Flickr: online photo web sharing and photo blogging

Ok, everyone here probably notices I try to stick with one place, Google. That makes it easier for you to log in once, and do all those nifty things Google has for you. Here's an opportunity to see how there are other ways to do things (other than Google's Picasa for example) that has other benefits.

With their easy interface, you can add notes, send to multiple friends at the same time, blog, view in different file sizes and order prints. If someone has a slow Internet connection, it's always kind not to send them 3 Megabyte files, but to let them view and/or download it at the size they want it. You can even edit photos online. So no installing! Great stuff for computers where you can't install programs.

Watch their awesome home page, so you can connect with others.

It even interfaces with Facebook. If you prefer, you can even blog on an any external blog provider of your choice.

What is Flickr?

Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Let us show you why!

Flickr is a way to get your photos and videos to the people who matter to you. And since basic accounts are free, there's no reason not to explore further...

Upload: Upload from your desktop, send by email, or use your camera-phone. Edit: Get rid of red eye, crop a photo, or get creative with fonts and effects! Organize: Use collections, sets, and tags to organize your photos and videos. Share: Use groups and privacy controls to share your photos and videos.

Maps: Share where your photos and videos were taken, and see photos and videos taken near you. Make Stuff: Cards, photo books, framed prints, Target pick up, DVDs, etc. Keep in Touch: Get updates from family and friends. Start the Magical Feature Tour »

Which one is better? It depends on what do you need. They both are initially free. Google's Picasa gets you up quickly by not restricting bandwidth, but at 1 gigabyte only, it's easily used up if you snap casually or with large enough pictures. See, that's where Flickr takes over with always unlimited storage space, but (with the free account) you can only upload 100 Megabytes of pictures a month, which is about 50 large pictures.

If you compare their paid programs above, you'll see that the unlimited Flickr is a much better deal with both unlimited uploads and unlimited bandwidth. It's clear Google's plan is tempt you away from competitors with a free (I admit incredible!) program, Picasa... but then in time, you'll be hooked, and pay the tiered subscription fees.

So my personal solution for now, for a free yet powerful system, is to upload to Flickr. Once an awesome program can upload (and preferably sync like Picasa does) to Flickr, it will become my online backup for all my pictures and videos. New places are popping up all the time. Please comment after this article if you have a preferred system for photos online, photo blogging, sharing, and/or backup.