The Evolution

“In A Bind” is an interactive site that searches the web for the cheapest prices on your textbooks based on the information that you give it about your classes. Once you've picked everything you need, you can purchase or rent the books and we'll ship them right to your doorstep.

Where I Started

My idea began as a simple textbook service with a simple idea behind it. I wanted to find the best way to get college students the books that they need at the lowest cost possible; all while maintaining high customer service standards and causing the least amount of hassle for our customers. Throughout the entire project, I have been discussing different aspects of the company and figuring out what it would take to really get “In A Bind” up and running. After doing some research into different products and services as well as taking into consideration the feedback I have received via comments on my blog posts, I have been able to carefully dissect some of the main aspects of my project and work on them. From social media use to internet security, I have been able to put together some ideas that will become really beneficial for the outcome of my idea. So where do the chips fall as of right now? Well….  

Puzzle Pieces

One of the first things that I would have to do in order to make “In A Bind” into a reputable company is to have a detailed outline of what I want to do and how long it will take me complete that task. This will become my greatest asset throughout the process of starting “In A Bind” because it will keep me on track as well as allow me to make sure that things are going according to plan. The next think I will need to do is make sure that I have a detailed list of everything that I will need to make this happen. From web developers to textbook vendors and storage place, I want to make sure that I have all of the necessary tools and resources available to me before I make any decision. Once I have all of this information, then the real fun can begin.

From The Ground Up

After my plans are officially written up and I am able to access all that I will need for the business, then I will need to find one of the most important parts of any small business; a team. As I began to write more about my idea, I kept coming up with new facets that could be added to the company, and as I did this, I began to realize that I would definitely need some major help. I will want to hire a small team to help me start up and maintain “In A Bind” as well as help spread the word about it. The team will start small and I will hire a few people per department based on the amount of work that each department will take. For instance, the main part of our ONLINE service is the website. The website is where everything is going to take place. From housing our customers’ personal information to containing continually updated material regarding what we have in stock, the website is housing a lot of important components of the business; so making sure it is always in tip top shape is one of our main concerns. I will hire a few web developers as well as information security experts to make sure that everything runs smoothly in the IT department. Once a team has been hired and well integrated into the company, it’s time to seek outside help.

Good Connections

Once the team is up and running, then we’re going to go out and look for the best textbook vendors that we can find. We want to make sure that no matter what; we give our customers the best product with the lowest price possible. We’re going to take as much time as needed to find great partners to work with who have the same goal in mind. We will look at direct distributors of the textbooks as well as 3^rd parties in order to rind the right price for us. We’re going to need not only textbook vendors but shipping companies as well to make sure they can give a nice flat that will not put our customers at much of a financial inconvenience. We are also going to need to form a good relationship with the company who is in charge of Blackboard. Blackboard will be a very important part of the website because this is what students are going to use to enter their schedule into the website and find out what books they need for each class, so it will be very important for us to make sure that we develop a good professional relationship. That way we can come up with a service that will both provide our customers with an optimal experience as well as make both parties happy. Once this step is completed, the final thing to do is make our presence known.  

Spread the Word

Advertising for “In A Bind” and really getting our name out there is going to be a process in which our most creative ideas are going to have to take place. There are a ton of textbook sales companies out there that have their name plastered all over college campuses and are constantly emailing students about deals that they’re having. I would want to use different tools that could reach a wide ranged audience; specifically social media. I would love to get the news out there in the most convenient way for people. A lot of people, especially those who are my age or a few years older, are constantly looking at things like Facebook, Twitter, etc. on their laptops, iPads, or phones; so why not make getting news and things to them easier. We will tweet about specials as well as add them to our Facebook page, just to keep people updated and in the loop. I also think it would be great if we could find campus ambassadors who are willing to go out onto their campus and talk to their fellow students about all that we do at “In A Bind”.

In the End…..

“In A Bind” has gone from a simple textbooks sales company to an interactive website where students can log on, purchase textbooks, and communicate with other students. The site makes buying the books that they need very easy while also incorporating some different tools that can help our customers out with preparing for classes (like online tutors that are available 24/7). The main aspects that I think sets this service apart from most other services is:

1.     The incorporation of Blackboard which makes finding books a lot easier

2.     The guaranteed low prices

3.     The ability to sell the books back with 50% of the price of the book returned, guarantee

In the end, with these constant blog posts that we were assigned, I was able to learn more about what it would take to start up this business using IT tools which is a very important thing to about when it comes to starting a web-based company like “In A Bind”.

Security Detail

“In A Bind” is an interactive site that searches the web for the cheapest prices on your textbooks based on the information that you give it about your classes. Once you've picked everything you need, you can purchase or rent the books and we'll ship them right to your doorstep.

Risky Business

In this day and age I think there are a few facts that we can all agree on: (1) Charlie Sheen is a nut, (2) Apple is slowly taking over the phone universe and (3) Our society runs on computers. Computers can be found in almost every corner of our planet from Texas to Tokyo and everywhere in between. They have brought people together and revolutionized the way that we on a personal and professional level. But, with the good, comes the bad. Between security breaches and threats of cyber terrorism, it’s no surprise that computer security has become a growing area of information science. Computer security has to do with the different ways that you protect your computer from any type of threat; whether the threat is hacking, viruses, or vandalism. There are many different types of security risks, like hackers, crackers, cyber-extortionists, cyber-terrorists, and script kiddies (just to name a few). Computer security can protect you from many different types of risks like internet and network attacks, unauthorized access and use, information theft, and system failure.  With all of these threats and hazards running around, I want to make sure that my company has the best of the best in terms of security, so that we as well as our customers are safe no matter what.

Who Goes There?

“In A Bind” is an internet business, so protecting our customers as well as ourselves from any outside threats is our number one concern. Between all of the different things that can make their way into your system these days (viruses, Trojans, worms, etc.), it can be very difficult to keep up with all of the things going on; which is why I want to have a computer security team. This group of individuals will be in charge of protecting our networks and website from any and all types of threats. There are three basic tools that I want our system to have as our main defense mechanism which will help us block and prevent most threats:

·         Antivirus application: This is going to be one of our biggest security tools. Antivirus applications are used to find and get rid of malware on your computer (things like viruses and worms) as well as make sure that they never come back.

·         Firewalls: Firewalls are a great tool to make sure that all outside threats are thoroughly scanned. This will block all of our networks from outside transmissions and will not let any of it in unless it is programmed to.

·         Quarantines: Unfortunately for us, no matter how much software we have, there is still a chance that a virus or Trojan may sneak in under the radar. If it does, this is where we will need the help of quarantines. Quarantines will isolate any files or programs in our system that doesn’t seem to belong there and warn us of its presence. That way we can decide whether or not it is something that we need or need to remove.

Our computer security team will be able to use these tools as well as their knowledge of computer science to keep us protected from anything that will come our way.

Two-Player Game

We can set up as many firewalls and security checkpoints as the internet will allow us, but when it comes to protecting our customers, we can’t do it alone. Identity theft is unfortunately becoming more and more common now-a-days, so in order to make sure that our customers are prepared, we’re going to ask our customers to enter 2 very important pieces of information when they log onto our website. They are going to need their password which must consist of numbers, letters, and at least one punctuation mark as well as a 6 digit personal identification number (PIN). When most people pick a PIN, they tend to choose numbers that are significant to them, like a birthday or part of their social security number. Instead of having people use their personal information, which will make it a lot easier for someone to steal their identity; we will assign them a random PIN number with no significance to it. This will also help when someone forgets their password. Rather than someone just sending us their email address and then sending them their password, we’re going to add an extra step to that. If someone forgets their password, they can click on a link that will take them to a page where they have to answer a security question as well as enter their email address that is attached to their account. We will then send them a link that is active for only 48 hours where they will have to enter their 6 digit as well as answer a second security question in order to be able to change their password. If someone receives an email that says that their password is being changed and they didn’t authorize it, their profile will be frozen, put into quarantine, and thoroughly scanned. Once we have located the threat and gotten rid of it, the control will be returned to the original owner.

As time goes on, we will constantly be checking our system for threats as well as searching for new and effective ways to keep our information as well as our customers’ safe and sound.

Hello, Operator?

“In A Bind” is an interactive site that searches the web for the cheapest prices on your textbooks based on the information that you give it about your classes. Once you've picked everything you need, you can purchase or rent the books and we'll ship them right to your doorstep.

Smooth Operator

An operating system (OS), according to the book, is a set of programs containing instructions that work together to coordinate all the activities among computer hardware resources. In lamens terms, the operating system is like the backbone of your computer. It controls many different functions on a computer like:

• Starting and shutting down a computer
• Providing user interface
• Managing programs
• Coordinating tasks
• Configuring devices
• Establishing an internet connection
• Managing performance
• Providing file management and other utilities
• Automatically updating itself and certain utility programs

The great part of an operating system is that it is very versatile. There are systems that support a single user and a single task operating system, which allows one user to run one program at a time, but there are also systems that support a single user using two or more programs at one time, which is what most personal computers have today. Most operating systems on computers today are also device-independent which means that they can run on computers made by different manufacturers; as opposed to the first operating systems which only ran on a specific type of computer (aka device dependent). There are three main categories of operating systems which are:

• Stand-alone OS: a system that works on a desktop computer, notebook computer, or mobile computing device
• Ex. Windows 7, Mac OS X, UNIX, and Linux
•  Server OS: a system that is designed specifically to support a network
• Ex. Windows Server 2008, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, and NetWare
• Embedded OS: a system found on mobile devices and many consumer electronics
• Ex. Windows Embedded CE, Windows Phone 7, Palm OS, iPhone OS, BlackBerry, Google Android, embedded Linux, and Symbian OS

And The Winner Is...

In order to manage our systems at "In A Bind", we are going to need an operating system that is not only device independent, but can also support multiple programs running at the same time and being used by multiple people. The perfect is difficult to determine. The operating system for us would have to be a system that can work as a server OS, like Windows Server 2008. The server OS would hold all of the main resources that our employees could utilize to serve our clients in the best way possible. The server OS can also handle all sizes of networks which will definitely be beneficial as our business begins to expand and we gain more customers along with having networking capabilities. However, there are also qualities that a stand alone OS that I believe would be perfect for our company as well. Stand alone OS's can work from a desktop computer, notebook computer, or a mobile device; which means that no matter where out employees are, they would be able to tap into our resources that are contained on a small network and access what they need. We might start out with a stand alone OS and move to a server OS as our company expands.

A Little Help from Our Friends

One of the great features of an operating system would be the utility programs. A utility program is a system software that performs maintence-type tasks on a computer or mobile device. This can be anything from searching for and managing files, uninstalling files, cleaning and defragmenting disks, setting up screen savers and so on. Two programs that I think will be really beneficial for our company would be the disk defragmenter and disk cleanup. As a company begins to grow, it's very common that things will become a little disorganized, especially on a computer. The disk defragmenter will reorganize all of the files we have on our hard disks thus creating more space and making it easier for the operating system to access data. The disk cleanup will remove unnecessary items on the hard disk. This can be things like temporary internet files and unused program files. We would also need other utilities like a file manager which will sort through files and create shortcuts, a personal firewall that will protect our data and a spyware and adware remover that will help us maintain our privacy.

All in all, our operating system will be the foundation of computer activity, so picking the right one would be imperative. But, with the right one and properly trained employees who know the ins and outs of the system, our activities using the computer can go off without a hitch. In theory, that is.