7.1 Security System

Love Shack Cabins needs to take good precautions when working their business because there are 5 threats that we need to make sure we are good on, viruses, outside intruders, employees,firewall, and natural disasters. One of the big things that we need to make sure we don't get is a virus. A virus will destroy any data that we have stored in our computer system and then we will loose everyone information and all of our information about our cabins. Any outside intruders, meaning someone that is "snooping" around in our store trying to look for any information, maybe to steal an identity or also just someone hacking into the system to get any of our customers information or our information even Someone that might would hack into our computers would be someone else with a cabin business trying to steal our customers or doing anything to keep us from getting business. When we say employees, we are not trying to disrespect our employees, we are just simply saying that with all of our other Love Shack Cabin workers we need to make sure that they are who they say that are instead of someone else and by this we would authenticate our employees by giving them a code, card to swipe, or possibly a voice password. Firewalls allow us to also authenticate our users and anyone who signs in to once again make sure we are who we say we are maybe using a password to access our website. Any company does not want to have any type of a natural disaster, a natural disaster would be something like a power outage. If the power went out then Love Shack Cabins would not be able to access anyone information or anything dealing with our computers because the systems would be shut down and if we did not save any knew information then it would be lost. At Love Shack Cabins we have some ways that we make sure that we are safe. When our employees get to work, they have to authenticate their selves at the back door by a biometrics system where they swipe their finger to make sure they are who they really say they are. Another way that we watch carefully about our information is we have physical access restrictions in our system that tries to prevent any hackers before they try and break in. To prevent any intruders that are trying hack our system with a computer or maybe even a robot, in order to sign up for our website before completion we have an encryption code that only we can see. The user that is signing up would have to put in the code to authenticate that they are a real person trying to sign up for our website and not a robot or computer.

6.1 Pillars of the Web

One of the pillars of the web is utilizing the web as a platform. Utilizing the web as a platform is leveling the playing field, allowing others to access the web through browser and Internet connection. With Love Shack Cabins, we utilize the web by being able to access our other business to business's websites such as Haynes furniture, to make a transaction and order the things that we need from them. The next pillar is harnessing collective intelligence. This means that it allows users to give feedback and let you know what you might need to improve on. Love Shack Cabins allows our visitors to give us feed back on how they liked their stay in our cabins and what things need to be better or if there was anything that might need to be improved. Another pillar is the leveraging data. Leveraging data utilizes powerful databases to make decisions. We have made it accessible to our customers to be able to contact us at anytime, or email us if there are any questions. If they feel the need to contact us, with getting their information stored into our databases, we can look their information up and see what things might interest them and see what things are available to them. Because of the type of company that we are, the only way for this to be possible is for them to contact us via email or by simply making a phone call. The last pillar is the implementing innovative web capabilities, this is the actual capabilities that allow users to see the different things. Something that Love Shack Cabins allows viewers to see, is a widget on our page that allows you to see the weather where ever the cabin that they are interested would be. It will let them know within the next week what the temperatures will be during those days and if it might rain or such. This helps the visitors make plans for their stay, if they want to be outside or inside.

4.4 Entity Relationship Diagram

In our first entity group we have labelled as customer. Under customer we then have what information we might need from the customer to help our process flow more smoothly. We have their first name, last name, their home address, and as always a number to contact them. All of these different things that I just named off are known as attributes. Like previously mentioned, attributes help us label our customers with some sort of information. With our next entity group we have product. Under product we have the information about the cabin that our customer is interested in renting. In order to know this information we have the cabin that their interested in renting as a cabin number which allows us to narrow everything down to which exact cabin they are staying and all the different descriptions of that cabin. We also have the occupancy of that cabin and the description for other attributes. With our last entity group we have invoice and within invoice we have the cabin number again, description, price, tax, and the total price. With all this different information it helps us better understand our customer. If our customer wants to change something like for instance, which cabin they are wanting to stay in, the only thing we will have to do is pull up their name and all of this information will be listed. 

5.3 Intranet Diagram

As previously mentioned in the last blog of 5.2 talking about the extranet and what was going on inside of it, we then go to the next step and even further into the system. When using the extranet to communicate with Haynes Furniture we were communicating with the "outside network". The intranet is one happens on one side of the VPN like identified above with the pink box. Within intranet we still have a client and also a server. If you didn't notice the client and server are on the same side of the Internet. This is called a client inside the network. Even thought this is an inside network, we still have to get verified through a firewall. The reason for this is because we do not want to take any chances with someone trying to hack into the system and steal information or anything of that sort. Everything basically still works the same, everything is just kind of going on in one side the the VPN, which is identified as the Intranet. 

5.2 Extranet

With this diagram, it allows us to better understand how a business might use an extranet. My business that I am currently employed with is Love Shack Cabins, we rent out cabins. Another business that we might be accompanied with is Haynes Furniture. Within the extranet system we would have in LAN A, like drawn above, would be our business, Love Shack Cabins. LAN B would be our business that we are combined with, Haynes Furniture. If we need to get in contact with them we would be the client, we would  have to first be sent through the firewall to be approve that we are "legit" and are allowed to be contacting them through the VPN which is also the Internet. After we pass through the VPN we then come across another firewall to be approve to verify that we are not a scam of some sort and then we can connect with our business Haynes Furniture which would be the server to let them know of any know equipment that we might be purchasing from them. Everything that just mention is all what goes on inside of the extranet. 

Packet Switching Technology 4.3

The first thing that happens is TCP, transmission control protocol or internet protocol, IP, breaks the information down into data packets that make it easier to transfer the information from computer to computer. This is what is called packet switching. In order for the transferring to take place, there must be a router. A router allows two or more networks to connect. After the data has been packed it is then transferred to its destination. In order for all this to start there has to be a client, which sends a request to the server. The server is what does all of the work. When the data is being sent it has an IP address. The IP address is what allows the routers and networks to identify the data. All of this together is how we get the packet switching technology. If this didn't happen, any information that we needed sent like emails, would not be able to send and receive. 

5.1 Competitors website

The website that we chose to be our competitor was www.perfect-cabin-vacations.com/Florida-cabin-rentals/. With rule number 1 something that the website offers that is unique at the bottom of their page they have other websites and "deals" that might be helpful if maybe their prices are too high. My rating for rule number 1 is a 2. The reason for this being is that they only have 2 websites with other ratings and no special rates for their own product. The percentage on how often it is used is not very high at all, maybe the reasoning for that is because they don't have very many offers.

Rule number 2: I give them a 5 for something pleasing. They have beautiful pictures up that are very appealing. The pictures make you want to stay there showing the good locations.

Rule Number 3: I give them a 4 for the website being easy and fast to use. When you first pull the website up, it has different pictures of their cabins at different locations meaning cities in Florida, this allows you to pick which area you are interested in. It has many links to different places which is a plus.

Rule Number 4: Rule number 4 gets a rating of 5 because the pictures that they gives us to see are very nice and motivate the visitors to want to stay there.

Rule Number 5: They get a rating of 4 for rule number 5. They have pretty coloring and beautiful pictures but don't really have much advertisement. When using Alexa.com you find out that there is only 8 other websites that link into this website.

Rule Number 6: Rule number 6 gets a good rating of 5 because you learn a lot from this website. It allows you to read helpful information like the exact description of the cabins and locations. This allows you to choose which cabin you are interested in staying at.

A Basic Network 4.2

A basic network is used with almost anything. The main network that we use is Angel. There is the starting part which is the "sender". The client sends a request to the server of the receiver to have what their request done that they are trying to do. Once the receiver gets it they then send a response back to the original sender which is now the "receiver" with the "response". In between this process there is a transmission media that makes sure that the rules and protocols are being approached. Also, in between this process in order for it to work, there is a wireless media that allows it to be "wireless" that goes through a cable media, the physical pathway. The transmission media has a bandwidth meaning there is a certain capacity that it cannot exceed. When all of this information is being processed, it is processed by digitizing, which is converting information into bits just as we talked about in the previous blog entry. The reason for this process is so that we can do things like, uploading this blog.

Infrastructure 4.1

We use computers as a source of communication. Something that is key in using the computers is the keyboard. The keyboard is a type of input device that is used to enter information into the computer. When we type the information onto the keyboard it goes through the input technology such as the computer in general. After that it goes through the processing device that changes it from the input into the output. The output technology delivers the information to users in a usable format. Meaning that if we tell the computer to play a certain song, the output technology would be the speakers where you hear the song come out of. Machine language is the language that the computer understands. Meaning when you type a letter, it reads it as numbers. Each letter has a number that the computer knows and thats how we see it as letters. The different numbers that the computer knows are in different binary codes such as, bits, bytes etc. ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, that is the process of the information how we see it on the computer, then to the numbers that are in bits and the ASCII binary code, and then how its stored and manipulated inside the computer. Just as it has done the whole time I have been writing this blog.

Value Chain Analysis 3.1

Cabin rentals may seem like they are a simple thing to do on the business aspect and customer aspect but overall it sometimes can be a complicated thing to follow. The first box in our value chain analysis is purchasing the supplies such as the furnature for our cabin. The type of information system that you would use for that is the transaction process. Even though our customer is not paying for this step , we in the end are purchasing something there for we are using the transaction process. After our cabins are up to standard, we then advertise them and bring our customers in to purchase a stay. This step includes the customer relation system. Our employee is speaking with the future customer to figure our whether they are interested or not. After that, if they are interested we then bring them in to find out which dates they were looking at for their vacation time. This step is called the Decision support system. This gives the customer information about their cabin and then helps them with decision on which dates and what cabin. Then, after they pick dates, we then start another transaction process which, is the same as stated before. We figure out what type of payment they are wanting to pay with and complete the transaction. After the transaction is complete, our customer can then have their vacation. This would be considered the functional area system. The functional area system meaning that where the customer stays, as in the cabins, is considered the work area, the " functional area of the firm". After the customer finishes their stay at our cabin, when then have then fill out a "rate card" that allows us to see what our customers think we need to improve on. This is the customer relation system as well because we are communicating with our customers. 

3.3 Cost Benefit Analysis

The purpose of  a cost benefit analysis allows you to step by step see how well or how not so well your business is doing. It allows us to find out what the total cost of ownership for the business. In this process you find out the nonrecurring costs and the recurring costs. Nonrecurring costs are costs that usually dont continue after. Recurring costs are ones that are ongoing that keep occuring throughout the cycle of the system. Then you add those together and find out the total cost. Then you figure out the benefits and the total benefits. After that you take the total cost and total benefit and subtract them and thats how much you have lost. The reason for a proxy value chart is to help you realize how well you business is doing in the chart view. Just as any other chart, the greatest process is at the top. Dark blue is the process before, the brighter blue is during and the light blue is after. The customer relations did better after than it did at any point. The employee morale did better after as well.

Arguments 3.2

Faith: If we update our systems for when someones transaction goes through and allows us to reserve the dates that they are wanting to stay then we wont have anything houses overbooked.

Fear: If we don't update our systems then we could possibly have more than one family or families trying to stay at the same Cabin at the same time then we will end up loosing both families and not having anyone stay at that time and we will end up loosing money because they will both end up canceling their stay in our cabin.

Fact:If we update our systems then we will cut out all of the over booking errors and have everyone happy and there fore no one will cancel their stay and we wont loose money.

Automobiles 2.2

.2Automobiles are something that are very important in our daily lives. In 2008, the US Congress had to help out in loans because of a major recession. The world is flat cause it to become more homogeneous every day. Manufacturers are have been trying to come up with a "world car" meaning that it is made all over the world. In 1990, there were cars made that they thought was going to be "the hit" but ended up not selling as well as they thought. The reason being, is because some prefer larger cars than others and vice versa. They also stated that the "world car" make take longer than they had expected because they want to make sure they can meet everyones needs all in one package. Globalization 3.0 helps out with exchanging information and selling and buying fuel from other countries. Cultural difference play a huge role in making a world car because some people have smaller streets like the Asians. Americans like SUVs and pickups because have wider streets.

Flickr 2.1

1. Flickr allows anyone who can access the web page to post pictures from wherever. Most people upload pictures from events so everyone else, "friends", can see them. Most of the time if its not set to private then anyone can see them. Some people may even sell them for money.

2. Netscape went public is a important enabler because if it wasn't for web browser then there would be no way to access the Flickr page. Uploading is also an important enabler because the whole point of Flickr is to upload or download pictures. Another important enabler is in-forming. In-forming is useful because if someone goes to google and searches for a topic that deals with Flickr, it will push them in the direction of the Flickr website.

1.3

In my diagram for the support manager group I have a DBA, network administrator, and security. The Database administrator  makes sure that everything with the database is working properly. If something goes wrong they will get called and will have to drop everything they are doing to go fix the problem. If the database doesnt work, the system wont work properly. Securtiy is basically self explanitory. For the topic of development administrator, we have a buisness analyst, computer programmer, and a software engineer. The buisness analyst is the one who makes the business rules. The computer progammer is kind of self explanitory as well but, if we dont have someone who programs our system then we wont be able to get anywhere. If we gont have a software engineer then there cant be software for our computer progammer to begin. With our maintenance mangaer section we have a manager, DBA, and security as well. We need a manager to keep everything going in the right direction, to make the decisions on what need to be done for that section. Our database administrator does the same thing that it does for our support manager group and security as well makes sure everything is secure.

Explaining our data 1.2

When we have a customer interested in our services that are sure they are willing to rent out a cabin we begin to gather data, what we all know as "personal information". We first begin by introducing ourselves and getting their name. As we get their name, we then ask their date of birth to make sure they are old enough to even purchase a cabin from us. Another piece of information that we gather is where they are from and their address. After we get all of their personal information it then gives us a reason to give them a "customer number". This customer number is the number that then helps us find out who they are and where they are staying, Florida or Bahamas? Then that even identifies it even better by telling us what exact cabin they are staying in. After it tells us what location and which cabin, we can also find out how many people are staying in the cabin by the information that they gave us and also find out the exact information about the cabin such as, the size, how many rooms, how many bathrooms, kitchen area,dining, den area, etc.. Not only does the customer number pull up the information that I have recently talked about but it also pulls up the billing information, billing information meaning how they are paying for it, cash or transaction. After we get the billing information we can then allow them to purchase a cabin and complete the transaction to give them a receipt. By the receipt it then allows us to see that the purchase was made and on what date and the time.

Introduction to the Love Shack 1.1

Love Shack is a private owned organization that is out there for those who are newlyweds on their honeymoon, a family on vacation, or also for that special someone who is lonely and trying to find a place to stay to find their significant other.We currently have two locations, one is located in Florida for those of you who want to have a little more fun and along with the "beachy" area. Our second location is where we all dream of going, the Bahamas. Our prices vary from the size and location. Also, if there is an issue with money, we can help you out there and negotiate. Our current employee count is 20 employees total, 10 per location. We have different agents that are through out the shopping malls and mose convenient places for you. Get an agent and stick with them and maybe you can get discounts through out the years if you plan to return. We hope this gives you a basic overlook of the information you may have been asking for. Also, we hope and plan to meeting you very soon!