i-Lights

Online Tools Help Create Better Content

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Creativity is well and good, especially when the subject matter is worthwhile. But if creators of content can't capture the attention of their target audience, their efforts are largely for naught.

Creating captivating content. The value may not be what is said so much as how it's said. When a topic is overdone, it loses its appeal. Many agonize over the right topic, the right words, the particular frame of reference and how to connect with an audience. It's magic when it all comes together and agonizing when it doesn't, but what separates good from great and keeps people coming back for more is "new" and "original." Over and over, I find that to be true.

An overdone topic can still be engaging if presented with a fresh angle. I'm no expert in slapping fresh angles over overdone material, so I often seek the assistance of available resources. I-Lighter is one such resource. Gathering information from different websites into common pages and notebooks gives me better visualization of the overall material. Common threads are easier to recognize and write about when material is organized in this manner.

Hillary Clinton Lies Establish Pattern of Behavior

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For political junkies like me, the 2008 Presidential Election just keeps getting better and better. Most people will agree, despite calls for her to step aside, Senator Clinton will take this fight all the way down to the Democratic Convention. Which essentially means Senator McCain can leisurely assemble a list of running-mates while the last two standing Democrats do battle in the public eye. It's not a pretty sight, but that's politics.

And as we all know, all's fair in love, war, and politics.

But with all the attention focused on Senator Obama's pastor and his purported ties to Islam, Senators Clinton and McCain had been getting a free ride. That is, until Clinton made the ultimate gaffe, a bold- faced lie repeated so many different times at different events it became a reality, at least in her mind. The attention from the mainstream media has been relentless.

In case you fell off the planet or have been hiding under a rock, here is what Senator Clinton said at a March 17, 2008 campaign appearance:

After Fools Day is Better than the Original

More friends than anticipated must have read my April Fools Day article. How else to explain breezing through an entire day without becoming the butt of anyone's prank? Yes, it's also possible people aren't playing as many pranks as they used to, like on April 1st Past when everyone's shoelaces became permanently untied.

But somehow I doubt that. In a way, the day after April Fools Day is better than the day itself because so many people blog about tech pranks and related content. "After Fools Day" is a veritable cornucopia of delicious pranks, lightly salted and grilled to perfection. I couldn't help but extend the foolish topic for another day.

For example, Caroline McCarthy devotes an entire section of the Social to the normally staid Wikipedia. Its participation in the ensuing online mayhem was too uncharacteristic to ignore. Which shows that when nerds surreptitiously move the mischief meter up a notch, people applaud. The soft spot in my heart for Ben Stiller made me chuckle over Caroline's nod to Zoolander, although she could have just as easily mentioned controversial Naomi Campbell. Sadly, the only remnant of the Wick's bold Ima Hogg move is a trip down 404 lane. I suppose the possibility of someone mistaking fiction for fact was too much pressure for the geeks to handle.

April Fools Day or April Fools' Day Pranks?

April 1st makes me nervous. Don't get me started, today is indeed April 1st. Cannot for the life of me figure out how to get these dates to work appropriately. Or maybe I'm trying to play an April Fools joke, you really can't be sure.

But that's why I'm so nervous. April Fools Day pranks are only funny when they happen to someone else. If they're happening to me, I'm not laughing. Not unless it's so funny I can't help myself. What kind of prank could be as funny as that?

Perhaps a collection of pranks saved to an i-Lighter file, that could be the ticket. I'm not saying I'm the one who collected them, mind you. Or maybe I am.

Last Day March for I-Lighter News and Reviews

It's a Twitterlights Monday morning on the last day of March (yes, I know this appears under March 30th, so you'll just have to believe me that it's actually March 31st), and I'm skimming the Internet for i-Lighter 2.1 news and reviews. Happily, the sometimes obstructed series of tubes did not disappointment. Why, I can almost have my pick of stories, there's so much buzz about the tiny yellow bot. But, I'll settle for the cream of the crop.

Let's start with my new BFF, ThatDwayne. Ever since Dwayne waxed poetic from Twadget about his newfound affinity for i-Lighter, I cannot get enough of him. ThatDwayne isn't an i-Lighter-from-birth kind of guy, oh no, he's a born again. But that's okay because even converts to i-Lighter are welcome into the fold. In fact, corporate loves the converts a little more because they have chosen this path rather than having it thrust upon them. I couldn't agree more, the latest version of i-Lighter is awesome, but the words sound so much better coming from a true blue fan willing to fire the compliment heard 'round the world.