techTalk: Take it, share it

So you received a digital camera as a gift recently. Or you had the technological itch to buy one. In some way, you now have a digital device you use to keep your memories and loved ones close.

Yet what does a photo collection of your friends and family accomplish if you aren’t sharing it with your friends and family?

Perhaps Grandma couldn’t attend the Easter family reunion. Or Uncle Bob is still in Tahiti.

Since the Internet has effectively made the world a much smaller place, sharing memories and moments with those that care for you is very easy and convenient.

New online technologies, dubbed Web 2.0, have enabled users like you and me to use our Web browsers as tools instead of ordinary browsing software. Web 2.0 turns your browser into an application that can be used for word processing, playing games and even photo editing and sharing.

Flickr (flickr.com) is a very popular Web site aiming to help users organize and share images online. Many professional photographers and graphic designers hold Flickr accounts and include their Flickr address in their portfolios.

At Flickr, setting up an account is easy and painless. Once your account is set up you can begin effortlessly uploading and organizing your images in a matter of minutes.

Flickr enables you to set your collections to public (anyone can view them) or keep them private between those you trust who also have a Flickr account.

Flickr also has a large toolbox of image editing features. Basic tasks like red eye reduction, resizing, cropping and colorization are all free. To do more advanced editing, a fee is required.

New online is Adobe Photoshop Express (photoshopexpress.com). Photoshop Express is not to be confused with the popular Adobe Photoshop used for professional image manipulation and editing.

Much like Flickr, Photoshop Express allows users to post, organize and share image collections with as many or as few people they wish. Photoshop Express also features image editing tools on par with those found on Flickr or home software like iPhoto.

One way Photoshop Express separates itself from Flickr is with its slideshow feature. It looks pleasing and can easily be switched to full screen mode. There are also many different ways to animate slideshows thanks to Adobe’s execution of Web 2.0 technologies.

More commonly known Web sites, Myspace (myspace.com) and Facebook (facebook.com), take a more social networking approach to online communities and encourage meeting new people. These sites do allow users to share photos privately or publicly, but lack the tools and organizational features that help Flickr and Photoshop Express stand out.

It is exciting to watch the Internet evolve thanks to Web 2.0 technologies. Many of the tasks we perform or cannot perform due to lack of software on our home computers we will soon be able to do online. There are interesting new Web sites launching every day, and many of them can perform useful and creative tasks right from your browser window.