Building a Web Directory with WordPress

You can use WordPress plugins to create your own web directory. There are premium plugins and themes, or you can try the free plugins. Expect to do some work, making some changes to HTML and CSS code and work with an FTP program. If you can’t (or won’t) do the extra work then look at the premium options instead. However, if your plan is to make money with a web directory aren’t you smarter to use free options and do some of the work yourself? Note: I do pay for software and themes and even the odd plugin, but I prefer to give business to the open source and free software as often as I can.

Link Library is the plugin I have been using longest. You can work with the links you already have in your WordPress blogroll. Take a look at the information given for setting it up. It is fairly simple and most of the work is just done inside WordPress itself. Pretty simple.

Open Links Directory is the one I’m looking at and thinking I will start with for a new directory I’ve been wanting to sort out and get active. See the demo. I’ve done the install but I’ve got a bug to work out with FTP. Your own install may be bug-free. Other than a small bug, it looks great and I’m impressed.

WP Link Dir looks interesting and they say it works with pages on WordPress instead of posts. So that could leave you with the ability to run posts as a regular blog with the directory in the background, or as a feature. I’m only hesitant to download this one because they want to gather your email address first. (I don’t like having my email address harvested for spammers).

Outdated, possibly forgotten plugins which you can still find to give a try:

Article Directory is an interesting plugin to try. You can read the FAQ and find the plugin (and a theme) on the site which also acts as a demo for the plugin.

Web Directory WordPress plugin has not been updated for years so it is use at your own risk. But, you can find more information for using and installing it on the site (the download link there is broken).

WordPress Link Directory is outdated but available. The link to the site from WordPress is broken but I found it myself.

What Can you do with an Old Film Camera?

I still have my 35mm (analogue) camera from college. I began using it about 20 years ago. It was a big purchase at the time, my Mother helped me pay for it when I was starting college and needed the camera for the Photography part of Corporate Communications at Centennial College (Warden Woods campus, which is now gone).

I can remember the teacher in the class talking about the future of film and photography. Computers were still pretty new then. Most offices had them for word processing but they were many years from being used in every home. The Internet existed, but almost no one knew anything about it. I can remember thinking how great it would be to have a camera which did not need film to be developed. The camera itself had been expensive but it was the cost of developing film and buying more film which was really making it hard to keep from falling behind in the class work.

Even though I have not used that old film camera for many years, I can’t quite let it go. I still have it in the case with the Canadian flag decorated camera strap. I could re-use the old strap for my new bigger digital camera but that just seems so wrong. Like deconstructing an old friend. I did let go of my old photography text book a few years ago. But that is as far as I have gotten to leaving behind the age of film.

What can you do with an old film camera, assuming you get the point where you can let it go?

There are a few people who still use the old film cameras? You could look for them (groups of them) and see if your camera is collectible or worth saving for posterity.

You may find a charity which will take them and be able to find people who will still use them. Or, an artist who wants to work with retro or vintage cameras.

Look for ways to repurpose them. Can parts be salvaged for other projects or for use with your new digital cameras? A repurposed camera could be an interesting steampunk project.

Curating Cuteness: Building an Affordable Camera Collection for the Analog Enthusiast

Toronto Star: A Nerd’s World reclaims beguiling visions of our lives from old cameras

Atomic Vision: The Pleasure of Collecting Old Cameras

Camera Mods – Take a vintage film camera that no longer works and convert it to digital.

Web (Online) Games for Writers

Games of Destruction Inspire Me to Write

I admit I’m a procrastinating web writer. There should be a club or group for us – but we’d all be playing games or claim to be writing.

If I were all good and noble and proper, I’d play word games. Games that might put me in the writing mood, get me thinking along the lines of words and using those words to form sentences. Well, I do play some word games, you can’t take the words out of the writer, but I really enjoy city building sort of games. I like the type of games where you can build things up and then destroy them on a whim. It’s the evil in me.

Of course, some of the games I especially like are all about destruction, right from the start you begin as the destroyer. I haven’t analyzed why I like these games, it’s better not to know I think.

Online Word Games

PopCap Games | Bookworm
Sight Word Games
The Best Word Games
Word Puzzles to Work Your Mind
Alternatives to Facebook Games that Really are Fun and Free to Play Online
Free web games to play online instead of Facebook games.

Online Scrabble Games

Scrabble
Free Scrabble Online
Words For Scrabble

Introducing… The Games of Destruction and Zombies

The following are my favourite games of online destruction. They are simple to play as far as the actual game play. You don’t need to jump around the screen or use a lot of keys to create the action. These games happen in your own mind – these are games you have to think about.

Infectionator is deceptively simple. You need some planning to get a great score.Or you can play without caring about your score – it’s fun that way too.

Pandemic

Pandemic – on Kongregate
Pandemic 2 – on Kongregate
Pandemic: Extinction of Man – on Kongregate
How To Lower Visibility in Pandemic 2
How to Beat Pandemic 2 (II)

Rebuild

Infectionator

Is it Easy to Forgive and Forget?

You need to have a reason to forgive someone before you can start to change your feelings, to forgive them. It doesn’t happen just because someone asks to be forgiven. Sometimes just wanting to keep someone in your life in even a small way, is motivation to begin to forgive them. But, a relationship based on one person constantly forgiving someone just to keep them around is a really poor relationship to be in.

I don’t think anyone should be pressured to forgive. Some actions taken and words spoken can not ever be undone or forgotten. I’m careful about giving forgiveness I don’t genuinely feel. In this way I have also become someone who does forgive easily. Maybe that seems backwards but not every least thing is worth hanging onto. We are human, we make mistakes and some of them are pretty small and stupid. If you are going to hang onto hurt feelings it should be over something that actually matters. Not a case of holding onto your feelings because you are bitter but a case of not being able to get over your feelings because they just run too deeply and the hurt reaches into your heart and soul.

Forgiveness isn’t a one way street. The person has to ask to be forgiven, show some remorse/ regret, before the relationship can begin to change.

Some people don’t ask. They feel guilty or think they didn’t really do anything wrong or just aren’t interested in what the aftermath of their actions/ words will be. People think asking for forgiveness is too hard. They would have to make some effort, put themselves at risk, and possibly face rejection. However, how can anyone think to be forgiven if they take no steps at all to make amends?

It’s hard to feel you are the only person in the relationship, the only one trying to make it work. In the end, that just doesn’t work. I don’t think you ever really can forgive someone who doesn’t place value on being forgiven by you. I don’t mean they need to grovel or beg, nothing drastic or dramatic. I do mean, they should at least want to be forgiven and communicate that in some way. (Communication also being a two way street – it has to be given and understood).

They say it is easier to be the one who is doing the forgiving than to be the one asking for forgiveness. I don’t agree. It is much harder to be hurt and then heal from it. The person who hurt you may not care or may not know the extent of the hurt given and become annoyed because you don’t just let it go. I don’t think we should just let go of everything. There should be standards for living just as there are building codes in construction. Having a guide to the standards is what gives buildings their structure, keeps them from being unsafe. It should be the same in personal relationships. No one should be expected to forgive and if we can’t fully forgive that should not be made light of or used to make us feel guilty or less of a person.

Nine Steps to Forgiveness

Know exactly how you feel about what happened.
Make a commitment to yourself to do what you have to do to feel better.
Forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation with the person that hurt you, or condoning of their action.
Get the right perspective on what is happening.
At the moment you feel upset practice a simple stress management technique.
Give up expecting things from other people, or your life, that they do not choose to give you.
Put your energy into looking for another way to get your positive goals met.
Remember that a life well lived is your best revenge.
Amend your grievance story to remind you of the heroic choice to forgive.

Read the full list on Forgive for Good. (This is an edited bare bones version, the site has a lot more).

Thoughts About Forgiveness

“Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde

“When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.” – Catherine Ponder

“You can’t undo anything you’ve already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And then let God do the rest.” – unknown

“It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” – Grace Hopper

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” – Paul Boese

“Life is an adventure in forgiveness.” – Norman Cousins

“What we forgive too freely doesn’t stay forgiven.” – Mignon McLaughlin

“Without forgiveness life is governed by… an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.” – Roberto Assagioli

Could you be a Full-Time Lead Writer?

DashBurst – a social media magazine, design agency and technology startup – is looking to add a full-time writer to its staff.

Since launching our blog two months ago, DashBurst is now one of the top 50,000 sites on the web with a rapidly growing community of over 250,000 subscribers. DashBurst is a go-to source online for the latest in social media, business, marketing, technology, web culture, humor, art and design.

We’re looking for an experienced writer knowledgeable in these and similar fields. We feature breaking news as well as exciting videos, photos, guides, infographics, presentations and more. Take a look at our blog and topic categories to get a better idea of what DashBurst is about.

Caution: What you’re about to read is not for the faint of heart, and anyone who can’t handle this need not apply…

Do you write for some big time magazine? Good for you. You can stop here… We’re not looking to hire writers away from plush jobs, we’re trying to train new ones.

You’re required to work your ass off at this firm. 40+ hours/week writing 2 to 4 articles per day.

Working knowledge of English, WordPress, Photoshop, PowerPoint, HTML, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Pinterest, Apple, Android, Microsoft, Skype and other current technology is needed.

What you’ll get:

1) Ok, first three months at the firm are as a trainee. You will make $150 dollars/week.*
2) After that, if you pass the test of successfully running the blog on your own for a day, you will get a full-time offer to join DashBurst, salary commensurate with your experience, including equity in the company where the sky is the limit.
3) Every article you write for DashBurst will get massive exposure, building your portfolio and personal audience.