The hardware to a computer is one of the easiest things to forget about when working on a laptop or desktop computer. For a laptop especially, students don't usually look beyond the keyboard and screen. However, there are many different aspects that go into a laptop, and many of them can be used to interact with the web (and thus websites, like Transport Orange).
The most obvious piece of hardware is the mouse. For a wireless mouse (and few college kids use a wired mouse with a laptop), you just plug the USB into the USB port and turn on the mouse and you're all set! You don't have to scroll around using that sometimes annoyingly sensitive finger pad anymore. It's also very handy for clicking on links, for instance to certain Syracuse-related transport sites for students who need to find rides. Just saying.
Also important in a laptop is the memory. Memory is what allows a student to look up Transport Orange and bookmark it for future reference or save it as a tab when they open their Internet browser. It can also save your login username and password for the site so that you don't have to type it in constantly ever time you visit the site. That could be very handy, because hopefully students are visiting the site often. USB ports can also come in handy with memory. If, for some reason, a student cannot access their laptop to get on the Transport Orange website, they could use a flash drive to save their information or the information that they have downloaded to the site and have it ready for when they need to bring it up again on another laptop. Flash drives can make or break a students day depending on what is saved (or not saved) on that little piece of plastic. There are many other pieces of hardware that go into making a computer, but come into as close of an interaction as the keyboard, the mouse, and the memory. Can you blame students for not looking any farther into their hardware than they have to?
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Week 2 - Privacy and Social Media
Facebook is by far one of THE MOST popular social networking sites in college. Syracuse University is no exception. I am on my Facebook page multiple times a day and every time I log on, there are new posts to look at. That can be both a blessing and a curse to companies such as the one I am trying to promote in my entrepreneurial project. Just a quick recap: my project (Transport Orange) is a website designed to enable students to find easier transportation with other students to and from the city of Syracuse, especially for vacations and school breaks. Social media would be a huge help in this endeavor, but there is also the major issue of privacy that everyone has to deal with.
As with most companies, Transport Orange would have a Facebook page (and possibly a Twitter page) with which people can (hopefully) like and join on. Its most obvious use would be to provide updates on available/needed transportation directly from the website itself. However, I think it would also be helpful to include updates on the weather and driving condition of nearby cities, especially when warnings for bad storms or blizzards (which, as we all know, are only too frequent in Syracuse). It could also provide news of deals for plane tickets, taxi services, or train fare for those who don't have a car. Perhaps even chances to win gas cards or gas stations along the way and their prices. Having an FB page would certainly help broaden the horizons of Transport Orange and hopefully increase its use and popularity among the students.
One can never have the good without the bad. While obviously a Facebook page would greatly help the website, privacy is always a major issue to consider. Many people may not like the idea of having their car and location information posted all over Facebook, or even the Transport Orange website. That is why Transport Orange would definitely be a secure website, with the proper programs (i.e. firewalls, secure browsing) in place to ensure the privacy of the users. Also, each user would have to agree to privacy terms before logging on to the site, for the sake of everyone involved. Some people would be okay with those standards; others would not. Paranoia is not necessarily something to scoff at when it comes to the internet. Therefore, I would hopefully be able to implement some secure, private chat rooms or messaging pages in which students interested in each others offers can meet and chat and figure details out between themselves. A lot of how much goes on to the site will be up to each student individually. They will not be forced to put up any more personal information than they desire. With any luck and a lot of precautions, Transport Orange would be a safe, easily accessible website that students will feel comfortable using.
As with most companies, Transport Orange would have a Facebook page (and possibly a Twitter page) with which people can (hopefully) like and join on. Its most obvious use would be to provide updates on available/needed transportation directly from the website itself. However, I think it would also be helpful to include updates on the weather and driving condition of nearby cities, especially when warnings for bad storms or blizzards (which, as we all know, are only too frequent in Syracuse). It could also provide news of deals for plane tickets, taxi services, or train fare for those who don't have a car. Perhaps even chances to win gas cards or gas stations along the way and their prices. Having an FB page would certainly help broaden the horizons of Transport Orange and hopefully increase its use and popularity among the students.
One can never have the good without the bad. While obviously a Facebook page would greatly help the website, privacy is always a major issue to consider. Many people may not like the idea of having their car and location information posted all over Facebook, or even the Transport Orange website. That is why Transport Orange would definitely be a secure website, with the proper programs (i.e. firewalls, secure browsing) in place to ensure the privacy of the users. Also, each user would have to agree to privacy terms before logging on to the site, for the sake of everyone involved. Some people would be okay with those standards; others would not. Paranoia is not necessarily something to scoff at when it comes to the internet. Therefore, I would hopefully be able to implement some secure, private chat rooms or messaging pages in which students interested in each others offers can meet and chat and figure details out between themselves. A lot of how much goes on to the site will be up to each student individually. They will not be forced to put up any more personal information than they desire. With any luck and a lot of precautions, Transport Orange would be a safe, easily accessible website that students will feel comfortable using.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Week 1 - Entrepreneurship
Everyone knows how difficult it can be trying to get from place to place while at college. And not just from class to class, or even downtown! (There are buses for that.) I mean from city to city, whether it be to visit family, go to a concert, or spend a mini-vacation with your friends. Here in Syracuse University there is a not-so-convenient bulletin board in Schine that allows students to post little slips of paper that are either blue or orange depending on whether a person needs a ride or can give a ride to another person. I believe this system can be improved upon.
My entrepreneurial idea consists of creating an online database in which students can log on and post their information instead of relying on little slips of paper that hopefully someone going in the same direction at the same time will read. Not so likely. This website (called Transport Orange, or some other cool title involving a Syracuse label) will be split up into two parts for those seeking rides and those giving them, respectively. Regardless, each person logging on to their website would create their own profile that displays basic information, such as name, contact information, and trip-related specifics (such as how much they are willing to pitch in for gas, etc.).
The split in the website is necessary to keep a barrage of random information being thrown at everyone at the same time. Those students willing to drive would include things like their type of transportation, how many seats they have available, when they are available (be it weekly or just for one trip), and where they are going. A road map would also be included on the site where drivers would map out their route so those seeking rides could see which path was being taken and how long the path would take. Students in need of a ride would post where they wish to go and when they need to go. Perhaps they could receive emails when a person has posted that they are driving to or through where they want to end up. Overall I think it would be a much better system than hand-written, cut-out sheets of blue and orange paper on an out-of-the-way bulletin board.
My entrepreneurial idea consists of creating an online database in which students can log on and post their information instead of relying on little slips of paper that hopefully someone going in the same direction at the same time will read. Not so likely. This website (called Transport Orange, or some other cool title involving a Syracuse label) will be split up into two parts for those seeking rides and those giving them, respectively. Regardless, each person logging on to their website would create their own profile that displays basic information, such as name, contact information, and trip-related specifics (such as how much they are willing to pitch in for gas, etc.).
The split in the website is necessary to keep a barrage of random information being thrown at everyone at the same time. Those students willing to drive would include things like their type of transportation, how many seats they have available, when they are available (be it weekly or just for one trip), and where they are going. A road map would also be included on the site where drivers would map out their route so those seeking rides could see which path was being taken and how long the path would take. Students in need of a ride would post where they wish to go and when they need to go. Perhaps they could receive emails when a person has posted that they are driving to or through where they want to end up. Overall I think it would be a much better system than hand-written, cut-out sheets of blue and orange paper on an out-of-the-way bulletin board.
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