i-Lights

Mac v. PC - The Battle Rages On

This upcoming Mother's Day will be two years since my husband surprised me with a brand new Dell. Mind you, the laptop was my present for the entire year of gift-giving occasions, but that didn't diminish the joy of possessing a computer I could finally call my own. Shiny and pristine, I vowed to install the best firewall, the best spyware eradicators, and the best virus protection known to man. Nothing was too good to keep my new PC unfettered and free of malicious code.

What's that saying about the road to somewhere being paved with good intentions?

Thankfully, my laptop still operates, but a trip to the computer doctor is long overdue. I don't know how the darn thing became infected because I scrupulously avoid download attachments and unverified shareware. Yet despite the assurances of MacAfee and Spybot, something isn't quite right with with its internal configurations.

Lighter Tutorial and Tips Automate Mundane Tasks Online

One day, every well-heeled household will own at least one automated animatron, a robotic house servant of some sort, though I doubt they'll bear much resemblance to their Hollywood counterparts. More like computers with sophisticated artificial intelligence, valet robots will assume mundane daily tasks such as answering telephone solicitations, running the dishwasher, and clearing email accounts of spam. Very expensive models might be programmed to recognize certain names associated with routine emails and answer with maintenance responses, such as, "Thanks for sending that video" and "Loved that article you sent, thanks so much for thinking about me." Basement bargain specials will look and act more like a rumba, bumping up against chair legs as they monitor cooking times, air temperature, and the last time you checked the air in your tires.

Hey, I can dream, can't I? In the meantime, I have i-Lighter to make life's mundane tasks a little bit easier.

Yesterday, I reviewed i-Lighter version 2.1 from the perspective of the toolbar drop down menu. Today, I'm offering tips and instructions for navigating the inside of an i-Lighter account.

Time Savers Tips and Tricks to Help Stay Connected Online

So many people are obsessed with the Internet. Whether it be emailing, instant messaging, video games, or social networking, more people are forging connections by spending a significant amount of time online. Naturally, as more connections are squeezed into a smaller window of time, the nature of those connections changes. Paragraph updates become just a line or two. Pretty soon, even short-hand is replaced with a funny picture, joke, or video. It's not so much how we connect but about taking the time to do so. The content becomes almost irrelevant. 

I say almost, but not quite. Contacts still have to know that they matter. Connecting with content that should just as soon be dumped in the recycling bin will not win friends nor influence people. On the other hand, the amount of time people spend gathering cool content and formatting their finds for general consumption detracts from their own productivity. Somewhere, somehow people must strike a happy balance of work and play. 

That's the beauty of i-Lighter. With a free i-Lighter account, people can not only save and annotate content, but also have a permanent place to park and organize it, as well as use a simple click of the mouse to share it with their connections. I've been playing around with the new 2.1 version for the better part of the evening and realizing there's more to this simplicity than meets the eye.

A Brief Look at Free Time Saving Resources

Ever get to the point where your to-do list overflows with so many to-do's it can't help but become a list of "to-do-tomorrow's"? The problem with that, of course, is that tomorrow has its own list of to-do's. Yesterday's list gets pushed off indefinitely until the list becomes overwhelmed with "to-don'ts" or "to-do-when-I get-around-to-it's." Not exactly a desirable scenario for those who are goal oriented.   

One of the goals of i-Lighter is easing the hustle and bustle of busy lives through time saving devices. There are so many things to do and keep track of, why make life any more complicated? I-Lighter lets members gather and save only the online content that appeals to them rather than bookmark an entire website. Twitterlights, one of its premiere features, allows members to broadcast saved content to Twitter followers with just a click of your mouse. Same for content they may want to post to their del.icio.us account or blog. Members can even email content to contacts using i-Lighter's one click features. In short, i-Lighter makes saving and sharing any online content a snap.

Not familiar with Twitter? This stick figure cartoon provides a basic explanation.

Monday Member Spotlights for I-Lighter and Twitterlights

It’s Monday morning and I practically had to drag myself out of bed to start the day. Bills, work, housecleaning, getting the children off to school…why it’s enough to make anybody want to stay under the covers and sleep for a hundred years.

But then I remembered it’s “Member Spotlight” day here at i-Lighter. The day I search the interwebs for riveting buzz (or mere mention) of our free virtual highlighter, i-Lighter, and how people use this cool tool in their daily lives.

I’m not going to reveal how I gather this stuff, but let’s just say, I have my methods. Rest assured, it is not by spying on member accounts. That information is private and not available for public consumption, not even to staff of The Light Stuff. Anyway, the thought of stalking people in cyberspace gave me just enough of a jolt to throw off the covers and get cracking.