Without having to move much from behind a computer screen, you could order dinner, get help with homework and meet a possible soul-mate by the end of one night.

There is no need to put forth effort, or even leave the comfort of your dorm room, in that awkward stage of meeting new friends. You don't even have to meet up with the professor who's never around during office hours.

Within the past year, a handful of MSU student entrepreneurs have launched online services catering to almost every need imaginable.

An alternative to cafeteria food

In an effort to make fast-food delivery even easier, advertising senior Jonathan Dodge and Chris McAleenan, a visiting student from Williams College, created simpledine.com. With no additional fees, customers can order food through the site and save the orders for future reference.

As a local version of campusfood.com, simpledine.com offers similar services. With campusfood.com based out of New York and available to 200 universities, the only major difference between the sites are proximity and selection. With simpledine.com, users may browse through menus of nearly 20 local restaurants and receive special online-only discounts.

The creators and developers from the Web site earn money on the commission of individual restaurants, not by charging users.

Dodge said the site, which was launched in late February, quickly is growing in popularity, and had a record 1,600 hits in one day last week.

"The demand is out there because college kids are always in their dorm rooms, at their computers," Dodge said.

Microbiology senior Eric Gleffe is a regular simpledine.com user.

"It's more convenient than dealing with someone over the phone," he said. "I've used the site more than once, many times, probably more often than I should."

Gleffe is not worried about giving his credit card number online, because he is an avid online consumer and has a separate credit card just for online purchases.

The numbers are encrypted and sent through Fusionary Media, a company in Grand Rapids, so that only the restaurants will see them. Although the Web site is secure and allows users to save their orders online, some students still feel these services are unnecessary.

No-preference sophomore Chris Marshall looks up phone numbers on campusfood.com rather than ordering online, because he said it takes the same amount of effort to dial a number as it does to type up the order.

"I just feel more comfortable calling in my order and making sure they got it," he said. "Speaking to someone over the phone is more reassuring than filling out a form."

In search of Mr. (or Ms.) Right

Advertising junior Ryan McDonough started cutegirlsonly.com in July as a joke. Mocking other online dating services by posting fake profiles and random pictures of hot girls on a bright, tacky layout, McDonough used his extensive experience with Web design and his background in advertising to create the site.

To his surprise, McDonough said the intended spoof attracted more attention than he predicted.

"It's really funny; nothing I've ever done has taken off like that has," he said.

After showing the site to his friends, more people heard about it by word of mouth and started taking serious interest. He enlisted the help of Russian computer programmer Paul Philippov, and the two decided to renovate the site to include both men and women.

"We essentially made it a place for other people to learn about each other without a ratings system," McDonough said. "We encourage people to search based on personality instead of attractiveness."

Since the site is open to anyone, including those outside MSU who are older than 18, its user numbers has tripled in the past three months, McDonough said.

"I would love for more MSU students to take advantage of the free service," he said. "It's a great way to meet possible roommates or someone to party with, not just to date."

Social relations junior Pat Gallagher mentions www.cutegirlsonly.com on his profile for www.campushook.com, another online dating service created for college students. He said both sites are user-friendly.

"They are very similar," he said. "Both are really easy to use. I like looking through them, meeting people and chatting online."

Gallagher has utilized online dating services for the past few years. In his senior year of high school, he met his prom date on hotornot.com.

"She actually lived nearby," he said. "We hadn't met beforehand, just talked. But the night turned out to be awesome."

Covering all the bases

Inspired by the popular allmsu.com, computer science freshman Kyle Mcauliffe created TheSpartanWeb.com in the fall. Both sites offer professor ratings, message boards, a book exchange and personal and classified ads. Special features that are not on allmsu.com are a ride-exchange board and a photo gallery.

Mcauliffe said he wanted to create an alternative site for students.

"I run it on a faster server," he said. "AllMSU has so many users, so it runs slower."

Human biology sophomore Brandon Libra said even though fewer people use TheSpartanWeb.com, the features offered are different and attracted him to the site.

"It has a nice photo album that every user can view, and I've posted on it," Libra said.

Created more than five years ago by former MSU student Ryan Shaltry, allmsu.edu has established a strong following with more than 50,000 registered users. A unique feature on this Web site is the online magazine, the Big Green.

Even though finance senior Chris Pitz is involved with allmsu.com, he said he likes how someone else has created another Web site exclusive to the MSU student community.

"I think it's cool that someone can take an interest in the school like that, dedicate themselves by putting all the time and effort into it," Pitz said.

Pitz said his role is to act as a liaison between the students and Shaltry, who now lives in Arizona.

Pitz heard about allmsu.com a few years ago, using it for its book-exchange feature. He later contacted Shaltry about helping with the Web site.

"Some people join clubs; I decided to do this," Pitz said.

Pre-veterinary medicine freshman Jenna Yambor said she prefers allmsu.com to TheSpartanWeb.com. Yambor, who heard about the site from her friends, said she has used it for help on chemistry assignments and looking for summer housing.

"It's fabulous, so easy to use," she said. "I think allMSU is the first one everyone uses."

A look into the life of a Spartan

Although livejournal.com is not a student-run Web site, it provides users with an online journal where they can write about their daily lives and allow others to comment on the entries.

The site also allows users to create specific communities dedicated to any area of interest, and many are created in honor of MSU.

Students living in residence halls use these online journal communities to bond with others.

Linguistics freshman Sarah Holzhausen and her roommate, French freshman Ashley Elie, created a LiveJournal community dedicated to North Complex - Mason, Abbot, Snyder and Phillips halls. Holzhausen said she wanted to create the group because not many were geared specifically toward MSU a year ago.

"As soon as I was accepted to Michigan State, I searched for communities, and there was only one," she said.

Holzhausen and Elie actually met through the "michiganstate" community at livejournal.com. As their friendship flourished, they decided to room together in the fall.

"I posted what dorm I'll be living in and what my major was, and she had the same dorm, same major," Elie said. "We actually switched our major the same day."

Elie and her roommate promoted it by putting up fliers. The community has grown to include almost 40 residents.

The "michiganstate" and "msualumni" LiveJournal communities enable current students to interact with former students or fans of the school.

Interior design junior Grace Dmello is a part of both communities and many others. She said she hasn't posted entries for the MSU communities, but does read others'. Dmello has been a LiveJournal user for about three years. She also said LiveJournal is a good way to communicate with friends.

"Sometimes, people just get too busy," she said. "It's a good way to keep up with everyone's lives. It's impersonal, but it's convenient."