Zemanta Related Posts Plugin — It’s Alive!

Image via CrunchBase

I felt bereft about the sudden removal of the Zemanta related content (images/text) plugin from WordPress on January 2, 2014. Hunting for (and crediting) images took 20 minutes (compared to a minute before with this handy little tool). Appending Related Articles to blogposts — now that was completely impossible.

I was quite inconsolable (almost as if I had lost a beloved pet). After extensive poking around in the WordPress forums, I discovered that Zemanta still does exist, albeit in

When I Hit the [Like] Button

gimme five!

A personal guide to de-mystifying my use of the WordPress Like, Reblog, Share and Follow buttons. I use these buttons, not because I am trying to gather followers, ramp up the hits for my own blog, get likes for my own posts, for any other kind of quid pro quo relationship, or even a twisted Pavlovian desire for validation. I am curious, and I enjoy what you blog about, for the pure and simple sake of enjoyment. There are no strings attached–as altruistic and syrupy as that may sound.

New Blogging Disorders and Diseases

going where language has never gone

The popularity of blogging as a means to convey thoughts, opinions and information to various online audiences has given rise to a new breed of concurrent symptoms and disorders. These include, in descending order of importance and severity:

• Bloggitis: the uncontrollable urge to make one’s thoughts and opinions known online.
• Widgetphilia: love of using as many widgets as one can stuff on one’s blog.
• Themelexia: the inability to select the correct theme for one’s blog.
• Post Post Analysis Complex: the need to analyze (and edit) publicized posts to perfection.
• Communityosis: the obsessive desire to have as many followers as possible for one’s blog.
• Feedback Fever (aka Replybitis): the need to constantly have responses from the readers.
• Draftophobia: fear of the Save Draft button (often associated with Writer’s Block).
• Statliococci: the bacteria-driven compulsion to ramp up total blog hits quickly.

Those seriously contemplating a career in blogging should be aware of the potential health pitfalls outlined above. Those already doomed to a life of blogging should seek professional help as soon as possible. No known cures exist, but treatments are possible to lessen the extent of sufferers.