As this 3rd year in college progresses, I find that I am *almost* done with the pre-reqs and am moving straight over to the core classes for my major!  YES!

This revelation puts me in a bit of shock (well not really shock… but more like disbelief) because at some point, it felt like i’d never get there just because there was an overwhelming amount of pre-reqs to get through.

Right now, I am taking a Unix/Linux class and also a Dreamweaver CS3 class.  Both are very interesting and both take a lot of work.  The Dreamweaver class will be a cinche since i’ve been using the program as a text-editor for awhile  The Unix/Linux class will provide me with some hands-on computer stuff that I haven’t worked with yet.  I smell a challenge here.  How exciting!

I’ll be spending so much time on these classes that I won’t have much time for my elliptical. Good thing i’m taking the summer off!

I remember my first experience with the internet.  I used the Yahoo! and AOL search engines to find my information (all of the information could be found on numerous static html pages with spinning e-mail graphics).  The thing I was most excited about utilizing the internet for was … chatting.

I chatted my way from 1998 to 2001.  In that time, the internet grew and new programming languages began to emerge.  Websites started to become a bit more complex and functional.  The idea of connecting with individuals on a global level evolved from chatrooms to forums — better known as message board communities.

Within the last two years social networks emerged.  I’m sure most of you are familiar with Facebook, Myspace and all of the other various social networks.  Everyone I know has a social network now.  The good thing about these networks is that it gives you a chance to find people who are interested in the same thing as you.  The downside is that the debate is still out as to whether the internet should be considered IRL (or In Real Life).

Love ‘em or hate ‘em social networks are here to stay and with the way things usually go in the web world, will transform and evolve into something else.

So what do you do if you have searched through all of the social networks of the world and still feel that you have come up short in finding a community that fits your needs?  Well, you start your own of course!

Here is my comparable list of the finest free options to having your own social network:

1.  Ning.

Ning is a feature-rich social networking platform that is offered for free.  This is a great opportunity to get your feet wet in creating your own social network without having to worry about all of the programming involved.  The administration panel is easy to use and the drag and drop features to create your layout is very user-friendly.  This application comes ready with out-of-the-box templates which are easy to modify to fit your needs.  You can also upload your own header graphics and brand your community.

However, if you want to control the advertising, point to your own domain name or upgrade your bandwidth and diskspace, it will cost you a monthly fee.

2.  KickApps.

KickApps is similar to Ning, however, with KickApps you can customize and create unique widgets that help drive your social network.  KickApps also comes complete with a site styler.  You can use this WYSIWYG editor to create your design and truthfully, it’s never been easier to do so!

3.  CrowdVine.

CrowdVine allows you to create your own basic social network but one without all of the bells and whistles.  You can help design your own, but only get basic tools to do so. The basic package is free but if you want anything additional, you will have to pay for it.

…..

So there it is folks.  My top 3 list of free social network applications.

don’t know about anyone else but I feel like the flash drive is the best invention ever!  Right now I am taking an html / xhtml class and my little flash drive has proven to be very valuable as that is where I save all of my homework assignments!  It is kind of a relief actually because if the computer dies (for whatever reason) all of my work is still saved!

I am also considering using a separate flash drive for my web design / web development business venture!

Do you have a flash drive?  If so, how many gigs is it?

How many computer geeks out there remember the good ol’ DOS days? *Waves hand wildly*

I was in 5th grade at the time when I tried to *hack* into the computer. In doing so, I found all kinds of helpful DOS command lines. However, it was back in the day when a dos command line didn’t get you anywhere as intranet, internet and networking were just being developed. The most you could do was tap into those computer files. I admit that at the 5th grade level I more or less played around with it. I even remember erasing a game disk with a magnet accidentally. Just as curiosity kills the cat, I think I got in trouble for that one. *giggle*