Quatre E-Commerce World

E-Government in Malaysia: Its implementation so far and citizen's adoption strategies

2009-07-12T22:58:00.029+08:00

Electronic Government, almost everyone in this modern era heard of it. But, how many of us has take advantage of it in our daily hassle life? From what i know, not much people uses it even though they are really busy with their daily work chores. They would rather take their time to go for the offline alternative.

How is it implementing in Malaysia? Before discussing the implementation, here is a little short and brief introduction. E-Government, in short, was initiated with the introduction of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 1996. It was then launched in 1997 to bring the country into the informative age with the revolution of technology.

Implementation

The service started with the intention to transform its operations, modernizing and enhancing its service delivery. E-Government seeks to enhance the convenience, accessibility and quality of interaction with the public and businesses at large. Its vision is working together for the benefit of Malaysia and all citizens. It also strive to be effective and efficient in delivering services and be responsive to citizens’ needs.

E-Government is categorized as one of the Flagship Applications introduced in MSC. 7 pilot projects of the E-Government Flagship Application are as follows:

- Project Monitoring System (SPP II)
- HRM Information System (HRMIS)
- Generic Office Environment (GOE)
- E-Procurement (http://www.eperolehan.gov.my/)
- E-Services
- E-Labor Exchanges (ELX) (http://www.elx.gov.my/)
- E-Syariah (http://www.esyariah.gov.my/)

The Objective of these flagship applications is to jump start and accelerate the growth of the newly developed plan.

According to a study, it said that the first trend of the e-Government advances has made an impact in the early stage of the implementation. Second trend showed in the emergence of the E-Government services are the effort in making operations more cost effective. Thirdly, promoting the e-Government services had become a main priority. They strive to increase the usage by the citizens after some studies found out that citizens rarely take advantage of the e-Government services. Fourth trend appears to be the challenges in integrating the e-Government services as they grow. Lastly, the trend also showed a personalization in the services provided, such as providing citizens with relevant services information quicker and more cost effectively.

Adoption Strategies

Studies addressed that the citizen adoption of e-government services suggest that trust and security (Otto, 2003) and transparency (Marche and McNiven, 2003) are the major issues for e-government adoption. Citizens’ trust towards the service for being effective and efficient will encourage the citizen to take the initiative to use the online services. Privacy policies and security should be guaranteed to ease the insecure feeling of the users.

Given that e-Government website is both an IT and a channel through which citizens and government interacts, technology-based knowledge is crucial. Having citizens who are not knowledgeable with computer, it will be impossible for them to take advantage of the services. Besides that, technical is also an issue (Cottam et al, 2004; George, 2004). User friendly is important. Websites provided must be easy to be used for easy understanding on the procedures needed.

It is believed that trust, social influence, and website ease-of-use impact perceived usefulness of the interface, combined with social influence, predict the intended use of e-Government. Therefore, attention should be given to the demand or citizen’s perspective for good feedback and adoption of the e-Government services.

A review on a post on Legal from My E-Commerce blog-New rules for cyber cafes soon

2009-07-12T22:13:00.001+08:00

This is a review on legal post from My E-Commerce blog, which focus on the new rules for cyber cafes. There will be some new guidelines will be implemented by government soon in order to regulate the businesses of internet and cyber cafes. The new rules are:

1. Have to close by midnight daily.
2. Banned from using tinted glasses in their premises (must be able to see through from the outside) .
3. Only allowed to operate from the ground floor.
4. Those under 12 years old must be accompanied by parents or guardian and only allowed to stay up to 10.00pm.
5. Prohibited from providing gaming activities, gambling, pornography, music and publications with negative element.
6. Cigarettes and alcohol to be prohibited from being sold.
7. A book log to record the entry and departure time of the patrons.

These new rules provide advantages for society and also disadvantage to the cyber cafes businesses. One of the new rules stated that those who under 12 years old must be accompanied by parents or guardian. This rule is beneficial to the society because parents no need to worry that their children will go internet café without their knowledge. Besides that, it also will enhance society trust and confidence on internet café because internet cafes are not allowed to provide games and also activities with negative element to customers. This means that they only can offer useful activities to customers.

In addition, the new guidelines such as internet cafes have to close at midnight are a treat to the cyber cafes businesses because most of the cyber cafes’ customers are likely to go there at midnight. However, through the enforcement of this new rule, they no longer can do so. This will significantly reduce the earnings of their businesses.

Furthermore, gaming activities are the major source of activities to attract customers. By implementing this new rule, gaming activities are no longer available in internet cafes. This will leads to a cut down of their businesses income and perhaps will cause them closing down soon.

I think that these new guidelines need to do some amendment due to the benefits of the cyber cafes businesses. Otherwise, cyber cafes businesses will not sustain for a long time or the owners will not follow these new guidelines due to their own advantages.

Useful Links:
ecommerze.blogspot.com

A discussion on E-learning offered in Malaysian universities: Pros and Cons from the students perspective

2009-07-12T18:26:00.013+08:00

Advantages of Learning Online

1. Convenient
The biggest advantage of e-learning is that everything is available for students, including classroom and instructor are accessible every time when students getting online. Students can get announcements, obtain notes, take practice quizzes, discuss questions and chat with fellow students. Except the due dates stated by instructor, students can manage their own schedule for fulfilling the requirements of the course.

2. Offer flexibility
Students can study any time they want and also with whomever they want. E-learning provides students the flexibility to spend times with work, family, friends or any other activity they like. For those people with keep on changing work schedules or people who make regular business trips, parents with small children or whose health stops them from attending classes on a recurrent basis, this manner of course delivery is most suitable.

3. Offer more individual attention
Students can communicate with their instructor via e-mail, and get their questions answered directly. Many students aren't comfortable asking questions in class. By accessing internet, students can eliminate that fear and ask their instructor questions freely. This means that E-learning enhanced the opportunity to learn.

4. Promote life-long learning
Having that spark of interest and knowing how to obtain information online ensures that what students learning are always existing to them. If students become interested in a particular topic, they can find online and look it up. Students will have developed the skills to get information, digest it, synthesize it, and formulate an answer to questions that comes their way.

5. Connect students to the global village
The Internet has linked the people of the world in ways we haven't known before. Many times the web sites students visit in a course will be based in another country. They may even meet and make friends with someone in another country because they all are a student in the same course.

Disadvantages of Learning Online

1. Require more time than on-campus classes
Students will spend more time studying and accomplishing assignments in the online environment than they will in an on-campus course. The online environment is text-based. To communicate with their instructor and other students, students must type messages, post responses, and otherwise communicate through typing. Typing is slower than speaking. Students will likely learn more in an online environment, but they will have to make a greater effort to achieve that learning.

2. Require good time-management skills
An Internet-based course requires that students build up personal time-management skills. As with most things, if students don't organize their time appropriately, they will find themselves buried beneath a seeming insurmountable mountain of coursework. Online courses require the self-discipline to set aside chunks of time to complete their studies. This means that students have to make online coursework in priority and not let other activities intervene.

3. May create a sense of isolation
In an online course, students may feel like they are alone with only their computer. This makes some students quite uncomfortable. A quick e-mail to a classmate or their instructor can help they feel better connected if the sense of community they seek is missing.

4. Allow student to be more independent and an active learner
Online courses require student to be responsible for their learning. Their instructor shares knowledge and experience with them. Although students will spend a lot of time offline formulating ideas and developing their knowledge and skills, they will also need to be a presence in an online course environment by involving to frequently posting quality ideas. As in face-to-face classes, just being a face is not enough. Students must share their ideas and knowledge and respond to their fellow students to be an active participant in the virtual classroom.

5. Give students more freedom, perhaps, more than they can handle
This freedom can be dangerous if students don't learn how to control it, especially when it comes to meeting deadlines for assignments or exams. Each online course has a schedule for them to follow that offers information about what content is included and due dates for assignments or exams. Use this to help them plan their time.

Useful Links:

e-learning/NAIT

Tracinge-Learning

Corporate Blogging : A New Marketing Commincation Tool for Companies

2009-07-10T00:07:00.005+08:00

So, when I say Blog, what would come to your mind? An electronically publicized personal dairy. Now, what if I say Corporate Blog? No idea? Well, the meaning of this term is obvious. Blog by a corporate. That’s it. Blogs that are written by companies. Of course, companies don’t have their personal dairy. Instead, they blog about their products.

These days, blogging is so extensively used among Internet users that even businesses are exploiting it. They now see blogging as a new tool in marketing communication simply because blogging give companies many benefits. First and foremost, blogs allow the businesses to talk to their customers in a more informal way about their industry and products. Companies find it easier to engage customers in conversation if they use blogs because both parties communicate in a casual environment. On top of that, blogs give companies the power to publish at an instant. As long as you have a computer which is accessible to the Internet, you can save up your time and cost to prepare a full article and then send it through the traditional media to be published 24 hours later. With a blog, you can have everything done within few clicks. This makes the blog a very powerful update tool. Some companies say blog is a new path to greater customer services as well as responsive one. As a customer, if you have some opinion to share or queries, you could just comment on the blog which would only take few seconds. Companies can instantly respond to your comments, showing that they are genuinely interested in communicating with customers and bettering their services or product. Thus, the overall perceptions of a brand or company can be improved.

Yes, corporate blogging does have its downsides. If a company has a closed organization culture, this type of blogging is not appropriate as competitors might obtain exploitable commercial secret from the blogs. You know that blogs are easy to start but what about the maintenance of blogs? Like everything else on the Web, it¡¯s way harder to maintain your blogs than initiating them. Writing coherently is one of the most difficult and time-consuming task for a human being to undertake. And without a good and eye-catching design, even the most beautiful words on blogs won't be any popular. Blogs are in fact expensive, in that they eat up time. Consequently, many blogs are not updated, thus crippling rather than boosting the reputation of the organization.

Blog is a very useful tool in marketing your business products. But only with a good cooperation between marketing blogger for its content and selling power and Web technician for its good look, performance, and security.

If you would to read more on Corporate Blogging, below are some handy links.

Corporate Blogs

9 Company Blogs That Are Fun For Anyone To Read

Disadvantages of Corporate Blogging

Benefits of Corporate Blogging

Review a local, transactional e-commerce site

2009-07-07T18:26:00.018+08:00

There are many popular and successful transactional e-commerce website in Malaysia such as lelong.com.my, gsc.com.my, tgv.com.my and mudah.com.my. These pages become so successful for the reason that the advantages they provide to their customers.

However, today I’m going to make a review on Blooming.com.my which was the first online florist in Malaysia. Blooming Florist began operations in 1981 and is managed by May and Martin Cheah. It has grown from a small retail shop till its present set of five retail outlet in Klang Valley. Today, with advancement of technology, Blooming is linked with most reliable florist throughout Malaysia and they also networked more than 100,000 florists worldwide through its membership in Interflora Pacific Unit Limited.Blooming Florist Sdn Bhd was ranked at the fourth (4th) place of the Malaysia Top 5 Ecommerce Companies. With it promise to deliver quality flowers and quality service for its customer, the company business has maintained consistently through the years.

User must register with Blooming first before they can start purchasing or ordering online. There are many benefits when a user registers themselves as a member such as they can track their orders, set up email gift reminder and speed up their order process in the future as they do not need to fill up their personal details again for the next purchase. What's more, shopping cart is provided on the top of right hand to add more convenient to user.

User Registration Form

At the homepage of Blooming, there is six (6) links where it has been categorised from home, hand bouquets, flowers & gifts, baskets, congratulations and seasonal which can help customer to choose their flowers faster and more efficiently. Once you click inside any links, pictures will appear and when you click inside, a clearer picture will be shown with description of the product chosen. In addition, there is a live interactive link where you can ask questions or ask for live support. Besides, frequent ask questions (FAQs), refund policy and delivery services are stated clearly in the homepage of Blooming. Moreover, in this homepage, there are several tips has been provided floral arrangement & care as well as the meaning of the flower.

In order to enhance customer confident, there is a VeriSign button at the bottom of left hand corner where it stated that Blooming.com.my is a secure site verified by MSC Trustgate.com Sdn. Bhd. Blooming.com.my uses secure server software (SSL) to encrypt all information you input before it is sent to us. Furthermore, the entire customer data collected is protected against unauthorized access. This disclaimer is written in the privacy policy of the company website.

There are various ways such as paying by credit card (VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, Diners Club and JCB), through online banking (maybank2u.com, RHB ebanking and Hong Leong e-Payment) or pay through Kawanku ATM machine.
In addition to the above, Blooming's also have tied up monthly promotion with other merchant such as MyStyle, UOB Bank Credit Card, Hong Leong Bank Credit Card,Citibank Clear Card Holder, Aeon Credit Card holder and Rakan Muda Member. Any customer who uses the above credit card to purchase flowers and gifts from Blooming are entitled for 10% to 15% discount.Blooming’s product pricing is average and buying gifts and flowers online for loved one through Blooming.com is definitely more expediency and easier as it can be done by just clicking few clicks and reduce hassle of buying at storefront. Additionally, Blooming.com provide free delivery service around Klang Valley therefore, Blooming florist delivery service is getting more popular due to good customer service and security.

Related Useful Link:

by, melsiew

Electronic Currency

2009-07-07T00:50:00.019+08:00

Money used in physical marketplace is in physical substance, such as coins, bank notes, cheques and other trading form of currencies; however, electronic currency is also a newly introduced form of payment method.

Electronic Currency

Electronic Currency, also known as several names such as e-money, electronic cash, digital money, digital cash and many other names, are money that is exchanged electronically only. It is a complete computerized monetary system that is proposing to replace the present paper currency system. It is believed that the initial plan of the launching of the system is to use as a substitute for credit or debit card system.

Usage of Electronic Currency

Example of electronic currency system could be seen in many developing countries.

For example would be the most successful Octopus Card in Hong Kong. It could be used in transits payment and also convenience shops. The store value card has grown into a widely used electronic cash system.

Another example would be from our neighbor country, Singapore. EZ-Link card is the contactless stored value card in the country which currently used by public transport commuters in the country. Recently, bank had upgrades their ATM machines to allow store valued card top up procedure to be done more conveniently.

While in Malaysia, Touch ‘n’ Go is a very good example of electronic currency. It could be used for some public transport, convenience shops like the 7-11. Some parking facilities used this system to eased users parking payment method too.

Impact

Economic impact when Electronic Currency system is exclusively implemented as a replacement to paper currency system would be noticeable. Some of it would be, saving cost in most of the procedure of producing paper currency. Printing and minting costs of paper currency would be saved. Moreover, it will be eco-friendly too as less papers are used for printing of paper currency. Thus, it helps saving high quality of wood and vast jungle areas.

Real wealth could be created as standard of living of the people will be increased. Transactions could also be done at any decimals of currency and the processing period would be faster and effectively done. But, of course, banks would have to play an important role in this system implementation if electronic currency is to replace paper currency.

However, in my opinion, although this system is an effective control over cyber crimes, theft relating to money transfer systems, stricter security and pre-cautions method would have to be implemented together with this system. This is a result of human knowledge changed as things around them evolved. Thieves will maybe think of another way to succeed in their fraud and theft activity.

A review on an e-tailing post from My E-Commerce blog

2009-07-06T00:07:00.007+08:00

Of all the e-tailing topics on My E-commerce blog, the one interested me the most is a post of Selling fish online in Malaysia.

This post is telling us about 2007 trend of bidding fish via e-mail. The action seems to be initiated by Fishermen in Tanjung Dawai. By selling their fish up to worldwide Internet, they are literally having an international business. People from all over the world who are interested in buying their fish may register their name and be given code number as an ID to auction the fishes bid.

Auction is open everyday from 3 pm to 7 pm Malaysian time. The fish can be sent anywhere as long as the buyer bears the transportation costs and also 5% surcharge to Tanjung Dawai Fishermen Association. During the bidding time, the fishermen of Tanjung Dawai will gather at the auction hall and watching three 29-inch televisions which show the latest bidding list from buyers. When there’s an agreement, the bidder will be e-mailed for further transaction.

As I read the mentioned system, I can’t help but questioning about how it works. There seems to be several flaws on this online bidding system. It was stated that buyers may put their bid and email it to pnktdawai@yahoo.com and the bid will be shown on TV at fishermen auction hall. Tanjung Dawai Fishermen Association doesn’t seem to have a website yet. It is unknown how the bidding fishes are exhibited to the worldwide buyers. That the buyers might buy Tanjung Dawai fishes without confirming the quality of the fishes first. And it is also not explained how buyers monitor updates on their bidding item price, so that they can bid even more when desired. It is also a challenge to advertise the system to new potential buyers out there when all the association are not able to post their email address and phone number on a website, when they don’t have a website.

Credit Card debts: Cause and Prevention

2009-07-05T23:42:00.008+08:00

Credit card the solution of shopping, it makes anyone who holds the card ease of purchasing any items in an instant. All customer have to do is take out the card, let the cashier slash it on the machine, sign, done. You can also use its serial number to shop on any of e-commerce sites on internet. But beware, there is never free of charge on having all the comfort on your side, moreover, if you’re using someone else money for that comfort.

So what is the danger of using credit card carelessly? First, we will briefly review of how credit card works. Credit card is a cash advance tool which let consumers to revolve their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. When a purchase is made, the cardholder will have to sign a receipt or entering personal identification number (PIN) to confirm the purchase. Once verified, purchase will be made and you’ll be put on debt to the bank or financial institution which issued the card, with interest. From year 2005 to May 2009, 1774 out of 3548 people declared bankrupt for credit card debt are under 30 years old, which is roughly 50%.

So, here are several causes of credit card debts:

1. Feeling of shopping for free

Unlike shopping with stack of cash in hand, which will make you feel guilty to hand those out at cashier, with credit card, all you need to know is how to slash the card and enjoy

2. Poor money management

Many of cards holder, doesn’t really realize the process behind paying with credit card. They don’t know where the money comes from and where their money is going, how much taxes and interest behind the payment, if there’s any administration fee for the credit card, and other things that might put them on debt. Slowly, but stacking high to turn customer’s business to bankruptcy.

3. Pay it forward

It is one of the most dangerous risks of using credit card. While you don’t have enough cash in saving, but you pay for something, the interest will keep increasing once you fail to pay back the debt in time, more and more as time goes by.

4. Urgent need of money

There’s no think twice of using credit card or getting any money you could use to pay for emergency issues such as medical expenses. In condition where a beloved family member in danger of life, you might used up big amount of credit card money without second consideration which leads cardholder to credit card debts.

5. Gambling

Another popular use of credit card which leads to debt is gambling. There is a smart method of buying gambling money using credit card. As addicting as the game is, without sufficient capital for it, credit card debt will haunt you severely more than the feeling of losing from it.

Even though it is listed of many scary causes of using credit card which leads to debt and bankruptcy; it is actually a very convenient and useful tool of having business transaction when the cardholder is being more careful and smart. There are ways to hold your credit card and step up the ladder of success.

1. Money management

The most essential of problem solving is started from one own self. There’s no blame to credit card issuer or credit card merchant when a credit card holder is the one to lead himself to debts. Plan your saving ahead, calculate your income and taxes, create budget of monthly expenses and extra expenses, and always save for emergency money.

2. Knowledge on credit card system

Study at least on what you have to spend for the credit card service. If there’s an annual fee, how high is the administration fee, cash advance fee, late payment fee, and any other finance charge. Keep them in mind before choosing a suitable credit card issuer and every time you use the credit card service.

3. Contacting and dealing with creditor

Communication is the way of peace and understanding. Address any credit card problems and wonders to creditor and ask for help whenever needed. There’s sometime a special finance solution for customer to pay off another debts or other needs. You might consult about fair debt collection practice act and propose modified payment plan.

4. Set a proper credit limit

Most of credit card can be put on usage limit to prevent cardholder from spending too much in a short time. Put credit card outcome limit as already stated on budget you planned.

5. Consider of using any alternative money solution

For example emergency and medical expenses might be better to be put on insurance for financial safety.

Take your time, be wise and think twice. By applying smart credit card solutions, your lifestyle and business may improve significantly. Spend to gain, not spend to lose.

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers

2009-07-05T18:34:00.041+08:00

A prepaid cash card is similar to debit or credit card because it enable us to make purchases without cash or checks. The different between prepaid card and credit card is prepaid card no risk of running into debt as it has no credit or overdraft facility. Besides that, prepaid card cannot connected to our bank account like debit card.

We shall be give a Pin number when we purchase a card, and once money has been loaded, it can be spent in the same feature as a debit or credit card for online or telephone purchases, as well as cash withdrawals from ATMs. Money can be credited onto a prepaid card by cash at a bank, Post Office or via a bank transfer.

A prepaid card has a zero balance until money is added to it. While we make a purchase with a prepaid card, the sum is deducted from the balance on the card. When the balance achieves zero, the card is empty and it cannot be used again unless it is a reloadable card which we can add funds and continue using it. Many employers and government agencies employ prepaid cards instead of checks to deliver wages, child support, unemployment and other benefits. Some prepaid cards can have money reloaded on to them so they can continue to be used. On the other hand, prepaid cards such as gift card can be discarded once all of the funds are used up.

There are various types of prepaid cards which available for us. The two major types of prepaid cards are open loop and closed loop cards. Closed loop card is merchant-specific, used for transactions exclusively at a specific merchant's sites. An open loop card is related with and bears the logo of an electronic payment network such as Visa. Open loop card is honored wherever these networks are accepted.

In addition, reloadable prepaid card is one that lets us add funds after our initial purchase, including teen card, travel card and payroll card are reloadable. Teen card allows parents teach teens’ financial responsibility while managing their spending with teen.

Furthermore, travel card is an alternative to cash and traveler's checks when traveling. Some cards provide lost luggage reimbursement, emergency card replacement and zero liability for lost or stolen cards.

While, payroll card is an alternative to traditional payroll methods in which employees’ wages are deposited directly to their card.

On the other hand, gift card is a non-reloadable prepaid card that can be given as gifts and spent until the balance is zero.

Prepaid cash cards offer many advantages for us. Firstly, there are no credit checks for the card, so we can get a card without worrying about our credit history. In addition, prepaid cards are an ideal way to budget for ourselves. Like a credit card, we can get a full breakdown of spending on the card so we can see what has been purchased, from where and when. With a prepaid card, there is no opportunity of spending too much as we are restricted to the amount we put on our card.

Nowadays, prepaid cash card is recommended for consumer because it is a very convenience tool. It is very useful because it offers several features for us such as purchase products and services. By using it, consumers no need to bring much money and checks when processing a transaction.

Useful links

Mobile payment systems in Malaysia: Its potentials and consumers’ adoption strategies.

2009-07-04T00:58:00.010+08:00

As technology are being more advance, there is definitely market opportunity for mobile payment system (MPS) in Malaysia as statistic shows that more than 21 millions of Malaysian own a mobile device.

Mobile payment is a new alternative payment system that provides opportune way for consumers to make payment via mobile device. This payment system enables consumers to receive and send money via their mobile device which totally overcome the limitations and bottlenecks created by cash, cheque and credit cards. By just registering yourself at a specific website, consumer are allowed to make payment to goods and services at anywhere and anytime without being physically present at the store by just entering a few digits of security PIN (Personal Identification Number) via SMS (Short Messaging Service).

MPS in Malaysia started since February 2005 by Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd of Kuok group and Mr. Lee Eng Sia. Mobile Money (MM) has provided a convenient and secure Mobile Payment and Mobile Commerce platform for Malaysian since then. As year passed by, there are more options of mobile payment system in Malaysia such as Digi, Maxis, Hotlink, Celcom, Visa Wave Payment and Maybank. For instant, Maxis M-Money allows consumer to top-up their prepaid credit, purchase cinema tickets and recently, Maxis had a joint-venture project with Lelong.com where all successful bidding payment must be paid by M-Money only. In addition, Maxis also began international remittance services but this only with Globe subscriber in Philippines. By using this Maxis remittance service, consumer can save at least 35% of the charges which other bank usually would charge.

By using MPS, it would save time and cost as consumer does not need to spend hours of queuing to settle their bills and this would definitely benefits our hectic daily routine. Furthermore, MPS assures safety of consumers’ data as this payment system is strongly secured by PIN to provide greater security. Through all this benefits, it leads to higher customer’s satisfaction and these causes an increasing trend of using MPS in Malaysia.

However, not many Malaysian are adopting this convenient payment method as they are not familiar with the system therefore, government should work hand-in-hand with private sector to educate Malaysian about MPS, its functions and benefits. Besides that, should provide more security collaborate solution of mobile payment for the consumers so that mobile users will more confident and satisfaction when using mobile payment as merchants take online order without the need for online shoppers to disclose their credit card information. Last but not least, maintaining existing customer loyalty is very important as it can help the company to build up a good reputation by providing good customer service.

The application of 3rd party certification programme in Malaysia- Trustgate

2009-06-29T23:35:00.017+08:00

MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd is an organization that involved in the application of third party certification programme in Malaysia. It is an accredited Certification Authority (CA) running within the Multimedia Super Corridor. It is authorized by the Digital Signature Act 1997 (DSA). Their primary business is to offer digital certification services such as digital certificates, cryptographic products and software development. Trustgate obligated to provide the finest Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to help all types of companies and institutions carrying their business over the Internet. Security is the primary concern of entering into the new Internet economy. Due to this reason, the vision of Trustgate is to allow organizations to operate their business securely over the Internet, as much as what they have been enjoying in the physical world. It provides a number of products and services to organizations in Malaysia, including SSL Certificate, Managed PKL, Personal ID, MyTRUST, MyKAD ID and so on.

Nowadays, there are increased phishing and spoofing attacks on the Internet, all organizations want to ensure that they are dealing with trusted parties when they manage business online and ensure that their information transferred over the Internet get to the expected recipients and is safe from intruders. SSL Certificate for Internet, Intranet and Server Security offer two type of SSL Certificates for server security such as Global Server ID and Secure Server ID. Global Server ID implements today's strongest encryption commercially accessible for secure communications via Server Gated Cryptography (SGC) technology. GSID verifies company’s web sites and allows 128- or 256-bit encryption to secure communications and transactions between the site and its visitors. Every purchase of GSID comes with a VeriSign Secured Seal that can show on company’s web site. The seal is an instant proof that the web site is genuine because it has been authorized by the World Leader of SSL Provider, and customers can conduct business with the company free of worry. Secure Site SSL Certificates safeguard the transfers of sensitive data on Web sites, intranets, and extranets using a minimum of 40-bit and up to 256-bit encryption. It includes VeriSign Secured Seal.

Managed Public Key Infrastructure (MPKI) service is a fully integrated enterprise platform created to secure intranet, extranet, and Internet applications by combining maximum flexibility, performance, and scalability with high availability and security. The service enable enterprise to quickly and cost-effectively set up a robust PKI and Certification Authority (CA) system with absolute control over security policies, PKI hierarchies, authentication models, and certificate lifecycle management. Trustgate’s robust is a high-availability certificate processing services. It allows enterprise to easily organize a PKI while relieving itself from the high expense of designing, provisioning, staffing, and maintaining its own PKI backbone. Managed PKI helps enterprise to issue 250 or more digital certificates to customers, suppliers, partners, or employees. This solution assists to defend on-line transactions, digitally sign them and regulate the access to intranets and extranets.

Digital ID is used for Secure Transaction, CryptoSuite and Secured E-mail. It makes sure user’s confidential information remains private in transit, user need to use Digital ID to sign & encrypt its transactions. Digital ID uses private key and public key to aid the several operations such as Authentication, Privacy, Authorization, Integrity and Non-repudiation.

MyKad with PKI capability enables its holder to run online transaction with government agencies and private sectors. MyKey, is the MyKad PKI solution that works with physically MyKad, allowing holder to validate himself online and to digitally sign documents or transactions and is recognized by the Malaysian government. Trustgate is the PKI developer and integrator for MyKad. It provides severalc MyKad PKI modules such as MyKey Application Programming Interface (API), Signing module, Verification module and MyKad Client Kit for developer who wishes to improve MyKad applications.

Security is significant for distributed, heterogeneous and mission critical applications. Trustgate provides a lot of managed security services, including Vulnerability scanning, Security assessment, Security architecture design, Intrusion prevention, Software integrity / application control, Security audit and Security consultancy. By employing these services, users can save their time and money from having to constantly react to security problems.

Besides that, Trustgate also offers many other services to public such as MyTRUST for Mobile Signature, SSL VPN for Remote Access Services, Verisign Certified Training and Application Development and System Integration. Trustgate is an essential party in Malaysia that participated in certification programme to provide security and protect confidentiality of users's data and information.
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Safeguarding your personal and financial data

2009-06-28T13:31:00.008+08:00

Undeniably, nowadays we rely increasingly and heavily on computers and internet for help. We use them to manage our personal finances, store sensitive personal data,or perform work-related activities away from office. Yes, the digital world is helpful. But that does not mean it is risk-free. In fact, the personal or financial data that we store in computer or post on the internet is prone to theft without us knowing. The risk is even more if you share your computer with others. Thus, it is extremely crucial to take security precautions to safeguard your electronic assets. Following are some tips to keep your electronic personal and financial data away from risk.

A) Choose your password wisely. A strong password will surely provide you a certain level of security. Try to go for a long and more complicated one, a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols is a good choice. It is not encouraged to have your birth date, or cellphone's numbers as your password.Cyber thieves are more clever than you could imagine.

B) Get a biometric authentication if possible. This is a very secured way to prevent unauthorized access to your valuable data. Using advance technology of unique biological characteristic identification on computer might be the best password available. There's no way for other people to access your private data unless they get a part of your body.

C) Install an appropriate antivirus software. After your hardware is set, it's time for software to show up. You will need a reliable anti virus software to protect your computer against viruses or trojan horses that may steal or manipulate your data. Certainly, you ought to keep your virus definition up to date as there are many new viruses born each day.

D) Have a spyware or adware detector too. Spyware and adware may not as deadly as the threats mentioned earlier.But they will slow down the performance of your computer and give chances to hackers to access to your data. Make it a habit to scan your computer regularly to remove these threats.

E) Firewall is essential when your computer is connected to the internet. It filters incoming and outgoing IP addresses to discard any unwanted and dangerous connection from internet.

F) Encrypt your confidential data.
Encryption is used to protect the data sent or stored from hackers who are trying to spy or manipulate the data.Whenever possible, encrypt your data , whether it is being sent or stored. Ensure that only the receiver and sender should have the key to encrypt or decrypt the data.

G) Always backup the important data. It's better to have a copy of your precious data at a secured place. Backup prevent your data from unsuspected hardware failures and natural disaster. Several ways to back up your data is by external hardisk, CD/DVD data storage, or rent an trusted online server.

H) Dispose the unwanted sensitive data properly. Deleting the files by pressing the delete button on your keyboard does not completely erase them from your computer. Clever hackers or attackers will be able to retrieve them in few seconds effortlessly.To prevent this from happening, be sure to discard the files in a proper and safe way.

There is no guarantee of total risk-free for your personal and financial data if you practices these all, but yeah, they will help ensure your electronic assets are safer. For further reading on this topic, please kindly go to the links listed below.

Review: Favourite Passwords Used Online

2009-06-28T01:14:00.022+08:00

Passwords give painful headaches to many people, especially when the person has multiple passwords for multiple programs they have subscribed to. It annoys me sometimes because the main problem with passwords is that I tend to forget them.

Thus, in the effort to not forgetting them, users will opt to simple tings which could be remembered easily forever. For example, their dog’s name, first child’s name, birth dates, special occasions date and many more – anything that will give them clue to remember what their passwords is. This is the main factors of human habit that hackers used to gain access to people’s computer system. Without resorting to any specialized tools, a hacker can discover the basic personal information needed to hack into the person’s system by trying out all the potential passwords from it.

A good password is one that cannot be easily guessed. In the blog read, it stated “For better protection, it is safer to choose a password that is longer than 8 characters with one capital letter and one symbol.” I agree to that very much. Longer password means lesser possibility for hackers to crack the password used. It is generally recommended that passwords be between 6 and 9 characters. Greater length is acceptable as long as the system or application allows it. Most important of all, passwords longer than 9 characters are encouraged if the user can remember it. In a nut shell, longer is better.

Besides that, the user can also use a password with mixed-case letters, for example AppLEpiE. This will add the security to your passwords from being hacked easily too. Good passwords can also be added punctuations, alphanumerical characters because they are hard to predict. Random selections of letters and numbers are as well very useful seeing that hackers could not foresee the possibility of that phrase would be used as a password. Moreover, passwords must also be able to be type in quickly. This is for the reason that it makes it harder for someone to steal your passwords by looking at your keyboard.

A common theme for passwords used should be easy for users to remember them. Avoid passwords that need to be written down in order to be remembered and never use short easy passwords for convenience purposes. It is a thousand NO to use real word for your passwords.

Related useful link:
> About.com - Creating Secure Passwords

The Threat of Online Security- How Safe Is Our Data?

2009-06-26T23:54:00.020+08:00

As technology is getting more advances, everyone can easily access to the internet by just clicking one button. When a person connects its personal computer to a network and start communicating with others, the person is facing security threat such as computer viruses, Trojan horses and spyware. Most business that has made the move towards an online presence have experienced security threat to their business since the internet is a public system which each and every transaction can be tracked, logged, monitored and stored by hackers.

Security has three main concepts: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Confidentiality allows only authorized parties to read protected information. Integrity ensures data remains as is from the sender to the receiver. Availability ensures you have access and are authorized to resources.

Computer viruses, Trojan horses and spyware are normally hidden in the useful programs with malicious intent. Computer viruses are a piece of software code which are able to insert itself into a host and designed to threaten or modify the actions or data of the host device or system without consent. On the other hand, Trojan horses appear to be useful but actually are the mask destructive program by stealing information, altering it or cause other problems to the computer. Spyware attacks are something that we are probably all familiar with, as they are the most common online security threat faced by Internet users. This is a simple program that is designed to steal information from your computer without your knowledge.

In today e-business world, online fraud is getting more popular due to the advancement of technology. Online fraud involves Internet transaction where user uses fake identity, qualification, recommendation letter etc. Identity theft is one major form of online fraud or misrepresentation. Thieves can steal users’ information such as name, credit card numbers and back account details to commit crimes and frauds with other people identity. This is one of the reasons for which it is critical for consumers and organisations to equip themselves with appropriate computer security tools which serve to prevent such interceptions. Alternatively, data theft is a term used to describe not only the theft of information but also unauthorised glance and manipulation of private data.

Well, there are many ways to terminate our data from being distorted without our consent and authorization. There are simple and effective ways to reduce the risk to an acceptable level without spending large amount of money.

i. Spam- Is a program or software which helps us to ‘cleans’ our emails of spam and removes viruses at the same time ensuring what we receive in our mail inbox is safe and relevant.

ii. Firewalls- Is a network designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications. This is a set of device that configured permit, deny, encrypt, decrypt or proxy all (in and out) computer traffic between different security domains based upon a set of rules.

iii. Anti-Virus software- Anti virus software are used to prevent, detect and remove malware including computer viruses, worms and Trojan horses. In addition, it may also prevent and remove adware, spyware and other forms of malware. Having a superior anti virus software is very important as it can help user to prevent their information from being stolen by hacker. There are many types of anti virus software such as McAfee VirusScan and Norton Antivirus.

In a nutshell, every individual plays an important roles in maintaining own data from being abuse and embezzle in order to enhance the internet security.

Related useful link:
- Georgia Tech
- Wikipedia
- TechFAQ
- IT Online

by, melsiew

Phishing: Examples and Prevention Methods

2009-06-24T16:13:00.005+08:00

Phishing, in the field of computer security, is the criminal fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as user names, passwords and credit card details by camouflaging as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. It is a term which described hackers who imitate legitimate companies in emails to entice people to reveal their private and confidential information or data.

Phishing through fraudulent e-mails, will usually tells the targeted victim to verify their personal information or account details through a link provided in the e-mail sent. These e-mails will usually appear to be from a legitimate Internet address with a valid request.

Examples of Phishing
One example would be if you received an e-mail that is from your bank, requesting you to click on a hyperlink in the e-mail and verify your online banking information. There will also be a consequences stated in the e-mail for not following the link. The goal of the sender is clear and easy, which for you to disclose your personal and confidential information for their next misconduct performance. This type of e-mail scam is called PHISHING.

Another example: (adopted from chase.com)
To: Recipient
Subject: Add 50$ to your account in 2 minutes!

Dear Customer,
You are invited to take part in our nation-wide 5 question survey. Your time is very important to us so $50 will be credited to your account upon the completion of this survey.

Please note that no sensitive information will be required, collected or stored. The information will be used to further improve our services.

To take part please click here.

© 2008 JPMorgan Chase & Co.

More examples could be found from the Chase website.

There are also examples of phishing from the famous online website – eBay. One of the example was the member of eBay was told to respond to the message sent to confirm that the transaction was really void by mutual agreement. Once the respond button is clicked, the link will direct the user to an exact cloned eBay and personal information of that person will be stolen. For more examples, you may proceed to this link. It will lead you to more examples on phishing scams which occurred in eBay.

Besides phishing e-mails, there are also phishing websites. These websites will often have poor resolution, poor quality. This is because they are created with urgency manner and have a short span of life. Moreover, even if the website contains a link has a name which is familiar to you, it does not mean that it links to the real organization. Explanation from PhishTank said that you should read the URL carefully. The “https” shows a big deal. The “s” in the “https” stand for secure, which means the website is secured. If there is no “https”, you should be alarmed and alert, because the website is not secured and likely phishes. Of course, with the combination of the two factors mentioned just now. extract of the website is as follow:

Methods of Prevention
Tips on how to avoid the Internet scam known as phishing:

If you feel uncertain that it might be a legitimate e-mail, type the URL yourself to the Web Browser yourself. DO NOT click through the link from the E-mail received. This will provide you with accurate information about your account and allow you to completely avoid the possibility of landing on a spoof Web site and giving your information to someone you shouldn't.

Before submitting financial information through a Web site, look for the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar. It means your information is secure during transmission.

The golden rule to avoid being phished is to never ever click the links within the text of the e-mail. Always delete the e-mail immediately. Once you have deleted the e-mail then empty the trash box in your e-mail client as well. This will prevent "accidental" clicks from happening as well.

If you are uncertain about the information, contact the company through an address or telephone number you know to be genuine.

More on how to the details of phishing and how to prevent it, these are some very useful websites which you can learn more about Phishing:

> Watch Out for "Phishing" Emails

> Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG)

> All About Phishing

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Amazon.com - The Success and Reasons

2009-06-21T19:45:00.032+08:00

Starting a business is easy, as long as there are enough modals and resources. But, maintaining a business and making it into a success is the hardest part in the business life cycle. This concept is even harder to fulfill in the electronic business world – E-commerce.

“Some business models may appear logical on paper, but it may not work online,” quoted Blooming.com.my’s managing director, Martin Cheah.

An example of a successful E-commerce website I would like to discuss is Amazon.com. Amazon.com, inc. a Fortune 500 e-commerce company is based in Seattle, WA. The company was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. Since it first kick start online in the year 1995, Jeff Bezos and his handful of employees spent late summer nights packing books in a tiny warehouse, scrambling to ship a growing gush of orders. They started out as an online bookstore and then diversified by adding other items, such as VHS tapes, DVDs, Music CDs, Software, video games, electronics, MP3s, clothing, furniture, toys and even food items.

Amazon has nearly 49 million active customers. With $6.92 billion in sales in 2004, Amazon ranked at the top of Internet Retailer's annual top 400 list, well ahead of computer maker Dell Inc., which posted $3.25 billion in online business-to-consumer sales. Office Depot Inc., which has a partnership with Amazon, was not far behind with $3.1 billion. The company remains profitable with $8.5 billion in 2005 and $10.7 billion in 2006. On January 15, 2009, a survey published by Verdict Research found that Amazon was the UK's favorite music and video retailer, and came third in overall retail rankings.

Reasons of Success
The main reason for Amazon.com success is because of its focus on customer’s experience. This factor is infused in all levels throughout the company. Amazon’s emphasis on customer’s experience as a team’s responsible, not a person’s responsible. Customer’s experience is a combination of listening really hard to the customers and innovating on their behalf. They will make adjustments to their services to make their customers more confident and comfortable with buying online. Amazon.com has a Web metrics group that is responsible to measure sales metrics and monitor them in various increments of time – by the minute, by the day, or longer. The interview with Maryam Mohit from Amazon.com tells us more.

Besides that, motivation is also a very important factor that gave a minority contribution to the success of Amazon.com today. When Amazon was struggling to make profits for the first time, only its founder Jeff Bezos believed that the business goal could be achieved in a year's time. Everybody was astounded when Jeff Bezos achieved his goal after one year.

Amazon changed the way it operates its business throughout the years. First, it was an online book seller. Then, it expanded into selling other items which its customers are demanding for. Amazon has constantly evolving its product lines, which makes its competitors having a hard time catching up. When the Internet's stock market bubble burst, Amazon re-structured.

More on the reasons of its success, Jeff Bezos took the opportunity to embrace the technology. When the company went public in 1997, skeptics wondered if an Internet-based start-up bookseller could maintain its position once traditional retail heavyweights like Barnes and Noble or Borders entered the Internet picture. The skeptics see Amazon’s rapid growth move as a doom factor, but a few analysts sees it as “one of the smartest strategies in business history”.

For more details, these are some useful links which will explain further on the survival of Amazon.com, Inc. throughout the years:

>> How Amazon.com survived, thrived and turned a profit

>> Amazon: E-Commerce Success Story

>> Inside the Mind of Jeff Bezos

Flop of Pets.com

2009-06-20T21:28:00.013+08:00

You may have heard of plenty of E commerce success such as Google, Amazon, Ebay. But did you know that there are many E commerce flops as well? Here, you'll see Pets.com as an example.

Pets.com was an short-lived online enterprise which used to sell pet accessories and supplies directly to customers. Short enough that the company lasted for merely 2 years, from it launch till its liquidation. The company had plenty good things going that could make it as famous as Google. It had major investors included Amazon. It had a well-design website that attracted customers. It even went public only a few months after its initial launch. Sadly, Pets.com lost the gamble. It decided to close its doors in November, 2000 just two years after its launch. Why had the company failed? Following are several reasons.

Overestimation of potential market
The company may have overestimated the number of online customers it could gain in the pet market. Pets.com spent millions on warehouse space and trying to obtain the online pet supplies market through various marketing techniques. It assumed that the market and its revenue would grow quickly enough to allow for a profit. Unfortunately, the market was not large enough and did not grow fast enough before funding money was exhausted.

Excessive spending on marketing and advertising
Marketing and advertising are nice. But excessive marketing and advertising might lead you to downfall. During its lifetime, Pets.com could barely bear its expenditure on marketing and advertising. Simply because it spent way too much - more than $70 million on marketing and an average of $400 to acquire each new customer. Moreover, because the company had to undercharge for shipping costs to attract customers, it actually lost money on most of the items it sold.

Poor customer position
The company never really gave customers a good reason for its existence. Nor did it explain clearly a reason to buy supplies online.Customers were not motivated to get the pet supplies online because they could just get the same thing at the local actual pet shop in much more a convenient way.

Lack of an unique competitive advantage
Although Pets.com had the advantage for being the first of virtual pet stores to penetrate the online market, it did not really offer something that could differentiate itself from its rivals. Basically, the company had no special reason for customers to choose it over the other rivals.

A review on Real-World Case: Google is changing everything

2009-06-20T18:37:00.042+08:00

After reading the E-Commerce textbook chapter 1 pg.38, I recognized that Google is the most successful E-Commerce (EC) company in today world and it has influenced our daily life greatly. Google aims to deliver technologies to manage world’s information and make it globally accessible and informative. Google’s has both useful and well-organized IT and EC management strategy. This is one of the reasons why it is successful than its competitor. Besides that, it also expands rapidly than its competitor. In addition, Google make revenue quickly than other EC companies. Google is the most helpful search engine to search for beneficial resources especially for student like me to search information when doing assignment. Furthermore, Google also offers advertising tools. Its related-targeted advertising tools provide the advertisers much more proceeds per click in search outcomes than other EC companies.

Morever, Google also provides many other products such as Google Spreadsheet. Google Spreadsheet is a free Web-based application that can be shared with up to ten users at the same time and easily for users to input and share data. Google Spreadsheet is aimed at small work teams in social situations or small businesses, but not big organization. This program is intended to assist people arrange their own information and make it more simply accessible by others via the web. Data in the spreadsheets are saved automatically with each user action over the Web onto Google computer servers. Google also offers several user productivity applications other than Google Spreadsheet, such as Writely word processing application and Google Calendar.

Besides that, Google also provides an online database service called Google Base which allows Google users to upload a variety of information online. Google Base is examined by analysts as a stepping stone into organized e-advertising, an e-commerce activity, by assisting users figure out relevant information on Google’s main search index, its Froogle shopping comparison tool and Google Local search.

During year 2006, Google developed into the software business, presenting Google Office. There are many different types of Web programs, including e-mail and communication. In addition, Google provides Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Mini. Based on my opinion, Google really can impact our work and life without our notice and will causes inconvenience in our daily life if without Google. And I believe that it will continue improve in the future to make it remain successful among its competitors and contribute more efforts in satisfying its users’ needs.

Identify and compare the revenue model for Google, Amazon.com and eBay.

2009-06-19T21:08:00.021+08:00

E-commerce revenue model describe how the firms earn revenue, generate profits and produce a superior return on invested capital from the publisher's websites. As e-commerce develop into a more advanced approach, the traditional revenue model of sales is expanded to more variety of revenue options and e-commerce business model. There are five (5) major types which are advertising revenue model, subscription revenue model, transaction fee revenue model, sales revenue model and affiliate revenue model.

The core revenue of Google came from advertising and the supreme source of revenue to Google is Google AdWords ($21 billion in 2008). Google allowed website owners to advertise on Google search result pages through a program they call Google AdWords. Advertiser will customized their own advertisement and determine how much they will pay for each click on their ads, where the ad will run and how long it will last. These ads will appear on Google's search results, on websites, virtually anywhere a web page can be served. AdWords offer pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner ads. PPC is an Internet advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content sites, such as blogs, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. The Advertisers decide the keywords relevant to their offer that should display their ad and the maximum amount they are willing to pay per click for that keyword. Moreover, this enables advertisers easily to sign up and manage an account online.

Amazon.com is the well-known web which was the first major companies to sell goods by Internet. The fundamental revenue of Amazon.com is by generating sales revenue by selling books, computer software’s, video games, etc online. In addition, Amazon.com sanctions independent sellers to sell new and used items under a fixed-price basis on Amazon website via Amazon Marketplace. Amazon will charge a minimal fees based on the sale price, transaction fee and variable closing fee.

Additionally, Amazon.com also generates affiliate fees through Amazon.com Associates. This is a place where can earn up to 15% in referral by advertising Amazon product through Links & Banners, Widgets, and AStore. AStore is an Amazon.com affiliate product which website owners can use to customize an online store on their site in minutes and without the need for programming skills. However, website owner does not allow selling their own product directly but picking products offered by Amazon’s Store and earn referral fees on the products purchased by the reader.

eBay.com is an online auction and shopping website which allow peoples over the world to buy and sell variety of goods and services over the internet. eBay revenue model is totally different from Google and Amazon.com. eBay generates most of its revenue through various sources of fees. There is a list of fees that charged by eBay when customer would like to place an item for sale or auction such as fees to list a product (Insertion Fee) and fees when the product sells (Final Value Fee) plus several optional adornment fees.

In addition, eBay now owns the PayPal payment system which has fees of its own. PayPal is an example of a payment intermediary service that facilitates worldwide e-commerce. It allow user to execute online payment process to online vendors, auction sites and other commercial users for a minimal charges of fee. Besides that, eBay also runs an affiliate program beneath the name of eBay Partner Network. Fees are paid a percentage of the eBay seller's transaction fees. The payout is 50% to 75% of the fees paid for an item purchased.

by, melsiew

more info at:-

- online business

- organic spam

- taming the beast

- boutell

- parand

The history and evolution of E-commerce

2009-06-18T20:21:00.002+08:00

E-Commerce is a process of the carrying out the commercial transaction electronically with the help of the leading technologies via internet. It is the process of buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers through modern technologies. There are three main categories which are business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C) and consumer to consumer (C2C).

History of e-commerce begins in the prehistoric days of Arpanet. The history of this vast improving system is how information technology has changed business processes into how it is at the present. At early 1960s, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was first being brought in as a set of standards to exchange business information and execute electronic transactions. At that time, several dissimilar EDI formats that business could use, so companies still might not be able to interact with each other.

Then again, in the year 1984, an EDI named as ASCX12 has expand and was effortlessly accepted by new businesses for transfer of huge amount of data and transactions. However, in year 1992, the first web browser- Mosaic was developed and being widely used and later on Netscape was quickly adapted into downloadable software which permissible easier access to e-commerce.

In addition, the development of DSL was another significant moment in the development of e-commerce. DSL allowed quicker access and a persistent connection to the Internet. In 1998, it was the highlight in the development of e-commerce which achieve 1 billion online sales with AOL and the development of Red Hat Linux was also another major step in e-commerce growth. Linux stood as a very good opportunity against the Windows as it was consistent and open sourced option for consumers. With huge competition from Linux, Windows began expanding its ability to deal with e-commerce matter.

A major merger between AOL and Time Warner in early 2000 was another major push for e-commerce. By then, Yahoo, eBay and Amazon.com were popular sites, their names synonymous with Internet use and e-commerce. The need for high security where e-commerce was concerned developed as the hackers attacked these sites in the year 2000. It is predicted that that revenues, up until 2006, will grow 40% to 50% yearly. Expectations of higher prices as well as larger profits for e-commerce business are also present. Also, we will see a larger presence by experienced traditional companies, such as Wal-Mart, on the Internet.

Lastly, e-commerce is a history of a new, virtual world which is evolving according to the customers’ advantage. The evolution of this will never end as long as technology breaths in the air, it will continue improving for the better. E-commerce has come a long way, evolving from organizations billboards to a fully functional personalized shopping experience. Although the road was bumpy from 1994-2004, it has now become a crucial part of Internet pioneers and technology innovators.

by, melsiew

more info at:-

- wikipedia

- e-commerce as a revenue stream

- e-commerce wordpress

Shan here. ^0^

2009-06-10T21:52:00.022+08:00

Konnichiwa! Alright,I’m here to let you guys know about me. First of all, I’m one of the girls from Tutorial Group 9, Year 3 Semester 1, persuading Accountancy in UTAR Bandar Sg.Long. I’m the only weirdo in this group I bet, for the reason that I aint from KL. I am a Sabahan if you would like to know. Shan is my nickname over the internet, and it is also a part of my real name. No, I am not gonna tell you my real name, cause you would not believe my real name is actually my real name.

Same as other undergraduates, internet is already part of my routine and I am literally a Facebook-er (In Shan’s dictionary, Facebook-er is defined as a person who visits Facebook daily or who spends quite a bunch of time on Facebook). Facebook is one of the well-known and widely used online communities. It is almost my everything. It is my entertainer when I have nothing to do (or when I am procrastinating). It is my de-stress tool when I’m stressed over the assignments and stuffs. It is my connecter between friends and classmates. On top of that, it is also my flash games provider (yeah, I love Restaurant City and Friends for Sale). And guess what? It is a search engine to look for my long lost ex-schoolmates too!

I get crucial information such as assignment details, lecture slides and tutorial questions via Wble @ Utar. Therefore, Wble @ Utar is another very handy site. This site keeps me updated on news being posted by lecturers or tutors. Another interesting element of Wble @ Utar is it allows me to meet new friends from other UTAR branches. I’ve now met several friends from Setapak and Petaling Jaya branch.

Once you know me in reality, you would most probably use “Japanophile” to describe me. I’m head over heels in love with everything that’s related to Japan. Well, maybe not everything, but yeah, I am a BIG J-pop lover. I have over 1500 Japanese songs in my compy, and yet I still think I don’t have enough Japanese songs. This explains why I am a frequent visitor to Jpseek. Jpseek is the best provider for a Japanese-wannabe like me, on everything about Japan. For instance, movies, animations, entertainment news, dramas, and of course, my must-have Japanese songs. If you happen to be a Japanophile like me, do pay Jpseek a visit. But please, lemme know too that we are in the same boat. I would love to have more friends who share the same interest as me.

Lately, I find a shocking fact about myself. I visit Utar more often than I thought! Oh well, frankly speaking, this is caused by my laziness. I visit the site to check my timetable. Now, would it not be easier if I copy it down? Still, laziness wins over the will to copy the timetable. Certainly, other than checking timetable, there are many things can be done on Utar. Latest news regarding my campus is available on the site. It can also be an alternative to stay connected with lecturers and tutors. Google, the friendly uncle is my all-time favourite search engine. I use it to hunt materials or resources for the assignments.

Apart from the internet life, I enjoy sleeping very much. I firmly believe my pillows and bed are the greatest things since sliced bread. I have morning classes again for this semester that I have to wake up seven in the morning for four days in a week. Yes, a total torment for me. I would sell my soul to get back in bed.

Whoops, I should stop talking gibberish already. This blog appears to be far longer than I expected. Okie then, thanks for reading this not-so-special-yet-gibberish post. Please come back to check out our blogs. As promised, we will bring you the posts on E commerce very soon.

Ja~

Credits

Melissa: for creating such a decent layout for our blog.

Cami : for being the first poster.

Alice : for letting me be the third poster, erk, the last now.

Me : for writing this blog…?

You: for visiting this blog.

Self-introduction from Saw Peck Boon,Alice

2009-06-10T19:52:00.007+08:00

Hello!! I am Peck Boon, Alice. I am a 21 years old simple girl who like to eat McDonald and drink coke soooo much. I am a super pink lover. My favourite idol is Taiwan singer Jay Chou. I was born in Petaling Jaya(PJ) and lived in PJ for almost 20 years. However, i had became a Kuala Lumpur resident since last year.

Recently, i am pursuing my Bachelor of Commerce(Hons) Accounting in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Sg.Long campus. This semester, year3 semester1 is the beginning of my final year degree and E-commerce is one of a subjects we need to study in this semester.

I have a lot of hobbies such as online, shopping, travel, listen to music and watch tv. I am a supporter of Hong Kong and Taiwan drama. So, everyday i also will spend some time to watch the latest drama. Besides that, i like to take a nap when i am free but because of my busy coursework make me seldom have time to do so. In addtion, i will hang out with my beloved friends and family during my free time.

The websites that i visited the most are facebook, hotmail, google, blospot, utar intranet and wble. I will log in to Facebook everytime when i online. This is a website that allow me to know my friends latest news and i am enjoying in playing games available in this website when i am bored. Furthermore, i will check my emails in Hotmail and i would use Google to search information and resources when needed especially for assignment. Next, i also like to surf in my friends blogs to know their latest and updated status and most of them are using Blogspot. Sometimes, i would log in Utar intranet and wble. Through these two websites, i can download tutorial questions, coursework information and get to know utar updated news.

That's all for introduction of me-Alice Saw Peck Boon. Hope through this introduction can let you know more about me. And, we will try our best to produce a good E-commerce blog that consist of enough information to let you all know more about this interesting topic-E-commerce.

keep in touch,
PeckBoon

All About Me- Siew Mei Theng,Melissa

2009-06-09T22:54:00.004+08:00

Aloha! I am Siew Mei Theng, Melissa a.k.a Mel. I am 21 years old and i was born and being raised up in capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. I have three elder sisters, two brother-in-laws and two cute little nieces. Currently I'm staying with my parents and my third sister and thank god for blessing me a warm, supportive and pleased family members.

Currently, I am studying in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman for Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting and I am in my final year- Year Three Trimester One. University life in UTAR is great espeacially with all my classmates (BAC09) and my two great pals- Cami Wong and Alice Saw.

Anyway, this is not the first time I am writing blog. I am a junior food blogger- which means i love to blog about food. I write reviews on those restaurants and hawkers that I've tried. Want to know more about my blog? Please click here. In addition, I also visit other food bloggers blog as well to gain more information and locate where is all the good food is. If you also have a great passion of food like me, you can try to click on PreciousPea, Brought Up To Share and KampungBoyCityGirl to check out good food, fair price and location.

What do I do during my free time? I suft internet, online shopping, listening music, and blogging. Besides that, I am TVB drama addict and i just love watching all the latest drama by TVB. Unfortunately, time doesn't allow me to do so due to extreme hectic schedule with studies, assignments, exams and my part time job. Not to forget, I adore shopping!!

Each time i get connected to the internet, Facebook is the first page I normally log on to. This is the place where I get connected with all my friends and family. Through Facebook, I get to know my friends latest status and what is up-to-date by them. Next, whenever I need to look for resources and information for assignments or to check out places for good food, I would use Google search engine. On occasionally, I will log on to WBLE- a page for UTAR student to download tutorial questions, lecture notes and also keep in touch with lecturers' to ask question and do discussion with other UTARIANs. Additionally, I would also use the internet to purchase movie tickets online through GSC website to avoid long queue and dissappointment for not collecting tickets on time.

Well, this blog is created for the purpose of my E-Commerce group assignment and we, as a group of four will try our best to provide as much information as possible about e-commerce for you out there. That's all from Me-Siew Mei Theng, Melissa.

XOXO,
meL°°

Introduction of ME - OiMeng

2009-06-07T23:28:00.009+08:00

Ola! I am Oi Meng, a.k.a. Cami if you would like to remember me by christian name. This blog is created for my group assignment, subject - E-commerce.

Cheer for Melissa for creating such a nice blog for our group as we know she will try her very best in creating a blog that soothes the eye of our reader when reading it. Do you not agree with the pretty layout of this blog eye soothing? But, this blog is created not for the purpose of fun blogging. I am a lousy blogger and never ever in my life so far has blogged before. Thus, I need to work harder in producing good and resourceful enough entries for all of you.

A brief introduction of myself would be, I am a KL girl - born in KL, Study in KL, and live in KL. I am studying in UTAR, Sg Long Campus for the course of Accounting. This, E-commerce, is one of the subject I am taking in my Year 3 Semester 1. I have a lot of hobbies, such as reading non-fictions, outdoor activities, travel and shopping. I also like to listen to songs when I am in a blue mood. I do not always get a chance to use my computer at home frequently. But when I do, I mostly start by logging in to Facebook for updates from my friends and games when I am bored, Google for resources and information needed for my work, and Yahoo! to check for mails in my alternative mailbox. Sometimes, i also surf in UTAR intranet website for updates on the Campus news. WBLE - the Web Based Learning Enviroment @ UTAR is also a frequent visited website by me for tutorials and forums and assignments updates. Besides that, I also find the websites of the local cinema useful, reliable and helpful. I enjoy booking for movie tickets online when I feel lazy to queue for movie tickets, especially at Mid Valley Megamall's Cinema.

However, when i do not have a chance to use my computer, I will mostly be watching TV, snoozing or rummaging for books to read from my store room to fill my time. I would also bake cookie for my own snacks during semester break because my mother kind of 'banned' tit-bits and snacks in my house. She only approve healthy and home-made food. That is why i learn to bake cookie and cookie only because I love to munch Chocolate Cookies, mouth-watering and lip-smackingly delicious cookie. My Favourite of all times!

That is all I can think of for a short introduction of Me - Wong Oi Meng, Cami. Hope I did not bored you.

Stay tuned for our E-commerce entries which will be available soon!! Thanks for your patience and time.

Till then, Ciao!

Bonjour!

2009-06-04T22:45:00.007+08:00

A big welcome to our very first post on this blog. ^____^ As the title says, this blog is about E-commerce. We will do our best effort to bring you information of E-commerce, from e-books to online auctions, as many as possible, on weekly basis. So, do drop by and read up if you are interested.

Oh, you might be curious over the meaning of Quatre. Well, since the group is made up of four of us, we decided to put a "4" in our name, a unique and nice "4". We came up with the idea of using foreign language and the beauty of French attracted us.

However, we chose to have our identity remained for at least this post. Reason? Simple enough. Being mysterious is always what girls do. Erk, gender divulged.(not accidentally though)

Till then.

P/s: Informal language on first post. Will get professional soon.