Last updated: 11/3/00
Link back to course Welcome

Agenda for eCommerce Class #6 November 8, 2000

This agenda and class are for eCommercey only

1. Announcements
   1. The eCommerce class will be presented to WSU faculty on Thursday, November 9, 1:30 - 3 PM, at the Office for Teaching and Learning, Room 2210 in the Adamany Undergraduate Library (UGL). All who are interested are welcome to attend. A special interest has been expressed in students' views.
   2. If your name is listed below, puh-LEAZE go to the course web site and fill in the course information form.
      1. Nafeesah Abdullah
      2. Paul Mungar
      3. Mary Phelps
      4. Chandra Williams
   3. The computer tutor is available at no charge (paid directly by ISP). His name is Matta Vijay Kumar and he is available as follows:
      1. Tel 313-832-6585
      2. Lab hours (also lab is open and you can work in there): Fridays 10 - 12 and 3 to 7 PM
   4. Team 3
2. Reminder of what you should be doing online on a regular basis -- these are part of the grade
   1. Signin, from the lab, only on days for the class(es) you are taking
   2. Weekly course report (if you are taking both classes, a single report will do)
   3. Conference postings (one for eCommerce, two for Computers, the Internet, and Society, three if you are taking both)
   4. Not required, but do it anyway - check your email on at least a weekly basis. Don't have email: use hotmail - it's easy and free. See me if you need help.
   5. For Computers, the Internet, and Society, don't forget the three email assignments: During the semester, send the following types of messages, writing which assignment it is in the message body:
      1. Direct, simple email to the Instructor (d.r.bowen@wayne.edu)
      2. Email to the Instructor, with an attached file
      3. Email to someone else with a cc to the Instructor
      4. Reply to another message with a cc to the Instructor
      5. Email to a list, which includes the Instructor
3. Options for the ten requirements

   Item	What we are using	Alternatives
   1. Web Server, or access to one.	The CLL web server, O'Reilly WebSite (runs under Windows OS)	Windows: MS IIS (Internet Information Server) and Netscape Enterprise server Unix/Linux: Apache and NCSA are free, Netscape Enterprise Server Also, lease space
   2. Programming capability. Some people regard producing static web HTML pages to be programming, but here there is something beyond that. To process user input from text boxes etc., you need an active system to store and act on the user's input, and to respond to that input.	iHTML, editing by Wordpad and/or Notepad	MS Active Server Pages (ASP), Perl, PHP, Java, ColdFusion. FrontPage Server Extensions have a point-and-click interface for CGI, instead of a programming interface, but not as general purpose.
   3. Email management (ability to send email, perhaps automatically, and receive it. (For sending automatic email, iHTML)	Mercury Mail mail server running on web server computer	Any mail server. Needs to respond promptly.
   4. Access Restriction. If you are selling content, you need some way to restrict access by people who haven't paid yet.	No restriction	Several possibilities here: "blind URLs" with no links to them, you email your paid-up customers the URL. Also, access can be allowed only with a User Name and Password.
   5. Access Logs. All web servers keep logs of hits. This is vital marketing information showing what customers and potential customers are interested in, where they are coming from, how many there are and whether or not they can use your web site. These days, you have about thirty seconds to provide a new user with what they are looking for. Then it's click and goodbye!	You will have access to the server logs for your web site. You will be using Microsoft Access database to analyze them.	There is a standard web server log file format.
   6. Secure transactions. You must be able to demonstrate that you take customers' security seriously. The attitude that, "I don't care if they are really secure just as long as they think they are" is a marketing disaster waiting to happen. In practice, today this means encrypted (encoded) transmissions for personal information such as addresses, telephone numbers and credit card numbers. (I am currently trying to get this set up on the CLL web server. There is a chance it may not happen this semester. If it does happen, its use will just be to provide links using shttp -- Secure HyperText Transport Protocol -- instead of http.)	At this point, we are not using secure transactions.	shttp protocol and digital certificates
   7. Credit Card Validation. Don't ship until you know the card is good! How do you get paid if the customer purchases by credit card?	I haven't really sorted this one out yet, and I may not. But there are services that will do this for you on a per-transaction basis, using email. read McComb here. We are assuming that you do the validation in person.	Buy, lease
   8. Ability to upload files to the web server	Upload page, FTP	email, publish, drive mapping
   9. Ability to create static web pages (HTML)	We are primarily using MS FrontPage98	Netscape Composer, HotMetal, Word (be careful!), Claris HomePage - many
   10. Ability to create web graphics (GIF or JPEG/JPG file formats). Strictly speaking, this is not required, but cool graphics are a part of the web culture, and also of selling goods.	We are not doing this. I use PaintshopPro 7, about $100 or less	Adobe Photoshop is the standard for professionals.

4. Web security
   1. Users care about the security of their information, and online merchants must respond to this.
   2. Proprietary Vs public standard security
   3. Symmetric encryption - same key to encode and decode
   4. Asymmetric, or public key / private key
   5. Prime numbers and keys
      1. Estimate from Ron Rivest, the "R" in the RSA Algorithm, the most popular security algorithm:
         In 2000, with $25,000 to spend, you could crack a single 425-bit key (128 decimal digits) and with $25 million you could crack a single 619-bit key (186 decimal digits). As computing power Vs price increases, in the year 2020, the person with $25,000 to spend could crack a single 515-bit key (155 decimal digits), and with $25 million could crack a single 799-bit key (240 decimal digits). Since the current standard is 512 bits (154 decimal digits) with a transition to 1024 bits (307 decimal digits), the white hats should stay comfortably ahead of the black hats.
   6. Security of information after it has been securely transported to the merchant (Dyson, Release 2.1)
   7. Digital certificates
5. Software for creating web pages. Microsoft FrontPage is nice, but Netscape Composer comes for free if you have the Netscape web browser version 4.x on a full install (use the Communicator menu item to start Composer). Composer will do everything WYSIWYG except for HTML forms such as the order form.
6. Team work. Reports on all of these items are due to me by the end of class tonight, as computer files, with copies for all teacm members
   1. The business. A short paragraph describing your business and how it works.
   2. The business plan. What sections there will be, who will write them, when they are due to the team, who will assemble them, and a statement that all team members understand what they are to write. The budget cannot realistically be done until the other sections are available.
   3. A hand-drawn sketch showing the layout of the web site with file names and links
   4. List of web pages, with file names and brief descriptions of content, what links will be on them, who is assigned to make them, when the initial and final versions are due. (The initial version should be up with a working order form by November 29. The team will have to assemble the web site and examine it together, and may need or want to make changes then. Final versions must be ready by December 13 so that they can be reviewed during that class by the other teams.) This list does not include the order form (HTML) and iht files, which must be done by the whole group. The list should include a statement that all team members have an initial understanding of what should be on the web pages that they are assigned to.
   5. Description of "look and feel" of web site. For example, what colors for headings, major sections, etc. Description of any logos (I will make logos that are not too complicated - include a sketch).
   6. Budget items: web server rental (see attachments), domain name registration ($300 per year), digital certificate ($300 per year)