Personalize Your FanBox Virtual Desktop and Profile Backgrounds

You asked for it and now you have it!

Here at FanBox, we enjoy hearing what our users have to say. One of your most frequent requests has been the ability to personalize the look of your Virtual Desktop and Profile. It's taken plenty of time and effort, but we've done it!

To get started personalizing your FanBox Profile, just click the "edit" link from your profile.

From the Edit Page, simply click the blue "Show Me My Choices" button. The "Change Your Background" window will appear and you'll be on your way to personalizing your profile.

Our team has hand-selected over 50 quality images and color schemes that you can select from. And since we believe in putting you in control of your FanBox profile, you can even upload your own photos and truly personalize your account!

Personalizing your FanBox Virtual Desktop is just as easy!
To view your Virtual Desktop, simply click the "Web Desktop" tab on your FanBox taskbar.

As you may have noticed, your Virtual Desktop now has a "Change Your Background" icon. Double-click the icon to get started personalizing your Virtual Desktop. The "Change Your Background" window will appear and you can update your Virtual Desktop background, just like you did to your profile!


Did You Know?
You can also personalize your Virtual Desktop by clicking "Change My Background" from the FanBox Start Menu or by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting "Set My Desktop Background"; just like on your home PC!



Have ideas to help us improve the site?
You can provide us your feedback by clicking the "Suggest!" icon anywhere on the site.

Like I said, we love hearing what you have to say, so feel free to let us know what you'd like to see next at FanBox!

Happy Holidays from the FanBox team!
--Steven

Do you come here often?

Has that ever happened to you? The silly ice breaker at the bar or perhaps in the produce section at the local grocery store usually has the unsuspecting recipient squirming and contorting uncontrollably. And what for? All because of bad communication – no information to build a meaningful conversation on. So do something for all FanBox members and tell us something about yourself. Don’t be coy (unless you think it’s intriguing). Simply go to your profile and fill out the About Me section. Remember, the more detailed you are about who you are and what you like, the less “corny” the one liners and messages you get (or at least I think that will happen).

For example, in my About Me section, I wrote “I like fast cars and fast women, that’s why they call me the cruiser.” Well, not really. I like just about anyone but if you’re a movie fanatic, you may recognize this one liner from the great flick Stripes (early 80s comedy featuring Bill Murray and John Candy – RIP). Perhaps something different like what I wrote might inspire some genuine conversation … or maybe not … but at least you get a better glimpse of who I am and what I am interested in. Why don’t you update your About Me section too. Do it quickly, there’s a ton of cool members waiting to dazzle you.

Tim

FanBox Email!

Hey guys, get what we just launched overnight?!?!? Our first updated version of FanBox Email!

Have you noticed that the application is no longer on your profile, but rather pops up when you click "Email Inbox" in your upper task bar?





There are tons of new improvements. You can now view upwards of 50 contacts on one page, do bulk editing from one screen without having to redirect to anyone's page, and edit the names of your contacts. You may also notice that "FanMail" also now appears in the header. This is where you can find all of your personal messages, comments, pings, broadcasts, etc. Please let us know if you need any help navigating through this awesome new feature! Have a great day!!

Katie.

Deleting Fans from your profile

A girl can never have too many fans! Or can she?

Hi FanBox Fans! Are you guilty of frivolous Fan’ing? Have you accepted a Fan request you later regretted? Does the cutie you were chatting with last night seem less appealing then you remembered? Fret no more!

FanBox now features a fix to excessively friendly Fan finding! It may be a tongue twister, but I know you’re going to love it! The “Remove Fan” feature will allow you to delete unwanted Fans from your Fan list.

Are you tired of Ashley’s constant nagging? Delete her. Do you wish Stephen would just get a life? Delete him. Don’t remember who HotStuff522 is?

Start fine tuning your Fans base by opening your Fans list, finding the Fan you want to delete, and clicking “Remove Fan.” It couldn’t be easier!

Happy deleting!

Katie

As simple as "Point and Click"

What's happening FanBox Fans? Lots of things are going on here at the company. One such thing is our continued focus on serving you with fun and challenging web applications. Check out FanBox profiles and you'll see a ton of games, quizzes, social apps, videos and more. When you see something you like, simply point and click, and "BAM", it's yours to enjoy on your very own FanBox profile. And believe me, there's something for everyone. Case in point, take FanBox's very own Jenna. She's a big fan of games, she's uber competitive and has a love for primates. She happens to see "Monkey Kick Ball" on Erick’s profile and in an instant she's kicking that ball to her heart's content. Best of all, Jenna can share her scores with her friends and expose their "monkey kick ball" skills.


More and more applications are loaded daily and there's so many to enjoy here on FanBox. Check out these games by pointing and clicking, that's it. And get ready for the fun. Also, we always want to know what you think so on every profile there’s a "Suggest!" link for you to give us your feedback.

Until next blog, thank you for supporting FanBox and letting your friends know about the cool things to do on your profile.

Go Kick that Monkey!

Tim

Latest Product Updates

Hey everyone! We're very excited to announce the launch some cool additions to FanBox.


Your Own FanBox Email and Personal URL
Now everyone can get their own free @FanBox.com email address. You should all get yours before someone else takes it. I've already got mine set in stone. =) In addition to creating a FanBox email address, you'll also have your own unique personal URL to share with your friends and family. It’s a great way to share your photos, blogs, games and applications with everyone.


IM Block/Reporting and Appearing Offline
We've received a handful of feedback from users using the "Who's On" feature. We've added the ability block/unblock as well as a way for you to appear offline if you're receiving too many chat messages. You'll find both of those options on the bottom of the chat windows.


We'll be launching many more useful features to the site shortly. As requested, you'll soon be able to delete unwanted fans from your profile. =)

Send me a chat message if you ever see me online. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you have about FanBox.

Cheers,
Victor

Give a Little Bit

Hello fellow FanBoxers!

Do you ever feel like your life is difficult and all your problems are too overwhelming to deal with? We all sometimes feel this way; like everything is crashing down and it can’t get any worse. In this day and age, it is easy to get caught in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives and we can forget how great we really have it. It is important that everyone takes the time to help make things better for those less fortunate.

At FanBox we want to be an active part of the San Diego community, and what better way to do that than giving back?! On Saturday many of the FanBox employees will be participating in a 5k charity race to support autism research and autistic children around our community. This will be one of the charity events we are involved in as a company, and we hope to be part of many more in the near future. I strongly urge you to do something to give back this weekend. Whether you donate, volunteer, or just lend a helping hand to someone in need, every little bit counts. If you do something to give back this weekend, share it with us by writing about it in your personal blog. The smallest effort you make can mean the world to someone!

Jenna

Represent Your Team!

Here at FanBox, all the employees are divided into four teams; the Orange team, the Yellow team, the Green team, and the Blue team. Every few months we hold the FanBox Olympics in which the four teams compete for bragging rights, “front of the line” privileges at lunch, and usually a secret prize. All the events vary; from four-way tug of war, to sand castle building, to relay races.

We are all super competitive, so we give it our all when it comes to representing our team. I am very proud to be a part of the mighty Blue team. We don’t always win, but we definitely hold our own against the competition. We seriously dominated last week in a heated game of 1990’s Trivial Pursuit. Over the past year, the Green team has experienced many victories… But I definitely see them falling from power in the very near future (bwa-ha-ha-ha). The Yellow team might prove to be the sleeping giant; they are kind of the underdog and I think everyone would be happy to see Yellow step it up and win the next Olympics. The Orange team definitely has the most team spirit; they always wear their Orange shirts on Mondays and they even dressed up as Oompa Loompa's for Halloween (orange faces and all, check out the picture below)!

The next Olympics is in a few weeks, so I will definitely keep you posted on who wins, who loses, and who goes home crying (Green). Bring it on!!

Jenna

Gaming Is Where It’s At!!

Do you love playing games? Do you often spend hours on end at your computer battling goblins or kicking monkeys? Whether or not you’re a gamer, you’ll love FanBox’s newest gaming application. It is called Ultimate Arcades Mini Arcade, and I highly recommend trying it out.

You choose from over 50 different games just by adding this one application to your FanBox desktop! There is a huge range of games, from Hoops all the way to Tetris. You can even send a message from the application to invite your friends to play! Just click the Add Application icon on the FanBox desktop and search for Ultimate Arcades Mini Arcade…. Then let the fun begin!! If you think you can beat me, try out Ultimate Mega Hoops and see if you can score 22,000! The challenge is on….

Chad

READY TO START THE REST OF YOUR LIFE SUCCEEDING IN SAN DIEGO?

OBSESSION, PASSION, DETERMINATION, OPTIMISM, HUMILITY, CONFIDENCE, RESILIENCE, and LOYALTY. To some, these words are titles for motivation posters or names of smelly perfumes. To us at FanBox, these words represent the characteristics and qualities that make up our team members. If you possess these qualities as well as have a “winner’s mentality” (hate to lose and loathe quitting), then please check out the career opportunities we have for you at http://corp.fanbox.com/.

Attention Programmers - If you know that you can code awesome web applications and dare to be technically challenged, then you’re wasting your life away if you don’t check out our software engineer positions we have available in beautiful and sunny San Diego, California. If you so dare to start the interview process, you’ll need to prove that you can code like a superstar. You’ll undergo numerous technical tests (written and oral) before we will consider bringing you to San Diego for final interviews. Up for the challenge?

Tim

W – TAW – TAW

Ever feel like you’re completely stressed out or inundated with responsibilities? Whether you’re busy working or replying to the many messages your 500 fans left you, we all sometimes feel the pressure to produce more than is expected of us. Here at FanBox we have a special way of looking at situations like these. We live by the concept of “Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way;” also known as W-TAW-TAW for short.

This idea originated during the humble beginnings of our company. The FanBox founders started the website very modestly; working with broken computers out of the CEO’s condo for no salary at all. Many people called them insane to dedicate so much of their lives to a “crazy idea,” but they always pushed through the hard times and rose above the challenges. Their dedication eventually paid off when they made history by signing up nearly 6 million users in its first six months of the SMS.ac website -- making it the fastest product launch in Internet history. Today FanBox has more than 80 employees and we’re located in a comfortable two-story building in downtown San Diego (definitely an upgrade from the condo).

This perseverance and dedication truly embodies the W-TAW-TAW spirit. I hope that you can use this core value of ours in your personal life…. If someone ever doubts you or your dreams, just know that there is no such thing as impossible.

~ Jenna

Fantastic Fridays

Here at FanBox, Fridays are especially enjoyable because we like to do some fun things to finish the week on a positive note. My friend and coworker, Brian, sometimes says “TBIF” instead of TGIF, for “Too Bad It’s Friday”…. Because at FanBox, the work is actually fun! So Fridays always mean good times and a day full of action!!

Around lunch, many of the FanBox employees head to the stairs at the San Diego Convention Center. We run 100 steps as many times as we can in 30 minutes. Our true competitive spirit shines when we run stairs; I hope to beat my personal best of 13 times and achieve 14… That’s 1400 steps in only 30 minutes! Our resident Olympian, let’s just call him “Mega-Byte Mike”, ran 28 ½ last week. …. But he is a professional speed walker (seriously), so we kinda expect him to be super amazing. Not only did he manage to run 28 ½ stairs, but he also had time to pick up a business card from another young professional (ooh la la…).

By the end of the day everyone gets together to eat, drink, and play some sort of game right here at work. Ahh, Fridays how I love you!! The stories are comical, weird, and somewhat scandalous so stay tuned!

~ Jenna

President’s Day = Roller Coasters

This weekend in the United States was a long weekend due to the celebration of President’s Day on Monday. Since this only happens a few times a year, I made sure to take advantage of this extra day off. On Sunday morning I woke up early, despite staying out late on Saturday night . I picked up my friends, and we made the trip north to Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park near Los Angeles, CA.

We had such a fantastic time there… I felt like a little kid all over again! We were so excited when we arrived, we forgot to put our car in park before we jumped out… Haha, good thing we realized it seconds before it smashed into a near by minivan! I got soaked, almost sick, and thrown upside-down and sideways all day long (my chiropractor wasn’t too happy with me the next day).

Needless to say, it was an awesome experience and an “out of this world” way to spend my Sunday. I hope you had a great weekend too! Tell us all about it in a personal blog!

~ Jenna

Hello fellow FanBoxers!

My name is Jenna and I am here to say welcome to the magical land of FanBox! For many of us here at FanBox, this place is like our home away from home… We have a very close-nit community here and we always jump at the opportunity to grow and strengthen that kinship. What better way to do that than by extending our own stories and relationships into the FanBox world?! First I would like to tell you a little bit about myself…. I was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, also known as the lovely land of hippies, forests, and track and field. During the past four years, I lived in a small city on the central coast of California called San Luis Obispo. Here I lived out my college years through partying hard, studying hard, and sleeping late. I also traveled the world for a year, but we can talk about that another time. Shortly after college, I made the 350 mile trek south to the little paradise known as San Diego, California. I quickly found my niche here in the culture and family offered to me by FanBox. Since joining the team, we have been through a whirlwind of transformations, fun times, and unanticipated events. I hope to make you better acquainted with me and our crazy team here in the next few months. Stay tuned because you’ll never know what you could learn from us fanatical people behind the scenes… See ya around! ~ Jenna

Change Your Country / Shuffle Profiles

Hey everyone!

We've got some new features for you to check out:


Change Your Country - We've received an enormous amount of requests to allow users to change their country. Some of you have either moved to another country or some of you have been stuck with the wrong country. To change your country, click on the current country link found on the "Location" row of your profile. After you select your country and click on the "Save" link, you're good to go. Your location will be updated so that your friends and fans can search for you.






Shuffle Profiles - This feature lets you browse through profiles of users that are online. Just click on the "Shuffle Profiles" underneath the primary photo of a profile. It's a cool way to browse through About Me profile information, FanFare activity, photos and more. Keep shuffling…you'll never know who you'll come across!


Thanks again for submitting your feedback on the Suggest! Tool. Let us know if you have any more suggestions.

Have an awesome day!

Victor

Another new feature

You may have noticed something new on your profile. It’s called “About Me” and it is all about you – what you like, what inspires you and what you’re looking for. Take 5 minutes to fill it out. Let us know what music you listen too, why you use FanBox, where you’re from, and just about anything else that makes you special. You’ll be amazed at how a little bit of information will make the quality of your experience here on FanBox increase. And, while you check out other profiles, take a look at their “About Me” section too. Tell your fans to fill out their “About Me” sections.

Let us know what you think and thanks for being a FanBox member.

Tim

On FanBox, everyday is SUPER TUESDAY

Last night I was watching the news coverage of our presidential primaries and behind all of the rhetoric, posturing and analysis, one thing became quite clear to me – Americans last night came out in droves to make their voices heard. Voters wanted to see change and wanted to do something about it. And I know it is no different everywhere else in the world. The power of communication compels action and last night, we saw a glimpse of it.

Here at FanBox, we want to hear your voice. You matter and your communication will compel us to fix it, enhance it, change it, improve it, delete it or any other action you need us to do. Take advantage of the communication tools we have for you on your profile. Click on the “Suggest!” link and share your ideas about how we should improve your FanBox. Better yet, click on “Who’s Online?” and start a dialogue with your FanBox members. There’s a lot of interesting people out there that want to be heard and are willing to hear you too.

Until next blog,
Tim

Impossible dreams into realities

Hi there! Hope February is off to a great start for you.

With 2008 already in full swing, FanBox couldn’t be more excited to show you what we’ve been working on. It has always been our hope to bring you the highest quality material, and we hope that you enjoy the Fanbox experience!

I read an interesting article the other day. NASA will transmit the song “Across the Universe” by the Beatles 431 light-years into space. This makes it the first song to ever reach a galactic audience. Pretty amazing, isn’t it? It got me thinking about boundaries: I’m sure at one point in history someone said that type of feat was impossible. I mean, to play a song in space? It sounds pretty far-fetched. But with hundreds of thousands of hours of research and a team of dedicated individuals, all working towards a common goal, the impossible became a reality.

Clearly, NASA doesn’t believe in the word “impossible” and neither do we. No matter what the task, we are constantly working to turn impossible dreams into realities. The way I see it, the more you push boundaries, the more likely you are to discover something remarkable. So challenge yourself, do something that’s never been done before. Better yet, do something that others say is impossible. I guarantee that afterwards you’ll feel like you can conquer anything.

Lots of love,
Brandie

Where to update your account settings

Whether you’ve just become a FanBox member, or have been one for years, here is a little tip or refresher course on where your account setting are located.

The Settings are located at the upper right-hand corner of your profile page. After you click on the "Account" link it will take you to the Accounts Settings page where you can update or change your different FanBox settings.

Until next time,
Erick

Community Files

The FanBox Desktop is an interactive and inventive product that offers a wide array of features. With so many actions to choose from, it is easy to get absorbed in only one aspect of the website, without ever realizing what other products are at your fingertips.

One of the most exciting and innovative features of the mobile desktop is the Community Files icon. Members who upload files from their personal computers can choose to share content they have created with the rest of the FanBox community. This way everyone is able to enjoy member-generated documents, music, and photos! If you have not searched through the Community Files, I highly recommend it. You will be surprised how much original content is being shared in our community!

To access and browse through the Community Files, just follow these easy steps.

1. Minimize your Public Profile so you can see the entire mobile desktop









2. Double click on the Community Files icon

3. Choose what document type you would like to browse by

4. Type in any words you would like to search by

5. Double click on the file to view it

6. Click OK to acknowledge that this file will be copied to your FanBox Files.

I hope you enjoy this new product!

Cheers,
Jessica

Hey all!

I hope you are off to a great start to 2008 and things are going well in your part of the world.

FanBox as you have noticed has just launched Who's Online? This allows you to meet and stay in touch with FanBox members all over the world.

Just the other day I was talking with the community and at one time I was speaking to 10 individuals in 7 different countries. I thought to myself, how great it was to learn about different people, cultures, and their respected way of life. It made me appreciate other people so much more now that I was able to learn more about them. I highly encourage all of you to get to know one another and learn more about each other. The FanBox community has the great opportunity for people from different countries to meet and become true friends.

I am thankful we can give people across the globe this opportunity and I look forward to talking with you all much much more.

Peace,
Brian

Who's Online?

You asked for it, we delivered! Who's Online is up and running on FanBox. Meet and chat with other FanBox users from around the world. Here are a few key features I'd like to highlight:

• Controlling Online Status - Choose whether or not you'd like to appear online or offline. Click on your FanBox Start Menu (on the bottom left-hand corner) and use the online status dropdown menu underneath the "Who's Online?" link. If you choose to appear offline, you can still chat with other FanBox users; you'll just appear offline to everyone.
  
  


• Search Online Users by Country - Check out who's online in each country. You can also filter for States when searching for users in the United States.

We hope you'll enjoy using Who's Online. As always, please let us know how to improve your FanBox experience by clicking on the "Suggest!" link.

See you online,
Victor

Healthy Body Equals Healthy Mind

It is refreshing to know that there are places to work where a high premium is placed on living healthy. Here at FanBox, we encourage all employees to live an active lifestyle. It is common to hear team members say “Motion creates emotion” as they prep for a mid day run or a quick 20 minute workout at our own gym. Others make it a daily regimen to work out at 6am at the local gym which has more exercise stations and free weights then what we have here at the office. And, on every Friday, almost the entire company is out running stairs and getting the heart rate pumping. What this promotes is clarity of thought, direction, drive and just plain old feeling good. It sure is great working in San Diego where we can do this 365 days a year.

Thanks for using FanBox and sharing your experiences with your friends. Don’t forget to live healthy and make a promise to yourself to be healthier this year. You’ll be happy you made that decision.

Until next blog,
Tim

See your fans' activity on FanFare

With our new FanFare you can check out what your fans are up to, whether they are adding songs, posting comments, adding applications or adding new photos to their albums. Best of all, you can listen to songs that your fans have just added by clicking on the green play button.



With FanFare not only do you know the last time your fans were on FanBox but you can see all the new and exciting content they are adding to their profiles and Web-desktop. Keeping in touch with all your fans has never been easier. What a great way to start the new year off!



Warm Regards,
Erick