The Real Deal with Credit Card Chips

Have you ever gone to check out at a store and swiped your credit card, just to be told that you need to use the chip reader? And then you hold up the line for ten minutes because you can't figure out how long to leave it in for or what to press? What is the point of this new chip technology, and how does it work?

Chip technology has been around for about 30 years, although the United States has recently broadly adopted the technology in the last five years. In 2013, hackers stole credit and debit card information from 40 million Target customers, and there were also massive data breaches elsewhere in the retail industry. These hackers, who were never caught, were believed to have installed malware onto the checkout card readers that stole data each time a customer swiped his or her card. This was the incentive for companies to start adopting the more secure microchips instead of the magnetic strips on credit cards that are easy to hack.

Microchips are commonly referred to as EMV smart chips, which stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa: the companies that created this technology. The difference between microchips and magnetic strips is that instead of embedding credit card numbers and user information into the strip, it is contained in the little chip in the card. In addition to storing data, the computer chip can process data. When a user inserts the chip into the card reader, the chip and the reader essentially have an encrypted conversation to authenticate the card. The chip uses cryptography to protect the data. When using a magnetic strip, the swipe of the card simply outputs the card number and expiration date to the reader, making these cards easy to counterfeit.

In the US, the most common type of chip cards currently are the "chip and signature" cards, which require a signature to authorize the charge. In contrast, many European countries use "chip and PIN" cards, which require a four-digit PIN to authorize the charge. The "chip and PIN" cards are more secure because a signature can be easily forged.

References:

Content:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMV
http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/debt-management/chip-and-pin-credit-cards3.htm
http://blog.credit.com/2014/10/how-does-chip-pin-actually-work-97454/


Images:
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/08/04/business/04cardchip4/04cardchip4-master768.jpg
https://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/best-emv-chip-credit-cards.jpg

Speech Recognition Software

Speech recognition Software is incredibly prevalent in society today, with uses that include for computer dictation software, automated call centers, digital voices for those with disabilities, and smartphone "voices" like Siri. What these all have in common is that they work by somehow analyzing the "phones," or sound packets that our voices generate, in different ways. Phones are the real bits of sound that we speak. Speech recognition software is highly complex because of the difficulty of its task. There are many obstacles it runs into: how to separate slurred words, how to differentiate between voices and pitch, how to put homophobes in context, a sentence that is misheard, etc.

There are a options for how different speech recognition softwares work. The first option is pattern matching: where a spoken word is recognized entirely. The second option is Pattern and feature analysis: where a work is broken into parts and each part is analyzed and recognized for key features like the vowels. Another option is language modeling and statistical analysis: where speech recognition speed and accuracy are improved by a knowledge of grammar and the probability of certain sounds in a specific order. The last option is artificial neural networks: brain-like computer models that are trained to recognize patterns.

In general, speech recognition softwares first operates by using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to translate the vibration waves that you generate by speaking into digitized sound by measuring the wave at intervals. It removes unwanted noise and background noise and separates the pitch, or frequency bands, of the speech. It adjusts the sound volume to a steady level, and divides the signal into pieces (the phones) into known phonemes, or tiny sounds, in a specific language. There are about 44 phonemes in the english language. It runs the phoneme through a statistical model to determine what the user was saying and usually outputs it as text.


References:

Content:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_recognition
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/speech-recognition.htm
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/voicerecognition.html
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh378337(v=office.14).aspx
http://scienceline.org/2014/08/ever-wondered-how-does-speech-to-text-software-work/

Images:
http://efv-solutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Home.png
http://rethink-wireless.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Siri_3359038b.jpg

Shopping Cart Software

While it is easy to mindlessly scroll through a store's website online and add things to a virtual shopping cart, online shopping is a pretty complex process. Online shopping allows customers to browse through a store's catalog, view products and add selections to their carts without being locked in to purchasing the items. If a customer decides to purchase an item later, he or she can "check out" that specific item from the cart, enter payment information, and the product will be shipped to the destination entered.

If an online store plans to display and sell over 50 products, it will usually use a store-building system as opposed to an online ordering system. The store-building system and the online ordering system both handle the product pages for each of the products, but the store-building system handles orders on the same site instead of redirecting a customer to another web page to pay and complete the transaction.

The shopping cart feature allows the customer to indicate the quantity and specifications of the products he or she wants and save them to his or her personal cart. The store-building system will usually show the running total of items in the cart. In order for the shopping cart program to differentiate between shoppers, a variety of systems are used. Most sites use cookies: small computer files that identify a shopper and remain on a shopper's hard disk while on the website.  Another method includes software that can read the temporary IP number of a customer that is assigned by the customer's internet service provider upon logging onto the internet.

When it is time to check out, the software will usually calculate a customer's total cost, including shipping fees and taxes. Because taxes differ by states, some carts allow tax calculation by zip code. Shipping calculations are based on a number of specifications, including sales total, weight, and number of items in the order. Some sites have a flat rate for shipping any order. To get real-time authorization of credit cards, a secure payment gateway is needed. The payment gateway software is usually provided by an outside service, not the online store itself. Finally, in order for the transaction to be secure, a Secure Sockets Layer or SSL secure connection is needed between the customer and the website to encrypt communications and prevent hackers from stealing personal information. When the merchant retrieves and downloads a placed order, there also needs to be a secure SSL connection or another secure method to make sure credit card information is not exposed.

References:

Content:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_cart_software
http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/100112-cart_intro
https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/online-shopping-cart-work

Images:
https://secure.fatcow.com/images/user-guide/screenshot-ecom-checkout.jpg
https://compass.ups.com/uploadedImages/Artical_Area/Articles/1112_ShoppingCart_Article.jpg

Point of Service Systems

The point of service is the time and place where a retail transaction is completed. Point of sale or point of service systems (POS) are useful services in the retail industry. They allow a merchant to easily calculate and display the amount owed by a customer, make exchanges, process orders, and provide receipts for transactions without any need for a price tag. POS systems' functionality differs for different business depending on a business models and processes. Modern POS systems are reliable, easy to use, low cost, and run many different functions with a high and consistent operating speed. They can aid in the growth of a business by acting as a strategic service center.

Most POS systems involve highly complex programming to create because of the extensiveness of the operations involved. A POS machine may need to process a products price, balance, average cost, quantity sold, description, and department. While one of the main components of a POS system involves taking inventory, it could also be used to add stock, create barcodes, hold membership records, track a customer's purchase history, and run reports. These systems have to account for sales and the constantly changing prices of products. Overall, each POS system holds a wide range of capabilities, but requires a certain amount of customization based on what an end-user needs.

A POS system requires a high level of accuracy in its code because of the high demands of the performance of the system. It is constantly receiving submissions and retrievals of data to process transactions, and most transactions are monetary. An inventory list is maintained on the system's hard drive. In order for a POS system to be a successful product, much testing and debugging is required before the product goes on the market so the system can be as efficient as possible.

In recent times, cloud computing has allowed POS systems to be accessed directly from an internet browser instead of installed locally. This allows user data to be stored remotely instead of on a local server so data can be accessed from anywhere, and the system can be continually remotely updated. However, POS systems that use the cloud cannot function without the vendor, forcing a company to be less self-sufficient and secure.

References:

Content:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_sale
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/77960
http://www.mobiletransaction.org/how-pos-system-work/
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/pos-systems-work-41627.html

Images:
http://www.fourlane.com/product_images/uploaded_images/qbpos-sys-land.jpg
http://mms.businesswire.com/media/20130620005353/en/373576/5/Heckler-with-SK-screen-1.jpg

The Fitbit: Wearable Technology

In a society that is increasingly concerned about healthy lifestyles and fitness, the Fitbit is a widely popular form of wearable technology. The Fitbit company claims to encourage users to meet their daily exercise goals and to make fitness a regular part of their lifestyles by allowing users to track their progress. A Fitbit is a small device that can be worn around the wrist or attached to clothing that tracks a user's activity, exercise, food, weight, and sleep. It syncs the statistics wirelessly and automatically from a person's Fitbit device to his or her phone or computer. This allows a user to track his or her progress online through charts and graphs.

The web-based profile allows a user to create an account with his or her height, age, gender, weight, and it also allows a user to log meals online. Users can set short term goals (like steps per day) or long term goals (like weight loss) and track their progress. They can also connect with social media to motivate other users as well.

Fitbit uses a three-dimensional accelerometer system to gather data that tracks motion and the intensity of that motion. Next, the Fitbit software uses algorithms to convert the accelerometer data into usable information. The company has refined these algorithms by experimenting and comparing Fitbit's accuracy with other fitness trackers. The accelerometer tracks energy expenditure and motion, and the algorithms convert this data into information on number of calories burned, steps taken and distance moved. To track sleep, the Fitbit gathers data on how much a user moves at night and then uses algorithms to convert this data to time and quality of sleep. Every time a user passes within fifteen feet of his or her wireless base station, the Fitbit will sync the data from the device onto the online profile.

There have been many studies testing how accurate the Fitbit is at measuring activity. Overall, Fitbit is fairly accurate: more accurate at measuring steps and distance, but a little less reliable for counting calories.


References:

Content:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/fitness/fitbit2.htm
https://www.fitbit.com/fitscience
https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/03/the-fitbit-ultra-more-fitbit-goodness-same-fitbit-package/
http://berkeleysciencereview.com/fit-fitbit/

Images:
http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/05/28/636000086421781248-470868957_fitbit-banner-mobile.jpg
https://static0.fitbit.com/simple.b-cssdisabled-png.hd53c63eab7cc1316845e4b4084fbc504.pack?items=%2Fcontent%2Fassets%2Fcharge%2Fimages%2Fapp-dashboard%2Fscreen%2Fweb_Next_Gen_Dash%402x.png

The Computer Science Side of Pandora Internet Radio

The Internet Radio service named Pandora claims it can guide you, the listener, to new (or old) music that you enjoy based on a song or artist that you like. Upon navigating to the website (www.pandora.com) the user types in a song, artist, or genre of music to the web-based music player. This creates a "radio station" that will in turn play music Pandora deems similar to the song or artist originally entered.

Pandora is based on something called the Music Genome Project. Each song in the Genome database has been analyzed by a trained music analyst using up to 450 musical characteristics to determine the genetic makeup of the song. Some of these traits include a song's arrangement, melody, rhythm, beat, tempo, and voice. When the user enters a song to create a "radio station," Pandora runs an algorithm to compare every song in the Music Genome database to the one entered, identifying songs with similar characteristics. These songs are the ones played next on the "radio station." The user can further refine the station by pressing the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" buttons on a particular song, providing input that tweaks the algorithm so that the station plays more or fewer songs similar to the one playing, respectively.

Pandora stores the listener's user data in his or her computer's Flash local storage. This helps Pandora recognize when the same listener returns to the site. Pandora also stores songs that have already been played in a specific listening session in the users computer's Flash local storage so the same songs do not get chosen multiple times in a session.

Aside from using user input to refine his or her personal radio station, Pandora uses the "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" feedback from millions of listeners to further refine its algorithm. This allows Pandora to make better informed projections about what songs might fit a listener's taste.

References:

Content:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/pandora3.htm
https://www.fastcompany.com/1808123/how-computers-curators-and-users-create-pandoras-playlists
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18Pandora-t.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/technology/pandora-mines-users-data-to-better-target-ads.html

Images:
http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/22015_large_Pandora.png
https://images.iskysoft.com/mac-audio-recorder/pandora-site-signing-in-problems-810-524.jpg