Final Post

             My entrepreneurship idea for Project 1 is The Metro Card Finder. Throughout the semester my idea has evolved from being a baby to a pretty much grown adult. The first time I expressed my idea, I received a lot of criticism because it was not developed, did not have a foundation, and was just a mere idea that could not be seen as reality because it was just full of air. I sounded like I was saying "Lets make a balloon" without providing how I was going to do it, and what resources I would need. As the semester has progressed, and I have learned from lectures things that I can dissect and apply to my entrepreneurship idea. 

The Metro Card Finder started out as simple; it was just an app that would help you find a lost/stolen MetroCard without the hows, whos, and whats involved. At first, the idea was to capture an image of the back side of the Metro Card where the numbers and expiration date are located, with a phone or a mobile device. From there, the information of the card would be recorded into the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) system. When the card is lost, once reported to the MTA, it could be tracked down. My alternative for those who did not possess smart phones and other devices was to register their cards online. I never thought about anything like promotion; however, once I went to lecture for Social Media that changed. 

             Social Media plays a vital role in our daily lives, and especially in my entrepreneurship idea.  Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, HootSuite, Foursquare, Instagram, Blogger, and Wordpress are examples of social media. People are so absorbed into social media because they rely on the opinions and experiences of others when it comes to purchasing or pursuing anything. For example, before buying a product/service we look at other customer ratings and reviews for the product to help us judge if the product/service is worth it. Depending on the good or bad reviews, they will decide whether or not to purchase the product. Social Media is important because you can release an idea before it becomes something material. This is a way for promoting and improvising on the product plan simultaneously by letting the public know what solutions can be available to any problem they can be experiencing. If one person likes the product, he/she surely will tell family and friends and spread the word. When it comes to selling and advertising, it is all about the word of mouth nowadays. It becomes a means for improvising the idea for a product/service because it allows potential consumers to add in suggestions for making the product better. For example, what things we can add or subtract from our idea to make them buy it? This relates to my entrepreneurship idea completely because my classmates were allowed to comment on my idea and from these comments I learned that I needed to do more research and development in order to enhance an solidify my product. As the lectures became more complicated and technical, I was able to learn how to incorporate technology into my entrepreneurship idea.

           The "Cloud" is the world wide web, otherwise known as the internet. Cloud computing is basically software applications on the web that can be accessed anywhere and any time. cloud computing also enables cloud storage which is "an internet service that provides storage to computer users" (From the Textbook for IST195: "Discovering Computers: Shelly Cashman Series)  ie, individuals, home businesses, and enterprises. When there is not enough space to store information, cloud storage services are made available. Examples of Cloud Storage Services are Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3; these websites provide enterprise level storage, web services, and data center services. In other words, these websites enable you to manage and store your data at a cost of course. For my entrepreneurship idea, since there will be many customers I'm hoping, all of their information pertaining to them needs to be managed (personal info, metrocard info, images, services, accessing tutorial videos, etc). Cloud Computing in this case would be vital to storing and managing customers' information. In order to store data, which would then be stored as information, you would need database software/applications.

             A database is a system that is designed to manage large amounts of data and information quickly and efficiently, while making specific information easy to access. Databases are software applications that consist of many tables that are used to store information. A huge database will be needed for my entrepreneurship idea because almost everyone in NYC uses public transportation regardless of whether or not they have cars, even the tourists who come to visit use it. A database will help us keep records of purchase transactions, reported lost/stolen times, when cards are deactivated, the personal information of customers(addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, credit card information), Card numbers, RFID chip identification, etc. A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) would be most useful because it would describe the relationship between the different pieces of information. For example, to which customer does all this data belong to? Foreign Keys would help in this process because they establish a technical relationship between two or more tables; in our case the tables of information would be Customer Id, Card Number, Reported Missing Times, and RFID chips (Radio Frequency Identification, a tracking device chip on the back of the card). 

            As you can see, I started my idea off of scratch and it has developed to be something beautiful that can be improvised even more. Right now, the app would have three different alternatives to finding your stolen/lost metro cards. 1.  capture an image of the back side of the Metro Card where the numbers and expiration date are located, with a phone or a mobile device 2.  register the cards online 3. implant an RFID chip on the card so that when it is lost, the radio waves would be able to track down the card via radio waves even under ground. These are the pillars to my invention; however, there needs to be an outline to success for this idea to become a reality. In order for this mere idea to become a reality, there would have to be a lot of research and development so that when I present this idea, I know what I am talking about fully, not just the terms and definitions. There would have to be promotion on social media; I would have to present this idea to the public before it actually becomes something so that they can give me ideas on how to best improvise it. In order for them to have any kind of opinion on it at all, they would have to know what this idea looks like. Since I do not have the product invented already, I would have to show them my dream. I would create a makeshift image of what the product should look like. To do this, I would have to use Photoshop since it is so good at making things that dont exist believable. Lastly, this idea needs a huge amount of funding and support in order to start the research+development, get workers, and software. 

Lecture Post- Databases

The MetroCard Finder App is designed to help people find their lost/stolen Metro Cards by scan/enter the code on the back of the metrocard into the computer or phone via the MTA website and/or with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), a tracking device) chip on the back of the card. 

             The lecture on Database materials applies to everything, including my entrepreneurship idea. It applies to everything because information is involved and needed in every situation. Data is just words until someone makes information out of it, and manages it. A database is a system that is designed to manage large amounts of data and information quickly and efficiently, while making specific information easy to access. Data can be anything; it can be name, height, weight, address. The list goes on. Databases are software applications that consist of many tables that are used to store information. 

            Databases are a great way to manage and store information; they are used to avoid the mistakes that information management systems in the past made. Unlike physical files, text files, and excel, with databases it is almost impossible for your information to get misfiled, it is less difficult to search and store information, and there is no redundancy of data. The redundancy of data is prevented with the use of primary keys which are used to give each piece of information/ category, a signifier that sets it apart. A great example of this is Autoincrimated numbers for each piece. 

             A huge database will be needed for my entrepreneurship idea for many reasons. Almost everyone in NYC uses public transportation regardless of whether or not they have cars, even the tourists who come to visit use it. A database will help us keep records of purchase transactions, reported lost/stolen times, when cards are deactivated, the personal information of customers(addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, credit card information), Card numbers, RFID chip identification, etc. A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) would be most useful because it would describe the relationship between the different pieces of information. For example, to which customer does all this data belong to? Foreign Keys would help in this process because they establish a technical relationship between two or more tables; in our case the tables of information would be Customer Id, Card Number, Reported Missing Times, and RFID chips. 

Lecture Post- March 10, 2013

NETWORKING

               The Metro Card Finder is an app designed to help find lost or stolen Metro Cards. With today's current technology,finding your stolen/lost metrocard will be easy. One method of finding it is to scan/enter the code on the back of your metrocard into the computer or phone via the MTA website. Another method is to have an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), a tracking device) chip on the back of the card. Once you realize that it is stolen, call and report it to the authorities immediately. They will deactivate the card temporarily and locate the card by detecting the radio wave signals. This week's lecture on networking is related to my entrepreneurship idea in important ways.
              
           Networking is: "A system of computers and peripherals, such as printers, that are linked together. A network can consist of as few as two computers connected with cables or millions of computers that are spread over a large geographical area and are connected by telephone lines, fiberoptic cables, or radio waves. The Internet is an example of very large network.." (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/network). 

In other words, a network is an interconnected system of computers, servers, and devices such as printers. A network is made up of few or millions of computers that are connected with cables. It can be spanned over a large geographic area. The network of computers are connected through telephone lines, fiberoptic cables, or radio waves. A network is basically what we widely know as the internet AKA the World Wide Web. The internet connections would be Dial Up (connection through telephone lines), Broadband (Fiberoptic cables), and WiFi (Radio Waves). 

            The internet works between clients and web servers through an endless list of protocols/rules. Users type in a domain name, which is basically a word code for an IP address, which is a number code for websites. The http that we see after we type in an address and search is really important. It stands for hypertext transfer protocol, and it is a four step process between a client and the web server, which makes it simpler to request and access information. The four step process goes like this: 1. the client makes a connection to the web server, 2. the http requests information from the server, 3. the web server sends over html files, 4. the browser closes the connection. the browser has to close the connection because if the connection is open too long on different client users' computers then it means an open connection everywhere simultaneously. Its just too much for the server to keep track of, this will result in the server crashing from too many open connections. (Material from lecture powerpoint Week 8)

             Networking is important to my entrepreneurship idea because it involves the web, protocols, domains and such because it will be something on the cloud, virtual; meaning that it involves the internet, web servers, and clients. People's private information such as credit card information, personal profiles will be on my website. To protect my site, i will need to prevent hackers who find their ways to ruining lives by using spam. Tracing IP addresses to their proper locations will help me to eradicate any issues, because IP addresses act as a source of identification towards users, and devices. A good connection means good customer service. The better my connection, the better i can serve my customers and this requires of me to be able to properly close any connections automatically after the data requested is seen. Most people nowadays can buy domain names for their sites. This is something I need to do, I would have to purchase a domain name for their to be any potential business. Purchasing a domain name has many tricks and sticks to it. I would have to make sure that no one else has it in order to prevent trademark lawsuits, and I would have to buy one at an affordable price. Godaddy helps me to ensure both of these, i can buy and own one for a cheap price while avoiding expensive lawsuits regarding trademarks due to my lack of originality in creating a domain name.