Who are you, and what is a ztechwiz?

    Hello there. My name is Shawn. People also like to call me ZTecWiz, a screenname I made up for AIM when I was younger that kinda stuck to me, and it's spelled ZTecWiz by the way, like I tell everyone new to me, there are no h's in it. I am 19 years old, going on 14 with my cheerful and playful personality. I am absolutely fascinated by technology, and I can sit at a computer for hours and never really get bored. I do enjoy and am quite good at coding in html, php, and some javascript. I am, as said, The Technology Wizard (Z-Tec-Wiz).

What do you do?

    In 2005 I started getting into IRC (Internet Relay Chat), an advanced online chat system that is primarily based upon servers and clients. After using various IRC networks, I came to the conclusion that most of them have unnecessary strict rules and regulations that got quite annoying, getting kicked and banned for the smallest things. I then decided to start my own establishment. All I had to do was figure out how, what to call it, and where to find some tech enthusiasts like me..

Tell me more about "IRC"

    Figuring out how to create an IRC network of my own was definitely not an easy task, it took a lot of work to get it to where it is today. As far as coming up with a name for the new network, it's probably the easiest thing I could have done in the process. I just though of my current screenname, ZTecWiz, meaning The Technology Wizard, and tuning it a bit to fit a network name, The Technology Network. ZTecNet was born on May 7, 2006, running UnrealIRCd.

    It wasn't long before I figured out about the difficulties of running my own network. What you don't seem to realize or even think about is the amount of trolls, flamers, and general "Cyber terrorists" out there on the internet. ZTecNet has been attacked many times in the past.. I've seen just about every kind of attack out there today. I worked my way through it however, and got the ZTecNet community to where it is today.

What is an online community?

    An online community is essentially no different than a club or clan you may have at school, work, etc. ZTecNet is a small online community made up of people that share similar interests and like talking to others about topics related to technology, and sometimes other stuff too. Just about everyone in the ZTecNet community knows each other on a somewhat close personal level, we call each other family. Any given person in the community would be just lost without ZTecNet, many people call it their "home." Most IRC networks are hardly communities at all, they're just huge networks full of people who just chat at each other. ZTecNet is geared more towards getting to know each other. This whole concept is what makes ZTecNet different from all the rest.

    Many people are confused about why ZTecNet is a community made up of mostly younger people, as young as twelve.. even eleven. People of this age are attracted to ZTecNet because of it's light and passive environment. ZTecNet is geared towards being fun for everyone, even the "geeky" kids out there, hence a virtually rule-free environment. When I was part of the other big IRC networks, I was not happy with how people were treated. The rules were outrageous, the spammers and flamers were out of control, and worst of all, you'd get kicked out for doing almost nothing. I created ZTecNet to remedy this, and let people enjoy talking with people online without unnecessary rules in place. Any community, club, school, or workplace has rules, sure.. but I believe in having just enough rules in place to where it's enjoyable for everyone.

OK, enough about IRC. what else do you do?

    Alright, I also run an internet radio station. ZTecNet Radio was founded a couple of years after the birth of ZTecNet. At first, I just wanted other people to be able to listen to the same music I was listening to, at the same time, so I created a way to do so.

    ZTecNet has evolved in a major way over the past couple of years that it's been up, in many ways. First, the music has changed. The rotation back when I launched it was a bit out of place.. Random stuff played. We only had a few listeners, if even. Now, ZTecNet Radio is more popular than ever, with an average of 10-15 listeners over the work week, and 15-25 on the weekends. We're playing a huge mix of music, hence one of our motos "The Greatest Mix On The Net." We strive to add new music to the station almost every day. If you aren't already googling it, you should definitely check it out now.. Don't worry, the link will open a new page so you can keep reading on.

still more to come..

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