ALKHOBAR, 27 August — The Internet was supposed to help us reach out and touch each other virtually, but most business websites are static, changing little with time. It seems that many businesses either don’t understand the importance of or aren’t willing to invest in dynamic websites that would enable them to have useful exchanges with current and potential customers. There are a few companies though that are making an effort to use their regional websites in innovative ways. Nokia is one such company that I have highlighted before in this column. And now I’ve found something quite amusing on the LG Electronics website too.
LG Electronics has launched an online market survey for consumers in the Gulf and there are prizes for participation. Unfortunately, the survey is not clearly posted on the LG website home page. They’ve hid it in a pop-up box under the “Promotions” section. In any case, to reach the survey follow this link: www.lgegulf.com/lge/sugg_ref.jst
Back when LG first came to the Gulf, they found that the standard air conditioners they sold elsewhere didn’t work well under the extreme conditions present here in the Gulf region. So they contacted their representatives and distributors in the region to do the market research necessary to develop air conditioners targeted for sale in the Gulf market. This was a very time consuming, inefficient process because it was done using fax or phone. In addition, it was difficult to have direct contact with the region’s consumers, especially homemakers. That’s why the online survey is so interesting. For the first time LG is making the effort to develop a product for kitchens in the region, potentially with the input of the consumers who use refrigerators most and know these appliances best — women. So ladies please fill out the survey!
According to information at the website, LG’s basic idea behind this endeavor is “to develop a refrigerator that keeps local foods fresh for a longer period of time. In this connection, we are very interested to know your local food item which is commonly liked and consumed and what problems you face while storing this item in the refrigerator. For example, in Korea, LG has developed a special refrigerator called ‘Kimchi Refrigerator,’ which is specially developed to store the Korean people’s favorite side dish item ‘Kimchi’ pickle. In the same way, for example, if you are fond of ‘dates’ and have problems in storing the same in your refrigerator, we can look into the possibility of developing a separate compartment that can store the ‘dates’ longer while maintaining their natural taste.”
To reward local participants for their thoughts and insights, LG is making available two LG Ice-Beam Door Cooling Refrigerators in the final draw and an LG Audio CDR Player in a weekly draw. The best suggestions win. Entry for the contest closes Aug. 31, 2002.
Now, let’s move on to the topic of Internet banking. About four months back when Al-Bank Al-Saudi Al-Fransi launched its Internet banking scheme, this normally customer-friendly bank created a cumbersome signup process that was despised by its account holders. In order to use FransiPlus Internet banking, customers had to sign up online and then go to a BSF branch to collect their online password. BSF account holders were not amused by the hassle. In a review of its procedures, BSF decided that account holders can now use their ATM card number and ATM pin online to generate their own Internet banking subscriber ID and password when they first sign up for Internet banking.
That’s a change for the better. But over in the BSF e-Card department, insanity has broken out. The BSF e-Card is a credit card designed to be used online only. The card has a limited balance and it is insured against fraudulent purchases. This is good. Most Saudi credit cards are uninsured, which makes using them online a big risk.
Last month, a friend asked me for a favor and I agreed to try and oblige. As she didn’t have an e-Card, she wanted me to pay for her magazine subscription online. I went to the specified website and found her order in seconds, just by typing her name into the customer search. Up popped her complete record including postal address and e-mail address. It was horrifying that the security on this payment site was so terrible. Next I went to the payment section and found that while there was space to enter the credit card number and its expiration date, there was no provision for the entry of the card owner’s name or address. With such identifying details missing, I was skeptical that the transaction could be completed, but I tried anyway.
Checking with BSF a few hours later, to my surprise I found that the transaction had been cleared. “How could that be?” I inquired. They had accepted an online transaction for a purchase not made in my name, nor were the goods to be sent to my address. It was incredible. Basically anyone could use my credit card number online without providing any supporting details, not even my correct name, and the purchase would be approved.
BSF customer service explained to me that approval for online purchases was handled by a software application that either approved or declined the charged amount mostly based on an account holder’s purchasing patterns and the perceived transaction risk. I could instruct the bank to contact me before they posted any charges to the account, but that would slow down purchase approval considerably. Seems like an all or nothing system.
Even worse, recently I discovered that while BSF may be trying to modernize its customer facing channels, at the back end improvement is still needed. When a customer pays a monthly e-Card or regular credit card bill electronically, either through BSF phone or Internet banking, the amount is instantly deducted from the BSF account holder’s available cash balance. Interestingly, however, it takes 48 hours until the amount paid becomes available for use again in the card’s credit balance.
Basically, this means that BSF has the account holder’s money immediately, but it doesn’t feel that it is necessary for the customer to have access to their full available credit limit for two days. This is particularly inconvenient when an account holder is out of town on business or vacation, using the credit card to pay for numerous purchases, and it would be very desirable to have the credit balance restored rapidly. So while it is now possible to pay for the credit card instantly through the Internet from most places on the planet, the process of getting the used credit restored is still Neanderthalic. Fix this!
Before I leave you this week, let’s discuss plagiarism — a nasty little topic that rears its head with the reopening of schools and universities. Cheating on research papers is nothing new. But the Internet has helped the process along considerably. Many students cut and paste from websites without citing these sites as sources. Last year, I actually watched a few high school students create term papers in less than two hours using this methodology. Not only were the papers accepted by their teachers, they got As and Bs for their pitiful efforts. I was disgusted.
This is a wake up call for all parents. If you think cut and paste academia is helping your children, it is not. While there is nothing wrong with using cited sources in a research paper, taking credit for someone else’s ideas or words is plagiarism. Yes, the Internet can make doing research papers less of a chore than it was in the past, but children must be taught to understand and analyze the material they find online. That is what real learning is all about.
There is an online resource to help teachers manage the plagiarism problem. Called TurnItIn (turnitin.com), the service has a database, currently the largest available to educators, which is used to verify the originality of students’ written work. The service searches 1.5 billion pages on the Internet, including cheat sites, and hundreds of thousands of previously submitted papers, including paper mill essays. It can also check papers against others submitted within a class and against all other classes subscribing to the service. The bottom line is that TurnItIn has access to nearly all the digital text a student might encounter.
According to TurnItIn representative Riz Alani, “Turnitin.com is intended to be used as a tool for educators to prevent and deter students from plagiarizing, as well to teach them how to properly paraphrase and cite sources. This can only be accomplished if our service is used on a large scale; widespread use levels the academic playing field for honest students and is most effective in curbing the growing problem of Internet plagiarism.”
When teachers submit a student report to TurnItIn for verification of its originality, within 24 hours they receive back an exact duplicate of the submitted paper, except that any text either copied or paraphrased from the Internet appears underlined, color-coded, and linked to its original online source.
The service is not free, but its fees are reasonable. A school district can use the plan for an annual fee of $250 per school + 50 cents per student. That includes an unlimited number of instructors submitting an unlimited number of student papers and receiving the resulting originality reports. There is also a one-time $250 fee that covers account set up and activation, plus phone and e-mail support for the administrator.
The exact fees vary depending on the number of schools and students signing up at one time. Small schools can get the service for as little as $100 per year. As of the end of July 2002, TurnItIn had over 200,000 registered users in over 45 countries. On average, 100 new high schools have been subscribing monthly. Any school can sign up to try the service free for one month. For more information on the technology behind the system, go to plagiarism.org or write to [email protected]. Help stop digital plagiarism before it becomes a plague on our children’s education.
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