Marcela Cupido Technical

Presentation Present Value....

2009-10-23T07:29:00.001-07:00

SAFETY IN E-COMMERCE

2009-10-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

E-commerce has many advantages over brick-and-mortar retail stores. It has a more accurate and up-to-date inventory, it is open 24-7, and it is accessible from anywhere. However, some scandals have created many concerns over the security of making transactions online. In this entry blog, I will share some reasons why people can rely on e-commerce.

Some of the typical fears that people experience are not receiving products purchased and personal or financial information theft. Although it is true that all this problems can happen, online transactions are as safe as transactions made by mail or in a store. All customers have to do in order to prevent fraud is to follow some safety precautions.

One common precaution is learning all information possible about the seller before entering in any transaction. Then, choosing a secure and strong password and not repeating the same password or user ID for each online account will help prevent fraud. An important aspect to consider in a webpage is the VeriSign or TrustE logo. This will certify that the personal information that you enter will be safe and protected against misuse.

Another important factor to have a safe online shopping experience is being aware of phishing. Identifying suspicions e mail can also help to prevent fraud and identity theft. Replying emails from unknown senders can be dangerous. Whenever you click on a link from a phony e-mail and enter your information, you are a high risk to experience fraud. It is important to remember that “legitimate businesses do not ask for sensitive information via e-mail.”

Shopping online with credit cards is the safest method because the federal Fair Credit Billing Act protects customers from fraud. It gives us right to dispute any suspicious charge on the credit card by reporting it immediately. If the person affected reports immediately, he or she will only be required to pay fifty dollars out of the total amount.

For my English class, I have been required to research specific topics. Finding appropriate information in books is a hard task, but it is not online. However, the information sometimes has to be purchased. Some information can be got only by electronic means and has to be purchased; this is a trend that is increasing. E-commerce makes possible for me and many other people to have access to that information. Having a Paypal account makes my shopping experience quick and safe.

Although most people are afraid of online identity theft, it also occurs by offline means. Examples of these means are stolen mail from mail boxes, discarded pieces of paper containing private information, or people who access to cards when the card owner is not present.

In conclusion, online transactions are as safe as ordinary ways to commerce. As opposed to what most people think, if people were more acquainted with online transaction processing, identity theft would decrease. E-commerce might have risk, but offline commerce does too. The key factor is practicing right security habits. After all, fraud can happen everywhere.

REFERENCES
Chesnut, R. (February 1, 2004). The e-Commerce Safety Guide. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from https://www.paypal.com/en_US/pdf/PayPal_Safety.pdf

Online Shopping Tips: E-Commerce and You. (December, 2000). Retrieved on October 15, 2009 from http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs23-shopping.htm.

Practicing Safe E-Commerce. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://www.mypersonalfarmers.com/support-files/mpfsafeecommerce.pdf.

Cordel to make jewerly! :D

2009-10-12T12:02:00.001-07:00

Beautifil Necklace!

2009-10-12T12:01:00.001-07:00

Organizer!

2009-10-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is very useful! You should try it!

New thing!

2009-10-07T07:42:00.000-07:00

This week I learned how to use the function of excel called "Pivot Table." Most classmates learned it last Friday, but I got sick and missed classes that day. So, this is a really useful function to transform data into information.

Deciding with support: decision support system

2009-10-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

Life is all about decisions. When you have to deal with a problem or a challenge the deeper the knowledge and understanding you have about it, the more likely it is that you will take the right decision. That is why decision support systems (DSS) can bring such an advantage to business.
In this weekly blog entry, I will comment how an aspect of my life has been benefited through the presence of DSS.

As an accounting tutor in training, I was given a handbook with instructions about tutoring. One section of this handbook contains steps to help me diagnose the needs of my tutees. It is made up of questions that explore different areas of life that could be causing trouble to my tutees. Because I am not an expert at tutoring, I have to rely on my rule expert system (www.techweb.com, 2009) –the questionnaire – to help me assess problems. When in the design phase, I am also given different ideas in the handbook to help my tutee to solution the problem. The knowledge base in the handbook helps me to be an efficient tutor.

I plan to have a ranch as a business in the future. As an accounting major, I will not be able to acquire expertise in every aspect related to my business. However, if I can rely on an expert system to help me manage those aspects, it will be more likely for me to take the best options. In this case, I am referring to decisions such as what people should I hire, what market is the best to sell my product and what supplies and food are best for my cows.

In conclusion, taking data and transforming it to the most useful information can make all the difference in the decisions taken. DSS are good tools to guide your decisions, but the ultimate actions always belong to you. DSS are just support systems because people are the main asset in any company.

Reference
http://www.techweb.com. (2009). Retrieved October 3, 2009, from http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml;jsessionid=53GGALS3HVMBTQE1GHPSKH4ATMY32JVN?term=model%2Dbasedexpertsystem.

Databases

2009-09-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

WEEKLY REPORT #4
by: Marcela Cupido

Could you imagine what would happen if all databases crashed down? If that happened, order would be virtually impossible; life would be chaos. In this entry, I will mention some specific problems that I would experience if the databases of my bank and a store crashed in first place. Second, I will expound on one current application of databases in my life. Finally, I will comment about a project for the future that I have, and how databases can help me to run it more efficiently.
If the data warehouse and the operational databases of my bank crashed, online transaction processing would have to end for lacking of support. In simple words, I would not be able to know how much money I have in the bank account. It would be also impossible for me to use my credit or debit cards; I would not have access to my money.
If databases and data warehouse of a store crashed, it would be impossible to buy anything. It would be hard to compute the amount to pay because of the incapability to scan barcodes. Neither could you use a card to make an electronic transfer funds in pay.
As a tutor, keeping track of every tutee and tutoring session in the information system of the school is essential. This data help the Learning Assistance Laboratory assesses the quality of our services and the improvement shown by tutees. Keeping all this enormous amount data in databases helps us to generate business intelligence about our “clients” or tutees. If our system crashed down, we would not be able to know whether our performance and work help or if it is pointless.
I sell handcrafted jewelry. I have difficulty calculating the cost of goods sold, expenses and revenue that come from selling it given the lack of information for each bead. After learning about databases and data warehouses this past week, I realized the benefits that a database would bring to my little business. If I create a database to enter my data, I will be able to have all kind of information available anytime. This would help me to calculate any question regarding to any piece of jewelry that I sell.
In conclusion, databases are important because they keep information that people need to act. If they crashed, it would be impossible to perform daily tasks such as purchasing or selling with plastic money. Information stored in databases from previous periods of time can help to determine performance and create business intelligence. Understanding benefits and advantages provided by databases can be an essential tool from the beginning of a business, such as mine. And more important, proper and creative use of databases can help me to succeed in my dreamed-business.

Week 3---

2009-09-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Week 3... My Thoughts on my Class!

The more I attend my IS 240 classes, the more I realize that technology is taking over in all aspects of my life, and I am barely realizing this fact. This week I was exposed to vocabulary from the “high-tech” world as I never was before. In this entry of my blog, I will share with you what I learned this week, what I think of what I learned, and how I will probably end up using my new knowledge.
Because of my interest on finance and accounting, the title of the second chapter “Strategic and Competitive Opportunities: Using IT for Competitive Advantage” of the book Management Information Systems for the Information Age sounded to me as increasing income and decreasing expenses. In this sense, I was right. In InvestorWords.com, I found competitive advantage defined as “condition which enables a company to operate in a more efficient or otherwise higher-quality manner than the companies it competes with…” In other words, using IT allows companies to respond to necessities, challenges and ultimately, opportunities in new, unexplored ways. Regarding to this aspect of the benefits of IT, I want to mention first an example very common in the life of us, college students. By going online to web pages such as half.com or amazon.com, we can get books for very cheap. I guess that the cheap price has something to do with the fact that the distribution chain is business to customer, jumping the retailer store. In this little example, I want to emphasize how the use of internet can help us to increase our buyer power over the typical library; this is called disintermediation. This example also shows how global reach works. Global reach means to me that no matter where your supplier or customer is, by using specific application software you can get in touch, communicate and do business with them anywhere in the world.
In order to complete this assignment, I was surfing InformationWeek.com, and came across an article about IBM's CIO Mark Hennessy. This article titled “IBM CIO's Strategy: Run, Transform, Innovate,” basically describes how the proper management on the IT recourses the company possesses, results on higher amounts of money invested in business-technology innovation. I think this is closely related to what I have been discusses through my entry today. Let me show you why I think so. As CIO, Mark Hennessy has three important tasks to achieve in supporting IBM. The first is “running and optimizing IBM's internal IT operations.” The second is “working with IBM business units in support of their objectives,” and the third is “facilitating company-wide collaboration, innovation, and technology requirements across 170 countries.”
The correct use of IT in IBM, has allowed the decrease of 73% of the IT budget on keeping systems and services running and 27% on innovation to a ratio 63%-37% on keeping systems; in doing so, there are resources liberated for innovation. Innovation can become a competitive advantage.
At the end of the same article, CIO Mark Hennessy explains that efficiency come from “server virtualization, data center consolidation (IBM has consolidated 155 data centers down to five), energy savings, applications simplification (from 15,000 apps to 4,500 apps), end user productivity, organizational collaboration, shifting skills globally, and business-process simplification. IBM has internal IT projects underway now in the areas of its supply chain, finance, workforce management, and order-to-cash processes.”
I feel motivated to learn more about the business and the IT world as I understand that my career as Internal Auditor will require it; I will be able to test and certify that internal controls are appropriated and that my clients will be complying with the law because I will know how their IT systems work.
Information Technology allows businesses to get to know needs and improve their services responding each time in new and more user-friendly ways that generate more profits for a lower cost. It is really important to become acquainted with the new technology in order to survive in this always upward cycle of technology we live in. I hope you have enjoyed exploring with me the new concepts I learned this week.

Hope to see ya next week!

InvestorWords.com. (2009). Retrieved September 19, 2009, from http://www.investorwords.com/998/competitive_advantage.html

IBM CIO's Strategy: Run, Transform, Innovate. (April 30, 2009). Information Week Global CIO Blog. Retrieved September 19, 2009, from http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/04/ibm_cio_turns_d.html;jsessionid=YYXCL3RKNBLPFQE1GHPCKH4ATMY32JVN?queryText=distribution+chain

Job Presentation w/ Citation

2009-09-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

I added the citation... sorry, I had uploaded my unfinished slide show.

Technology's Impact in my Life

2009-09-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

It is undeniable that we are in the information age. The more I think about it, I can see many more applications for my every-day life that derivate from technology. Since technology is now present everywhere, it has altered completely our lives. The way people learn, do business, even cook has become a global, always faster and sophisticated way. In this blog, I will reflect on how technology is present in my life through internet, in my schooling and in my plans for the future.

The sole effect that internet has in my life is amazing. If you prohibit me from using internet, I will feel worse than trapped and unable to perform basic tasks. As an international student, the easiness required to translate English words into Spanish makes my reading a faster and more comprehensive process. I can translate into Spanish not just words, but also complete web pages. In a matter of seconds, internet also helps me to find places without getting lost whether it is in Calgary, AB or Tabasco, Mexico. Being connected with people all over the world for free through different software applications is another enormous benefit that makes the use of internet so attractive.

After our discussions on Wednesday and Friday, I acknowledged that technology has the biggest impact in my student life through information technology resources owned by LDS Business College. To start, let me refer to blackboard; it is the most effective way that I know get information from my professors. If I have any question, I can easily go into Novell GroupWise email and find my professor’s email address to be in communication with him or her. I love being able to access blackboard and Novell GroupWise, but specially PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft allows me to fix and to get much of my own information, such as schedules, classes taken and unofficial transcript records.

Regarding to my English class, research and investigations are easier and more reliable. If I go to the LDS BC Library web page, I can browse multiple databases in any topic. Because of the speed with which information technology can manage information, I can trust that databases will be up-to-date whenever I require it. There is unlimited power on knowing that most of the information that I will ever need is just some keystrokes far from me.

Since I am planning to be an accountant, becoming a technology-literate knowledge worker has a special emphasis in my schooling. This was one powerful reason for me to enroll this semester in IS 240 and in ACC 104. In last mentioned course, I am learning to use the application software QuickBooks. Having taken two previous semesters of Financial Accounting, nothing of what we have “learned” so far is new for me. However, the way to record transactions, make trial balances and complete the accounting cycle is much faster and practical. After having done all the later mentioned by hand for two semesters, I fully appreciate how much productive I can be by using QuickBooks.

I understand that out of the three elements that make up the management of information systems, people is the most important single factor. Knowing this, I plan to learn how to properly use information systems in order to administer information accurately. I also know that the moment to learn and prepare is now, so that in the future as accountant, using computer-based programs will strengthen my career.

In conclusion, technology is a powerful tool. Well applied, technology can result in profits whereas its misuse just blocks progress and confuses people. Since it has become an essential part of our lives, we have to learn to use it in our benefit. We cannot fall behind if we are to have success. After all, we live in the information age; the modern bridge between information and people is information systems.

By: Marcela Cupido Iñiguez
See ya next week!!!!

Learning Model Summary

2009-09-04T07:38:00.001-07:00

This is the third day of classes of the new semester, Fall 2009. These past two days, every teacher has been talking to us about the learning model. Personally, I always thought that I was a good student and that my learning techniques were good. However, the learning model presents a new approach to my old methods because it gives a gospel approach. In other words, we are inviting the Holy Ghost to bless us in our mission and commision on learning "Of things both in ^aheaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must ^bshortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the ^cnations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a ^dknowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—" (DC 88: 79).

I am not very into computer stuff, but when thinking of the quoted scripture I fell desirous to learn about that; specially because I know that I will be helpful and important in my career. I also will be following the word of the Lord, and He will help me.

Marcela Cupido Iniguez

nos vemos la proxima semana!!!!

Week One

2009-09-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is the first time that I blog. I created it because I am taking a Management Information Systmes class (IS 240) with brother McReynolds.