AnybodyOutThere

This week we thought we’d introduce you to Decomp.

Q: How did you find AnybodyOutThere?
A: I was sitting on my couch, staring at my computer back In January. I remember being bored and thinking about ways to entertain myself. I decided to Google chatting and Anybody Out There showed up. So I logged in and found many people who had excellent posts, was immediately hooked, and here we are.

Q: What keeps you coming back to the site?
A: I keep coming back because of the people. I have made some truly amazing friends here. People that I value as much as anyone I know in real life. I have also made quite a few enemies that are just as entertaining. Ultimately, I look forward to logging on and seeing the crazy things my people say every day.

Q: Who have you had some of your best chats with?
A: I have a variety of chats with many people. I don’t want to forget anyone, so I won’t name names. You know who you are though.

Q: What do you like talking about on AnybodyOutThere?
A: I love controversy, the bizarre, and the emotional. I have a reputation that has been mentioned on more than one occasion. Someone once called me the snarl of reality (thanks!) and that is true. I try to keep with humor, but I have a soft spot for the people and love the bonding over the emotional conversations. I also try to tell the truth, no matter how harsh. I don’t want to be lied to and I assume people would want the same courtesy.

Q:  How do you introduce yourself to someone you’re chatting to for the first time?
A: Generally I talk to people on posts before I go for the chat. I like to feel them out and see what the boundaries are. I don’t want to end up in a conversation that is uncomfortable or unfulfilling, on either side. If I do jump in there, I like to start with a reference to a post, or a joke. Jokes are excellent ice breakers and allows the victim, I mean stranger, to feel comfortable from the beginning.

Q: How did you come up with your username?
A: I am fascinated with “dark” ideas and minds. I wanted something that was creepy and grotesque. This is also a good conversation starter, in some cases. I choose Decomp, short for decomposition, for two reasons. First because I am interested in all things forensic, and second because I think a username is a good indication of personality. I like to people to know who I am, to some extent, before we chat.

Q: Name one thing you have learnt from the AnybodyOutThere community?
A: I have learned more about interacting with people. There are a lot of opinions out there. I have a tendency to takes sides and get involved in the “drama”. I have learned to add an educated opinion and really dissect what other people are saying before responding. It makes for a better discussion if every can check the name calling at the door.

Q:  Any tips for AnybodyOutThere newbies.
A: If you are intentionally terrible with spelling, you will get made fun of. There are many educated or OCD people on this site that are genuinely upset with the blatant disregard for the language. Fix it, or take the criticism. Don’t take everything so seriously. We are all here for the same reason, for a good time. Everyone is different and learning tolerance will keep the peace. As much as I love the smack down, I understand that people are here for peace and it makes for a more comfortable atmosphere for everyone. Finally, please, please, stop looking for celebrities!

Q:  What’s one interesting fact about the part of the world you come from?
A: I live in the Midwest. We have lots and lots of cows. It’s exciting. They moo and smell bad. They also stare at you with big, crazy cow eyes when they figure out you are trying to tip them. Guess they don’t like cow tipping, who would have guessed?

Q: What’s one interesting fact about you that not many people in the AnybodyOutThere community know?
A: I have a pretty large pen collection. I counted them today, specifically for this question, and I am up to 626. Pens are to me what Justin Bieber is to 12 year old girls. The best thing that has ever happened to music, no wait, that is wrong on both counts.

Here’s an update on what we’ve been up to. These are all the new features we’ve added and changes we’ve made to improve your AnybodyOutThere experience.

And if you think of anything else that you’d like added be sure to let us know, we’re all ears. We really value your feedback!

• Hide age and gender
  

You can now hide your age and gender by clicking Settings and then Personal details. Here you will see an option to hide age and gender.

• Block users

We’ve had a lot of requests for this feature, so you’ll be glad to know you can now block users who pester you. The block feature is not to be used lightly as blocking someone means they won’t be able to view your profile, send you a chat request or even a message.

To block a user click the block a user link found at the top of the user’s profile.

• Unsubscribe/subscribe to new threads

Sometimes being part of a thread can become overwhelming and may make you feel like you’re being spammed with notifications. Now you can unsubscribe from a specific comment thread by clicking the unsubscribe link found at the top of the open comment thread.

You can also subscribe to receive notifications from a thread you have not commented on. Just click the subscribe link at the top of a comment thread.

That’s all for now. But be sure to check back soon as we have many other exciting changes planned

We felt it was time we introduced you to some of the great people that make AnybodyOutThere what it is. This is something we plan on doing weekly, so watch this space . And it really doesn’t matter whether or not you have spoken with AndrewFromHere. You never know, you could learn something new

Q :  How did you find AnybodyOutThere?
A: I’m what you could call a “refugee” from another social-website that involved chatting via Web cam… and that got fairly old after the order of the day became full-frontal male nudity. So I searched for a Web site that was text-driven, where I could type back and forth between people who I chose or who chose me. And one day, AnybodyOutThere appeared on my screen, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Q: What keeps you coming back to the site?
A: At first, it was that interest in finding people to chat with who had the same interests as I did, searching through the topic posts and finding something I could agree with. But after awhile, finding new people with new ideas, ones that I might not have been familiar with at first, became a real interest of mine. Plus, I’ve found a lot of really great people out there who are amazing to talk to and get to know…. and many are just the funniest people around, whether they realize it or not.

Q: Who have you had some of your best chats with?
A: Oh, wow. There are a lot of people out there I’ve talked to that have been amazing, and I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out. There’s a core group of people that I chat or communicate with on almost a daily basis that are just so awesome. Whether it’s a regular chat, back-and-forth comments on each others’ posts, chats that continue after we leave AOT, or a game of “Apples To Apples/Nutsy Bolts,” they’re people that never let me down by being funny, understanding, and generally an outstanding group.

Q: What do you like talking about on AnybodyOutThere?
A: Anything and everything. I think we’ve all run the gamut of things to talk about on the site. Politics, music, relationships, sports, pop culture, society as a whole, it’s all been discussed. I think the best discussions, though, are about life as a whole. I really enjoy just talking about the everyday things people out there are going through, because I like to hear about them and offer some wisdom if I can, and because I know that there were a few people out there, and there still are, who have talked to and about me and where I’m going when I’ve needed it. So I think that’s probably my favorite thing.

Q: How do you introduce yourself to someone you’re chatting to for the first time?
A: I find it all has to depend on what the topic-line that drew me in is. Normally, it will be like “Hey, so what about….” and it goes on from there. Nothing too fancy, just a basic greeting.

Q: How did you come up with your username?
A: Well, Andrew is my first name (no real secret there, I suppose). And then the “FromHere” portion comes from, everyone always gets around to asking where I’m from. And right now, I am currently living somewhere that I hope to not be living in the not too distant future. I want to get back to the place where I’m originally from, actually. So when I’m there, where I really want to be living, I can still be “AndrewFromHere.” That makes sense, right?

Q: Name one thing you have learnt from the AnybodyOutThere community?
A: Age doesn’t matter as much as I thought it does. It’s the amount of game you bring to the table that matters more. The oldest people can still be the dimmest, and the youngest can be the wisest.

Q: Any tips for AnybodyOutThere newbies.
A: Proper grammar, people. Please. I’m begging you. Sometimes people will pass on a conversation because it looks like the topic sentence has been written in an online form of hieroglyphics. So I suggest that, and keeping the teen-pop music praise to a minimum, because it’s likely you will be ridiculed by someone.

Q: What’s one interesting fact about the part of the world you come from?
A: I’m from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area originally, and many people know Philly for its culinary delights, such as the Philly Cheesesteak (Pat’s King of Steaks, 9th and Passyunk avenues, South Philly- gimme one Whiz-Wit- WOOT!!) TastyKakes, Water Ice, and the soft pretzel. And also, Turtle Soup originated there, too. But I still prefer a cheesesteak.

Q: What’s one interesting fact about you that not many people in the AnybodyOutThere community know?
A: I’m really a closet Justin Bieber fan….. no, not really. I am a burgeoning collector of 33 1/3 RPM vinyl records, although that has taken a backseat lately, as I’m in an area devoid of record stores.

A guest blog post by  Houser about life in South Carolina.

Compared to my friend and fellow AOT blogger Kapongham, life in my neck of the woods is much less thrilling. My wife and I own a 6 acre farm in the foothills of South Carolina which is in the south-east United States. Compared to her blog post last month, I feel much less interesting.

Our elections and politics aren’t quite as colorful, but I suspect many of you reading this who aren’t Americans are as well or better informed about ours than we are! Compared to the cuisine and culture of south-east Asia, our little corner could be considered a bit more relaxed. Our fare often includes local traditional meals like collard greens cooked with salted pork fat, called fat-back, or pulled pork barbecue. We enjoy many local beverages, Coca-Cola and Pepsi are regional creations, especially local microbrewery beers. We enjoy getting together with friends for a communal meal out at a restaurant at least once a week.

I spend my work hours running a construction staffing and human resource management firm. We perform many functions that those of you reading this outside the United States would consider government type programs. My work crews do everything from buildings roads and bridges to constructing schools and churches. This week some of our workers went out and got free massages and haircuts as part of a “Mystery Shopping” program that companies use to measure internal customer service! At the moment, many of my fellow managers are running crews who are hard at work cleaning up the disasters in Tennessee. Our company has a hard earned reputation for responsiveness in disaster relief due to our quick mobilization for Katrina and for the 2007 hurricane season that hit florida in 2007.

At home I spend my time with my three primary hobbies: Tabletop gaming (Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, World of Darkness), Alcohol consumption, and making hot sauce. The hot sauce is by far the most interesting and useful thing I do in my spare time. My little hot sauce venture makes 8 different sauces which we sell to restaurants as a “house sauce.” Our spiciest and most intense is a habanero and bhut jolokia pepper sauce called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” while our most flavorful and popular sauce is an arbol chili Pepper blend called “Old Time Religion.”

So, feel free to contact me anytime if you want to know more about me. Until then, I wish you a great experience at www.anybodyoutthere.com

Bye!

One of our users ,Kapongham, writes about what it’s like to live in a volatile Thailand.

Life in Bangkok has an added edge now that over two dozen people have been killed in riots and bombings against the government. For one, you make real sure that you’re up to date with the latest news. Coming upon an unexpected Red Shirt rally will at best result in excruciating traffic jams – I’ve had to walk home more than once. At worst, you’ll end up on the news amid a hail of rubber and real bullets, tear gas or bombed-out rubble.

What’s changed for most Bangkokians is less visible – it’s the feeling of tension in the air. If you get in a cab, you’ll hear the political radio blaring. Red shirt protestors drive by in caravans, honking their horns, and I see pedestrians turn their heads away in disgust or join in with the protestors. There are more checkpoints on the road. This week saw pro-government counter-protestors hurling abuse and bottles at the Red Shirts. The division the protests have created in Thai society cut along class and ethnicity lines, and suddenly, I am all too aware of my own privilege and position as a middle-class English speaker.

Nonetheless, us Bangkokians are determined to continue their lives as usual – after all, it has been almost twenty years since we’ve had such violence. The corner vendor still sells my favorite nam phrik pla tu- fermented fish and chili paste with mackarel. The motorbike taxi men, who’ll take you on the back of their bikes wherever you want for as little as 25 cents US, still hang out by the sidewalk. The heat is still overbearing – it’s usually 40C most days – and the food is still deliciously spicy. We go to the movies, we karaoke, we shop, we watch plays and go to concerts, if the protestors haven’t closed the Skytrain stations there. In any place outside of Bangkok, we are still the land of smiles, the rice-bowl of Asia, the tourist destination with white sand beaches and world-class dive sites.

Bangkok, on the other hand, is still being held hostage in a fight over who will be in power next. Roiling tensions, at first relieved by a week-long holiday, are building again. Grenade bombings this past few days have killed at least three people and injured fifty.

A few weeks ago, I had posted on anybodyoutthere that I was angry- “pissed” even – with the protestors. I was optimistic about negotiations between protestors and the government. Now, with escalating tensions and a body count of almost thirty, I am simply afraid for my city.