Curated Collection and Daily Updates

Look What Aiden Found Today — Episode #55

Favorite stories I read plus community-nominated pieces tailored for avid readers of ILLUMINATION Publications on Medium

Two days ago, I wrote this story, which is my hobby/profession. That was the only proper story I was able to write in this busy month. Gratefully, the story received many lovely comments, but I couldn’t get a chance to respond to them. I will tomorrow. Thank you for the sentiments of those loyal readers.

I drafted and planned to share boosted stories from ILLUMINATION-Curated tomorrow, hopefully, as we had many this month. I am excited to complete 55 collections as of today. It energizes me. Please consider sharing lists on your socials, so we bring more readers to Medium.

Every share can increase our collective chance. Please don’t underestimate the power of your shares. The goal of my collections is to increase reading times for these stories. So please choose a few pieces that are interesting to you and support these writers.

You may also check out the recent collection of Mike Broadly, DHSc, an avid reader and a proud FoM contributing to the earnings of our writers.

Our editors and curators also explained how we promote non-boosted stories, which are more than 99%, so I take a significant role in this process to create visibility for such stories. Thanks, everyone, for the support that keeps me trucking on this fabulous journey.

Today, I was busy as it was the last public holiday in Australia. I helped with onboarding around 100 new writers, so I was able to find around 60 great pieces and listed them.

As I grappled with the hedonistic treadmill pursuing money and fame, which eventually led to burnout, Dr. Yildiz’s new story deeply resonated with me. It offers valuable insights that can shift perspectives on material possessions and money, perhaps even making it easier to integrate money effortlessly into our lives.

The cloning machine struck again, attempting to cast its shady duplicates in my blockbuster movie. But let me make it clear — even if they get down on their knees and beg, these scammers won’t be snagging a role in my soon-to-be award-winning cinematic masterpiece. Nice try, cloning contraption, but this director’s chair is reserved for the legit and hilarious, not the fraudulent and dubious. Yay, I Was Cloned Again but I Know the Scammer Will Kick the Bucket Soon.

The audacity of these scammers is off the charts — they’ve cloned Dr. Yildiz once more, spamming his impeccably crafted story on his mentor’s advice today.

I mean, really, how daft can they get? Trying to duplicate an account with badges belonging to an author known far and wide? It’s like they’re aiming for the gold medal in the Absurd Olympics. Do they seriously expect readers to buy into their comically misguided charade? The plot thickens, and so does the layer of absurdity!

I learned that scammers targeted Mike’s beautiful curated collections again after 5th time spamming all the readers pretending to be him. But this time, they used sophisticated methods that Mike revealed in a masterpiece. I think those scammers have no clue that Mike is a seasoned professional and will not allow them to win. That dubious writing club might kick the bucket soon. Battling Scams: My Heartfelt Struggle Against 5 Medium Attacks in a Week, Unveiling Their Latest Tricks

During our conversations, I gained a deeper understanding of Dr Yildiz’s challenges, and I hope those who sometimes take our volunteer service for granted read this story. Running these Medium publications is no walk in the park. I believe that it’s not all roses and rainbows in the editorial team.

As I curated these gems, I encountered numerous “aha” moments — some inducing fits of laughter, others coaxing tears, all painting my journey with vivid emotions. I’m excited to pass on these emotional roller coasters to you, hoping they’ll add a sprinkle of joy or even a smidgen of uncontrollable giggles to your day. Enjoy the ride.

I couldn’t write a story for the last few days, but reading and curating made me happy. I plan to write a piece this weekend. As you might have noticed, I reverted back to the previous style, as some readers believe subtitles and images make the stories more appealing. So, I traded off the size for reader preference. But if I read more stories, I plan to divide them into releases to keep the size reasonable. Today’s collection is a bit smaller, around 50.

I helped ILLUMINATION-Curators to create a new collection for our Reading Club. It is full of engaging stories.

ILLUMINATION editors created an important bulletin for increasing spam, scam, and bot accounts, contaminating the platform and causing grief to writers and readers. Please be careful as I was cloned and felt bad about it.

I read an interesting story from Dr Yildiz related to Mike’s story and his findings from the spammy topics pages. Rather than sharing his remarkable story on Medium, Dr Yildiz chose to publish it on NewsBreak because he got tired of spam affecting the performance of our stories. He explained the reasons in a post.

Those who missed my Vocal saga can read it from this link. But I highly recommend the story of Dr Yildiz as it is concerning for new writers like me trying to make Medium our home.

Our newsletter for Illumination informing our progress and plans was released on both Medium and on Substack earlier. I link both so you can share with your relevant audience. Sharing is a wonderful community trait.

ILLUMINATION-Curators compiled and published the collection of boosted stories from ILLUMINATION-Curated. I believe you will find amazing stories from that collection. It is a labor of love between writers, editors, nominators, and Medium curators to delight our readers.

Finally, yesterday, I wrote a short gaming story. If you are into Tetris, you may like this amazing news. A New World Record in NES Tetris Game: It Was Just Beaten By A 13-Year-Old

I also helped add many new writers. You may start exploring their content. ILLUMINATION editors guided them earlier to start writing for us. Announcement of New Writers for ILLUMINATION #30

December 2023 was an excellent month for me. In addition, a story near and dear to my heart got a boost. Many thanks for the comments on this story: Gaming, Fun, and Humor: The Lifelines That Rescued Me From Social Media’s Grip on My Life.

I recently self-curated my monthly stories for my loyal readers and as a sample for fellow writers. I look forward the same success this month so I keep working hard.

Here’s an interview with popular writer Tim Denning. You may enjoy what Tim said in this interesting interview. He is a source of inspiration for fellow writers and thousands of readers.

Last year, I wrote a story about Tim as part of an AI project. I believe you will love what AI thinks about Tim.

If you are an avid reader like me or Mike and can afford to consider upgrading your subscription by taking the plunge like many early adopters whom I introduced you to in this story.

ILLUMINATION editors interviewed Dr Yildiz on how Friends of Medium can share links on out tailored social media platforms. I tried them, and sharing these stories took only 10 minutes. I hope they bring many new readers to Medium. We all need to attract more readers to make this platform more vibrant and sustainable.

Please also check our strategic approach for 2024, which is aligned with Medium’s direction articulated by Dr Mehmet Yildiz, our chief editor.

He also mentioned that only 5% of his stories performed well in 2023 and other 95% hardly got any views.

Dr Yildiz also added many new writers during his holidays.

Announcement of New Writers for ILLUMINATION #31 ILLUMINATION

Daily List for Sharing — Volume 55

I volunteered to create a list of this collection. So you can easily share this collection on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, or Quora. You can find all our sharing platforms from this story link by Dr Yildiz.

Let’s all engage in this list and at least tweet it so that more readers can find these stories. It is the purpose of these curated lists. We appreciate your wonderful support for these writers who pour their hearts and souls into these stories to delight you. Here are the nominated stories from avid readers today.

Chosen Stories from ILLUMINATION Writers Today

As we mentioned before, “these stories are a combination of what I enjoyed and those which nominated by volunteering editors (also writers and readers) on this platform, so the stories in this collection reflect their collective tastes. As a publication, ILLUMINATION keeps a neutral position for all published stories, and it is impossible to feature over one million published stories. But we will do our best to amplify as many great stories as possible almost daily from now on based on the availability of our volunteers.”

Here are our wonderful and nominated stories today! I believe you will find something that will satisfy your reading needs.

Lithium Orotate: Why This Unique Molecule Might Save Lives Based on My Intense Research Dr Mehmet Yildiz

A New Scientific Link Between Smoking and ALS Mike Broadly, DHSc

A Philosophical Dialectic with Spinoza’s God Daniel Lehewych, M.A

The Best Advice for How to Win on the Internet (If You’re Ordinary) Tim Denning

Don’t Be Weevil Moshe Sipper, Ph.D.

The Panama City Paradox Brooke Lewis, M.Ed.

An Exceptional Story on Privacy Every Reader May Find Helpful ILLUMINATION-Curators

A Vital and Overlooked Issue in Abortion Debate Rebecca Romanelli

A Baptist and a Muslim — Mississippi Folk Artist Ethel Wright Mohamed’s Marriage Defied Old South… Deborah Camp

Stress: The Way We Work is Not Working Thomas Oppong

The Horse’s Night Out David Pahor

What Can We Expect as the New Year Arrives? Debbie's Reflection

How Would We Ever Survive Without Music? Raveen

Expectations: A Harbinger of Hatred. Chapter 4 Dmitry Potylitsyn

Five Tiny Habits That Will Raise Your Credibility Ngozi Anna Akunne

Electric Ev’s — The Problem @Quill Adventurer

7 Common Dreams About Your Crush And What They Actually Mean 2bebetter

Your Calculation of the Big Picture Ally Evergreen

How to Recover from Career Setbacks (Even if the Setback is Your Decision) Anna Burgess Yang

Coffee — is this dreamy drink good for my health? Anna Salazar

Weekly Haiku Roundup #004 Aswath

Vitamin B12 Deficiency Rises, Concerning Me As It Was My Big Problem Dr Mehmet Yildiz

Orca Rye Bear Kosik

From Procrastination to Productivity: What It Taught Me About Time Management Bryce G.

Parents Shouldn’t Be Made To Feel Bad If Their Homes Are Untidy! Carol Townend

Filipina Entrepreneurs Reshaping Tech Charlene Ann Mildred

Studies Show Racism Causes Black People’s Bodies and Brains To Age Faster Charles Amemiya

Euphonic Resonance Chinmay Kumar Choudhury

The Icelandic Mafia Chris Dungan

You Don’t Have to Hustle IRL to Get Opportunities Anymore Christie Sausa

Who Goes First James Boylan

The day I Confirmed How Good A Braider I am: Create Spirituality

Why You Need to Check Your Mirrors! Damian Bacchoo

What Are The Different Phases of My Career Development From An Employee to A Business Owner Daniel Ng

Understanding and Supporting Loved Ones with Delusions: A Brief Guide Daniel Sullivan

Creative or Analytical? Do We Have To Pick Just One? DeryaSefer

How To Make Friends: The Difference Between Friends and Pals Eduardo Ramirez

Chop Wood; Carry Water Edward

Liz Cheney Is Not Afraid Of Speaking Out Floyd Mori

What If Our Phones Could Talk Back to Us — ON THEIR OWN?!? Gary David Flamberg

Manipulation, The Third Wave Experiment. Ghani Hussain

Nepotism Gurmohit Randhawa

Operation Lone Star izzibella Beau

From Dreamer to Creator: 5 Tips to Help You Succeed in Digital Economy Jerry Keszka

Her Son Saw Her in the Shower, and The Sky Was Falling Down Mike Broadly, DHSc

Dr. Kien Vuu’s 10-Minute Morning Routine for Stress Reduction and Improved Focus Joellyn Rose Keener

Stop Sleeping On This 1 System That Will Give You God-tier Discipline Joy

Gum Trees: Bane and Glory. Dr John Frederick Rose

Life is a dance: Show off your moves Kate Furtado

My Old Diet was Idiotic. My New Diet is Wise — Part 1 Kevin Hamill

How I Will Eat More Vegetables in 2024 (I Hate Them) Liu Xing

Important Conversations Before Relationships. Lover girl

Byron Donalds Debunks DA Fani Willis’ Claims of Racial Bias in The Escalating Accusations Against… Kurt Dillon

Why Your Team Might Prefer a Robot Over You: Avoid These 10 Mistakes MAGDALENA PONURSKA

Why Is Everyone So Obsessed With The Gym?! Mark Wadsley

Coming To Terms With Life’s And Love’s Complicated Eddies Michael Holford

Fixing Your Busy Calendar Michael Lumpp

How to Achieve the 4-hour Work Day: 3 Proven Strategies for Mastering Organization with Remote Work Michelle Murphy

Don’t Get Duped by Psychic Hotline Scammers on LinkedIn: Stay Vigilant Miriam Rachel

Mismatched Steps Msfireballsmom

How to Write Top Blog Articles Naouress Akrouti⭐

5 Books That Will Set Your Mind Straight And Help You Start 2024 With A Bang! Nikola Maharajh

Here’s The Odd Way Growing Up Cult-Adjacent Helped Me Ossiana Tepfenhart

How to Boost the ‘Cuddle Hormone’ When You’re Alone Pala Najana

This Is *also* How Job Interviews Can Go Wrong Pallavi Goswami

La Progression Rae Lynn Sommers

Making a $1000/Month Side Hustle Online Raihan

Why You Should Stop Setting Goals and Start Thinking Like a King Ram Mo

Beware “Facebook Memories”: It Can Wreck Your Day Ryan Canady

How I Started My First Online Business: Skailex.com Serhii Kucherenko

Look At Yourself In The Mirror Sowmini

Learn How To Overcome Laziness With These Two Proven Steps Sufyan Maan, M.Eng

Why you need friends now, more than ever before Swathi Rao

Being a Mindful Dad, The Greatness of Fatherhood Tarek Rakhiess

2024 and The 555 The 555

Thinker or Feeder? The Banyan Tree by Nadeesha Emaduwa

Freedom from Fear Through Rational Thought and Acceptance The Blues And Some Thoughts

I chose these 3 platforms to generate traffic to my Medium page. The Lion the Bunny and the Bear

My Addiction to Cigarettes and My Plan to Stop Thomas Morison

Walking The Scottish Highlands Tom Kane

The dominoes of darkness that cause people to quit anything Vince Mao

Personal Growth Strategies: Stages of Change Wayne Stelk, PhD

Why You Don’t Need To Be Disciplined Every Single Day Of Your Life 24/7 William

Sunday Morning Willow Schroeder

Queer Organisms: Nature’s Lesson for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality Dr Mehmet Yildiz

Thank you for reading these beautiful stories.

Quick Updates for Highlights of Our Pubs

ILLUMINATION-Curators introduced some recently boosted stories. I believe you will find some great stories in that collection. Collection of Boosted Stories from ILLUMINATION Publications — V2

By upgrading his main profile, Dr Yildiz inspired our readers to become Medium Friends. I hope many readers join this inspiring journey. Celebrating My Reading Anniversary with My Upgraded Subscription to New Medium Friendship

Boost Education:

I’ve launched a new series to help writers hit the literary stratosphere. Dr. Yildiz got the grand opening gig because I’ve got the scoop on his stellar stories. Now that I’m peeking behind the scenes as an editor and boost nominator, I’m trying to put as many writers in the spotlight as possible. Your thoughts on the story would be cosmic — let’s team up and make these tales shine like stars! I will do it for every boosted writer as soon as I get a chance. Here is Episode 2 introducing boosted stories of Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D. Lessons Learned from Boosted Stories — Episode #2 and Lessons Learned from Boosted Stories — Episode #1. You can learn more about Matt’s background from this interview. An Interview with Matt Williams-Spooner, Ph.D.

Recently, I added several new writers. I look forward to seeing their stories in these collections soon. You can meet them from the attached post. I also added their profiles at the end of this post so you can follow them easily if you want to. I will add more writers later today. There are many applicants. Announcement of New Writers for ILLUMINATION #28 and #27

For new readers and writers, I have also joined the ranks as a Friend of Medium (FoM). From now on, stories I read from other writers will earn them four times the previous ones. Details are in the attached story. I Took the Plunge and Became a Friend of Medium (FoM) Yesterday.

Dr Yildiz also wrote about it to invite our readers to become Medium Friends and support our writers. The more FoMs the merrier. Importance and Value of Medium Friendship for Writers and Readers

But scammers spammed his beautiful story and tried to deceive our readers. Here’s his sad and important story: every writer and reader needs to understand and act cautiously. They act too realistically! Scam and Spam Accounts on Medium Are As Bad As Hate Speech and Defamation for Writers

They did the same thing to me. For those who missed the excitement, two days ago, I was happy the scary scam account that emulated my profile and tried to deceive my readers was removed. Those who missed the drama can read it from this link. Breaking News: My Clone Kicked the Bucket, and I’m Gleefully Celebrating It🎉

How to Identify Them? These fraudulent accounts typically lack followers and haven’t authored any stories themselves. They are non-members with no star or heart icons in their profile names. Urgent Notice: Beware of Fake Accounts Impersonating Influential Writers

If you are into gaming, I also wrote about winners of 2023 for popular games. I will introduce some of those games in my forthcoming stories for game lovers. The Winners of The Game Awards 2023 Have Been Announced

Talking of gaming, if you plan to craft stories about these remarkable games, consider submitting them to my publication, ILLUMINATION-Gaming. I’m here to elevate your narratives, ensuring they stand out and increasing their chances of a boost. I wrote about my goals and how I can help our writers in a story titled ILLUMINATION Gaming Is Part of the Boost Program Now.

To inform new writers, our special publication, ILLUMINATION-Curated, now is a boost nominating pub You may learn about How ILLUMINATION Publications Support the BOOST Program.

I’ve bundled up all my lists into one tidy little story. It is a treasure trove of fantastic reads waiting for you. Please consider sharing the love on your socials and dive into these gems! You won’t regret it.

Shareable List Links for Curated Collections on ILLUMINATION

Dr Mehmet Yildiz introduced a writing duo known as Pernoste & Dahl. You will love this introduction as he reveals the mystery behind these interesting writers who writes inspiring and engaing content on Medium.

Meet Pernoste and Dahl: A Writing Duo of a Neuroscientist and an Artist

ILLUMINATION editors introduced a great writer, Somil Gupta. I hope you check his profile and explore his delicious stories. Meet Somil Gupta on Medium

Our team of volunteers is working through the influx of stories, aiming to review and publish each piece while welcoming new writers into our fold. It’s a labor of love that demands time and effort. Please remember that we support 25K+ writers, as mentioned in our Monthly Updates.

If you missed this recent interview featuring Luay Rahil, here is a link for you. His stories can nicely surprise you. An Interview with Luay Rahil, MBA

For those who missed my Vocal saga, here is the link. I hope new writers don’t make the same mistake I made for 18 months. Here’s How I Miserably Failed Vocal Media But Have No Regrets

ILLUMINATION-Curators compiled boosted stories in December, so you might find some fascinating stories from this collection. I also chose to publish this collection on ILLUMINATION-Curated as our readers enjoy curated collections. Here is their treasure trove: Collection of Boosted Stories from ILLUMINATION-Curated

ILLUMINATION-Curators wrote about that exceptional story. I hope you will get a chance to read it and pay attention to your privacy. An Exceptional Story on Privacy Every Reader May Find Helpful

Our chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz, upgraded our publication accounts ILLUMINATION and ILLUMINATION-Curators, as well as his tech account Dr Mehmet Yildiz (Tech), making them Friends of Medium. Reading from these accounts will allow writers to earn four times more. While curating stories, we read many stories from these accounts, so it will be great for writers. Details are in his story by Dr Mehmet Yildiz (Tech): Why I Became a Friend of Medium

Our senior editor Mike Broadly, DHSc joined the curation team and created new collections from his favorite stories that you may adore. He has amazing taste as an avid reader and has already created seven collections in such a short time. I loved his new collection earlier today.

Mike’s Favorite Stories on ILLUMINATION Publications — #17 Mike Broadly, DHSc

Please find his collections with the associated lists and share them on your socials so we can bring more readers to Medium. Here are links to Mike’s collections: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16

Our supportive editor, famous nutritionist, Elin Melaas, created her second collection earlier. Elin also created the Invisible Series. Elin’s Chosen ILLUMINATION Stories — #2

And our lovely editor Surekha Chandrasekhar also created a collection of her delicious pub ILLUMINATION’s Nutrition which is also our virtual kitchen. 20 Curated Stories From Illumination’s Nutrition -2023

ILLUMINATION editors introduced some great writers. You may check out their profiles and explore their fabulous stories.

Meet Seda Anbarcı, Meet Dr Emmanuel Ogamdi, Meet Jozsef Kovacs, Meet Davor Katusic. Meet Thomas Allen Moon, Meet Sneha Nagre, Meet Zondra Dos Anjos, Meet Ani Vals Meet Ammara Hassan. Meet Sridhar Pai Tonse — Leadgen Coach- Tech Startups Chosen Stories from Omni Essence, Editorial Profile of InYah

Our editors enjoy stories and nominate them for these curated collections. You may check editor profiles in this collection.

I love reading writer biographies and curating them. If you write any bio story please let me know so I can add them to my collection. Meet ILLUMINATION Writers from Their Personally Penned Biographies

Dr Mehmet Yildiz reviewed an interesting book of Dr Emmanuel Ogamdi. If you are a book author, you may contact Dr Yildiz as he really does great reviews. He even wrote the foreword of my gaming book. Here is his great review today. “Nobody Will Tell You This”

As mentioned a few weeks ago, I created a Discord server for our writers to collaborate and share their story links, so you are all welcome to join. We already have great fun there. It is not as big as our Slack, but it will be one day, as Discord is a lot of fun.

Introduction to New Writers

Now, let’s welcome the new writers who joined us yesterday. Please explore their stories and they resonate with you may connect with them. This is a great opportunity for writers and readers to meet. I followed all of them today as yesterday I couldn’t follow more than 150 profiles.

A Special Welcome to New Writers on New Year’s Day from the Chief Editor

A Special Welcome to New Writers on Christmas Day from the Chief Editor

You may also check previously joined writers in the last two weeks from the attached onboarding packs. You never know who to meet.

Announcement of New Writers for ILLUMINATION #28

Announcement of New Writers for ILLUMINATION #27

Here is our onboarding pack covering everything you need to know.

New writers, when you need help please don’t hesitate to contact me on Slack workspace or Discord server. I introduce these services below.

I also enjoy introducing writers on YouTube. So if you are interested you may contact me on Slack or Discord.

Here is some info about Slack and Discords

About Me

I write articles in my field covering gaming, film-making, social media, and design. I am also a YouTuber. Thank you for subscribing to my account to get notifications when I post on Medium. I created a new website to share my content for free and promote stories of writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I also have a Substack newsletter. Let’s connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.

I own two publications on Medium. One for video gamers and another for YouTubers and Podcasters. I also support Illumination Integrated Publications as a volunteer editor and participate in collaborative activities in the Slack Workspace.

Writer applications for my publications can be sent via this weblink. Please add your Medium ID. I also enjoy email marketing using Cliqly, which is my affiliate link.