photo courtesy of Kristina Werner Starofmay.com is a website Kristina Werner, junior from XXXXX has

School planetarium, observatory give students a celestial view

by Sam Van Walraven VAN00007@BYUI.EDU campus editor

Scroll is featuring the following Web sites: www.starofmay.com, http://www.phoneyourhome.com, www.warthogbrand.150m.com, http://www.eliaustin.com, http://www.geocities.com/hiaddam, http://www.jvleeb-b.com, www.briancobb.isfunny.com and www.internetbusinessideas.com.

Some of the students started Web sites for fun. These Web sites range from art work and cartoons to picture journals.

“[My Web site] was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. I started it two years ago during one of the summer terms with my roommates. We just had a bunch of pictures ... and it just grew to be my journal,” Tim Pisko, a junior from Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, said. “It’s fun because the whole world can look at my Web site and see what I am doing.”

Other students started Web sites for their businesses.

“My Web site is called Internet Business Ideas LLC. We offer registration for domain names, hosting Web sites and monitoring search engine lifting. I am not some kid just out having fun. This is my livelyhood; this is how I communicate with my employees,” Joshua Anderson, a junior form Rexburg, said.

Both of these Web sites have grown from what they were when they first began.

“My Web site started out as just one page, and now it’s a ton of pages. It’s been fun watching it grow,” Pisko said.

Anderson’s Web business has grown not only in pages but also in Web sites, he said.

“I started my business Nov. 22, 2002. I not only own www.internetbusinessideas.com, but I also own familyresearch.com, geneologyresearchtips.com (which are both brand new, so they are not quite up yet) and www.mentorsforsuccess.com (a mentor Web site for business development),” Anderson said.

While some Internet sites are people’s livelyhoods, other sites are hobbies.

“Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned on my own computer just goofing off. My Web site doesn’t really have anything to do with my major, but if I have the knowledge, I can apply it. Having the skills and knowledge can help me later if I need it for my job,” Pisko said.

But there is more to making Web sites than throwing information together, Anderson said.

“You need to do the research first to make it happen. I have spent one-and a-half years researching, and I research a little bit every day. You have to know what is best. Some people just look for free sites, but it is important to make sure you know what your best option is,” Anderson said.