End of Blog.. start of another..

I'm afraid this blog will have to come to an end.. I've not been updating it as often as I would love to.. in fact i believe i haven't been puttin in entries ever since my last which was required by my professor for the module MB 362.

I will be starting another new blog.. try to look out for me there!
That will be more regularly updated as i will be putting up stories from my Sweden trip up there!!

Will just like to let anyone who's thinking of takin up this module.. that it's an interesting and really beneficial course. The only down-side is prob it is quite time consuming.
Sadly, I'm afraid this sem it wasn't being offered as a modul. Not sure why though.. :0(

ended.

-tee-

Wana go "pharming"??

Q: what comes after phishing?
A: Pharming.

The 'experts" are gettin better by the days.. first they start "phishing" for victims by creating phony sites that looked similar to the genuine site, so that unsuspecting victims will unwittingly enter their sensitive information for the phisher's perusal.
Now they no longer go phishing for individual vicitims. It's quite a hassle.
Instead they redirect victims to their sites even though they keyed in the correct URL!!
wooah!
i cant imagine how serious this problem will become in the future when more and more pharming incidents happen. Will there come a day when we can no longer trust the sites we visit because we cant differentiate the fake sites from the real McCoy??!

take a look at the article here.

-tee-

Want To Buy a Virtual Sword?

Gaming is not only about sales of the consoles and game titles anymore.
Microsoft is embarking on this "micro-transactions" trend. they are hoping to make use of the Xbox live online gaming system to generate additional reveune by allowing gamers to buy,sell and trade virtual items among themselves.. using REAL dollars and cents!!

Microsoft expects such deals to involve very little money.. for many cases, maybe even less than a dollar for sales of the virtual item.

In the bigger pipeline, they are trying to set up the marketplace not only for individual game players, but also all gamers who are simultaneously online.

one impt point to note though is that this new service has to enhance the gamers' experience, if not the idea will not sell.

check out the article: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/41353.html

-tee-

Yahoo ---> Mobile Gaming?

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/41111.html

this is an interestin correlation btw yahoo and mobile gaming.

i used to be a keen player of yahoo's online mahjong, poker and chess.. but those were the days when i had more time on hand :oL
however if these games are avail thru mobile phones, i may be able to indulge in these entertainment again whilst travellin on the bus or train, instead of staring into empty spaces and idle my time away.. in addition, playing such online community games also allows me to get in touch with my frens and family whilst on e move.

It may be of interest to us also that US is not the biggest consumer of the mobile gaming industry. The market is an interantional one.. and Asia is poised to be amongst the fore-runner in this emerging industry! The pie is currently worth US$2 billion.. and expected to grow rapidly in the next few years!!!

tempting ey?!

-tee-

China Shutsdown thousands of Net cafes

This is a short article.. it spoke a little abt how China shutted down thousands of illegal net cafes.
In wk 10's lecture we gone thru the e-revolution in China.
Apparently the burgeoning of internet is not all boon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6969418/

" the government controls what the public can see online and blocks access to Web sites deemed pornographic or subversive. Internet cafes are banned near schools and the hours that children can use them are restricted."

The internet is such a vast and borderless territory. I feel that as much as the Chinese government will like to put controls inplace to protect her citizens from the evils of the internet, they are waging a losing battle.
For every site they banned, there will be 10 other new sites set up by others.

However, lacing time restrictions on children's useage of the internet may b a good move because it may help inculcate in the younger generation better net time useage. However from my personal experience, once I have access to the net, it is really quite tough to "limit" my use. Probably due to communication avenues such as the MSN messenger and ICQ which provides a fastr and convenient means to keep in touch with all my friends.
This convenience to chat does indeed come with a heavy cost. Many precious hours will be wasted behind the monitor screen "chatting" with our frens!!

-tee-

Students launch online auction for college

Woah!! another internet business in the brewing.. and a potential one for success too!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6994965/

Although currently now inmy own school there are avenues to buy/trade old textbooks, don't tink i've come across any that offers an auction service yet.

It may be a good idea because thru auctions, both the seller and buyer will benefit.
Sellers can fetch the best price for his books/notes while only those buyers who are really keen and willing to pay for the text will get the text. sometg like Maximising economics surpluses (a term i learnt in my economics calss)??!

In addition "the key to this transaction is dot-edu; it only works for students, faculty and university staff" .. hence it ensures only legitimate sellers can post items for sale while only genuine buyers will bid for them.

maybe after my exams this sem, i may explore the possibility of settin up an exclusive auction sites and monitor the interest/popularity of such a service?

-tee-

There are more brands than ever.But they're taking a beating-or even worse,being ignored. Who's to blame? A new breed of hyperinformed superconsumers.

Decline in Brands.

The last sentence best summed up the article.
"The aristocracy of brand is dead. Long live the meritocracy of product."

It has never occured to me that brandings have a declining influence on us consumers today, that is until i chanced upon this article.
There were a few convincing points brought up by the article.
1) In the past, the consumer-goods markets were very stable. You can also depend on your "regular customers" to come back to ur shop.
2) Today, we consumers have become more promiscuous and fickle than ever. This means the so-called "popular brands" can no longer attract customers thru their brandname alone. The product has to prove for itself it is indeed worthy of our purchases!
3) Indeed one main contributin factor for such a change is the availability and easy access to information. the internet, especially, has enabled consumers to read up more on the various brands of the same product and this allows them to compare and contrast. Whose product they choose eventually will no longer be swayed by brand loyalty, but product meritocracy!!

As we strive to be more entreprenurial and technopreneurial, I feel that this quote from the article is a good point to rem:
"Brands have become nothing more than shadows. You wouldn't expect your shadow to protect you or show you the way. It only goes wherever you go."

-tee-