Backup and utilize those precious digital photos
Digital age has its digital problem. We can’t solve them all, but the minimum we can do is to archive the digital storyboard of our lives, our photos. If you’re one of the numerous people who organize your photos into folders on your local hard drive, then its time to act before disaster strike. How can you back up your photos? There are plenty of choices, but I highly recommend flickr and snapfish.
Flickr
There are free and pro versions. You can try out the free version and see whether you like it. Personally I recommend the pro version which offers unlimited bandwidth and storage for a mere USD 24.95/yr, which works out to less than SGD 4/mth. What’s $4/mth for the storyboard of your life, and just for your info, flickr is the first online service I paid for.
So what’s good about flickr? When it comes to choosing a photo storage / hosting account, you want to go for a reputable company that’s going to be around for a long time. Flickr is owned by Yahoo, and that in itself a reassurance that your precious photos are stored in data centers of the utmost quality. Not to mention that flickr is the de facto leader in the online photo sharing community. Its got an api which allows for a host of things to be done with your flickr photos, but most importantly, flickr is built with “sharing” your photos in mind. Why take photos and tuck it beneath the folders on your computer? Upload, archive and share your photos on flickr.
Due to the open nature of flickr, the photo albums on this site was made possible for a non programmer like me. Besides, there are a host of other web services which allows for direct link to your flickr account, not to mention an excellent mobile interface.
Snapfish
Personally I am not using snapfish, but I am recommending this solution due to the following points which I believe will appeal to Singaporeans:
- FREE. No storage limits and file size limits
- Upload your photos and choose to have them printed out at competitive prices
- Create creative gifts from your photos such as mug / mousepad etc
- Backed by a familiar brand name, Hewlett Packard.
If you’re the kind who is just looking for a place to store your digital content and love to print out your photos for keepsake, with no interest in sharing your photos online through websites or blogs, snapfish will fit you just fine. Its free and you are not willing to pay for web services, its the minimum you can do to preserve your precious photo, and did I mention they also have a mobile interface?
Flickr or Snapfish?
As much as I love flickr, I have to recommend snapfish for the profile of the average Singaporean. Its free, easy to use and allows for prints and novelty items which are perfect as gifts. Flickr is more suited towards people who owns and maintain a website or blog, in which flickr’s api excels.
Using your phone as your main camera
Taken loads of photos on your photo. Share it with the world using Shozu. Check out this review on what Shozu is all about.
The review is quite comprehensive and should you be interested, you will be glad to know that Starhub has a promotion known as Shozu Access. For $5.35 you will be able to access Shozu and all its function for free without incurring data charges. This will allow you to fully utilize the benefits of Shozu. Try it out.
Neowster is short for Noel's & Esther's Own World. This is a personal hobbyist site, maintained mainly for the purpose of honing my knowledge in WordPress, and sharing useful information or knowledge to make someone's life easier. To a smaller extend, I hope to propagate the ideology of Crowdsourcing, as I see it as the best mechanism in regulating our unregulated capitalistic world, overcoming humanity's trait of greed, self interest, and fear, in arriving at the best decision. 
