SnapGalaxy

    For our Photoshare emerging technology assignment, I was looking for a website that was free, easy to use, and useful; and one that would publish my photos in other areas of the web.  Photosharing websites are useful because one can publish photos to the web without needing to print expensive copies and send them to friends and family members, and also because the files are stored securely in case your hard drive fails or your computer is lost, etc.  I enjoy sharing photos via the internet because my friends and family are literally all over the globe, and grandparents especially love instantaneous photos of our kids, vacations, new cars, lost teeth, etc.  It really helps them to feel connected from a great distance.  Others might use this technology to publish, say, wedding albums.  This way, everyone who wishes to see the photos is able to, and the responsibility to get prints to Aunt Edna and cousin Rick does not fall on the newlyweds.  I have a few friends who are professional photographers, and their custom websites offer this type of technology as well.  The people who were photographed can view their personal password-protected album, and the photographer's copyright interests are protected.  If it weren't for this type of technology, my parents and grandparents would not get such frequent updates on our children.  I recently used photo sharing to quickly get pictures to my grandfather when my husband and I had difficulty remodeling our master bath!  He was instantly able to see close-up, high resolution pics of the two issues we were having (plumbing a new vessel sink, and rewiring the electric to include a dimmer switch and new fixture), and give us advice right then on how to remedy the problem. 
     This assignment turned out to be more frustrating and time-consuming than I had expected.  I am a Mac user, and have used iPhoto for everything.  iPhoto publishes directly to FaceBook,  so I never had a need to use another service.  I started by trying PhotoShow, and when I selected the first photo to upload, I was immediately given the message that my file required a premium membership.  Check, please!  I went on to Pictoma.  This service offered a free 14 day trial, and fearing endless spam, I moved on to the next site.  Viewbook required a paid subscription, and a Google search for FaceRoller kept giving me World of Warcraft results!  I had a better experience with LivingMemory.  They offer easy sign-up, no credit card required, and no scary "free trial".  I was using Safari and it was running slowly, so I switched to Firefox, and it was a bit faster.  I could not find any direct links to share to Blogger, facebook, etc.,  and the email function didn't work either.  I couldn't even send my album to myself!  The last site I tried was SnapGalaxy, and it was by far the most user-friendly.  The multiple flash uploader was fast, and the site instantly offers you a link to share your album.  My next post is the final product from SnapGalaxy.  It was super easy and relatively quick.