Lastly, the artifacts can also contain specific information about where the file existed. If a file was opened from a USB drive, the artifact will indicate this, providing factual evidence that the suspect is in possession of a USB drive that contains specific files. For example, combining a USB analysis and files recently opened analysis could show that on October 7, 2016, at 7:22:08 a.m., a non-company-issued SanDisk thumb drive with serial number 851450 was plugged into the computer for the first time and a file titled Client Contact List.xlsx was opened. Cloud Storage If the analysis shows that certain files were accessed but no USB activity was detected, the next step in the investigation is to identify evidence that a cloud storage provider such as Dropbox, Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive was accessed. The purpose of these applications is to share and sync data across multiple computers. For example, Dropbox may have been surreptitiously installed on the employees work computer as well as his or her home computer. Consequently, the simple act of syncing a company file to Dropbox will instantaneously also make that file available on the employees home computer. The good news is that cloud storage applications often have corresponding log files and databases that record what files the user accesses and what activities are performed. These logs can signify files have been uploaded to the cloud in the past even if they have already been deleted from the shared folder. Some of these applications even save deleted data in a separate hidden folder on the computer itself that users typically are not aware of. As a result, a theft of IP analysis may show that Dropbox was installed on the users work computer and that early in the morning on October 7, 2016, fifty files were deleted and the hidden folder reveals these were company files. Personal Email Accounts Some individuals may use their company email to send attachments to their personal email account such as Yahoo or Gmail. In these cases, forensic experts are able to perform a preservation of the employees work email to identify and document the evidence of misconduct. Internet History Report An Internet history report can be generated that shows, inter alia, recent Internet searches, web sites and pages visited, cookies from websites, and Internet downloads that occurred. Such information is helpful in establishing what an individual thought was important or even their state of mind. For example, analysts have discovered that individuals have searched on how to delete data or copy data surreptitiously and that they reviewed websites that were in essence how to manuals to perform certain deleterious acts. Paper Documents Finally, individuals who are a little less aware of more modern techniques to copy data will simply print the documents they wish to take out the door. In these cases, forensic experts are able determine the last known print date of Microsoft Office documents. Deliverables and Project Timeframe The turnaround time for a theft of IP analysis performed by an analyst is typically one week. Deliverables provided will be easy to understand in the form of spreadsheets, html reports, and written reports containing the findings of the analysis. A forensic expert should also spend time with the client either over the phone or in person to discuss the reports in detail so that they know exactly what a report contains and the assumptions and opinions of the forensic expert. If necessary, an expert will also provide depositions or expert witness testimony regarding the authenticity of the evidence and their findings. Authors Timothy M. Opsitnick, President, JURINNOV, LLC, Joseph M. Anguilano, Director of Operations, and Trevor B. Tucker, Forensic Analyst. JURINNOV, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Technology Concepts Design, Inc. (TCDI), is a technology company that provides cybersecurity and eDiscovery services. Cybersecurity consulting includes investigating accidental or malicious data breaches as well as providing security strategies and assessments to prevent such occurrences. eDiscovery consulting includes computer forensic investigations and ASP ESI hosting. JurInnov news and information is available at www.jurinnov.com. For over 25 years, TCDI has been providing technology solutions through partnerships with large corporations and law firms. These solutions include advanced litigation support software and services for electronic discovery, hosted review and production, and large-scale litigation case file management. TCDI news and information is available at www.tcdi.com. [1] Biscom, Employee Departure Creates Gaping Security Hole Says New Data, December 23, 2015; https://www.biscom.com/employee-departure-creates-gaping-security-hole-says-new-data/.

SMS or a MESS Essay -- miscellaneous

SMS or a 'MESS' As the technology is breeding over, mobile services and its application has entered day-to-day bustle. Once a luxury has become an acute inevitability. The positive influence is that it is affordable, best means of communication and contact, messaging service, encompassing range and its shape & size. All is fine until it knocks our door heavily. But, irony is that we use the technology not because of its adequacy. Instead our dimensions are diminishing and degrading with the way we are bestowing it. As you can see the above conversation, none of the words are complete except "Hi", and some of them seem to be senseless. Its a cruel truth that SMS-Short Messaging Service is growing from Short to Shorter and Shorter to Shortest. And what are we conceding in all this is a big question. What triggered me to write all this were two scenarios. a)My tutor during a conversation said an examination answer sheet comprised of some short forms that are used in SMS. b)After this, I kept watching all the mails I receive and some of the chat sessions I had with my family and friends. If we could provoke further, the results are alarming. An examination paper with short terms instead of formal, complete answers and our normal day-to-day conversations are no more in complete forms. 'SMS' was the term introduced for the mobile services with restricted display. But, what is actually stopping us in using the complete, sensible, flawless and meaningful sentences a...

Stem-Cell Research and the Media Essay -- Persuasive Argumentative Es

Stem-Cell Research and the Media      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Biomedical technology is getting much press due to the stem-cell debate.   A controversial topic in itself, with the President of the United States taking a stand on the issue for funding purposes, the topic has received even more press over the consequences resulting from President Bush's decision.   With the President's approval rating well over 80 percent since the September 11th attack, those who contest any of his decisions have been receiving feelings of anger from those who support him.   I, however, would like to take a stand and contest Bush's decision to limit the stem cell research funding.   This paper presents two articles that examine Bush's decision in different ways; one looks at the consequences from the point of view of stem cell researchers, and the other presents an avenue for the Presidential administration to defend their decision, which happens to be contradictory to their claim to be concerned with the science behind stem cell rese arch.   While the Janesville Gazette article is supposedly a defense of Bush's decision, analyzing the claims and actual behaviors of Tommy Thompson and President Bush exemplifies their weak argument.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Newsweek article by Begley (2001) conveys information about the consequences of President George W. Bush's decision to limit the federal funding for stem-cell research to the 64 colonies already in existence.   The article does not explicitly state President Bush's decision to limit the funding of the research to the current 64 colonies, but only states that the President announced, "there were scores of stem-cell colonies around the word that federally funded scientists would be allowed to study."   Begley's way of co... ...n's position, a careful analyzer can see major contradictions between his claims to use science to make the decision and his actual decision obviously not being based on science.   By also examining and article which roots itself in the people involved daily with stem cell research, and by capturing their concerns with the President's funding decision, this paper serves as a well rounded critique of Bush's stem cell research funding decision in a time when patriotism does not allow for easy critiques of the current administration.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      References   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Begley, Sharon. (2001, September 10). In search of stem cells: It turns out many of the 64 lines may be unusable.   Newsweek, p. 57.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stem cell decision defended: Thompson" Number of developed lines mad no difference to Bush. (2001, September 7). The Janesville Gazette, pp. A1, A8.   

Internet Marketing Assignment Essay

E-Commerce describes any business to consumer transactions that take place partly or solely online and is not limited to the purchase of physical products from a website – although that does make up a key component of most e-commerce businesses. Some services or products are sold purely online while other companies may have physical stores or headquarters in addition to their online presence. E-Business describes any business to business transactions that take place online. For example a Web Design company often doesn’t sell products directly to consumers, but instead creates websites as a service for other companies, which will in turn be used to sell products or services to consumers. The internet has revolutionised the way companies do business. The shift in the way people shop has had a big impact on both the micro environments – the individual companies and their direct stakeholders; and the macro environment – politics, economy and society as a whole. â€Å"The death of the  high street† has been an obvious effect of these changes with many stores shutting down. Those who fail to keep up with these changes will be more likely to feel the negative consequences – as was the case with HMV and Blockbuster, who were forced into administration as competing online services took over their market share. For those who do keep up however, business is booming. iTunes, Amazon and Netflix are Blockbuster’s and HMV’s online equivalents and all three have billions of users from all around the globe. While the amount of jobs available in retail positions has been on a steady decline over recent years the demand for skilled workers in the IT sector is bigger than ever – so much so that there is a shortage of candidates and many roles go unfilled. A report issued by the government regarding the UK cyber security strategy highlighted that the â€Å"current and future ICT and cyber security skills gap† was a â€Å"key challenge† in implementing the strategy. (National Audit Office, 2013) To address this problem the education system needed to be changed, as of 2014 children as young as 5 will be learning advanced computing as part of the curriculum. Higher Education institutes will also likely have to reassess their course material to accommodate the new generation of students who will be leaving school with more in depth knowledge of computer systems and software development. Consumers gain many benefits from e-commerce, they now have the choice of shopping from an almost unlimited choice of companies from all around the world. Comparing prices and finding out what other customers thought of a product is also made much easier by the internet. The change in peoples shopping habits has changed the way companies advertise, huge marketing budgets for prime-time TV commercials are no longer the only way to get noticed and the potential audience is now global. Elements of Internet Marketing Traditional styles of advertising such as TV, newspapers, magazines, billboards etc are based on an â€Å"interruption† model. A show is interrupted by TV advert; music is interrupted by a radio advert; the flow of an article is interrupted by a magazine article, etc. This style of advertising persisted and still exists today in many places – but more and more companies are realising that demanding a customer’s attention in this way online does not yield good results. Some elements of internet marketing are examined below. Search Engines Organic search results account for a significant percentage of internet traffic. (The actual number is hard to measure for reasons discussed in the â€Å"Internet Marketing Tools† section on page 11). Regardless of the specifics it is widely accepted that organic search results are where a huge amount of a websites visitors come from. Search Engine Optimisation is therefore a vital part of a marketing strategy. Paid advertising through search engines may also be considered for extra exposure but is no substitute for a properly designed site structure and key word rich, quality content for search engine robots to crawl. Often good practices for SEO also embody good practices for UX design and accessibility; humans and robots alike prefer sites that are easy to navigate and have well-structured content that makes use of headings and sections to make it easy to read; as well as alt tags on all images that give a clear description of what that image depicts; with internal and external links within the content when the context is relevant. In the early days of search engines keywords were all that mattered, so it was easy to rank high on Google simply by stuffing as many keywords into the headers meta-tag as possible. Key word meta-tags are now obsolete and search engines have become much more sophisticated. (Google, 2011) As well as  crawling site structure and content to determine the quality of a page search-bots also judge the integrity of a page. They do this by keeping track of how many external sources link to it – at first, this encouraged â€Å"link farms† (a company would pay for a web traffic boosting service, which would churn out their site’s URL over a network of dummy sites set up purely for the purpose of creating links) – as search engines evolved this method is no longer as effective. Google now has algorithms that also measure the integrity of the sites that the links come from to provide users with more relevant results. Ranking high on Google for certain keywords is a long process, a new website has to build up a reputation, get their content shared and linked by others in an organic way – by having an article shared on social media for example – not through a link farm. Google strives for excellence by constantly improving its algorithms, they want to offer their visitors relevant search results so people continue to use their service and marketing strategies have to adapt if they want to keep up. Organic search results are a perfect example of marketing that doesn’t feel like marketing to potential customers. They are using search engines to find something specific – the hard work has been done for you, they already want to buy something or have some sort of problem solved – and if good practices for SEO have been implemented there’s no reason a website they find through Google would be irrelevant and not what they’re looking for, Google’s algorithms make sure of that and there are no shortcuts or cheats to trick them. A site filled with links and crammed with keywords for the sole purpose of getting more people to visit your website achieves nothing, if they click on it and it isn’t relevant to what they’re looking for they won’t just buy your product or service anyway, they will leave. The amount of time people spend on a website and the actions they take there (signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, et c) is all tracked by Google and used as part of the algorithms to determine the quality and integrity of a website. Banner Ads Banner Advertisements are based on the classic interruption model and the  vast majority of internet users don’t like them; and a huge percentage use software to block them completely. This has been determined multiple times over the years by a number of different researchers. One study conducted by the Norman Neilson Group, experts in Usability Heuristics, found that most users will completely ignore anything that looks like an advert – even when it’s not; and even when it provides them with the information they are looking for. In one study participants were asked to find the population of the United States using the U.S Census Bureau website – which was presented in large red numbers on the right hand side of the home page. 86% of users ignored it because it looked like an advert, it was bold and placed in the location that adverts are traditionally placed so was disregarded, despite containing the exact information they were looking for. The pie chart shows an overall representation of the behaviour exhibited by users on the site. In a different study eye tracking software and real time observation was used to measure exactly where people look on a website and how they interact with its various elements. In summary the study found that: â€Å"Users rarely look at display advertisements on websites. Of the 4 design elements that do attract a few ad fixations, one is unethical and reduces the value of advertising networks.† (Nielsen, 2007) The four design elements in question that users have been found to give their attention are: text, faces, cleavage/other body parts (â€Å"sex sells† still rings true for internet marketing) and obnoxious, intruding banner advertisements. Banners that sit and do nothing are considered a more ethical way of advertising, unfortunately studies show that ones that make sounds, pop up into the users line of sight or are animated attract more attention. However, just because a person is more likely to look at an obnoxious ad, that doesn’t mean they will click on it and be prepared to hand over payment details. I feel â€Å"Banner Blindness† should be taken more seriously than it currently is and companies need to find alternative methods of advertising, as this form has been proven to be ineffective for well over a decade now. (The same study with the same findings was first conducted by the NN group  in 1997.) Social Media Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc are no longer just the domain of a young tech-savvy audience. Data collected from a survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International found that Social Media usage has increased by 800% since 2005. In contrast, TV viewership has decreased by 50% in the same time frame. The graph below shows the findings, broken down by age  Social media marketing can connect businesses with millions of potential customers. Not only that, it can be done for free; unlike television and other traditional methods of advertising that require a substantial investment up front with virtually no guarantee of a return. Paid advertising on Social Media can also be tailored to target a specific audience. The ads can be set up to only display to those who will be the most likely to click on it. A bar advertising for fresher’s week for example could target their ads at students who were over 18 and living in the local area. Strategic Content The use of strategic content ties in with SEO and Social Media marketing; it involves creating content (as a blog for example) that is useful or interesting in some way (as well as relevant to the business) to encourage visitors to come to a website. From an SEO standpoint this will make the site rich with content, keywords and links which can result in higher rankings on search engines which means visitors are more likely to find your website. For example a company specialising in web design may have a design and technology blog providing expert information and up to date news on technology, or perhaps a section featuring tutorials and templates. Providing free content that’s similar to what you’re trying to sell can seem counter intuitive but it helps cultivate trust, it provides evidence that the company knows what it’s talking about and gives potential customers an overview of how things are done. Content can be shared around social media, and if it’s interesting or informative people may share it with their  friends which results in more exposure. Partnerships Forming mutually beneficial deals with other companies and cross promoting each other can widen the audience they both reach. Youtube and Twitch for example are used as platforms for gamers and game publishers to work together; publishers provide high influence content creators with early access to games, which they broadcast to all their fans. The content creators gain more views and in return more people get to hear about the game and see how it plays – making them more likely to buy it. This kind of promotion doesn’t cost either party any money but is beneficial and profitable for everyone involved. All of these elements (and others) tailored to fit the needs of the company combine to create what’s commonly referred to among marketing professionals as â€Å"The Marketing Mix.† The Marketing Mix The Marketing Mix: a phrase first used by Neil Borden in his paper â€Å"The Concept of the Marketing Mix† has become a well-known term for describing the strategies formulated to advertise services and products. One of the most widely used marketing mix paradigms is â€Å"The Four Ps†; proposed by E J McCarthy in 1964. The Four Ps are: Product Whether it be a tangible item or a service, first and foremost you need something to sell. What do customers want to buy? What features does your product or service need to fulfil the needs of your potential customers? Place In the past, brick and mortar stores and catalogues were the only two options  to consider, the internet has made a global market much easier to reach but has also made the market much more competitive. Companies need to consider where customers might look for their product. Is a physical location required or can the business exist solely online? The pros and cons of each would need to be considered, for example a small start-up clothing store would be competing with huge corporations such as Primark, Debenhams, etc while paying for expensive running costs of a brick store, stock storage and paying for staff wages. Online, that same start-up company would still be competing with those same corporations as on the high street, plus a huge other array of smaller or medium sized online outlets. However the running costs and risks of an online-only start-up are minimal. A company can exist solely as a part of a larger organisation such as Ebay or Etsy; many who start out this way and find success then choose to invest in their own website for selling their products without the middle man. Some then may also go on to open high-street stores, for example Simple Be existed as a purely online business at first before investing in physical stores; which have an advantage over online only clothing stores as customers can try things on and won’t have to worry about complicated returns procedures. Price Finding the right price for a product or service is a balancing act. Price too high for your target market and nobody will buy. Pricing too low not only means lower profit margins but can also label your product as â€Å"cheap† which may not be an image the company wants to convey. Apple are a perfect example of hitting the perfect price to quality ratio for their products target market. Apple products are hugely popular despite being comparable in technical specifications to other, lower priced competing devices. Ken Segall, Apples former marketing executive, said himself that â€Å"Apple doesn’t do cheap† stating in his blog that Apple â€Å"makes products for people who care about design, simplicity, quality and a great experience — and are willing to pay more for these things. For Apple to compromise in any of these areas would be a violation of the Prime Directive.† (Segall, 2014) Apple products are desirable because they’re seen by their fans as the most prestigious and high quality brand, this image would be diminished if the products were  cheaper; as was demonstrated by the relatively low sales of the iPhone 5C which was made of plastic and lower in price than other Apple devices (Though still much more expensive than competing brands). Promotion A great product won’t sell if nobody knows about it, but similarly a terrible product won’t sell well no matter how much time and money goes into advertising. The point of advertising is to convinced potential customers that your product or service will add value to their life in some way that’s relative to the price they would pay for it. This model can be applied to a wide range of services and products as it is non-specific and can easily be tailored to fit the needs of the business using it. It all boils down to putting the right product in the right place at the right price. Several alternatives and additions have been suggested by marketing experts and academics alike in the interest of creating a marketing mix that’s more relevant in an industry that has changed in ways nobody could have predicted. When the 4P’s were first introduced in the 60’s the internet as we know it today did not exist so it’s reasonable to say new strategies and updated methodologies are required. Some additions that have been suggested include â€Å"people† – encouraging good customer service and a good working environment for employees. â€Å"Process† – looking at ways to streamline and reduce costs in both producing the product and how the business is run. â€Å"Physical Evidence† – Could be in the form of endorsements, customer testimonials and feedback or any awards the company may have achieved. Another popular paradigm that evolved from the original 4P’s is the â€Å"Four C’s† model – proposed by R.F. Lauterborn in 1993. Customer/Clients The customers are the driving force behind any business, so an organisation  should ask themselves what they can do for their customers – what needs and wants to they have and how can you help? Cost How much will it cost the customers, are they getting good value? If your product is more expensive than competitors, why? Does it offer superior quality? If it’s cheaper, again customers will want to know why, will they be compromising on quality? Or does the business create lower costs by streamlining internal processes and passing the savings on to the consumer? Convenience People buy things that they believe will make their lives easier or enhance it in some way; and when they want something they want it to be easy to find and simple to purchase. For example a clean, uncluttered website that makes finding and buying products easy will tend to sell more than one with confusing navigation and a lengthy checkout process. Communication All promotion and advertising is a way of communicating with customers, a way to get your message and brand out into the world and let people know what your product is and why people should buy it. Companies who stay engaged with their customers cultivate trust and loyalty which earns them repeat business and recommendations. This model is essentially the same as the original version but is designed to encourage organisations to look at things from the customer’s point of view. There are merits to both sides of the debate over whether the 4P’s need revamping. On the one hand the original is broad enough for marketing executives to use as a very rough guide to shaping their own unique strategy. On the other hand in an ever changing industry improvements on old practices is a good thing – how can the world evolve if change is not  embraced? Doing things simply because that’s the way they have always been done may cause a company to stagnate and lose market share for not being innovative enough. I would like to propose my own take on the marketing mix, the 4E’s model: Excellence No matter the product or service, striving to be the best at what you do is a good goal to aim for. This is more easily achieved if a business focuses on one particular area rather becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none. Take for example the gaming company Mojang, who were recently purchased by Microsoft for $2.5billion. They developed one game – Minecraft – and they did it so well that it became more than just a simple browser game. It’s now an integral part of pop culture for this generations gamers with a huge diverse community that’s still growing 5 years on. Similarly, Facebook bought Instagram for $1billion after it dominated the mobile photo sharing market and WhatsApp for a staggering $19billion – a simple messaging service that took off in popularity and quickly overtook market share from the big players like Microsoft and Google. (CNN Money, 2014) Facebook itself started as a simple project and is now one of the most powerful corporations in the world – buying off any competitors is one way to keep that lead. A simple concept executed well can change the world. Engagement Social media and the internet in general have made communicating with customers easier than ever before. The best way to figure out what consumers want is to ask them. A business selling food products for example could engage with their customers by making a post on social media asking what different flavours they would like to see. This not only gives the company a firm idea of how popular a new product would be, it also generates buzz and makes the customers feel more involved in the process – making them more likely to actually buy said product when it’s released. Creating quality, relevant content for a website – perhaps in the form of a blog – gives  customers a reason to regularly visit a website. Using a food company as an example again, they could have a recipe section on their website. Maybe even a community section where others could post and share their own recipes. If these recipes are good quality it can lead to people thinking: â€Å"If the free recipes are this good, just imagine how great the food they sell will be!† – turning casual visitors into paying customers. Ease Allow potential customers to make informed decisions by providing them with information about what’s on offer in a way that’s easy to understand and easy to access – similarly ensure to make the process of handing over their money once they’ve decided to buy quick and easy. With an uncountable number of websites in existence a potential customer can be lost very easily if they can’t find what they’re looking for or find any part of the process difficult – they will simply go elsewhere. Economy Finding the right price for a product or service can still be as tricky today as it’s always been with one exception – information on competitors and target markets is readily available. Even in a niche market there are likely to be several competitors operating at varying scales of price and quality. The goal is not necessarily to undercut everybody and become the cheapest but to find the right balance of cost and quality – most people are happy to pay a little bit more for a higher quality product as long as they can justify that it will be worth the investment. Similarly there are many people who will buy the cheapest option available regardless of quality. Establishing a target market and researching purchasing habits can give a company a good idea of where to price themselves to be competitive and profitable. An expensive product can still be considered economical if its benefits are proportionate to its cost. In the end, any model is only as good as the implementation. Knowing the concepts behind a good marketing strategy isn’t the same as having the  skills to plan, implement and maintain them. Internet marketing campaigns take time. It takes time to gain enough followers on social media to start fully engaging with a target market; it takes time to create a catalogue of high quality strategic content and it takes time to build up consumer trust. Internet marketing isn’t as simple as making a Facebook page and uploading the company logo – the internet is an interactive medium. It’s not a billboard, it’s more a large ongoing focus group. Internet Marketing Tools One of the biggest advantages internet marketing has over traditional marketing is the fact the effectiveness of a campaign can be more accurately measured and analysed. Television adverts are measured in terms of how many people have viewed it; beyond that it’s mostly guesswork; it’s very difficult to measure how many people saw a television advert and then went on to perform the desired action (such as go to a store and buy a product, or make a phone call to enquire about a service). With internet marketing everything that happens as the result of a campaign can be tracked every step of the way. An email marketing campaign for example can be tracked to see how many people opened the email, how many then visited the website (known as the click through rate) – from there it can also track what the visitor did while they were on the website. How much time they spent there, which pages they visited, whether or not they purchased something – or if they abandoned their cart in the process of trying to make a purchase. Other details such as which device the customer was using, their location, age and previous browsing habits may also be tracked. Making use of tools such as Google Analytics can show at a glance the raw data related to any aspect of a visitors habits. There are many other tools on the market but Google Analytics is the most widely used and it integrates well with SEO – Google have built up a giant network of partners and billions of websites have tracking codes. Individual companies can access their own data to analyse but Google has access to everything and have built  up a database of browsing habit data they use to improve their algorithms – as well as sell to third parties (such as Facebook). This creates a constant feedback loop for everyone involved. This raw data however, is fairly useless if a company does not know how to analyse it and make use of the information. Some raw data has obvious implications – for example if a company finds that the majority of visitors are using a mobile device and their site is not fully accessible on mobile, they should look into optimising their site for mobile users to accommodate the needs of their customers. Other times the data is only the starting point, it must be analysed before it becomes useful information that can be applied in a practical way. Tracking tools can give answers to the questions â€Å"how†, â€Å"when† and â€Å"where† with a high degree of accuracy. â€Å"Who?† can be answered to a point, the approximate age of visitors can be tracked, as can their previous browsing habits which may give some insight into their likes and needs. The one question raw data cannot answer is â€Å"Why?† – Why do visitors behave the way they do? Why do some e-commerce shoppers add items to a cart and then abandon it during the checkout process? Why was the click through rate low/high for a particular campaign? Surveys and social media can be used as tools for getting answers to these questions. Once the quantitative data from tracking tools have provided a starting point, specific questions can be posed to collect qualitative data. Together they can give a company a lot of valuable information to help them improve future campaigns and the way they do business in general. Facebook has its own analytics tools called â€Å"Facebook Insights† – it works in a similar way to Google Analytics but is more focused around Facebook pages and ads. Facebook insights shows how many people saw a particular post (reach), how many responded to the post (engagement), and other information such as visitors ages and interests – based on what other pages they have â€Å"liked† on Facebook. Facebook Insights can be used to determine which posts get the most likes and  shares, which lets companies know what their audience is likely to respond to so they can tailor future posts accordingly. It can also provide information about when visitors engage with the page so future posts can be scheduled to post at a time when the highest reach is likely to be achieved. Combined with the data from Google analytics social media marketing campaigns and posts can be tracked down to the fine details. If these posts lead to strategic content tracking can be broken down into stages to measure the quality of a websites content. Many websites use this strategy, Cracked being one of them. Cracked are an entertainment website who post funny/interesting articles, columns, videos and podcasts. When a new piece of content is posted, their social media team make posts to advertise it to followers. Facebook Insights will provide the tracking information about reach, likes and engagement and Google Analytics takes over once visitors have clicked through. Cracked split up their articles into several pages – they could easily fit the content onto a single page – so why split it up? One reason is usability, pages load quicker with less content on and readers are less likely to feel overwhelmed by a huge wall of text than they are several manageable chunks. Another reason is SEO – the more pages and links robots have to crawl, the higher the site is likely to rank on search engine results. Instead of one page per article related to certain keywords – there are 2-4 pages per article. Finally, splitting articles up into several pages allows tracking analytics to be performed in stages. How many people got to the end of the first page and deemed the content interesting enough to click on the â€Å"read more† link? How many read the whole thing? How many dropped out and where did they tend to do it? This can help determine weak spots in content and the company can then  formulate a plan to improve the situation. It can also be used to further engage visitors who seem to be enjoying the content – the final page of an article could for example act as a trigger for a pop-up box that prompts to visitor to sign up for a newsletter. If a visitor has enjoyed an article it’s relatively safe to assume they would like to see more – the same is not true for a visitor who has only just landed on the home page. They haven’t read anything yet, why would they want to sign up for a newsletter? As mentioned in a previous section, tracking data does have its limitations that marketers have to be aware of to properly interpret the data their tools produce. Specifically – direct traffic can be difficult to differentiate from all other types of traffic. This makes analysing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns less straight forward than it seems. In a nutshell, whenever a referrer is not passed traffic is marked as direct. What this means is a glance at an analytics report may suggest that 50% of a sites traffic is direct, meaning the visitor typed the URL directly into their browser. The report could for example state organic search accounted for 40% and advertisements 10%. If a company is putting significant resources into advertising and seeing those kinds of numbers they may decide it isn’t worth it and seek to make changes. While in reality direct traffic may only account for 20% while ads account for 30%, making the cost per conversion rate much more favourable. There are a multitude of reasons a referrer may not be passed to the tracking software that results in traffic being incorrectly marked as direct. For example many people make use of ad blocking software – that often have clauses that allow for non-intrusive advertising. While users of this software can see and click on non-intrusive ads, the software blocks the server response required to pass the referral to the tracking software. Many browsers now offer a â€Å"do not track† option to offer additional privacy to users, turning on this setting also blocks tracking requests. Some people may perform a search for something or click on an advertisement but not make a purchase right at that moment and instead choose to come back later – by  typing in the URL directly; so their visit and subsequent purchase is marked as direct when it was really the result of a campaign. As more users become increasingly concerned with privacy tracking and tailored advertising becomes more difficult. Making use of marketing tools makes the process easier but they are still only tools – their usefulness is determined by the skill of the person utilising them. Interactive Order Processing Order processing is obviously an important part of e-commerce, an online catalogue isn’t much use if people can’t actually purchase anything. As mentioned in previous sections, the process of placing an order should be made as easy as possible for the customers. Once a customer has decided they would like to hand over some money – a company should not distract them in any way. Some companies at this point might be tempted to upsell, cross promote or place advertising on the checkout pages but in almost all situations this is a mistake. If the customer gets annoyed at the ads they will leave. If they can’t figure out how to continue with the checkout process because the design is cluttered or otherwise hard to use they will leave. If they don’t feel confident about the legitimacy of the company or doubt the security of the checkout process they will leave. Upselling attempts should be handled carefully. Bombard customers will too many options and they may get distracted by browsing, decide not to check out and instead leave it for later – they may not come back. Relevant promotions should be advertised at this point or ideally added to the cart automatically. For example if orders over a certain amount receive free shipping this should be prominently displayed within the cart and applied automatically when the threshold is reached – customers like to feel like they’re getting good value so if they see it will only take them a small amount extra to receive free shipping they may decide to add a few more items. Argos successfully uses this technique every year during the build up to Christmas – they offer a  £5 voucher for anyone spending over  £50 and  £10 for anyone spending over  £100. This promotion is prominently displayed all over their website, catalogues and physical stores. Rather than offering a discount on the current purchase, they encourage repeat business by offering money off the next purchase. This has a twofold effect – customers will buy a little more than they planned in order to get the voucher and then spend even more after that to use said voucher (not many items can be bought for under  £5 or  £10 and no change is issued – to further encourage customers to use their voucher in full and pay a little extra on top rather than waste any of it). If adding additional items can be done without the customer leaving the checkout this will further increase the success of upselling attempts. Both Domino’s and Asda integrate upselling into the checkout process. Dominos uses a sidebar next to the main checkout area displaying a selection of small items (sides, desserts, drinks) with a small discount applied – visitors can click â€Å"add to order† and the total is updated on the page without taking them elsewhere. Asda displays a selection of items that the customer has previously ordered, but are not currently in the cart with the heading â€Å"Have you forgotten anything?† This can be helpful to the customer because they may have indeed forgotten something, and Asda in return make additional sales. Businesses can track the behaviour of their customers and analytics tools can be used to determine if a checkout design is working. The tale of â€Å"The $300 Million Button† published in Luke Wroblewski’s book â€Å"Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks† contributed by Jared M. Spool is an excellent example of just how important the design of the checkout process is. The piece describes a company who decided to examine their checkout process – which featured a login and registration screen after customers clicked  Ã¢â‚¬Å"checkout†. Their designers reasoned that making registration non-optional would encourage repeat business; and customers wouldn’t mind logging in to take advantage of quicker checkouts in the future. Spool was called in to analyse the checkout design; his team put together a focus group, gave them all a budget and a shopping list and asked them to checkout from the site. Upon being presented with the login form many participants were not sure if they had used the site before; and attempted many unsuccessful logins before clicking the â€Å"Forgot Password?† button. Many times this was unsuccessful as they couldn’t remember which email address they used. Others who were sure they had not previously registered were reluctant to do so. One shopper is quoted as saying â€Å"I’m not here to enter into a relationship. I just want to buy something.† Many stated that they felt the company just wanted to use their details for spam and others were concerned about privacy. Upon examining tracking analytics for the site the team discovered that 45% of users had multiple registrations and over 160,000 â€Å"Lost Password† requests were being sent every day. 75% of these never returned to the site to complete the lost password process and ergo did not complete the checkout process. Spools team suggested the design was changed to make registration optional. The â€Å"register† button was changed to â€Å"Continue† with the message â€Å"You do not need to create an account to make purchases on our site. Simply click Continue to proceed to checkout. To make your future purchases even faster, you can create an account during checkout.† This simple change resulted in the number of customers purchasing increasing by 45%. The extra purchases resulted in an extra $15 million in the first month and $300million after the first year. Businesses also need to take into consideration security when implementing an e-commerce system. A secure payment gateway must be used to make submitting customer financial and personal information safe. Similarly this data needs  to be stored securely and kept up to date to comply with the Data Protection Act. Any company accepting card payments (not only online) must also comply with PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). If a company does not comply with PCI and DPA standards they run the risk of customer details being leaked which could lead to fraud. This is obviously bad for the customers whose details get stolen but would also damage the reputation of the company and destroy consumer trust – as well as earn them huge fines from governing bodies. For small or start-up companies the cost, time and knowledge required to set up and maintain a payment gateway may feel like too much. In that case there are 3rd party services such as PayPal and Google Checkout which can act as a middle man between the merchant and customer. The business doesn’t have to worry about keeping customer details secure if they don’t store them and instead allow PayPal or similar to handle it. There are fees involved that work on a percentage basis, the more you earn, the more you pay. Additional fees are also charged for withdrawals. PayPal in particular has become an internationally recognised brand and most shoppers are now happy to use them – so a small company won’t lose out on too many customers from not offering alternative payment options. Most third party payment processing companies offer a â€Å"free† (other than fees) service which hosts the shopping cart external to the main e-commerce site; and a premium subscription service which allows full integration of the shopping cart into the website. For minimal cost and effort a small company can use the externally hosted cart while bigger companies may choose to invest in a more seamless user experience for their customers. The web environment allows for scalability, businesses are free to start small with minimal risk and expand at their own pace. References CNN Money, 2014. Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion. [Online] Available at: http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/19/technology/social/facebook-whatsapp/ Google, 2011. Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking. [Online] Available at: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html Mojang, 2014. Yes We Were Bought By Microsoft. [Online] Available at: http://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/ National Audit Office, 2013. The UK cyber security strategy: Landscape review. [Online] Available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-uk-cyber-security-strategy-landscape-review/ Nielsen, J., 2007. Banner Blindness Old and New Findings. [Online] Available at: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/banner-blindness-old-and-new-findings/ Optimize Smart, n.d. You’re doing Google Analytics all wrong, here’s why. [Online] Available at: http://www.optimizesmart.com/google-analytics-wrong-why/ Segall, K., 2014. Apple’s adventures in plastic. [Online] Available at: http://kensegall.com/2014/02/apples-adventures-in-plastic/ Figure 1: How users interacted with the Population Finder4 Available at: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/fancy-formatting-looks-like-an-ad/ Fancy Formatting, Fancy Words = Looks Like a Promotion = Ignored JAKOB NIELSEN September 4, 2007 Figure 2: Social Media Useage over time, broken down by age5 Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/08/05/72-of-online-adults-are-social-networking-site-users/ 72% of Online Adults are Social Networking Site Users OANNA BRENNER, AARON SMITH August 5, 2013