The Internet

The Internet

1. File Transfer Protocol

   • A standard internet protocol providing a simple way of transferring files between a computer and the internet
     • Used for uploading a database of sales from one branch of the organisation to head office
     • Distribute information between the company, customers and suppliers
     • Download or upload a website to the internet
     • + Not limited to file size like with email attachments
     • Allows reliable transfer of files between platforms
     • Greater security in transfer of information

2. Requirements of an E-Commerce site

   • Maintaining a company website
     • This would display all the products the company want to sell. It must be easy to navigate with good search facilities
   • Catalogue of stock and stock database
     • So that they can immediately see if something is available or whether there will be a delay
   • Table of customer orders
     • Immediate searches can be made to find and update customer information
   • Methods of secure payment
     • A system to pay by credit card in a secure way
   • Email confirmation
     • Sending an email to confirm the order has been placed

3. E-Commerce Site

   • Advantages to customers
     • There is no travelling - it can be done from home so saving costs and time
     • Allows disabled people to do shopping
     • Available 24/7
     • Much quicker to do price comparisons
     • Can find obscure goods which are not available locally
     • Can read other customer reviews
     • Order tracking
   • Advantages to the company
     • People can email them orders or enquiries
     • Overheads are cut as less warehouse and office space is needed
     • Wider customer base as can reach a wider audience globally
     • More effective customer targetting
   • Disadvantages to both
     • Credit card fraud
     • Fake websites where goods do not really exist
     • Fewer shops on the highstreet
     • Lack of social interaction
     • Increased number of delivery vans on the road
     • Cost of maintaining website

4. Online Databases

   • Product, customer and order information is available to the company from anywhere and the customers can place their orders over the internet

5. Finding a website

   • Search engines
     • An application accessed over the internet which maintains indexes of webpages. It uses keywords to find the information you require
   • Typing in the URL
     • The recognised method for referring to resources on the internet. If you know the URL, you can simply type it is
   • Webcrawler
     • A program that automatically browses all webpages to provide data about them in order to create an index which can be used by search engines to enable fast searches
   • Boolean Searches
     • Searches using the operators "and" "not" "or" to limit or widen the search
   • Hyperlinks
     • An area of a webpage that contains a link to another area of that webpage

6. Distributed computing

   • A series of computers that are networked together they all work on solving the same problem, they share data processing, storage and bandwidth in order to solve the problem
     • Advantages
       • Reduces costs as an expensive, powerful computer like a supercomputer is not needed
       • Can pass work to computers anywhere in the world using the internet
       • If you need more processing power, you only need to add more computers
     • Disadvantages
       • There are security issues with the data being spread over so many computers
       • Heavy reliance on networks and communications which may not always be reliable
     • The purpose of SETI, (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) is to search for intelligent life outside the earth. To do this, a radio telescope is used in order to search for the narrow bandwidth signals which requires a lot of computing power

7. Issues with the internet

   • Effects upon Communities
     • Leads to a lack of social interaction for frequent users because you no longer have to go to the shops to buy food as it can be done online
   • Ownership
     • The laws of some individual countries is beginning to address some legal issues such as intellectual property rights
   • Ownership of Data
     • Copyright laws vary by country. If something is uploaded in a country where it is legal, it can be viewed in a country where it is illegal
   • Censorship
     • Little control over who can see what on the internet
   • Hacking
     • It is relatively easy to capture internet traffic
   • Illicit Material
     • Pornography can be easily accessed by anyone
   • Incitement to Violence
     • Bomb making websites
   • Deliberately setting up websites with incorrect information
   • Cyberbullying in chatrooms or by email
   • Inappropriate websites containing pornography, violence or racism
   • Spreading rumours on the internet
   • Plagiarism, copying material without referencing the source
   • Spreading spam wastes peoples time
   • Using someones WIFI without permission
   • Mobile phone hacking
   • Using photo editing software to distort reality
   • Privacy issue with social media sites
   • Gambling addictions can cause social problems and great debt