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Flickr vs. 500px and more: Why I Use 5 Photo Sharing Sites

Evan Kline — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:27:43 +0000

I’m an amateur hack when it comes to photography. I bought my first DSLR last year, and have been shooting away ever since. Thanks to having an amazing toddler at home to whom I gladly dedicate most of my free time, I haven’t had time to really get much better. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy it.

One of the first things I did after accumulating some photos was look into options for storing them online. If you’re like me, you quickly discovered that it really fuels your enthusiasm when you get input or even just acknowledgment concerning your photographs. As a result, the five online services in my current arsenal run the gamut from serving as mostly storage, to being replete with sharing and community options. Here’s my take on these services, along with links to my photographs. In the comments below, let me know your favorite services, and feel free to share links to your photographs.

1. The old standby: Flickr

For many people, Flickr is the default photo sharing and photo community site. Flickr lets you store and share your own photos, and also to view and comment on the photographs of other users. You can organize your photographs into sets and galleries, and change privacy and other settings on a very granular level.

I use Flickr for non-private photographs, such as landscape photos. I also weed out most of my photographs before uploading them to Flickr, unlike Picasa Web Albums, which I discuss below. I do have a Pro account, which gives me unlimited photo and video uploads, along with some other extra features. The Pro account cost me $24.95 for one year.

Flickr’s focus is on community. It’s easy to follow other users, comment on their photos, and “favorite” them. Flickr’s iOS app is quite beautiful, too.

You can find my photos on Flickr here.

2. The new kid on the block: 500px

If I’m somewhat selective about what I post on Flickr, I’m reeeeaallllly selective about what I upload to 500px. There are many great photographers there. In fact, I was a bit hesitant to upload anything there, since my stuff isn’t very good, and even a quick visit to the site will leave you dazzled with all sorts of great shots. I just recently bit the bullet, though, and was amazed by the feedback I received. I wasn’t deluged with comments, but I received more feedback than I receive on Flickr, on a much smaller number of photographs.

I think of 500px as a Flickr for the really passionate photographers. While it replicates some of what Flickr does, such as giving users the ability to comment on photos and mark them as favorites, it does so in a much more modern and elegant interface. I have a free account there, but I’m tempted to upgrade to the Awesome account to get unlimited uploads along with custom domain mapping (which would let me use my personal domain name with the site). There’s also a cheaper Plus account that gives you unlimited uploads, without the domain options.

You can find me here on 500px.

3. The obvious fad: Instagram

It’s probably a misnomer to call Instagram a photo storing service, but it certainly counts as a photo sharing service. You do need to upload photos from a device such as your smartphone, but it’s pretty easy to cheat these days. I often transfer a photo to my phone automatically using the Photo Stream built into OS X and iOS. I do this for a reason, though -after listening to an old photography podcast by Lisa Bettany on the TWiT network, I’m trying to upload one photo per day for a year to Instragram (and probably annoying my friends in the process), using the tag #mostly365. Some of those photos end up being very mundane, but the point is to get me at least thinking about photography every day.

I’ve also started following some very talented people, who are indirectly helping me to “see” when I get out my own camera. I look at Instagram as a “quick and dirty” service to get in and get out. There are many great photos to be found, but the focus is more on the social end of things.

You can find me on Instagram here.

4. The bulk locker: Picasa Web Albums / Google+

Google’s Picasa Web Albums, which has been pretty much assimilated into Google+, was the first service that I used. For many years prior to that, I hosted all my photos myself on my web host’s server. That got to be too cumbersome, and I knew that I would start to quickly fill up my space allotment.

I wanted to find a free or cheap service that could work fairly seamlessly with my family WordPress site. I found a great WordPress plugin, PWA+PHP, that displays Picasa albums right on my site, even if those albums are private (i.e. only accessible if you know the link). When my extended family visits the site, it looks to them like the photos are hosted right on my site, when in fact they are being pulled from Picasa. It requires no action on my part, aside from the initial setup of the plugin.

There are a few drawbacks to this approach for me. If I share a photo on Google+, it shows up on my private website. As a result, if you have a thing for sharing funny cat photos on Google+, then beware that those photos will end up on your site. The other drawback is that Picasa limits the size of the photographs you can upload, if you don’t want to pay extra. Those limitations are generous, though, as any photograph that doesn’t exceed 2048 pixels in width or height doesn’t count against your free 5 GB of storage. I simply resize my photos before uploading them. Apple’s Aperture makes it easy to resize an entire set of photos.

Whereas I use the other services discussed below to display all of my photos publicly, I primarily use Picasa / Google+ as a private repository. I do have a few public albums, which you can find here.

5. The king of the hill – Facebook

One service of which most people are already aware is Facebook, which is the king of photo sharing thanks to its massive user base. I figure that most of you are already familiar with Facebook, so I’m only going to mention it in passing. I primarily use Facebook to share photographs of family and friends. While I occasionally post landscape and other photographs there, I figure that my Facebook friends probably aren’t interested in that. I only use Facebook for private photos, so I don’t have a link to share (yes, I know that many of you are laughing that I use “Facebook” and “private” in the same sentence).

There are many other sites out there that I didn’t mention, such as Tumblr. What sites do you use?

Links

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Let Us Know Your Favorite iOS Apps, With Applr

Evan Kline — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 02:59:52 +0000

Are you like me – a bit of an iOS app addict? I’ve never found Apple’s App Store to be particularly helpful for discovering new apps. A recent tweet by Adam Christianson of the MacCast mentioned something called Applr, which I had never heard of. It turns out that Applr is a web app that helps you find new iOS apps, by following other people and seeing what they’re using. Other users can also follow you, to see your favorite apps.

I’ve only been using Applr for about a day now, but it’s worth checking out. When you sign up, you have to decide whether to give it your Apple ID credentials, so that it can keep your app list updated automatically. I decided against this, and instead have been going the manual route.

When you put your list of apps into the database, you can mark 20 of them as favorites (10 iPad and 10 iPhone), and recommend an unlimited number of them. You can also see what other users have input, and follow users. The site parses data, giving you info on the number of recommendations and favorites that an app has received.

If you want to follow me, I can be found on my page. Feel free to input your page link into the comments below, so others can check out what apps you use.

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How to Find Out When Google Updates Maps Imagery In Your Area

Evan Kline — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 12:19:43 +0000

The recent brouhaha over the iOS 6 maps app called attention to the strengths of Google Maps. One strong point of Google Maps is its satellite and aerial imagery. That imagery isn’t great everywhere, though. Some geographic areas have images that are less current than others, or that were taken at fairly low resolutions. If you want to be notified when images in a particular area are updated, there’s a website that will do just that.

Follow Your World is a site that lets you input a location, or multiple locations, and be notified when Google updates the satellite or aerial imaging in that location. The screenshot below should give you an idea as to how the app works.

You input an address, or a latitude and longitude, fine tune by dragging the map so your desired location is centered, and then click ‘Select Point.’ If you’re satisfied, click the ‘submit’ button.

The app allows you to submit multiple locations. There’s also a dashboard, from which you can delete locations that you no longer want to monitor.

Is this the type of service that you would use?

Follow Your World

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How Many Domain Names Do You Own? [Reader Feedback]

Evan Kline — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 01:00:00 +0000

You’re a pretty technical bunch. From some of the comments here, and also through getting to know some of you, it ‘s clear that many of you fall on the high end of the tech know-how spectrum. Years ago, only the most technical owned a domain name. Now, it’s a pretty common occurrence. How many domain names do you own, and what do you consider your level of technical expertise to be?

I checked my registrar’s dashboard, and was surprised to see that I own 20 domain names. 11 of those are in use, to one degree or another, while the remainder are either dormant, or forward to one of the other domains. For example, fortytech.com forwards to 40tech.com. Even among those in use, some are barely in use. I have one site that I use as a testing ground for 40Tech, another that was created for my wedding several years ago, and a couple for a gaming group that is no longer active. I also have my PlayerMatching site, which is a video game player scheduling and matching service that is functional, but still needs some polish and quite a bit of word of mouth.

So, let us know the answers to the following questions in the comments:

1. How many domain names do you own?

2. How many are active?

3. What is your level of technical expertise?

Photo from CLUC.

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Crowdsource Your Disputes With Side With Me

Evan Kline — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Our parents had Dear Abby; we have the hive mind of the Internet. When it comes to resolving arguments and disagreements, technology can play a role. Factual disagreements are easy to resolve – a quick Google search or a visit to WIkipedia can resolve most such disputes. But what about a disagreement that boils down to a matter of opinion? Side With Me is a web site that helps declare winners and losers in arguments that aren’t based solely on fact.

In Side With Me’s own words, “two people submit, and we publish, both sides of an argument and the Side With Me community votes for who has the better (more ‘right’) side.” In addition to posting a summery of each position, users must decide how many votes will be required for a winner to be declared. Voting for a side is a simple matter of clicking on your choice. Users can also leave comments on a post, which allows advice and opinions to be given.

Side With Me isn’t going to bring world peace, and there’s a part of it that seems to appeal to those who are insecure. Many of the posts are also of a very “gossipy” nature that could be off-putting to visitors. At worst, though, Side With Me can be entertaining. At best, it might help you resolve disputes.

Would you subject your disputes to the scrutiny of the Internet?

Side With Me

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Still Haven’t Filled Out Your March Madness Bracket? Let PickMyBracket.com Do It For You!

Bobby Travis — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:12:24 +0000

Today is the deadline for most NCAA March Madness brackets — the first game of the second round. If you’ve been invited to participate in a pool or some other sort of friendly competition, you need to get your college basketball stats together in a hurry. It’s a bit of a bear of a project though, isn’t it? Especially if you’re busy, don’t follow basketball like it’s your religion, or statistics make your eyes roll into the back of your head.

Not to worry , though… PickMyBracket.com has come to your rescue! It’s bracket generator algorithm will create a full bracket for you in seconds — and you might even win a “Brand New iPad,” to boot.

PickMyBracket.com was developed by Information Systems students Jerry Potter and Nick Walter at Brigham Young University. The site pulls statistical data on NCAA teams from ESPN and runs comparisons to pick a winner. To make sure everyone has their own bracket flavour, and to keep things interesting, there are random factors you can choose from, as well, such as hotness of coeds, partying reputation of colleges, SAT scores, mascot type, etc.

The idea actually originated with Walter’s father.

“For around the past 10 years he made an excel file that filled out your March Madness bracket for you based off of team’s ranks and some randomness. He called it ‘The Pickalator,’” said Walter. “I thought this would be a great chance to bring The Pickalator to the whole world!”

If you want to participate in this year’s March Madness bracket competitions, but figure you’re out of time or don’t have the know-how, think again! PickMyBracket.com can have you up and running with a good bracket in just a couple of minutes. Get on it now, so you don’t miss out. Who knows… you might win.

What are your thoughts on PickMyBracket.com?

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How to See Whether a Member of Congress’ Vote Might Have Been Bought

Evan Kline — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Sadly, we live during a time when the U.S. Congress has earned a much-deserved reputation for whoring itself out to the highest bidder. The latest committee hearings on SOPA heightened the average tech geek’s frustration with Congress, where a Congressional committee lined up several supporters of SOPA (the entertainment industry and the Chamber of Commerce, to name two of five), while only allowing the testimony of a Google representative on the other side. Does money play a role in this? While it is impossible to get inside the head of a congressperson, the money trail can be pretty damning in some instances. How do you easily check the money trail? MapLight can help.

MapLight is a website, run by a nonprofit organization, that tracks money and influence in the U.S. Congress, the California legislature, and the Wisconsin legislature. It does this by combining legislators’ voting records on bills, supporting and opposing interests for each bill, and campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics, the National Institute on Money in State Politics, and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

A look at the site’s “Protect IP” Act entry shows how the site works. The site will list basic information about a bill, such as a bill summary, the sponsor, and the bill’s status. The site then lists total contributions given to Senators from interest groups that support the bill, and oppose it. In this bill’s case, over $45 million dollars was given in contributions to elected officials by those who support the bill, and $26 million was given by those who oppose it. The contributors in favor of the bill include supporters of the pharmaceutical industry, the motion picture industry, and entertainment unions, among others. Supporters of financial companies, universities, human rights, and “online computer services” were categorized as those who oppose the bill, and contributed the $26 million. The site also breaks the numbers down for each congressman, showing contributions in each column.

There is no perfect way to measure influence, since contributions aren’t earmarked for a particular bill (as far as we know at least). But it sure helps to see where a congressperson’s contributions originate.

Does seeing numbers like this shake your trust in our system of government, or just reinforce what you already knew?

MapLight

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The Next Damn You Auto Correct? Status Updates From Users Who Think Onion Articles Are True

Evan Kline — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:00:15 +0000

Just about everybody I know has gotten a laugh out of Damn You Auto Correct, the website that collects embarrassing iPhone messages, thanks to goofy and unintended automatic corrections by the iOS engine. If that is your cup of tea, then you might enjoy Literally Unbelievable, a site that collects Facebook updates from users who think articles from the Onion are true.

The Onion is a satire site that reports on real world events. I use the word “reports” loosely, since all of the stories on the Onion are made up. Not everyone understands that, though, as evidence by the entries on Literally Unbelievable. There you can find Facebook updates that express sadness over the Empire State Building’s No Hassle Suicide Day, and outrage at a senator’s affair with a horse.

For some reason, though, the site almost feels like a guilty pleasure. Perhaps it is because the humor come at someone else’s expense. Is this sort of thing your cup of tea?

Literally Unbelievable [via tweet from Loyd Case]

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Now THIS Is Cool – An Online Museum With You As the Star

Evan Kline — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 01:00:44 +0000

Every now and then, a web site comes along that defies categorization, but is amazingly cool nonetheless. One such site made the rounds lately, spreading virally. The site is by Intel, and takes the content of your Facebook account, and puts it together in one mind-blowing online “museum.” I was late to the game, only recently visiting the site. If you haven’t paid the site a visit yet, check it out.

I was a bit hesitant when signing up, because you need to authorize the site to access your Facebook account (using Facebook’s oAuth process). That alone didn’t worry me, but the permissions for the site indicate that you’re giving it permission to post to your Facebook wall. THAT worried me, but I decided to take a chance. I’m glad I did. As of the time of the writing of this post, the site has left my wall untouched. It has provided me a too-cool-for words streaming show of sorts (what the site calls your “museum”).

Here are a few examples of what you can find on the site once you take the plunge. Static images don’t do the site justice. The content flows by as if you’re in a museum, watching aspects of your life march by. Friends, photos, video, words – it’s all blended together in an awesome montage of effects.

Don’t take my word for it – head on over, and check it out! And if you know of any other sites that need to be seen to believed, let us know in the comments.

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Save Money On Food (Then Buy Yourself Some Techie Toys)

Bobby Travis — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:12:48 +0000

There’s really not enough money to go around these days, what with the economic crashes and the rise in prices of, well… everything. Yes, this would be the perfect opportunity to complain about the price of gas, but this is a technology blog, so I’m going to complain about the price of food instead — wait… what? Yep, you read me right: Food. The prices are climbing toward the ridiculous for the essentials, and frankly, I’m more than a little put out about it!

Thankfully, the always vigilant folk over at Wise Bread have taken the time to scour the technology world (see, I brought it back…) for online tools that are made to help you save a bit of your hard earned cash without having to tighten up your belt.

Wise Bread breaks the tools they showcase into three categories: Menu-Planning, Coupon Resources, and Price Comparison. Menu planning takes a bit of time and dedication, but it beats the hockey sticks out of the customary North American (or , at least, my) pastime of pouring money into an active garburator. As the author, Sarah Winfrey, says — and I’m paraphrasing here — you’ll spend less, waste less, and leave the impulse buys in the past.

The menu-planning tool I liked the best was Kitchen Monki. You can get some good recipes from the site, or add your own, and there is a shopping list which can be scaled to suit your plan’s needs. The shopping list can be printed or sent to your phone, which is also handy, and the site has an active community and blog. The other two tools in this category were MealsMatter, which focuses on eating healthy, and Relish! — which costs 7 bucks a month. I’m not a fan of Relish! for the reason that I am interested in saving money, not spending it, but mostly I liked Kitchen Monki because of the site’s friendly layout and monkey mascot.

Some of the other featured resources were coupon sites CouponMom and Redplum, and price comparison site Pricible, all of which are worth a look if you are in the US.

These online tools and services are a great way to keep your cash where it should be: saving itself until it grows big enough to buy you a fancy new tech toy. Or on your kid’s college fund, but you know — whatever. Kids can get jobs…

What are your favourite money saving tools/apps/services, for food or otherwise?

Save Money On Groceries With These Online Tools [Wise Bread]