Kathryn Christiansen

There will always be a need for mass-produced items, especially commodity products; however, with new technologies that allow individuals to produce their own boutique/artisan/craft, etc., type products and sell to large markets on websites such as Etsy or Amazon. Therefore, I think that manufacturing will not necessarily shift away from a…[Read more]

Another key point which goes beyond business application that I would like to remember is the imprortance of identifying and then responding to a problem as soon as you possibly can, whether you are Target with credit card information taken or a Hospital who’s IT system has been hacked.

I think a certain level of fraud is a cost of doing business. Much like our discussion last week with the ATM skimmers, hackers and criminals are making continual advancements with information theft and it is increasingly difficult for both companies and customers to stay ahead. The Philadelphia Fed has a Payment Cards Center which monitors…[Read more]

I agree with Kim. Although there should be a legal standard for retailers to secure customers information, I believe most of this tracks back to buyer beware. In a day and age when information is quickly and easily avaliable to you, individuals should be more aware of the constant crime and struggles retailers have with securing payment…[Read more]

I’ve always been overly cautious with my debit card. I made sure to set up the card so that it cannot be used at a vendor, only at an ATM, and that no more than $200 can be taken out in a day. Even with my own personal security, I was still a victim of ATM skimmer fraud. As shown in the article, the thieves use chips and Bluetooth devices to g…[Read more]

When starting to think about how to respond to this post, I realized I didn’t know much about the publishing process at all. I found this website to be helpful in quickly explaining the differences between self-publishing and using a publisher: http://www.scribendi.com/advice/traditional_versus_self_publishing.en.html

From the consumers’ per…[Read more]

One of my favorite apps is Mint.com. It allows me to set a monthly budget, view my spending habits and trends, and allow to me to monitor all of my accounts in one place. It’s really helped me get a better view of where I spend most of my money and places I can cut back to save.

My dream list includes two products that are supposed to hit the…[Read more]