This is Why It's Awesome to be a Night Owl!

I have been so excited for my new niche this weekend! I've been wanting to get started so badly that I kept going to the site looking for the new questions, but new questions are released every Monday. I didn't want to prepare a question for last week for this week. I want to keep this week for this week and next week for next week etc. So, I sighed and distracted myself with other things (like Rogue Legacy). Only then did it occur to me that the questions came out a midnight! This means I can start planning now if I want to, and I really do, and maybe even get my first question out on Tuesday. I've only looked at the international questions, and there's already a few that I'm interested in. This is why it's awesome to be a night owl! You get the first crack at things! You could think of it as the earliest bird getting the worm!

What Do I Want to Tackle This Week?

Of the 20 possible questions, I can only settle on three for four. I don't have the time, or the interest, to do all 20. To get me a little head start, I've narrowed down the 20 to these possible 10 questions. I don't want to give away too much, after all. There still needs to be some element of surprise!

1. Does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad leave office with a positive legacy?
2. Why is South Africa supporting Robert Mugabe?
3. Is an Egyptian government led by its military better for the West than a government led by the Muslim Brotherhood?
4. Is nuclear power the key to China’s economic future?
5. Are Afghanistan’s security forces strong enough to contain the Taliban?
6. Would a government shutdown over funding Obamacare hurt the GOP in the 2014 midterms?
7. How should the U.S. respond to Russia’s sheltering of Edward Snowden?
8. Should the national horse slaughter ban of 2006 be repealed?
9. What changes should be made to America’s food stamp program?
10. How can President Obama get his economic agenda through Congress?

I Might Even Be More Excited Tomorrow

It is getting late, so I'll probably be heading to bed in an hour or so (maybe, that's a very big maybe).  I don't know, I did find last week's questions much more interesting than this week's questions. However, I do think once I get some rest, have a productive Monday, and get started on my very first question, I'll be much more excited. I'll be taking the time to learn about current events of the day, to sort through the partisan spin and come down on the arguments and truths that answer the question. These are the questions that ought to be answered on cable news shows and in commentary, something beyond a simple reporting of the facts and providing that liberal/conservative perspective that the audience is seeking. It's questions like these that really get the discussion going and really determine what the next steps should be for these different issues.

I'm Going to Have to Reorganize My Categories

I just realized that nearly all of the categories I have now won't be applicable to this new niche, meaning that I'll have to redo all of them. Or, I'll at least have to create a whole bunch of new ones and fiddle around with the widget so that only the categories related to current affairs show up on the home page and such. I'm pretty sure it's possible to delete categories. I know you can simply change the names. I'm not sure if you can pick and choose the categories that you want to feature in the widget. Perhaps I'll find all this out in the coming weeks as I write these new posts and create these new categories.

I Figured Out a Niche

I know I've gone through this whole charade before (and I totally did when thinking about my news show and before settling on identity capital), but I've figured out a niche for real this time. After thinking about my niche, I've come to a decision and I think it's a good one. I'm going to cover current affairs as a whole.

After thinking about that niche and outlining my ideas, I realized that they all fell under the category of current affairs. Even identity theft and credit reports are current affairs topics, since they keep coming up in the news and they are changing enough to merit constant attention.

Here's the Plan

My plan is to pull my blog post ideas from Extemp Central. They do a good job of posting questions every week, but I do notice the site lacks in original issue analysis (perhaps that's what the strategy briefs are about, but you have to pay for those. Not everyone wants to pay for those.) It also lacks answers to the questions it posts, although it does share and forward useful articles every week, sometimes those articles don't line up with any of the question it's posted. So, I plan to fill in what's missing by answering questions three to four times a week. It will take some time to do the necessary research, but I also do want to do personal, off-the-wall blog posts from time to time, so there's room for that as well.

Have I said all this before? I feel like I have since it all sounds so familiar in my head.

Blog Post Topic Examples Include:

1. Should the U.S. cut off military aid to Egypt?
2. Are Common Core standards bad for American education?
3. Should Google Glass be banned from public places? (I've actually answered this question before on another blog, but nothing too extensive).
4. Is Elizabeth Warren a potential Democratic presidential nominee in 2016?
5. Should secular corporations be exempted from Obamacare’s contraception requirement on religious grounds?
6. How should states deal with their looming pension crisis?
7. Is it in Pakistan’s best interest to improve ties with Afghanistan?
8. What steps does the Libyan government need to take to restore stability?
9. Is al Qaeda making a comeback in Iraq?
10. How should the international community police money-transfer agencies to insure that they are not funding terrorism?
11. Would the construction of an inter-oceanic canal solve Nicaragua’s poverty problem?

Subtitle

I originally got into international extemporaneous speaking almost 10 years ago (it's been that long since sophomore year of high school! Whoa!) because I was learning so many things that I didn't even know were going on. On top of that, these were issues that weren't talked about on the news but were very important for people to know and understand. With what the American media covers and what the pundits talk about, this situation hasn't improved. If anything, it's gotten worse since the mainstream media is much more partisan than ever and it completely ignores foreign events unless it somehow relates to the United States (or when someone of royalty is born, as that's very important). It's tough to find world news on the mainstream channels and websites. You have to know where to look.

At the very least, I'm working to prevent what happens in this video from happening to other people. I mean, the family was so darn excited to play too. Apparently, they didn't have a clause that said, "Pass when we don't have any answers." The other family didn't have clause that said, "When I can't think of an answer, I should probably listen to the rest of my family."

About that Niche

I still haven't chosen a new niche for this blog yet, although I have given it some thought. There are a few ideas in my head that I'm mulling over, trying to figure out which one would be the most interesting and enjoyable to pursue while needing a reasonable amount of work. I don't want this to take away from my digital content work, but I do want it to contribute to my personal branding and expertise in a substantial way.

I Could Do the Blogging Case Study Again

I could, and I have thought about it. My only issue with it is that I feel like I would still have to choose a niche, so it doesn't remedy the problem I currently have. Without a niche, I would trouble ranking for keywords (kind of tough to have keywords to rank for without a niche) and I would have trouble determining how many visitors came from search engines (because I don't have a good grasp of the keywords). It might not be a bad idea to combine the two, choosing a niche that doesn't have a strong business blogging presence and needs some barrier busting, but perhaps we'll do that if the niche works. I don't want to limit myself to a niche that would work with the blogging case study. Although, if I did do this, I don't think I'll blog every day. That's too much for me.

I'm Leaning Toward Identity Theft and Credit Repair/Scores/Reports

My identity theft protection client just reduced my workload by two-thirds. I'm okay with that, since I wasn't too fond with their business blogging methodology anyway. I've been writing for them for about two years now, so I've developed a wealth of knowledge in this arena. It's information that's badly needed in today's society, as how identities are stolen is constantly changing. Credit reports and scores and one of the few ways we can find out about identity theft, but our credit reports and scores aren't always accurate and can be used against us if we don't know what's on them. Also, things like scams, malware, phishing etc. also jeopardize our identity theft risk.

I'm Also Considering Something to do with Activism or Political Issues

It was my maternal health critique that went viral, even though all I did was critique the book reviews of a book I was reading about maternal health. They were misrepresenting the facts and the issue.

The point is that I think I could do well in this arena, even though I do think I have to choose a specific issue or a specific format. I've considering answering U.S. and international extemporaneous questions, since I know there is an audience for that type of analysis (and I would have wished to have such analysis when I was doing speech and debate). This niche also allows me to cover a broader array of topics. The hard part with this would be the workload. I would have to spend the time doing the research and sourcing my arguments. It would also be hard to choose only a couple of questions each week, when 20 new ones are introduced each week.

I could also do an overall advocacy or a consumer advocacy blog, where I'm covering the news while primarily introducing materials to help people to take action and to advocate for their rights or for certain things to happen. I'm thinking something similar to the business idea that my business coach and I drew up a few months ago (not sure if it would a been a good business because I'm not sure if you can sell this sort of thing. You also can't appeal to everyone, so you'd have to choose to narrow your market substantially, which isn't good). It fulfills a huge need, and I know I would absolutely love doing this work. I also have the experience and expertise to back it up.

What to do? I still need to think about it. This helps a lot though.

I Think I Need to Work on My Niche Again

I feel like this blog lost a little something, that it's not what it used to be. I understand that part of it might be that the move to the domain name, where few followers transferred over from the Wordpress site to this one. The switch also prompted a swarm of spam comments, of which I have abated with an Akismet purchase, so that at least takes away the frustration and the time to clear these things away. But, I also think that it's more than that, and that primary something is the niche.

What About Identity Capital?

Although I love the idea of building identity capital, this site is meant to be more about building my own identity capital instead of helping others build it. The theme of chronicling my journey of building identity capital is just awkward unless I pick one or the other. I mean, we should be constantly building and thinking about our identity capital. Essentially, it's a fancy way of turning this into a diary, and this isn't Xanga so we don't need that sort of thing. I need a better theme, a smarter theme, a theme that does more than provide a good online presence and overload the search engine rankings with my random musings (there are worse things that could overload the search engine rankings). I need a theme that actually builds identity capital and positions myself as an expert in that theme/topic. Besides, the tagline for this website is awful.

So, Once Again, I Need a Topic

This part of the process is going to take a long time. I really shouldn't be having this glass of Almond Breeze Mocha Iced Coffee, but I am (and it's delicious) because this is going to take a while and it requires some serious thought. There are just so many topics to choose from, but the point here is to choose a topic that I want part of my personal brand. It also has to be a topic that isn't too competitive, or is something where there's an open niche. I could easily do a blog on content marketing or business blogging, but the competition is outrageous (and I don't really want those things part of my personal brand anymore). It also has to be something that I could reasonably position myself as an expert in. Sure, I could do a poker blog, but I don't play often enough to have anything to say about it or to have anything unique to contribute.

I don't know why I'm forcing myself to pick one right now, or even in the next few days. I might have to take the time to sort out my ideas, and save the ones that have the most money-making potential for the business and ultimately choose one that has little in the way of revenue but lots when it comes to audience value and current need.

Part of My Personal Brand

I need to recognize that this website is part of my personal brand, much like Stirring Media and Gateway Grounds are going to be, although I hope that those entities will become bigger than myself and will eventually not need me to survive. The same can't be said for this site, and even though it's not going to be the same as those other two, I think the perspective ended up constricting me. Because I didn't want this site to turn into another business venture, I was a bit more willy-nilly about the whole thing, when this site should have been given the same rigor and attention when it came to choosing a niche and to choosing a topic. That's all changing now.

5 Natural Strengths I Have

As one of today's SuperBetter quests, I am to write down five natural strengths, or five things that I am good at, and then relate those strengths to my goal of eating healthier and losing a few pounds. So, that's what I'm doing. Here are five things that I'm good at, and how each one could possibly help toward my SuperBetter goals:

Writing

Writing, like I do here, helps because I can chronicle my journey as well as use my blog posts as a way to hold myself accountable (it's why I'm doing so well on my summer reading list). If I write in a blog post that I am going to do something, then I feel extra compelled to do it because people will see and will know that I said I was going to do something. I don't want people to see that I've gone back on my word. I also don't want people to see me fail, or to have to say that I failed, so that's extra motivation as well to get this done.

Self-Motivation

As for how this strength will help me eat healthier and lose weight, I think it speaks for itself. As long as I want to eat healthier and lose weight, and set goals for myself, then I can do it and it will be done.

Thinking Outside the Box

I think differently. My mother and father will tell you. They'll also say that the world needs people that think differently. I think this strength can help me in finding ways to keep myself motivated, productive, and making progress. For example, I have my inferno of productivity game, which is really awesome and I've been getting lots and lots of points in recent weeks. I am on track to be have enough points to get my file cabinet at the end of next week. Exciting! Anyway, if you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always gotten. Thinking outside the box will prevent that from happening. The results from my Fascination Advantage test would call this, "a fresh interpretation of the details."

Planning and Organizing

I love making lists (as the photo on the left explains). I also like thinking about the future, and planning for the future, and seeing everything come together when it needs to. This skill makes it easier to think about what it takes to reach my goals and to make those necessary steps. It also comes in handy when I plan meals for the week, go grocery shopping, plan for the next day, and organize myself and my thoughts for important moments and meetings. This skill also helps make the goal more manageable. Instead of it being one big, lofty idea, planning and organizing can make it a little bit easier to attain.

Fearlessness About Failure

I don't let a fear of failure, or the possibility of failure get in the way. I've never been one to do projects that I knew I could get an A on, where I took on something where I was sure to be successful. I just do what I want to do. I realize that not everything works, and that failure is inevitable at times. I suppose I'm not worried about failing at eating healthy or about losing weight because there's no way I can fail now. I still have kept off the weight I loss when I went vegan about eight months ago. The only way to go is up, you know?

Empowering Beliefs about Myself

Using the empowering beliefs about money as a springboard, I have created my empowering beliefs about myself as a way to have more confidence and to delete those negative thoughts and emotions. It takes abut 66 days to turn something into a habit, and I haven't quite had these beliefs written down for 66 days quiet yet. Even if I have, I don't think I've written them down 66 times yet, since I don't write them everyday. So, well, here they are. I think it's a great way to end this post as I focus on my strengths and have them at the top of my mind.

• I, hereby, delete these negative beliefs from my system at the source. Now, I can replace them with empowering beliefs about myself. J
• I am awesome. I am an amazing human rights activist, a phenomenal writer, and an even better person. I am destined to change the world.
• I am Pocket Aces Agnes, a budding poker phenom who is constantly improving at everything she does. I am well-liked because I am lots of fun at the table and away from the table.
• I am a great businesswoman running a great business. It’s only a matter of time before it’ll be unthinkable NOT to care about Stirring Media, LLC.
• Someone I don’t even know loves me right now. I do more for this world and for people close to me than I could ever imagine.

In Need of Practical Brain Stimulation

New research published today suggests that brain-stimulating activities such as writing and reading books slows down our cognitive decline as we age. The sooner you start, the better, as cognitive decline can begin as early as 27. Also, some reading and writing is better than none at all. It looks like I am in an excellent line of work, where I am easily writing 1500 words a day. I am currently working on my summer reading list, and am forcing myself to read one chapter per day so I can get through the book I am reading now (and can move on to other interesting books that I've been wanting to read for some time). Once I finish this book, I'll only have one more book left to read. Once I finish that book, I'll create my fall reading list.

About Those Findings

I would be interested in seeing if there would be difference in cognitive decline among reading paperback/hardcover books, reading eBooks, and reading articles and blog posts online, with all else being equal and accounted for. I would think there would be difference, as I would presume that someone using an electronic device to read something will be much more prone to distractions than someone with an actual book. I mean, email notifications don't pop up in those hardcovers. I also think that because of the versatility, those reading on the electronic devices might also be much more likely to multitask, which has to affect our brains somehow. Then again, I am just taking a few wild guesses here. I am not an expert in neurology.

Speaking of Brain-Stimulating Activities

I need a lot of good ideas for a lot of things coming up, primarily good content and article ideas for my clients, my blog, Stirring Media, and Gateway Grounds. The end of the month is coming up, which is when I put together my editorial calendar for the next month, or several months, depending on how often the blog publishes. You need to do these things ahead of time, so that you aren't stuck the day of or the day before trying to come up with something good to write about.

One of the most pressing ideas is content for Insight2Incite Magazine, a St. Louis up-and-coming publication. They need a lot of help, and one of my ideas for creating content on a regular basis is start a column of my own (I know that the last thing I need in my life is more commitments and more stuff to write, but this is a good opportunity to build my personal brand.) I have no idea what this column would be about, which is where I need to spend my time first. I have other options and ideas on how to fill in what's missing, but the column takes precedence since I have the most control over the column.

Rogue Legacy is So Awesome!

In the meantime of all this important thinking stuff, I think I will play some Rogue Legacy. It's a really awesome game that you should get if you haven't already. It's available on Steam, or you can get it directly from them for the PC. It's a pretty straightforward game, but what makes it fun is that every time you play is different. You have a choice of characters, but your choices are always different because different classes and abilities are offered to you. The castle changes every single time you die, so it's not about memorizing the level but on memorizing how the enemies attack and on how rooms are set up. I seems easy, but it's not. Fortunately, you get stronger each time you die.

46 Article Ideas You Can Use for Your Blog Right Now

Maintaining a blog or online publication isn't easy, and one of the toughest aspects of maintenance is coming up with things to write about! Even if you're preparing an editorial calendar for the next month, or even the next few months, the ideas aren't always flowing. If you need a little help, or if you need something to write about right now, then consider one of the 46 article ideas below. Surely, you can find something here that's compelling to do and to share with your audience.

1. Live blog what's happening at a conference, event, or trade show.
2. Attended a webinar, conference, event or trade show recently? Share what you’ve learned.
3. Instead of recapping the conference or webinar, review it! What would you have wished to learn? What could they have done better?
4. Did you just hold your own event? Do a recap.
5. Will you be holding an event? Do a post about it and why people should come.
6. Do a roundup of niche-related news articles that your readers may have missed.
7. Write a follow-up to one of your most popular blog posts.
8. Respond to comments made on a previous blog post.
9. Write a counterpoint to a post from another blog.
10. Agree with a post from another blog.
11. Ask another niche blogger to do guest post.
12. Ask another niche blogger if you can reprint one of his/her posts. Make sure to write your own introduction and give credit to the blogger.
13. Look at what your competitors are blogging about, and write your own post on something they’ve done.
14. Take a current event and show what your niche can learn from it.
15. Take a seemingly unrelated current event and show what it means to your industry.
16. Find a recent news article on your industry and add your own angle.
17. Compare your niche to something from pop culture, like a TV show or a new dance craze.
18. Counter a prevailing niche trend or perspective.
19. Affirm a prevailing niche trend or perspective.
20. Bust a myth or two about your niche/product/service.
21. Confirm a rumor or fact about your niche/product/service.
22. Make a prediction on an emerging trend, or on something else happening in your niche.
23. Define some niche lingo or key terms.
24. Are there any new research findings or statistics related to your niche? Write a post on why that new something is important.
25. Present the history or some little known facts about your niche.
26. Outline a solution to a big niche problem.
27. Or, just rant about that problem. That’s okay too.
28. Ask several niche leaders about an issue related to your niche. Post the responses.
29. Create a beginner’s post to your niche (think of it as a very quick 101!)
30. Conduct some research on something related to your niche and share your findings.
31. Create a “recipe of success” for your niche.
32. Create a “5 Pillars” or a “10 Commandments” for your niche.
33. Answer a frequently asked question related to your niche.
34. Make a list of the 10 best other niche blogs or news sites.
35. Make a list of the biggest lessons you’ve learned in your niche.
36. Compile a list of the best apps for your niche.
37. Make a list of your favorite quotes related to your niche.
38. Make a pros/cons list of something in your niche.
39. Review a book related to your niche.
40. Ask your readers what they’d like you to write about.
41. Write about the best idea(s) suggested.
42. Conduct a poll.
43. Post the results to that poll.
44. If there’s a movie about or involving your niche, write about what it gets right or wrong.
45. Ask for reader submissions (can be posts, pics, or vids).
46. Share the best ones!

The Little Things I Need to Do (So I Don't Forget)

Once again, I'm doing another one of these big fat to-do lists so that I can keep track of myself and not forget a whole bunch of little things. I'm already losing track of the days of the week because my sleep schedule is completely off, so the fewer things I have to keep track of in my head the better. Here's my big fat to do list of the little things I need to do so I don't forget about them:

1. Finish Up My Grocery List - I finally planned my meals and went to the grocery store, which put me on a strong path toward my goal of avoiding eating out for an entire month. However, I wasn't able to buy everything on my list. So, I haven't actually made any of the meals I actually planned, and I now have some vegetables that are going bad with each passing day. I need to purchase the last eight or 10 items and get to work cooking some great food.
2. Eat Soup - Several days ago, I made a big pot of soup with a soup mix that I've had for many months now. I ate some on the day I made it, and that's about it. Now, I have a big pot of soup in the refrigerator that will eventually spoil if I don't eat it (it would seem that there is a running theme here). I even wrote on the refrigerator door to eat more soup. I know it's too hot for soup, but I needed a fiber-rich food with fiber-rich ingredients I don't eat a lot of, and this soup mix counted. Now that I've written this here, I can commit to eating the soup.
3. Come Up with a New Goal and Action Plan - This one isn't too little, but I am almost done with my goal of preparing the Stirring Media website for the direction change and the upcoming networking event. I have a few more days of actions and then it's all done. I have no idea of what my next goal is going to be, let alone how to get there, so I need to think about that as I wrap up my current project. I could go for another goal with Gateway Grounds, but I do want to think about it and see what needs to be accomplished first before making a decision on a direction.
4. Purchase New Business Cards - I've been needing to do this since the beginning of the year because I changed addresses, and I admit that I've been putting it off because I don't like the idea of throwing away several hundred business cards. Now that I could use them as cards for my inferno of productivity game, I can now purchase new business cards. This is also crucial toward preparing the business for the networking event, so I also have that as additional pressure and incentive to get this done.
5. Revise Marketing Plan - Haven't looked at it in a while. Revising it could help me come up with a new goal or action plan. I can't think of anything coming up, which is another reason why it needs another look. For all I know, I could have a few things listed to go for. Also, if I don't have anything coming up, I can set a few more milestones since more things are in place and I can think about taking things to the next level instead of worrying about creating a strong foundation.

Now, what I need to do is turn these tasks into points and set them aside over the next several days. That's doable. I expect to get paid over the next week, so things should turn out fine.

5 Top Priorities in Life Right Now

For today's SuperBetter quest, I am to list the three to five top priorities in my life right now. There are things that, today, are the most important to me in the world. So, I'm doing that, and here are my top five life priorities right now, in no particular order.

My Business

This is a top priority (and the top time suck) in my life right now, if not the number one priority. Every day, I am doing one thing to continue moving Stirring Media into the direction of a digital media company. I finally ordered a few roasts from my affiliate partners yesterday, so once those come in and are reviewed, I can finally open up that avenue for income. My goal is to be ready for August 22. There's an amazing networking event happening that night, and I've already bought my ticket, so my plan is to make that the first night that I network and present Stirring Media in person as a digital media company.

Eating Healthy

Naturally, this is a huge priority right now since I am doing my daily quests to get better at eating healthier and to knock two things off of my life goals/bucket list. I am currently focusing on abstaining from eating out for an entire month (eating out includes restaurants and fast food as well as frozen dinners. It does not include buying a coffee). I am a week into that one and still going strong. I have tons of food ready to be made into meals, and it's going to be delicious and exciting. Once this month is over, I'm going to then focus on going vegan for an entire year. Part of the reason why I didn't commit to both at the same time is that I needed to eat all sorts of meat and dairy products that were already in the house. Since they will be gone by the time the month is over, going vegan will be easier and I won't have to waste food to do it.

Human Rights Activism

Twice a month, I meet with the St. Louis Amnesty International chapter to plan events, to write letters on issues, and to build awareness for human rights issues. Three times a week, I write a blog post for the chapter's blog covering chapter activities, the latest human rights news, and tips and tricks on how other human rights activists can be more effective activists. I am also currently reading the book Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor (It's a good read, but not an easy one). My human rights activism is my way of helping others and giving back to the community. It also can be very marginalized and stigmatized work, which means that it's work that needs to be done but that few people want to take the initiative to do.

Poker

Poker is a definite life priority, as once I finish my current goals in SuperBetter I'm going to set a few quests, bad guys, and power ups to help me get better at poker and to commit to building my bankroll. Once I finish the healthy eating bucket list goals, I'm going to work on the poker ones on the list. I think these goals will take the longest and the most work to accomplish, as no one gets to play in Bobby's Room or win a World Series of Poker bracelet over night. That level of skill takes a lot of time and discipline.

Reading Books

I'm making it a point to finish my summer reading list and to continue reading books on topics that interest me. It's been a LONG time since I've read for fun regularly. I am pushing myself to finish Pathologies of Power, since it is a long book that's very dense and somewhat long-winded. The content is interesting, but the book is designed to be a college textbook and not a good old non-fiction book that you can get through in a few days. I have tons of books waiting for me, and I'm pushing myself to get through this book so I can read all my other books. There are so many things I need to learn!

Bonus Priority: Playing Rogue Legacy!

As I've been saying this whole week, I finally purchased Rogue Legacy today! I redeemed my points and was able to get it, as well as The Cave and the Grand Theft Auto pack. I was able to get three games instead of two (well seven games instead of five since the pack came with five games) because the pack had an additional discount today on Steam. This made enough room in the budget for one more game. I have enough gaming to last me the rest of the year. So, I'm going to get to work on that gaming and play more Rogue Legacy!

Anyone Know Anything About this Wiki Stuff?

Last night, I was looking at the Rogue Legacy Wiki and the Plants Vs. Zombies 2 Wiki when I wondered if there were some awesome wikis on things other than video games. Are there wikis on politics and/or current events, so that it's a lot easier to keep up with what's happening, to sort fact from fiction, and to learn the back story behind what's happening? Are there some good wikis on business and/or marketing topics, so there's something neutral and definitive on how marketing is changing and how to use those marketing tactics effectively? I did a little bit of research, and I didn't find much at all. Most of the wikis are about video games, TV shows, movie franchises, and other pop culture things. Although, the coffee wiki only has over 284 pages. It could use a lot more.

I Want to Create Wikis Now

I want to fill in all those gaps, but I have no idea how! It's one of those things where the idea is lofty and complicated, so it needs to be boiled down. It needs to be taken one page at a time. What you probably have to do is come up with your Wiki topic, and then come up with the first 20 pages that you are going to create. As my former business coach suggested, what you have to do is make it incredibly simple. Boil the idea down into 10 action steps, and then it's not so difficult and overwhelming.

I also want to become one of those editors/contributors to Wikipedia. There's the Wikiproject Globalization that needs lots of help. If anyone needs a resume boost and wants to position themselves as having expertise as well as great communication skills, then I think becoming a Wikipedia contributor and/or part of Wikipedia project is a good idea.

Has anyone tried to do the wiki about wikis? It would be a wikiwiki :)

Full of Ideas

My fiance told me today that I am full of ideas and that I am difficult to pin down because I am very creative person who just shoot from one idea to the next. My former business coach would agree with this statement, except that she would push me to choose just one idea and to stick with that. This is very practical advice, and its advice I'm struggling to follow as I commit to the coffee review site and turning that into something special. My fiance says that because I am a lateral thinker, choosing one idea and sticking with it is nearly impossible. It's almost always going to be five ideas going at once. I wish there was a way I could just do everything in the whole wide world and help the world and all that good stuff. I wish I could do all the things that I wanted so I wouldn't have to choose; I could do it all while doing what suits my fancy.

I Looked Up Lateral Thinking

And this is what I found on the Wikipedia page:

Random Entry Idea Generating Tool: The thinker chooses an object at random, or a noun from a dictionary, and associates it with the area they are thinking about. For example, if they are thinking about how to improve a website, an object chosen at random from the environment around them might be a fax machine. A fax machine transmits images over the phone to paper. Fax machines are becoming rare. People send faxes directly to phone numbers. Perhaps this could suggest a new way to embed the website's content in emails and other sites.

Does anyone if this random entry idea generating tool exists somewhere (I Googled the search term "random entry idea generating tool and just go more about the idea and about the Edward de Bono guy)? Is there a website where I can type in my problem, and then it gives me a random item, and then I can come up with a solution based on that item? That would be so cool and if this website exists, then it would be the coolest tool ever. Is there a way I can make it if it doesn't already exist?

I also like the idea of solving global problems with fax machines. Is there a way to send faxes to a mobile number? You know, kind of like a text except you can fax a document, photo, or something larger? This might be very helpful in developing nations, where many people might have mobile phone access, but those mobile phones aren't necessarily smart phones. This method could also circumvent the need to connect to the Internet, where sending something via email or posting it online could still be difficult to access in developing nations, whether it's accessed with a smart phone or a computer (because Internet connection isn't as consistent and/or prevalent).