One of the best benefits the Internet has introduced is the ability to stay in touch with family members and friends who live far away. Now you can share your photos with them immediately, so they can see your adventures or watch your kids grow up with you. There are several sites that allow you to share your photos; here are some of the best options out there.

Photobucket

Photobucket is the ideal site for users who constantly have their camera on hand; the site has tons of storage space for you to store all your photos and videos for free. You can share all your memories via email, IM and mobile phone, and the site is also connected to social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Photoshop Express

An online extension of the photo editing software Photoshop, Photoshop Express allows you to crop, tweak and rotate photos online. With you’re free account, you’ll be able to store up to 2GB of digital images for free. The site also offers a 3D gallery option to allow you to show off your photos in an enhanced format.

Fotolog

Fotolog takes a different approach than most photo sharing sites. With a Fotolog account, you’re permitted to upload one photo per day as a daily photo log. You can get involved with other members of the Fotolog community as well.

Shutterfly

Shutterfly allows you to be creative with your photo memories. Upload photos onto the site, and you can create a unique photo book, greeting card or other photo gifts. Shutterfly also permits free online storage and photo sharing.

Image via CrunchBase

It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago YouTube didn’t exist. Today, the site is a household name, there are hundreds of millions of users across the globe and more than 24 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute. Though the site was bought by Google in 2006 for a staggering $1.65 billion, founders Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim most likely never predicted that a site with such small beginnings could have such an astonishing impact.

Hurley, Chen and Karim were employees of PayPal in its early years; Karim and Chen both held degrees in computer science from the University of Illinois, and Hurley earned a design degree from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Though the story has been disputed, it’s been largely reported that Hurley and Chen developed the idea for the site in 2005. The pair were attempting to share videos that had been shot at a dinner party at Chen’s apartment, but were having difficulty doing so. (Karim, who was not at the dinner party, has said that this story was fabricated to give the public a more interesting story of how the site was founded.)

Sequoia Capital gave the company the boost it needed to start with a $11.5 million investment, and soon the domain www.youtube.com was born. The first video, which can still be viewed on the site, is titled “Me at the zoo” and shows Karim at the San Diego Zoo.

The site grew quickly—by 2006, it had already achieved fame, and the company announced that the site recorded more than 100 million video views daily and 65,000 new videos were being posted each day.

Image via CrunchBase

More than 24 hours of video are uploaded each minute to YouTube from users throughout the world. From videos of Golden Retriever puppies dozing off to Academy Award speeches, there’s a little something for everyone on the site. However, a few specific types of videos have emerged as the most popular, and they’re typically the types that go viral.

Music Videos

Music videos on YouTube rack up millions of hits. Artists from Lady Gaga and Beyonce to Susan Boyle and Andrea Bocelli all have legions of fans that check out their videos on YouTube. Music videos have gone viral for a variety of reasons; often, when a song is ranking high on the Billboard charts, it’s also going viral on YouTube. Other videos, such as OK Go’s “Here It Goes Again” (otherwise known as The Treadmill Video), have gained popularity for its innovative content.

Children

Parents often post videos of quirky situations with their children, and many have gained worldwide popularity. All capture moments in which children are being utterly honest—and hilarious without even knowing it. Arguably one of the most recognized videos is the “Charlie Bit My Finger” video, which has hundreds of millions of views and portrays a perturbed young British boy with a mouthy baby brother. Another beloved video is “David after Dentist,” portraying a young boy who acts a bit out of it after having dental surgery.

Notable Talents

Susan Boyle became recognizable around the world after her performance on Britain’s Got Talent—millions logged onto YouTube following it to hear her gorgeous voice. Other talents, such as Taiwain’s Lin Yu Chun singing “I Will Always Love You,” have become famous thanks to the site.

Web development has become a very profitable career field due to the rapid expansion of the online world.

As a web developer, you’ll have the choice of many paths including focusing on web page designs or mobile app development.

However, with the rapid development of the online world has come the need to continually sharpen your web design skills to remain relevant. Here are three great ways to hone your web design skills and expand your success as a budding developer.

Network With Others

Whether you’re new to the web design field or have been a designer for many years, networking with other professionals in the field is crucial to sharpening your skills.

Other designers will have tips and tricks you may not have previously considered and may even offer you job leads. Many developers collaborate on projects to make the most of their collective talents.

Many venues can be utilized as networking tools for meeting others in the web design realm. The simplest option is to use social media as a means of interacting with other professionals in the field. Begin by following other designers you admire on social media networks such as Twitter or by following the blogs and other social media efforts of those professionals.

Also, reputable web design conferences such as In Control and An Event Apart can serve as great networking outlets.

Receive Formalized Training

Perhaps the best option for sharpening your web design skills is to take formalized training. Learning web development online is a great way to learn the core tools used by the most successful designers in this niche market. Additionally, online courses can be completed in an expedited manner versus other forms of training, so you can begin implementing the knowledge you learn into your designs sooner.

Use new Tools

New web design tools are continuously being released that can simplify your web development process. If you’ve been using the same tools since beginning as a designer, this may be the time to start testing out other options.

The following are a few of the most well-known web development tools to simplify your developing process:

• Firebug – This FireFox extension allows you to review the CSS and HTML of any web page.

• MeasureIt – Measure web page elements with this FireFox extension to simplify your design process.

• Lipsum – Use this placeholder text generator during the mock-up process to view how various page elements will appear.

Web development is one of the few career fields that can provide the freedom to do what you love while earning a respectable income. While it’s possible to achieve immense success in web development, doing so requires a continual sharpening of design skills to remain relevant in this competitive market. By doing such things as receiving formalized training and networking with other designers, you can transform this budding venture into a profitable career.

Do you have any additional tips for networking with other web designers or for honing web development skills?

Image by Fräulein Schiller via Flickr

You can use plenty of sites as well as several social networking sites as a simple means to share some personal memories with others. You can share your own videos and photos online and you can even use the World Wide Web to share your favorite music.

One of the ways in which you can share videos online is through the popular YouTube. What is great about this site is that it is free and even allows you to have ads on your pages. This is great for people who are trying to promote themselves or their work on YouTube. You have to make sure that everything you put on YouTube, from your ads to your uploads, is in accordance with the rules laid down by the site, which are not unreasonable.

When you are looking to upload photos online, you can choose from several simple choices. The first is to find a site that will allow you to do so unhindered. There are several ways to look for one. You will have to look through all the terms and conditions that the site lays down. This is, after all, your privacy at stake so you want to make sure that all goes well with them. There are several sites available and you should look online to make sure that you choose one that you will appreciate. Remember that you need to keep your account active if you want to continue uploading and storing photos. Some sites tend to delete inactive accounts to make more space. In addition, always make sure you have a backup of all your photos with you.

There is often music that you would like to own on a more portable device, or perhaps you have a CD that belongs to a friend and you would like to own it yourself. You can get the music you want by ripping CDs. Ripping can be done easily with systems you already have installed on your computer. The process for each operating system may vary slightly.

Systems for ripping CDs are known as ripping tools and really good ones make the job really easy for you. The problem is there are not that many tools that meet all of the requirements. Despite this, there are a few that are more popular than others. You need to keep a few things in mind when you plan to rip. You must make sure you use the right kind of encoder, choose a format that you will be able to use and a bit rate that is suitable. The most common format for ripping CDs is the MP3 format.

Windows Media Player allows you to rip music in the WMA format. If you would like to have different MP3 versions, you will need to invest in upgrades for additional software. Free Windows updates like CDex and EAC will be of great use. Besides this, you could also consider using alternatives like Musicmatch or RealPlayer 10. There are several kinds of tools you can use to ensure that you get good quality music when you rip. With the number of people who use software like iTunes and the like, there are many who would like to rip a CD with iTunes and many simple ways to do it.

With the advent of the Internet, access to content is vast and largely uninhibited. While you can upload a number of images, videos and music online, there is an equal amount that you can download as well. Downloading content from the net is simple if you know how to go about it.

When you are downloading content from the net, there are certain safety protocols you need to put in place for the safety of your own private information. Using any form of peer-to-peer sharing applications leaves the content on your computer open to attack and even use. Ideally, do not use anything like it. If you are working on a networked system, it would be best to disable file sharing in your settings unless you are completely sure of the trustworthiness of the people you are sharing with. This has to be completely removed. This is especially so when you have content that is copyrighted on your computer that should not be accessed by others.

Passwords are a very important aspect of any computer or downloading account. Make sure that hackers cannot figure out your passwords easily. Alphanumeric passwords are best. There are also several ways in which you can test the strength of your passwords online.

There are legitimate sites you can use when you need good quality downloads. No matter how tempted you are, it is best to stick to such sites to ensure the safety of your computer as well as your content. Unauthorized sites are the simplest ways for hackers to enter your domain and ruin everything for you.

Have you been looking at your pictures lately and wondering why they just don’t look right? Often photographers will blame the camera for bad pictures, but it important to keep in mind that it is the person behind the camera that takes a good picture, not the camera.

To get started taking good pictures you need to first get to know your camera. Find out everything you can about it including the different settings, how to control the exposure, and learn about the flash. The flash, or control of the flash is one of the most important things you can learn about when you are learning to take good pictures.  The more you control the flash instead of depending on the automatic setting, the better your pictures will come out.

Make sure you have a steady hand. A steady hand and a level camera will make a huge difference in your pictures. Use the horizontal lines on the display window as your guide. If your hand is not steady, you can use a tripod. This will help you to take pictures when the light is low or when you are trying to take a picture of something that is moving quickly.

The ISO speed will also make a big difference in your pictures. If you are taking a still picture, use a low setting. If you are trying to capture moving targets, use a higher setting.

If you use theses tips the next time you take digital pictures you will see a difference. Remember, it is the person behind the camera that takes good pictures, and not necessarily the camera.

For those of us who have switched to digital photography are running into the question of how and where to store all of our pictures. Now that we don’t have to find photo albums for all of our pictures doesn’t mean that we don’t want to keep them organized and safe.

There are a few different options available for storing your pictures. One of the easiest ways, although probably not the best idea is to just leave them on your memory card. This is not your best option because it will fill up quickly and you don’t want to run out of room when you are in the middle of a great picture taking opportunity.

You can also store them on your computers hard drive. The problem with this is that it puts your pictures at risk. If your computer crashes or you pick up a virus you run the chance of losing everything.

A better option is to transfer them to a CD or a DVD. You can store quite a few pictures on a disk, and this is a good way to keep them organized. In order to do this you will need some kind of software for burning CD’s or DVD’s. If you work with them frequently it may be worth it.

There is also the option of storing your pictures on an online photo sharing site. This is a very easy way to view, share, edit and organize all of your pictures. You could also create your own website if you are savvy enough and want your own personal photo sharing site. Some of the photo sharing sites out there will let you create an account for free, while others charge a small fee.

File sharing is becoming more and more popular for internet users. People are always looking for a way to download music and movies, and peer to peer file sharing seems to be it. There is no way to guarantee the safety of file sharing unless you are using a known music site, but there are some steps you can take to help make sure you don’t walk right into something you can’t get out of.

1. The first thing you need to do is to learn the whole process. You need to do this before you use any file sharing website. Look at sites with a critical eye and get details about how the site operates. Look to make sure that the network does not have any adware or trojans. You should also check to see if there is any support offered.
2. Make sure your computer is protected. There is a high risk of picking up a virus when you use a peer to peer file sharing sight. Always make sure that you have up to day antivirus protection on your computer along with any other protection available. You should also look at all file extensions before you download anything. Look out for vbs extensions, and any other extensions that you do not recognize.
3. Learn about copywright laws. There is an ongoing debate about what file sharing is doing to the music industry and the sale of music. Some believe that it is helping while others believe that file sharing denies the artists from getting the compensation they deserve.

Most of us have made the switch to digital photography. Even though this is a great way to keep our pictures organized, and makes them easy to share,  it doesn’t mean we need to forget about all of our old paper pictures. If you have a digital slide show and would like to add some of your older photographs, you can easily do this in just a few steps.

One way you can convert your paper photos into digital form is to scan them. You can do this at home if you have a scanner, or you can send them to a professional service. If you want to pay for a service, the quality may come out better. If you have a scanner at home, and you want to do it yourself you just need to keep a few things in mind.

First is the resolution. A scanner can usually be set to scan at a certain resolution. The higher the resolution, the bigger the picture. For most paper photos you will get a good picture with a setting between 300 and 600.

You will also need to take into consideration the speed of your scanner. If you only have a few pictures you are scanning this may not be important, but if you have a lot, you want to stay on the lower end of the resolution so the process will go faster.

If you have negatives or slides at home that you want to scan you might be better off to use a service since the process is more difficult. You would also need to buy a special scanner that can be used for this.

With You Tube and other video sharing websites available, amateur videographers are popping up all over the place. If you have spend any time behind the camera making videos you probably want to be able to edit them as well. Here will will give some idea of the video editing software available and which ones are worth the money.

One of the best rated products is CyberLink Powerdirector 9. This software will give every imaginable effect you can think of. It is also extremely fast. It divides your project up into three different sections so you can preview in one section, have a content browser in another, and then a time line in another section. The only downside to this software is that it does not allow you to tag your videos. You can however, fix your lighting, the color, and even stabilize your videos easily.

Another good product is Windows Live Movie Maker 2011. This software is good for amateurs because it makes the process of editing your videos easy. It is very user friendly and also makes uploading your videos to the web once you are finished a one step process. Even though the process is easy, you still get all the things you want to see in this type of software including the special effects, intros, and transitions. What you won’t see are the extra fancy things like picture in picture. For a free video editor though you really can’t go wrong, considering the other free editing tools out there have not been updated in several years. With the advancements in technology, you will be better off using this version.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Throughout history, people have been making music in some form or another – singing, instruments, etc. They have also been dancing along to the music and choreographing entire shows. Music today, however, is much different than the past because it can be made perfect through digital enhancements. There can be improvements in the sound quality as well as the music videos that accompany the songs.

Technology can goes as far as making someone who is tone deaf sound good, and technology also provides the ability to change the appearance of the artist digitally so they are flawless. Most music artists today use technology to enhance their music and they include a wide range of instruments in conjunction with their singing for a total package of perfection.

In the more recent decades, photography has been enhancing music. This is because it enables album covers, posters, memorabilia, and other products to be created that immortalize a music artist. For instance, Elvis Presley memorabilia and photographs have been in constant supply since the King started singing. Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix have seen similar results.

Photography also plays on a person’s sense of sight, which enhances the experience of music significantly. A song that has a music video or other visual appeal, such as pictures, is often times more interesting than listening to the song alone. This makes photography almost as important as the song itself.

If you want to learn how to capture the soul of a person or immortalize someone through photography, there are degree programs online that can help you accomplish this. An online photography degree can be attained in less time that it would take at a traditional on-campus education. This offers many benefits, especially for someone that has an already busy schedule. You can find out more online and start learning a new skill in no time.

Home movies have come a long way in the past 20 years. Gone are the days of 8 mm movies where you needed to set up a film projector to play them. The problem with this is that your family may have some of these old treasures that you can no longer see because fild projectors are now few and far between. There are not many homes that have them any more. So how can you see these old movies now?

There are a couple of ways you can go about transferring your old home 8 mm moves to DVD. The first way is to do it yourself if you can get your hands on a film projector. You set up the projector and then take your camcorder and point it at the screen to capture the movies as they play. When you set up your camcorder you should make sure that you minimize the angle so the angle when you play them back is minimized. You should also make sure that you adjust the lens so the the whole image that is being projected fills up the viewfinder.

This is probably the cheapest and easiest way to convert your home movies. Once you have them on your camera you can then upload them to your computer and edit them if you have video editing software. If you are willing to pay the price, you can also bring your old movies to a professional. There are several companies that offer this service. You can ship your movies to them and they will convert them for your and then send you the DVD. Although it will cost more it will  give you a better quality conversion.

Anyone throwing an event or party needs to advertise. Without catchy and eye grabbing flyers, no one will know or care about your event. By keeping a few key ideas in mind, it is possible to create something memorable and professional in a short amount of time.

The first piece of advice is to always have a light colored background. This seems obvious but many people get swept away by all the different colors available and end up picking something way too dark for their purposes. People like things that pop off the page and dark print pops off a light page much better than the vice versa.

The next thing to keep in mind is the event you are advertising. Is it something edgy or classy? Is this event a rock show, garage sale or lecture? The different audiences for all these different events will dictate the final look of the flyer. Something more upscale should be designed on a computer with appropriate fonts and borders. A slightly more low key event can have a more rugged, cut and pasted look. Know your audience and tailor the flyer to them. If you do that, it is almost guaranteed to catch their eye.

When putting words on the page, think about how it will read from a distance. Keep the information to a minimum; only put the basics of where, when and what. Small print is harder to read to make the important points bold and eye catching. Use clean fonts in various sizes. The heading should be large with punchy and interesting words that will grab the eye. Make the next lines, the ones with information as to time and place, smaller yet still legible from a distance.

The final piece of advice is to think about where you are going to hang your flyer. Advertise poetry readings at cafes and rocks shows at local bars. Keeping all of this in mind will make your event, and flyer, a success.

Whether you are a professional photographer or taking pictures is just a hobby, you want to be able to edit your pictures with ease. There are several companies that offer software for editing your digital pictures, but before you pay the prices for a product, take a look at what people are saying.

The best product according to several different sources is Adobe Photoshop Elements. This program organized and easy enough to use for most general home users. It has a level that is designed specifically for beginners, along with a tool so you can create special effects. The only problem with this software is that it is expensive for those who only need something simple and fun.

Next on the list is Corel Paintshop Photo Pro. This software has a lot of tools for adjusting and enhancing your pictures. It also has a one step photo fixer. If you are just looking for something to fix your pictures and not necessarily play with them, then this is a good choice. It has a lower price tag as well for those who don’t want to shell out the higher price tag for  the more advances software packages.

Google Picasa. This is one of the best online photo editing and storage sites. It is perfect for those who are new to editing their pictures with a very intuitive and easy to use format. It has a great search feature where you can search for pictures by their tags, their caption, or the date. It has a one button photo fixing feature that will fix your pictures for you and a good red eye reduction tool. It also has some fun special effects features that are right up there with other highly rated photo editing products.

Being able to manipulate the sound of music has revolutionized the way that music is performed and received. The use of Auto Tune in modern music is controversial in many ways, but it has undoubtedly changed the music industry for good. The artist T-Pain has used Auto Tune in a number of songs, including Apple Bottom Jeans. Though some consider auto tune a way of “cheating” the listener and portraying an artist as being better than he or she really is, other believe it to be a way of improving the sound and creating a modern edge to vocals.

The use of a computer to alter the sound of music is considered by many to be similar to the use of an instrument. When artists such as T-Pain, Kanye West and Lil Wayne use auto tune, it influences other artists in the hip hop and pop industries. To keep up with the latest music technology, they experiment with the new sounds that are available with the use of Auto Tune. Songs like Apple Bottom have introduced audiences to the altered sound of these computer generated changes, but many more artists are following suit. From pop to alternative to adult contemporary, it seems as if every genre of music is using Auto Tune to create a modern sound.

Downloading music these days is so simple that it can be easy to forget the extensive work that went into making that music. Computers are now so important in the creation of music that modern audiences are constantly seeking out new music that has pushed the limits of computer alteration. With each advance in the technology, music gains a more and more unique sound. That sound will be remembered as this decade’s distinctive music just as synthesizers were the sound of the 80s.

We spend so much time on our computers doing a variety of tasks. Since the majority of most computer users spend a lot of time on the internet. This use will eventually bog down your computer and maybe cause it to run slower. To speed things back up again there are a few things you can do.

1. Run Windows Update. This should be done weekly to get the most out of it. Since windows tends to have bugs and security issues it is necessary to make sure that you have all the updates they make available. It is especially important to run their High Priority updates right away.
2. Make sure your Anti-Virus is updated. New viruses are being created every day which means that your anti-virus software needs to have the latest protection for you in order to be useful. If you can, run an update every day to keep your computer safe.
3. Install a anti-spyware software. Spyware is a program that monitors your computer usage. Spyware can be both malicious and non-malicious. Either way, you don’t want it on your computer. Software such as spybot and Ad Aware are programs that will remove spyware. Once you install it on your computer you can scan all your files and delete anything that the program flags. It is a good idea to run a scan at least once every week.
4. Firewall protection. Firewalls are not foolproof, but they are better than nothing. You can get software that will provide firewall protection, while other operating systems come with it.
5. Backup all your computer files. If you don’t want to take any chances of losing anything, it is important to create a back up of all your files.
6. Check into all software before you install it. Know exactly what you are getting before you install anything on your computer. There is a lot of free software out there, but it will often come with other applications that may slow down or harm your computer.

Content

As the Internet became a commonplace part of most people’s lives, lives and industries began to dramatically shift. The digitization of most forms of media meant things that had only existed in hard copy could now be streamed and shared across oceans in mere minutes. The movie and music industries were two of the most impacted groups, with newspapers and magazines coming in right behind. The idea of sharing music and movies file, peer to peer sharing as it is commonly known, drastically changed the face of how people were introduced to and consumed their media.

Torrents are the most popular way people share music and movies across the wide swath that is the Internet. These types of files are uploaded and downloaded from the computers of hundreds if not thousands of users and sharers simultaneously. People in these file sharing communities open up their hard drives to users they have never, nor will likely ever, meet. There is a level of trust implicit in these types of exchanges: “We’re both doing something illegal so let’s not destroy each other.” However, many hackers and malicious coders use that level of trust to destroy the computers of innocent strangers.

There are a few ways that these bad guys take advantage of this kind of situation. They can simply have a “pirate” download a piece of malicious code that can either cause an innocent prank or crash your hard drive. They can also use the access they are getting to your computer, oftentimes people who want to upload are asked to open ports in their firewall to allow file sharing to occur, to steal personal or sensitive information. Some people find it hard to pity downloaders who are targeted because they are engaging in illegal activity. Whether you feel bad for them or not, by allowing these hackers to practice on their computers, society is only enabling them to get strong enough to attack any computer.

When you play games online, one of the things you want is a realistic experience. You can get that with a lot of games anymore, including gambling games. There are a lot of reasons that people would want to gamble online instead of going to a real casino, including the idea of not having to make the drive. If you live close to a casino, this might not be too bad, but most people live farther away. They also might live somewhere where the weather is bad, and it can be dangerous to go out in bad weather. There’s really no reason to do it when you don’t have to, so why take the chance? Gambling is not a necessity – but it can be a great source of fun and enjoyment when you do it responsibly.

Another good reason to stay home and play in an online casino is that you don’t have to pay for anything extra like food or any kind of attraction that the casino might be offering. You’re surrounded by freedom and convenience, and that makes it even more enjoyable for you to play. The weather can be terrible, but all you have to do is get comfortable on your computer and you can play as much as you want. The graphics are getting better and better as time goes on, and it can make you feel as though you’re actually in a real casino.

Don’t underestimate how much fun you can have with an online casino. You don’t have to travel to a loud, expensive, noisy place far from home just to do a little bit of gambling. You can stay in your comfortable chair with a drink in your hand and enjoy, no matter what the weather is like or where you live in relation to a traditional casino.

There are a lot of photo sharing sites out on the Internet today. Some of them are free to post absolutely anything you like (although they often have a few rules about things like pornography, with good reason), and others are sites where you can try to get your photos accepted. If you do well on these sites, people will buy your pictures and you can make some good money. You have to be a very good photographer to make a living this way, though. Still, if you like taking pictures there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t share them. Even if you don’t get rich, you can still have a lot of fun.

Posting to sites where people can comment on your photos is nice, because you’ll occasionally get someone who really loves a picture you’ve taken. It can make you feel very good to get a comment like that. It’s not the same as getting paid for your work, but some people would see the comment as being even more valuable. As long as you’re not trying to sell your pictures, you can put them on more than one site, too. That’s good news, because it gives them more exposure. Some sites that accept your pictures for sale will also let you put them on more than one site, but others are exclusive.

Be sure to read the rules if you get pictures accepted to sites like that. You don’t want to get into trouble and have your pictures taken down, especially when you’re just getting started. For the free sites, you don’t need to worry about anything like that. You can post your pictures on as many free sites as you like, and you can also put them on your own blog or website. If you want to share them, the more people who see them, the better.

Content

If you take a lot of pictures, or you take video of the trips you go on, you may want to share them with family, friends, or the entire world. You can do that through a blog, a website, or various photo and video sharing sites. There are plenty of them out there, so you’ll have some options when it comes to which one you want to pick. You may also want to consider whether you want to make those things private, or whether you want to allow the entire world to see them. That could drastically affect how you post them online and how you share them with other people – along with what site you use.

If you want the world to see them, make sure that you’re protecting personal privacy at the same time. That’s especially true if there are other people in the picture who might not want their faces and activities plastered all over the Internet. If you aren’t sure about someone who’s in the picture, ask that person before posting it. Then you’ll know you won’t be upsetting anyone by putting them out there online when they didn’t really want to be there. It’s very important to do that with children, especially, because they can become victims all too easily if too much information about them is placed out there online.

As for what you can share, though, there are plenty of options. Photos, videos, music, files, and all kinds of text documents can be shared online, through specific networks, and between designated computers. How you share will be up to you, but if you have something that others can enjoy you may want to offer it to the world, instead of keeping it all to yourself. That way you can bring more joy to a lot of people.

Content

There are few things in this world that rival the ease of file sharing. You’ve discovered that downloading is a convenience that can’t be denied. Peer-to-peer networking has offered you access to endless films, songs and software — all of which would demand far too many dollars and far too much time to purchase in traditional shops. This process removes these issues, allowing you, instead, to find what you desire and claim it for your own. There’s no concern. There’s no hesitation. You take everything you see and indulge in the giddy power.

That power eventually turns worrisome, however, when your computer alerts you to the possibility of a virus hidden within your latest music download. Software pounces upon the problem, undoing the codes before they can seep into your system; but the warning is clear: file sharing is not quite as simple you thought.

There can be no doubt that peer networking (sharing information across the Internet, utilizing individuals to discover new ideas and documents) provides positive aspects. The ability to trade files is one that everyone can enjoy. But there are still dangers to be aware of with this process and the need for modern anti-virus protection is required.

Never download any programs without first being fully secured: have firewalls, encryption codes and an access control management system. Never download files from unknown sites. Choose only reputable hosts. And be certain to scan each individual file, allowing software to break down the sources and search for any potential threats. Never accept any uploads until they’ve been thoroughly scrubbed by your system.

These methods will help to elimimnate complications, ensuring that your information is not stolen by those who would abuse it. Be aware of your choices and your servers. Research all files carefully. And understand the necessity of caution — rather than simply selecting every download you can find and ignoring the possible ramifications. They do exist and they can cause harm.

There are many different ways to share files on the internet. It is quite often difficult to tell if you are doing something illegal when you see so many websites out there that allow you to do it. So is it worth it to use these sites where you can download music or movies for free?

The choice is really up to you, but it is important to know the risks involved. If you choose to download music that you do not pay for you need to realize that it is not legal. There are copyright laws that give artists the right to be the only ones to distribute their music. They also have the right to make a profit from their hard work. For those who think that they already have enough money should think about how they would feel if they went in to work every day and didn’t know if they were actually going to be paid for the work that they did that day. Just because you have enough money to pay your bills plus extra doesn’t take away your right to be compensated for your hard work.

It is also important to realize that every time you use a site to download free music you are putting your computer at risk. Even if it has not happened to you in the past, there is no guarantee that you won’t be affected by a virus in the future. You may also be putting your personal security at risk if you do pick up a virus.

Whether you choose to illegally download music or not, just make sure you weigh the odds first.

So we have gone digital when it comes to photography. The quality is better, you can see your shots and make sure you like them, and edit your pictures with just a few clicks of the mouse. But since everything is either on your computer, or on your camera, what about hanging pictures on your walls in your home, or having a photo album to display on your coffee table.

This is where the digital picture frame comes in. These have really come a long way in the past couple of years. When they first came out the picture quality was not great, and getting your pictures from your computer onto the frame was a process. There are now varying levels of quality depending on how much you want to spend, and it is very easy to upload your pictures onto the frames. They also come in all shapes and sizes now as well.

You can spend hundreds of dollars on a digital frame, but it is not necessary. If you want all the bells and whistles that the higher end frames come with you can go ahead and spend the money. These higher end frames can have Wi-Fi, they have web browsers, and even stream radio from the internet.

When you are looking for a new digial frame make sure you find one with a high resolution. You should look to make sure that the resolution is at least 640 by 480 at the least. The higher you go the better the pictures will look. Considering this will be viewed by anyone that comes into your home, you don’t want them squinting at your pictures while they try to make them out.

You don’t necessarily have to buy a brand name frame to get a good picture. Before purchasing one, read reviews from other users to see what their experience was. A brand name with the high price tag to go with it will not always get you the best picture.

This is an increasingly interconnected world. This new fact of life, combined with the digitization of pretty much everything, means that people are sharing across miles and oceans their favorite songs and precious memories in the form of photographs. Both amateur and professional photographers as well as average folks looking to share their vacation pictures with family living far away can benefit from the variety of free photo sharing sites that are found on the Internet. Many of these sites not only make it easy to share your pictures, they also offer editing tools and the ability to easily print your favorite pictures.

• Flickr is still considered the gold standard for free online photo sharing sites. It makes it incredibly easy to share your pictures across a wide variety of social media platforms and allows for easy editing. Despite its prominence, it is hardly the only option out there.
• Kodak’s Easy Share Gallery is one of the best sites for quality printing. It also offers unlimited storage for the first 12 months.
• Foki makes collecting your photos from across the web simple. It also allows for cell phone uploads. Even the free version of this site offers a variety of features that can only be found on pay sites. It is incredibly easy to navigate and most people will be impressed with its functionality.
• Tinypic makes resizing photos simple and easy. People who need pictures of various sizes will really appreciate this site.
• Photobucket is another big one on the scale of Flikr. It allows for seamless integration of social networks and email contact lists. Its mobile options are among the best and its storage space is impressive for a site that doesn’t charge a fee. You can also include videos in your collection. Many people take advantage of the tagging options and include their friends in the fun.

Not too long ago, cameras were big and bulky things that required batteries and rolls of films before they would be able to take pictures of special occasions. However, we’re currently in the middle of the technological era, which means that our cameras have greatly improved since those days. Now, we have the advantages of using digital cameras, but there are still some people out there who are a little old-fashioned and don’t think that digital cameras are that beneficial. These people are wrong. Below you will find out why so many people are trading in their old cameras for digital cameras on a steady basis.

The most obvious benefit that digital cameras have over their predecessors is that they eliminate all the extra rolls of film. Instead of having to buy a roll of film every time you plan to use your camera, all you have to do is make sure you’ve got enough room on your camera’s memory card and you’re good to go. This not only saves you money, but it also is better for the environment as it prevents wastefulness.

The next big advantage of owning a digital camera is that they are much smaller than the traditional film-using cameras. In fact, they even make some digital cameras that are small enough to fit in your jean pocket. Digital cameras also make your pictures available instantly. There is no waiting around to see if your pictures turned out good – you will know within seconds after taking the picture. You can also upload pictures to your computer and email them out instead of printing them. However, if you want to print your pictures, there are many ways to do this from using professional printing services to using your home printer. Digital cameras are incredible devices and can do a variety of things that their predecessors just aren’t capable of doing. They will save you time, money and a lot of headaches!

Media downloads are one of the fastest growing and most popular types of transactions on different Internet networks. With the technology rapidly increasing to accommodate photo, music, and other types of media, it has become a race to make sure that a computer system can handle the upgraded material.

When MP3 became the new standard for digitized music downloads, many 32-bit machines had a hard time downloading the files. Mac has always had a media software capability. Since most MP3 software was simply a spin-off of Apple software, old Apple machines had no compatibility issues. However, Windows was slow to upgrade its systems. Windows 7 can now process media downloads and MP4 files; however, systems with Vista or XP still have trouble.

The programs you use on a computer system can also affect media downloads. Consider file sharing. Many people need to share information with co-workers and family members, and most computers come equipped with internalized zip drives to make it easier to share this data. But some programs can make it difficult to download files.

Using a free email services, such as Yahoo or Gmail, can limit how quickly a computer can download media. Outlook still holds the cards on transmittable size capabilities and is able to handle large zipped or standard media files. While Outlook has no trouble sending the files, free email accounts may have trouble downloading the media.

The type of file can make a difference in the way a system handles a media download. For example, most computer systems made after 2005 have a photo program that can open media downloads. This makes downloading photos fairly easy on any type of computer. Some systems can open a download in the correct program regardless of whether it arrives in an email. This essentially reduces the download time.

When it comes to media downloads, consider the type of system and programs you have and the media files you want to download.

With the majority of photography now in digital form it is important to have a good place to view and share your pictures. There are many photo sharing websites available with many different features and gimmicks. There are some that are free to sign up, but with limited access to storage and features. You can usually pay a fee to upgrade for more features.

Here are a few of the better websites you can use to download and share your pictures.

Flickr

Flickr is one of the most popular photo sharing websites. You can set up a free account that gives you a limited amount of storage capacity. If you want to pay a fee you can get access to unlimited storage. At only about $30 for a years subscription, it is not a bad price to pay if you have a ton of pictures to upload and manage.

My Photo Album

This site is very easy to use. The sign up process can be done in just a few minutes and then you can start uploading your pictures. You can easily create albums and tag them. You can personalize all your albums with different layouts and comments for each picture. You can also create the album cover of your choice. This service will let you send ecards to your friends, and slide shows can easily be emailed. You can join for free with limited access and upgrade for only $20 if you want to.

Fotki

Fotki is a community driven photo sharing site. You can upload your photos easily and tag them as well. There is also a place for comments. The fun thing about this site is that other users can comment on your pictures as well. They have  very good customer support which is very important as well. There is a membership fee that will cost about $50 a year.

The world of torrents is one you don’t fully comprehend , and this is a truth you are ashamed to admit. It proves a lamentable lack of experience, a misunderstanding of the common downloads. Everyone else seems to understand the process but you do not. You worry instead of the legality, the safety and the procedures. Placing films onto your computer seems to be an uncertain thing; and you hesitate to even try it.

Tossing away all concerns for copyrights (which is what most are forced to do to even consider this) and virus infections, the procedure of choosing which files to download is surprisingly simple. There is only one true rule to follow to ensure that you obtain the quality you seek, rather than static-filled pixels and broken sound: Avoid all AVI-tagged entries.

Simply explained: AVI (or Audio Video Interleave) is a way to transfer data to new sources, allowing both sound and visuals to be placed externally. This format is common among many users and is often found in the descriptions of downloadable content. These files should be avoided, however.

When entries are branded pure AVI, the files will not be compatible with many external DVD players, will feature improper compression ratios and will usually have weak synchronization (a result of improper data storage). These options will rarely succeed for the common users. They will instead only take up hard-drive space and will provide no solid viewing experiences.

It is vital that all novice file-sharers ignore these options. When the AVI explanation is all that can be found in a product description, do not select it. It does not represent professional work and will instead present problems. Instead, choose the RAR method to ensure quality.

Downloading films is not a complicated process. It merely demands the proper format. Understand the worries of AVI and try to avoid all downloads that support them.

Photography has evolved a great distance from box and flash bulb operations. Digital photography has made it possible for anyone with a keen eye to get that perfect shot. Photo editing software places the ability to tweak pictures into the reach of shutterbugs worldwide.  Let’s take a fast snapshot into the buzz in photo editing software.

The name that easily rolls off the lips of many camera enthusiast is Adobe Photoshop. This digital photo editing software has become close to the standard of choice.  Photoshop CS5 seeks to deliver a more refined product to consumers. Its Mixer Brush offers users the feel of realistic paint finishing, along with Bristle Tips providing the authentic look of the stoke of an artist’s brush.  Other new options include Content Aware Fill and Puppet Warp. Content Aware Fill will fill in empty spaces on an image when a subject is removed.  With Puppet Warp text, graphics, and other image elements can be altered and stretched to achieve the desired effect.

Corel Paint Shop Photo Pro X3 also allows the user to alter digital pictures and has been well received by consumers. This user-friendly image editing software can touch up photos with amazing detail. Add and remove elements while working on a group of images simultaneously. This Corel product comes with file sharing capabilities. Users can edit shots and upload them directly to Flickr, YouTube or Facebook when they are done.

A free photo organizer and editing software is available for download via Google. Google Picasa 3.8 allows users to efficently oragnize photos and make slight editing modifications. Switch up the lighting on a photo or eliminate red eye. Picassa also allows for file sharing. However, if a users photo editing needs are greater than fixing red eye and uploading photos to their favorite social networking site, a much more specific program will be better suitable for their needs.

Ripping is a process used to copy or convert the content from a CD or a DVD to a computer. It is often done for personal use as a way to edit the content or back it up.

Technically it is legal for individuals to do this in the United States. As long as they are doing it for their own personal use. An example of this would be to take a the music from your favorite CD and transfer it so you can have it on your MP3 player or your Ipod.The tricky part about this is that there are laws against the manufacturing and distribution of tools that can be used to make copies of material. So, you can legally copy CD’s and DVD’s as long as you are doing it in your own home for your own use, but you can not legally purchase the tools you need to do it.

The actual process of ripping becomes illegal when the copy is made with the intent to distribute or sell it. Under the copywright laws in the U.S. distributing copied material is a federal offense. There are very few circumstances where the distribution of material protected under copyright laws is not illegal. There are some fair use laws that allow it, but they are very narrow and very hard to fit into.

If you have a CD and you want to make a rip of it for your own use it may take some work to make it sound right. Different CD drives tend to make different quality rips. It also may depend on the kind of CD that the music was originally used. There are some that are designed to provide to quality music in real time, so the transfer does not come out well. There are others try to compensate for any scratches that may occur with a system that keep it from transferring.There is software available to help make the ripping come out better, but in the end it will also depend on your CD drive.

Content

If you have videos, music, photos, text documents, or other files that you want to share with someone, you can let two or more computers share with one another. That can be done through a wireless network or other means, and it’s a great way to get files back and forth easily. It’s faster and easier than emailing, and a file that’s on one computer is able to be accessed by another computer. That means that a person can find the file, make changes or updates, and let everyone who’s sharing the file get the benefit of that.

Don’t assume that it will cause trouble for people or let them have access to other computers that they shouldn’t be getting access to. Instead, they can access only the files in a specific folder on the computers where file sharing is enabled. They won’t be able to get to other things on another person’s computer, so there’s no serious danger of getting personal information that they shouldn’t be viewing. It’s a simple and convenient way to share files with other people, but it doesn’t work for everyone. There are plenty of other ways to share files, too, including emailing them to other people or posting them on a site where everyone can access them.

There are file sharing sites out there, in addition, where only certain people can access the files. These people are ‘invited’ to access the files on these sites, and it works well for them because they can simply get what they need with a username and password. That keeps too many people from seeing these files, but it allows a group of people who are working on them to access them, no matter where any of those people might be located. It’s difficult to get much more convenient than that.

File sharing can be a great way to send your paperwork, an invitation or interesing item to a friend or family member. People often establish sharing networks so that they can easily transfer documents between one computer and another. This is also common within an office or a home where more than one computer is located. There is a line that can be crossed very easily when sharing files, and you need to be aware of the boundaries that should not be crossed. If you do, there are numerous legal consequences that can occur.

Material that belongs to someone else and has a copyright on it, such as movies, music or books, is legally protected. These cannot be legally distributed, shared, sold or displayed without the express conset of the copyright owner. This is ignored by many, though, where they visit sites and download “torrent” files. These files are created from pirated copies of material that is not available in stores for purchase yet, and can be downloaded off the internet. When you share a file like this, you are violating the copyright law as stated above. You can be fined, go to jail or a combination of the two.

That is why it is critical that you know where the line is for file sharing. If you are the owner of a video, book or piece of music, you are free to share it as you please. If not, or if you have any doubts about a file, don’t even attempt it. There are high chances that you will be caught and can be subject to severe consequences. The file you are sharing will be out soon for purchase, anyway, and in time it will be very reasonably priced. Honest file sharing is the best way to go, and helps you to avoid legal entanglements.

Your family photos are a wonderful asset to preserve memories and to share them with others. In the past, you had to mail photos to friends and family, which took more time than you may have wished. With the advent of digital cameras and the internet, you can share your family photos instantly with your family and friends, no matter how far away they are. It is as simple as the click of a button.

When you take your photos into to be processed at a retailer, you can request a CD of them and they will often allow you to use their website to post your photos on. You can give friends and loved ones a password that they can access the site with and view your photos. There are also numerous websites online that you can join and set up your own family page. You can regularly update your photos and add captions to them. Some of these do charge a nominal subscription fee to use the service.

One popular and easy to access resource is Facebook. You can have a profile for yourself, and then add your family pictures in your photo album. You can create a separate one for each event, such as vacations, weddings and related special events. Family members can join as “friends” and then can view the pictures when they choose. The user friendly format allows you to easily upload several photos at once, and you can add captions as well. One simple way that you can share photos is through email. You simply upload the pictures as attachments, and then send them off. The receiver can print them out if he or she chooses.

There are so many ways to share family pictures through the internet that you can pick the one that best matches your needs.

You may have an opinion, thought or suggestion about a variety of topics or you may have expert knowledge in an area that you want to share. In the past, your choices for sharing your thoughts was limited but now you can publish your thoughts and opinions with the internet using video. Most laptops now come with a built-in webcam, or you can purchase one for a reasonable price. You can record yourself and publish it on a number of websites with just a few clicks of your mouse.

One of the popular sites that you can publish videos on is YouTube. This site has become an extremely popular site for people to visit to find humor, instruction and opinions on various topics. You sign up for an account and you are ready to publish. The service is free, but you do have to follow certain guidelines. The site will not allow you to add copyrighted music or images to your video without permission of the original creator. If you do, they will remove your video for not complying with their policy. There are numerous other sites that do a similar service, so you have quite a selection to choose from.

Some sites hire individuals to do expert videos on various topics. These can range from simple craft videos, hunting, drawing to applying for a job. You have to apply through the company’s main website, and if hired they will assign a topic to film based on your area of expertise. You may have to supply proof of certification or experience in the area you apply for. Ehow and Demand Studios are two sites that offer these kind of services.

No matter what you choose to publish online, video is a popular format. You can reach an audience of millions with your thoughts, knowledge and expertise.

Capturing crystal clear live sound, still photos, and live video has changed the way memories are kept and communication happens. Living thousands of miles away from friends and family does not have to mean letters are the only way to stay in touch. File sharing has changed the way business and people communicate and share their experiences online.

Photos of people, places, or things are often are more descriptive than simply writing about experiencing that moment or a tangible item. Capturing photos is easier than ever when using digital cameras or cell phones with cameras. Applications for cell phones that allow for panoramic pictures to be taken provide a means to show another person what they are experiencing. This could be a beautiful landscape in the countryside or the seaside while on vacation in the Bahamas.

There are a number of ways to display digital pictures. Uploading them to a frame that rotates between hundreds of photos can save a great deal of space. Cluttering living spaces with too many pictures is no longer a problem when using digital pictures. Only the bests photos are printed out, which saves a great deal of photo paper.

Listening to music is no longer restricted to the mainstream artists in stores or that play on the radio. Independent artists, instrumentals, and music from the world is easily accessible online for a relatively low cost. Downloading only selected songs that you actually like is freeing. Free snippets of songs are available online before purchasing from most artists.

Uploading music and photos through file sharing can easily upload music, photos, and video to an email address or to a digital device. Downloading and sharing files on safe websites is  important to keep viruses and spy ware off your business or personal computer. Use video, photos, and file downloads to increase business or to connect with loved ones.

You may be one of those individuals that has a pile of old compact discs at home that you do not like to search through. You can now keep them in one place that does not take up a bit of room – your computer. All computers come with a basic software program that allows you to play music, movies and other media. This same program can also “rip,” or copy, your personal CD’s onto your computer. You can play your music right on your computer and play them when you please. One caution with this, though, you cannot share the files that you copy with others. This is a breach of copyright law.

Another option that you have is to upload this music from your computer onto your MP3 or other music player. Now you can take your entire CD collection with you on the go. Programs such as Itunes also allow you to add your music to its library, then you can download it onto your Ipod. If you have one with a large memory, you can keep everything in one, portable place. It is very important to make a backup of your uploaded music, especially if you get rid of your CD’s after ripping them. A computer crash or virus could quickly erase everything you have.

If you want to have all of your music in one spot, consider getting an external harddrive. These units have dropped dramatically in price over the last few years, and are perfect for holding large amounts of files. You simply plug it up to your computer and save your files onto it. This is a perfect way to backup your system files as well. Storing your music can now be as simple as ripping it onto your system, not having to worry about storage shelves and caring for discs.

The internet has a treasure trove of resources, music, video and other files that you can download at the click of a mouse. But beware before you start to download anything, especially from a site that you are unfamiliar with. Often, viruses may be hidden in what looks to be an innocent file. This can be anything from a video, an email attachment to a picture. Avoiding a virus can be done if you take the right steps and download in a safe manner.

One of the first things that you need to do is to get a good antivirus program on your computer. There are numerous ones to choose from, such as: Norton, Kapersky and AVG. These programs screen and scan different files and websites for potential threats to your computer. If you have a warning come up about a download that you are attempting, be wary. These programs need to be kept up to date so that they can recognize the latest viruses that are being spread. You can download a trial for free, or purchase them at your local computer store.

If you get an attachment through your email, watch to see who is sending it. If the sender is not someone you know, or is in your contact list, do not open it. Attachments are wonderful places to hide viruses that can do nasty things to your computer. You are better off deleting the email, and not opening it in the first place. Another good tip is to only download movies and music from reputable sites. Torrent sites, which often feature illegal downloads, can be riddled with viruses. The free movie that you are getting could also carry a bug that could wreck your computer. Your best bet is to download with caution and install a quality antivirus program that will protect your computer.

In this day of digital everything, there’s even a way to convert regular hard copy photos to digital files to save (and repair) them forever. Paper photos get bent and folded, sometimes spills ruin them and they get torn over time. Having a photo album for every photo one owns is a great idea if they have a lot of space to keep them in and time to file them. Digital files bear none of the paper woes as they don’t get ruined over time – and they save tons of space!

That’s fine for photos, but what about videos? There’s a website, imemories.com, that caters to photographers who  chose to share files; file sharing means anyone else can look at them. Many sites cater to videos or photographs, but imemories.com caters to photos, videos, and file sharing all in one place.

Convert Photos to Digital Files

Anyone can send their photos to imemories.com via Federal Express and they’ll turn them into digital files for you, preserving them forever and storing them in a secure account only the photographer can get into. The customer can make DVD copies to store them on or to share with others, and they can also store them at the site and look at them anytime they like.

Then imemories.com mails the photos back to the customer. Of course, the service isn’t free, but it’s well worth the low $19.99 price for converting and restoring images to digital files.

Best Buy selected imemories.com as their exclusive provider of home movie and image digitization and Entrepreneur Magazine included imemories.com in their “100 Brilliant Companies” list in 2009. This company offers free storage on their site as well, giving users 2 gigabytes of space; this equals 500 photos or 2 hours of video, and unlimited storage is available for only $4.99 a month.

If you are buying new photo editing software you will have to navigate a huge variety of programs, from those that cost you to those that can be downloaded for free from the Internet. If you are going to go for a free download, Picasa 3, a free download from Google, gives you all the basic tools of sharing and organizing photos and seems to work well enough. Missing are the enhanced systems of organization such as good face recognition and such. If you do find the limitations of free editing software don’t give you enough power to edit your photos to the extent that you would prefer, here are a few of the top brands and a some ideas about them.

The Adobe PhotoShop Elements 9: From the makers of the Adobe family of software comes this software specifically for editing photos. Unlike some of the more advanced Adobe programs you may find this to be easier to use. Like any of the programs listed here the program has good capabilities of importing and editing your photo collection. With Photoshop Elements you can repair photos automatically, copy the style of one photo and add it to another, and share your images directly to social media sites. Organizing the thousands of digital images can also be accomplished with this software.

Other recognized programs for PC users are Corel Paintshop Photo Pro, as well as Xara Photo and Graphic Designers. This software will give you many similar capabilities as the Adobe Photoshop Elements

Aperture 3 from Apple for Mac: If you are a Mac user this is the top line photo editing software. Costing you around $200, you can purchase the software from the Apple Store or from Mac’s App Store where you can download it immediately. Adobe Photoshop Elements is also available for Mac users, so check around before immediately buying the Apple software.

Ever since Napster burst onto the scene in the late 1990s, file sharing has become part of the internet lexicon. The numerous sites that sprung up have certainly caused their share of controversy and initiated a new chapter into the legal history of the use of electronic media.
File sharing media has made its mark on society as a means of exchange, a 21st century bazaar, enabling friends, family and strangers to upload, download, even sideload perhaps, if some enterprising soul decided to take liberties with the new jargon that accompanied the popularity of this new way of sharing data.

Most people thing of songs when they think of file sharing, but with new advances come new websites designed to share other forms of media such as pictures and videos, the king of all video sharing being YouTube, of course. Other websites like shutterfly.com, snapfish.com, and flickr.com specialize in sharing of pictures.

The ease of which data can be shared has saturated the e-marketplace with various websites that cater to all manner of interest. With today’s internet evolving into a “cloud” based world, file sharing will be all the more common. No longer will data be confined to a hard drive, only accessible to the user of that particular hardware. Now, data can be stored in numerous locations, accessible to a user no matter which desktop, laptop, smartphone or digital tablet he or she may be using.

I for one, love the possibilities that are opening up in this new cloud computing universe. Not having to be tied to one particular instrument for accessing data and sharing that data with others will, indeed is heralding a sea-change in the way business is conducted, the way families share Christmas photos and videos, and the way artists introduce potential fans to their music. The tip of the digital iceberg has been plumbed. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

In my family, we are quite advanced in the field of sharing photos. There are few occasions, small or large, that don’t involve lots of picture taking with our digital camera, followed by downloading to our laptop and distribution to our family and friends via email and Facebook, primarily.

Facebook has become our network of choice for sharing data. Since the vast majority of our family and friends use this service, and since Faceboook employs a fairly sophisticated methodology for uploading and sharing photos, it makes sense to use it as our default tool for sharing data.

This sharing of data is made easier still by a device that was introduced to me by my wife, a universal memory card reader. You take the memory card from your digital camera, insert it into this device, which connects to any computer via a simple USB connection. No downloading of digital camera software is required, all the photos are uploaded, saved, and store in its own folder. One can edit the photos as desired. I found it to be much easier than using the software that accompanies a digital camera. I had never seen such a gadget before. It was then that my education in the world of photo and data sharing took a giant leap forward. Until then, I had been mired in the late 20th century mindset regarding technology in general. Thanks to my wife and her passion for photography, I was introduced to the 21st century advances in photo sharing.

Between Facebook and universal memory card reading technology, the process for sharing photos has been simplified enormously, so much so that even people over the age of 50, who tend to be technologically challenged, can master the process. Technology is continually evolving, so we can expect new and even more exciting advances in photo sharing in the near future.

Because there are hundreds of photo sharing sites out there, and new ones cropping up every day, it was difficult to pare the following list down. Folks from all over the globe have their varying photo sharing favorites, and often, there isn’t a duplicate favorite to be found. When there is a duplicate, pay attention!

Here’s a list based on the most popular photo sharing sites in the world:

1. Photobucket. Share your photography, enter a photo contest, and create a slide show or video. Hosting your photos is free and can be shared on places like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Edit photos through an easy-to-use professional grade photo editor.
2. Flickr specializes in photo and video sharing along with organizing. They want you to “share and stay in touch” with loved ones, “make stuff” like posters, cards, and calendars, and “explore” what other photographers have to offer.
3. SmugMug. At SmugMug, be prepared to not only share your work, but buy work from others and sell your own. SmugMug believes in personal albums free of company advertising, full resolution on photos, and full-screen slide shows.
4. KodakEasyShareGallery. You may already know about the quality of Kodak, but what you may not know is what they can do on their photo sharing website. Allow them to help you with your favorite photo, whether you want it on a mug, frame, mouse pad, puzzle, tote bag, or jewelry item. Tools are easy to use.
5. Picassa Web Albums. Get involved in photo sharing with Google’s free photo editing software. Recently released Picassa3.8 helps you to organize, edit, and print your photos. Get started here: http://picasa.google.com/features.html.

Save some money and have some fun sharing your photos via your favorite photo sharing site. No matter the site you choose, know that sharing your photos will last a lifetime and warm many hearts.

Since the late 1990s, when Napster came to notoriety for allowing users to swap copyrighted songs for free, a debate has been raging over whether artists who owned the songs were entitled to compensation for their work. The courts have come down clearly on their side. The same is also true for movie and tv enterprises who sued a few entrepreneurs for their attempts to sell unauthorized (bootleg) dvds online.

The line between legal and illegal file sharing has been blurred to the point where it’s hard to know sometimes if you’re engaging in illegal file sharing. Is it illegal to use Limewire or Bear Share if you don’t upgrade to the premium option? I have used both of these sites, and have not paid a dime to download songs. I used to wonder to myself if I would get a phone call or email from some faceless legal department telling me to cease and desist. I had a friend in the UK who was contacted in such a manner over the listing on Ebay of several bootleg dvds. She complied hastily with their request to cease selling these items.

Whatever side you’re on in this debate depends in large part on whether you think the artists who raised the most fuss about illegal file sharing had a legitimate interest to protect, or were simply greedy. Clearly, a successful rock band does not need the money and can easily absorb whatever revenue may be lost from the trading of these files. Personally, I think that an artist should take some pride and accomplishment from the fact that millions of people are interested enough in their product to add it to their music or video library. Folks like me, who are loath to buy cds merely to listen to one or two tracks, derive enormous benefit from being able to pick and choose. For that reason, the line between legal and illegal should be erased.

You don’t have to enjoy only the photos, videos, and music that you have on your own computer. You can view plenty that belong to other people – including friends, family members, and complete strangers. In other words, take full advantage of downloading and file sharing opportunities so you can really enjoy all that the Internet has to offer. You don’t have to use a specific site. There are plenty of site options and peer to peer networks that you can consider, and some of them might be better suited to what you’re looking for than others.

Many sites allow you to view photos and videos, or listen to music. Others let you download them, but there’s generally a fee. If you’re involved in a file sharing site, you may have the option of making some of your photos and videos free – but the music generally costs money unless it’s your own creation. That’s because it’s copyrighted, and the original creator of the music expects to get paid when people buy the music. That’s also true for photos and videos that are copyrighted and not yours.

You can also use Peer to peer networks to get access to digital media shared by other people over those networks. Some good P2P networks are Ares which is the biggest peer to peer file sharing network that also allows you to get connected to your iTunes so that you could stock your ipod easily, Carbos which is the 3^rd biggest P2P network that is light weight and is based on Limewire, and aMule that has BitTorrent capabilities to give you a straightforward file sharing experience.

For things that are completely your own creation, you can set up a way to share them for free with friends, family members, or the entire world if you want to. There are so many sites where you can do that, or you can start up your own site and offer links where people can download what you have to offer. It’s a great way to get your work out there and get it noticed, even if you aren’t completely sure whether it’s going to lead to anything more lucrative in the future. Many people share these things just to share them, too, and they aren’t actually interested in getting money for them. If that happens, it’s just a nice bonus.

Dateline: Dec 31,2010. It’s official. My life has become synonymous with data. I receive data, I pass along data, I delete data I don’t agree with, and I ignore data that doesn’t fit into my worldview or political philosophy. I have various tools that I use to interact with that data. I am writing this on my laptop. Whereever I go, I have my smartphone, which I frequently consult to check my email, my news updates, and am continually on the lookout for new apps to download.
What did we ever do without data access? How did we ever manage without cell phones? The internet is bursting with ways to keep us connected to all manner of information. Every major news organization has a smartphone app so that we are never more than a click away from the latest update. At least 30 times a day, I receive updates from retailers, advertisers, and their e-commerce brothers. I know all about the latest sale and also the newest product I can’t do without. Going along with this is the ability to pass along this information to my family and friends. I rarely consider this type of data because of its indirect nature. Whenever I get these emails, they usually go directly into my virtual trashcan, but occasionally I do receive an item that actually taps into a need I might have.
Yesterday, I received an email offering affordable dental care. Given that I was feeling the effects of a toothache, I was compelled to open it. I didn’t have much use for the particular services offered, but it intrigued me. I hadn’t searched on Google, yet there it was in my spam box. I was amazed at the coincidence. It felt someone had read my mind. The moral of the story is this: The next time you get something out of the blue, pass it on, you just might be filling a need.

There are many benefits to using photo hosting sites, which make it easy, quick and fun to show off and to share your digital pictures online. They can also be beneficial in that they serve as a backup for your images rather than simply allowing them to sit vulnerably on your hard drive. Here are three of the most popular photo hosting sites that you can utilize online.

Flickr

This is one of the most popular websites for photo storage and photo sharing, and the biggest reason is probably because Flickr is completely free to use. This is an easy to maneuver site that features a variety of different methods for sorting your photos, categorizing them and tagging them as necessary. The Flickr interface is easy to browse and visually appealing. Users can rate and comment on photographs, and you can set different privacy levels on your photos as well.

SmugMug

SmugMug is a pay site, and membership begins at approximately $40 per year, but it is still a really popular website for photo hosting. SmugMug has been regarded as one of the more popular photo hosting websites on the Internet despite not being accessible for free. There are no ads on the site and storage is unlimited. It is easy to post your SmugMug photographs in your blogs and on websites, and SmugMug is an attractive site to visit when viewing photographs online.

Shutterfly

PC Magazine voted Shutterfly as the best online photo service. Shutterfly offers unlimited photo storage, and states that the images are never deleted unless the users do it on their own. The one downside is that Shutterfly is attempting to sell prints and photograph items, and as such, there are a lot of promotions and ads on the website. If you are interested in buying print items, however, Shutterfly can be a beneficial place to place your photos.

My mother and stepfather are snowbirds, splitting time between their home in Connecticut and their winter home here in Florida. They are experienced using a computer, but like others their age, they do have some difficulty at times. For example, I explained in detail to my mother this past spring how to attach photos to her email so she could share photos with her friends. I worked with her for 10 minutes, and she caught on. Several weeks ago, I repeated the process again. I indulged in my usual grumbling about having already showed her, but I explained the process again. She did in fact remember most of the method, but couldn’t remember a step or two. Hopefully, by the time they go back up north, she’ll have it down. It’s much harder to explain it over the phone.
Revisiting this experience made me think about how easy it’s become to share information. The maturation of email and social networking sites have contributed to making it easier to share information. My mother is an avid user of Facebook, and in many ways is more proficient than I am at using some of the site’s features. I am daily getting invitations to participate in games like Family Feud, responding to comments on my status, and viewing pictures on her page.

She also has become proficient at texting. She recently upgraded her cell phone to a “texting” phone. She now has a phone with a slide out full keyboard. Texting has replaced actual phone conversation as our main form of communication. On the whole, I enjoy communicating with her this way, and look forward to the ability to stay in closer contact more often. Now that I have a family, it’s more important than ever to stay in touch, and the Internet and its attendant technologies make it easier to do so. Here’s to more advances in data sharing!

When most people access Google, it is for one thing, searching. But is that all it is good for? Searching? The answer is a resounding no!

Google is so much more. When you type in www.google.com, click on “more” at the top. It will open a page that tells you what else is available. There are the expected options: Doc allows you to upload any document format, or create from one scratch, then download in any document format; Picnik and Picasa allow you to edit your photographs; and, of course, Google is the home of YouTube for your video-viewing pleasure.

Along with all of that you can create websites with Sites, SketchUp allows you to build 3D models, and Knol allows you to write what you know and share it. Google offers these and many more for free. For a fee you can upgrade some things, such as Picnik and SketchUp.

Some other areas of Google are Scholar which allows you to search scholarly papers. You can search patents with Patent Search. If you are multi-lingual, you can translate a webpage into one of many languages with Translate. Orkut is another social network, much like Facebook and MySpace.

If you are into computer programming you can view open source code and play with code in Google’s Code Playground. For the computer code enthusiast, this is the one for you. Google’s Developer Tools give you the code to do virtually anything from building apps for your Android with Android to building social apps using OpenSocial. Want a gadget for your Gmail? Use Gmail APIs and Tools.

The possibilities are virtually endless. If you’re using SketchUp to build 3D models, you can do even more with Ruby API. Ruby allows you to customize SketchUp. Virtually everything you need for anything is available on Google.

You buy a movie and make a copy for a friend, or you buy TurboTax and install it on several friends’ computers. It is no big deal, right? You are not hurting anyone. Oh, but you are. In most instances, for every copy you make, that is money not being made by the manufacturer or author.

When Napster came on the scene in 1999 everyone thought that as well. Someone uploads a song, hundreds then down load it. The only problem was every time the song was downloaded, it was a violation of copyright laws. Napster still exists, only now it is a pay service.

Copyright laws basically state that once a piece of work is created, the owner holds the copyright for life plus 70 years past death. This includes any written material (including school papers), books, movies, and songs. When you copy that CD for a friend, it violates copyright laws. There are exceptions, but the line between legal and illegal is very fine.

Software Programs

Many programs allow installation on two systems, usually a desktop and laptop. More than that is a violation. TurboTax allows their software to be installed on up to five systems regardless of where the systems are located. In this instance you can make copies for your friends. However, installing that software on a sixth system is illegal.

Movies, Music, and e-Books

Movies, music, and e-books are all protected by copyright law and cannot be copied for any reason, with one exception. That is you are allowed to make backup copies, but that is the extent.

There is a very simple way to know what is legal and illegal. When you purchase a movie, music CD, or e-book, read the package. It will say what is legal or not. During the installation of software, you have to check a box or radio button saying you have read the licensing agreement. Read it.

Everyone loves to share. As of the end of 2010, Facebook is the predominant vehicle for sharing photos and video. MySpace has similar capabilities; Twitter does not. And then there is Windows Live SkyDive that takes file sharing one step further.

What it does

SkyDive has been around for a few years, though it is not well advertised. It is a website that can be accessed from a Mac or PC computer or cell phone. Provided by Microsoft, you get 25 GB of free storage. There you can store just about anything you want, from photographs and videos to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. And, that is not all. You can also produce documents for all the Microsoft Office programs without having them on your computer.

You can share everything by providing links on social websites as well as through email and groups. By setting up permissions, you can allow others to collaborate on your documents directly on SkyDive.

Photographs and Video

Just like Facebook and other social networks, you can store photographs and video, SkyDive works like a virtual hard drive. You can upload your photos and video to SkyDive then link them to your social networks. For your photographs you can make slide shows. With the advent of YouTube, everyone loves to upload fun videos. You can download Windows Live Movie Maker from the Windows Live website free, and then you can edit your videos and audio and even make videos with your photos.

Other Documents

Unlike social networks, on SkyDive you can upload all types of documents from the Microsoft Office Suite and allow others to work them by giving them permissions. This is great for businesses as well as students working on group projects. Since students are often on a tight budget, they can log on to SkyDive and produce their school work with ease.

There are many laws surrounding the legality of files that can be shared over the web, or via person to person. The most common attempt at sharing files is via person to person, and this is when a person installs a copyrighted file like Windows Office, and then tries to download the same program for a friend. Microsoft has incorporated uninstall request features prior to installation for a second time in order to prevent multiple downloads, and some have a three time download maximum.
The most popular form of illegal file sharing on the web is through Peer to Peer file sharing. This is when a group of people put a program online, and then they are able to use other downloads that are available via the site. These sites do not protect the rights of the programs, and do not provide credit for the development when downloaded. It is essentially stealing, and according to copyright laws, and piracy laws, it is a crime.
If you are downloading information online that is too good to be true, then it probably is just that, too good to be true. Investigate the site, check to see if there is a payment option. Microsoft has implemented tracking systems based on registration of downloaded content in order to track their software. There are other sites that promote the usage and downloading of stolen software called Usenet sites. Because these sites are usually clearly labeled as Usenet, they are relieved of any wrong doing, and the individual downloading assumes all blame and is open for punishment if found. These sites can range from pirated cell phone plans, to uncensored blog sites, to freebies via private company codes.
The truth is, it is better to go about things the right way. This way you are protected, your system remains unaffected from potential viruses, and you can sleep at night.

Ripping CD’s is very easy, and can have many uses. The one major benefit of ripping CD’s onto your computer is that you can purchase a CD, rip the information onto your computer, then the information is stored on your system, and can be transferred to another type of technology at any time, or copied on to another disk at any time. The reason this is possible is because after MP3′s became available, many people wanted to place the information on their MP3 players, and iPod’s.
The way this process works is not difficult, and intended to quite user friendly. To begin, make sure that you computer has the option to rip a CD. You can find this option by first checking if you have media player for Windows. If you are running a Mac operating system, you will have the capabilities to rip CD’s, as Macs have built in options for media information. When you place your CD into your CD drive, your machine will have a flashcard pop-up window that will ask if you want to open the information, or if you want use Media Player. Click on Media Player option, and will automatically open. At the top of the Media Player screen you will see some options. Choose the option of “burn/rip.” When you click on “rip” is will begin to read the information on the disk, and saving it onto your computer. This process is very fast, and can be done usually in about five minutes.
Once you have ripped your CD, and saved the information to your computer you can then place the information, or “burn” the information onto your MP3 player, another disk, or send information via email attachment to a friend. You are allowed to do this because you have purchased this information, and therefore have the right to do with it as you see fit. However, you’re not allowed to re-sell the information as that falls under piracy.

If you have important documents, or pictures, or just things that you would like to share with your family, there are a few ways you can do that with today’s technology. It is always important that you protect the information that you are sharing, so unless it is safe to post publicly, it would be wise to avoid posting things online on such sites like YouTube, Facebook, or MySpace. These sites can be hacked very easily and your information can be stolen.
The other options that you have are to email the information. This can be done with a password protected email, then the password is sent as a separate email. This allows for full security of the information that you are sending. The second option that you have is to save your information on a network. Networks are IP and email and password protected. This will allow whoever is on the network to view the information, and you can also change and update whenever you want, without compromising the material. The options are for internet type of sharing.
There are other types of sharing, and they include using a portable zip drive, and a flash drive. A portable zip drive allows you to save a large amount of information onto one small drive, and take it with you. It essentially compacting the information that will be read by other computer systems. A flash drive is a hand held USB port capsule, that saves information in its full size, and can be used to save, download, and change regardless of the computer that is it working on. This is a very convenient device, but can be easily compromised if stolen as there are no security passwords protecting the information that it holds. All of these options are perfect for sharing information with friends and family.

Anyone who has had a computer for any length of time knows what it means to download. We download pictures, movies, or music. We can even download software to help our machines run better. For the most part, downloading is fine to do on any machine and in nearly every setting. However, there are some things to be careful, and pay attention with. For instance, people can attach all kinds of viruses to a download attachment, and before you know it, your machine is giving you the worst message ever, “Hard Disk Failure.”
Many of the known viruses are easy to get rid of and only cause glitches. Some of them can actually attache and embed into your system, and then cause problems in all of your files, and send itself to everyone in your address book for your email, thus affecting countless numbers of people. The first horrible virus that came out was what is called a Trojan virus, named after the Trojan Horse. It can sneak in undetected, and then cause all kinds of havoc.
Security settings on your system, and protection software can you protect you from these types of viruses, but sometimes they do sneak in. If you find yourself with a problem that is new, and has just begun, the best thing that you can do is to get your machine cleaned up as soon as possible. The longer a virus sits in your computer, the more trouble it can cause.
Few people realize that viruses are transmitted through downloading. In fact, it is the only way your computer can receive the virus. When downloading, if your systems security blockers bring your attention to a threat, pay attention to it. It could be the difference between getting a virus, and finding a way to download your information anyway, and having to replace your computer.

All of the information on your computer can at some point be lost by computer crashes, viruses, or accidental deletions. Backing up your information is a good idea in order to maintain important documents later on. This is especially important if your computer is a little older, and is developing glitches due to use and age.
There are now companies that provide backup services, for a small fee, and can handle all of the information that is stored on your system. What makes this feature nice, is that if you needed to download information to a new computer, all of your stored materials are easy to access. This is especially important if you have documents or pictures that you intend to keep for many years, and need to be able to keep them safe. Many people hold on to certain documents for up to ten years, and with this type of service, you will not have to overload you computer with old documents.
The other benefit of having a backup storage of your files from your computer, is that if there were an incident of identity theft, or fraud, you can prove your innocence. Many viruses that crack through a system often look for pertinent information on the host computer. The virus then takes that information back to the starting computer, and relays it to the virus developer. Thus, stealing your information, and/or your identity. This could lead to thousands of dollars worth of costs, and some people lose their jobs as a result of the affect on their credit score.
Basically put, if you back up your files, you have less of a risk of losing documents or memories that are most valuable to you. You will not have to worry about overloading a new system with information, and you can protect yourself.

There are laws that are set in place to regulate cyber space. These laws have been set in place because individuals were wreaking havoc on the internet, and companies were loosing big money. One of the biggest instances that necessitated the usage of cyber laws was the Napster downloading controversy. The beginning of Napster was somewhat benign, but soon exploded into an out of control machine. The idea was simple, download free music via a certified site. The problem was the Napster did not have full permission to release the downloaded music, and was later found to be essentially stealing the music from artists.
The crack-down began with individual downloaders, and cost people up to $100,000.00 per person, depending on the amount of downloads that had occurred per IP email address. The main problem was proving who had downloaded the music on the computers. The courts said that whoever the IP address belonged to, was ultimately responsible. This meant that if Grandma let little Joey use her computer, and he downloaded heavy metal and rap, Grandma would be stuck holding the bill. In fact there was one case where a grandmother was fined over $10,000.00, and she lived in a nursing home.
The other laws that are in affect for cyber space are there for protection of property rights, and for the protection of users. There are cyber bullying laws that are in place to protect children from what only used to happen at school. Because of recent events where children have harmed themsleves due to the bullying that they received from classmates, there are now federal guidelines to protect people from such incidents. The other laws are preditorial laws, where it is a crime for an adult to portray themselves as a child, in hopes to meet and harm the child.

Password protection on your computer system can have many functions. Other than basic security, you can have specific passwords for specific uses, and for specific people. This way you can set parameters for use ahead of time, and based on the password used, the computer will have settings geared for a certain user. This is a way to have your system complete with parental controls, or for certain users to not gain access to particular parts of your computer system. The beauty is that you do not need to disclose the different passwords, or state that there are different passwords for different users.
There is a key to figuring out a password for your computer, and you want to make sure that it is not the same as passwords that you already use. The reason being is that if someone does figure out the password you use, they will automatically try to use it for a malicious attempt at stealing information, if that is their intent. The logic behind the usage of passwords is to create a semi-encrypted code that makes it difficult for users, other than yourself, to get into your computer, and view information that you have saved.
Most institutions require very specific passwords for their sites as a means of providing security. Whether it has a capitalized letter, a numeric character, or another type of character, the point is to protect your information. By having a diverse character grouping, the password code become that much more difficult to just guess, and therefore complicating any attempt at harming your information or identity. It is the same logic with password protecting your computer from the start up screen. By doing so, you are not allowing just anyone to view what is on your computer, you are being proactive in protecting yourself.