From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The computer ate my homework

August 17 2005

It's no secret that the average college student spends as much time glued to a computer screen as a textbook -- if not more. But believe it or not, there is life on the Internet beyond iTunes and MySpace. Here are three sites that could make socializing and studying a bit easier this fall.

Thefacebook.com

Among the many sites that have inundated the Internet with places for people to communicate, date and network, Thefacebook.com provides the only interactive site solely dedicated to college students. It allows them to post pictures, profiles and course lists, the last of which helps students locate people enrolled in the same classes to form study groups or borrow last-minute notes. Party invites can be sent out in bulk, and making friends becomes easier as the site helps strengthen users' casual relationships. Members may also search high school networks to find friends from their past.

Started by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, Thefacebook distinguishes itself from competitors MySpace and Friendster by limiting membership to students who attend schools in its database, making the site only semi-stalker-friendly. But in the same vein as its predecessors, it may be perceived as another case of Internet vanity and just another way for kids to quantify their friends.

-- Erica Landau

Yourbookswap.com

A college textbook should not cost as much as three tanks of gas. So when finances force you to decide between buying books or eating during the first week of the semester, check out Yourbookswap.com, which allows students to post books they want to buy, sell or trade. The site was founded by a former undergraduate of Dean College in Franklin, Mass., whose business professor put students registered for his classes in touch with former ones looking to sell their used textbooks. Yourbookswap is also something of a social experiment, as the site encourages members to meet up on campus to conduct their transactions.

-- Colleen Dougher

Bugmenot.com

Say you're up late one night working on a research paper when you take a break to read a friend's blog. You discover that she's linked to an article that may be related to the paper you're working on. You decide to have a look but much to your frustration, the article is only accessible to members of the Web site on which it's posted.

Bugmenot.com may be able to solve this problem. Whenever you encounter a site that requires registration to enter, visit Bugmenot, type in the URL of the site you're trying to access and, if it's available, you will be provided with an account name and password that will preclude you from having to enter any personal information. The founders of Bugmenot consider Web site registration a breach of privacy, an open invitation to spam, a waste of time and a pointless exercise because most people enter false demographic information anyway.

-- C.D.