Create My Own Myspace Background

Michael and Xochi Birch on starting Bebo

Michael and Xochi Birch are a husband-and-wife team of entrepreneurs who are best known for setting up Bebo, the social networking company.

They later sold the enterprise to AOL for £850m dollars in 2008.

The couple met in London, where they worked as computer programmers.

"We were always entrepreneurially minded," says Xochi Birch. She and Michael were attracted to the idea of setting up online businesses because "it seemed like the easiest thing to do".

They decided to start their own company when Michael arrived home one day and said: "I want to quit my job and let's do an internet start-up."

"I had no idea what that meant at the time," Xochi remembers. She soon found out: "I would work continuously for the next three years [to] support him, seeing as he was at home, figuring our internet start-ups."

She confesses that despite their background in computers and programming they were "complete amateurs" when it came to internet start-ups.

Michael recalls the beginning as "a comedy of errors, just trying things out".

It didn't help that they had no clear product in mind.

"We just wanted to build consumer internet websites," explains Michael. "We thought if we could get millions of users without spending much money, we could probably make some money out of it."

He says now it was a "very under-developed plan".

"We had not spent a cent, we had not raised a cent, and we were still learning a lot," says Xochi.

Indeed, it would be another three years before one of their online start-ups became profitable.

They decided to remortgage their home twice to raise the capital to fund their venture.

"It was a bit of a gamble," says Michael. "But I always felt that we both came from stable families. I thought, 'Worst thing happens; we go and live with my parents or her parents, and look for a job'."

In their quest to launch the perfect online company, they tried out many approaches, including a will-writing facility and an online address book. But their first real success came when they launched Birthday Alarm, a website which alerts users to people's birthdays.

By 2002 they had 2 million members, had moved to California (where Xochi was born and grew up), and were making $10,000 a month from the site.

Make a Custom MySpace Background from Your Photos - MySpace Dev

MySpace is more than just a social network.  Since it was overhauled in 2010, MySpace has become the hottest new place to show off your photos, display your favorite music, and talk to your friends.  Although it is a bit more involved than using their default settings, you can install a MySpace background to customize your profile by using the codes from pre-made templates.  If you don’t find a template you love, you can even make your own background image.  Here are some simple steps to help you create a unique background for your MySpace profile.

In order to create a background from one of your favorite photos, you need to upload your photo of choice to an image hosting service. Many people use PhotoBucket because it is free and easy to use. You can use any site you like, but for the sake of keeping it simple, these steps will involve PhotoBucket.

Please make a note of the fact that the most common screen resolution is 1024 x 768, so when choosing your background picture it would be a good idea to select a background picture that is about the same size but at least 800 x 600 pixels for the best results.  Once you have your chosen your picture, either log onto PhotoBucket or go ahead and register for free if you haven’t used the site before.

Once you are signed in, proceed to the green “Upload Now” button. Choose your picture’s file from the “upload from” button and then select “Upload”. When the picture finishes uploading, click on “choose action” above your image. Select “Generate link codes for selected” and when the box pops up, under ‘HTML for websites and blogs, click on “full size“. A message will flash to let you know the code was copies to your clipboard.

Once you have copied the URL for the image to your clipboard, you can exit the PhotoBucket site.  Log into your MySpace account and go to the “Edit My Profile” button. Paste the code into the very bottom of the “About Me” section under any information you have entered previously,  making sure to leave a space between the code and the text you have entered. Click on “Save All Changes” to save your selection. Now click on the “View My Profile” button located in the upper right corner of your Profile “Edit” screen.

When your profile page opens, you should see your new photo as the background behind your information.  If the picture is blurry, you might need to choose a higher resolution photo.  If you have other issues, check with the MySpace “help” options or email their technical support service for help.  You will soon have a beautiful new background that is customized to your personal preferences.  Sit back and enjoy your fine-looking new background. Great job!

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