Although my real name is Aaron Michael Hall, all of my closest friends, both online and offline, know me by my online identity– GoodThings2Life. I’ve used this nickname on message forums like StudentTabletPC.com, Bink.nu, BetaNews.com, GottaBeMobile.com, jkOnTheRun, and many other web sites. I also used to chat as GoodThings2Life and host as Host_GoodThings2Life on MSN Chat, and for a short time I also served as Guide_GoodThings2Life there as well. It has been my online identity for 7 years now.

Over the years, many people have asked me how I came up with the nickname. It’s a simple story, really… It’s a play on the old G.E. campaign, “We bring good things to life.” Of course, I worked for General Electric’s Superabrasives and Micron Products businesses for three years, and during that time I was told by a good friend (and boss) of mine that the work I did really emulated that slogan well.

After I left the company, I began to spend a lot of time online and I wanted an identity that served several purposes. First and foremost, I wanted a name that spoke volumes about who I was as a human being. That is, something that reflected my best qualities. Second, I wanted a name that was friendly and inviting for people to want to talk to me. Third, I wanted a name that was unique– that no one else had. As I thought long and hard on what name I wanted, I remembered what my friend had told me… and since I had worked there, it made the name even more special.

So that was it, and I decided then and there that I would be known as GoodThings2Life from that point on. I decided that everywhere I went I would use my name to represent the values of myself and of the company it came from. Nowadays, I am on AOL and Yahoo Instant Messenger as GoodThings2Life, and I can be found on MSN/Windows Live Messenger as goodthings2life @ live . com.