Web Wyze
By; George Horton
Webmaster-www.kcnb.ca
According to NUA,
the number of
computers on the
internet today is
605.60 million. Wow.
People of all ages
and from all walks
of life are
embracing the net
and discovering its
worthiness by
getting online. From
gardening tips to
tracing your roots,
finding that great
deal, or that hard
to find tractor
part, it is not only
convenient, but can
be lots of fun.
Besides, people want
to be where other
people are.
This applies to the
business community
as well. Computers
have enabled a new
way to get personal
service from an ever
increasing
self-serve world.
Businesses can use
this medium to
enable people to
browse and buy their
wares from home,
give prospective
customers someone to
communicate with
directly, and of
course keep their
customers informed
of sales and
updates. The goal of
an online venture is
to sell product, and
there are a number
of possible ways to
accomplish this.
Anyone can accept
checks, cash, and
money orders through
the mail, and many
of the online
auctions and new
business
transactions are
completed in this
fashion.
Using your email
address has become
very popular as
well, with companies
like PayPal. This is
like an online
Western Union. You
must register with
the company, and
give them your bank
account number or
Visa number. You can
then receive and
make payments with
your email. This is
very convenient and
safe.
The other option is
to use your credit
card. Make sure you
only enter your
credit card number
and personal
information on a
secure website. This
means there is a
closed padlock
visible on the
bottom of your
browser, and the
website states that
it is a secure
server. This is very
important because if
you give your number
on an unsecured site
you will not be
covered if you loose
your money.
So what is eCommerce
anyway? Well, there
are several
interpretations of
the term eCommerce,
which stands for
electronic commerce.
Basically, it refers
to two or more
parties making
business
transactions across
a network.
Business-to-business
transactions began
in the early 1970's
with EDI (Electronic
Data Interchange).
This was used on
private networks to
share information
with business
partners and
suppliers. Most
people today connect
eCommerce with
online retailing -
using the Web to
sell goods,
services, and
information to
consumers.
You should know,
that when you visit
a website,
information stored
on your browser will
be logged and
tracked. Information
like; your web
address, date and
time of the page
requested, the
version of the web
browser being used,
the version and type
of the visitor's
operating system, as
well as the
visitor's IP
address. This is a
normal part of
browsing.
Most browsers are
setup to accept
cookies. A cookie is
a small file that
websites store on
your computer when
you visit them. A
cookie file can
contain user
specific
information, such as
User ID, or it can
be used to maintain
a connection with
you during your
visit (so that you
can visit pages of a
site without
retyping the same
information over and
over). These data
files may contain
information the web
site can use to
track such things as
passwords, lists of
pages you've
visited, and the
date when you last
looked at a certain
page. Cookies are
also used to show
advertisers that
their ads are being
seen by prospective
customers. Cookies
will not tell the
website who you are
or where you live,
and as long as you
do not let your
browser remember
that information,
for example, when
Windows asks if you
want it to remember
your passwords and
personal
information, you say
no.
You can visit
anywhere in the
world on the
internet, and as
more people join the
online community,
and technology
becomes more user
friendly, they will
soon be visiting
you.
Have fun out there.
George Horton