AboutVena McGrath Expertise As the author of a novel about my life online in chat rooms specifically, and a few adventures into online dating, I can answer almost any question anyone could ask about chatting online. The excitement, the adrenalin rush, the manipulation of the mind, the corruption of morals, the danger of stalking and harrassment online and offline, the lies, the secrets. The reality of this `fantasy` is frightening. My book tells a story that hopefully will make anyone who reads it more wary and chatwise than I was when I stumbled upon chat in late 1999 as a naive woman who didn`t have a clue what a chat room on the internet was. I have spent many hours online counselling men and women with broken hearts, wounded pride, and yes, very real fear. My passion is to try to help eradicate the not so good factors out of chat rooms and make them once again fun places where people feel safe.
Experience My experience commenced in June 1999 in international chat rooms and then a move in late September 1999 to chat rooms in Australia. I am still online, have my own chat room, and my first novel titled 'Secrets, Lies & Chat' was published by American-Book Publishing in 2005 and is now available from my website www.secretslieschat.net.au for a very competitive price. I have also released on my website an eBook which is a revised version of Secrets, Lies & Chat and only costs $4.95 5o download in either word or pdf format.
Organizations I belong to many writing organisations online and I belong to the chat room community of BigPond.
Publications Communique - a monthly newspaper produced by the NSW Government Department of Commerce
SMH ICON liftout 'The Net Effect' April 2004
Numerous articles in PoynterOnline
Numerous letters to the editor, SMH
My profile and short stories and articles are all online at AuthorsDen.com and some are posted on my website.
Education/Credentials High School Educated
TAFE Secretarial
Numerous OH&S certificates
Numerous Computer related courses
Question I used to have aol and do not have it now, I have never found a chat room that I liked except the one for 60+ on the aol internet. I would like to know if there is anyway to access the chatroom without using the internet service.
Answer Hi ethel
I did a bit of reading about AOL and found that to access the chatrooms you must have the software loaded onto your machine. However you don't pay for the software so it's just a matter of accessing the link below, download and set up, and away you go.
Apparently at one time AOL did have chat rooms from a website but they weren't the same rooms as those that could be accessed by people using AOL. The rooms that you will be able to access once you download the software will be the correct rooms, not the few from a website.
As I don't use AOL I can't help you much more than that.
""Many of you have asked how to access the Chat feature since the People Connection area was updated. To access AOL Chat, you need to be using AOL software. It won't cost you a penny. AOL 9.0 VR (Vista-Ready) is available from the spiffy AOL Downloads site. Download and install it, as it will only take a few minutes over a broadband connection.""
