Dave's Favorites: Share Your Photos With Flickr

It seems like there's a human compulsion--driven perhaps at the genetic level--to share pictures we've taken. Whether the pictures are of your pet, European vacation, grandkids, or car--there's nothing quite as satisfying as showing them to someone else. That's where photo sharing Web sites come in. You can upload your pictures to a public forum where friends and strangers alike can flip through your virtual photo albums.

Flickr works a bit differently than most sharing sites; it feels more like a true community of photo fans than most other services I've tried. Its most compelling feature is the way it lets you tag pictures with keywords. You can tag your pictures, and other people's photos as well, and then quickly browse all the photos at Flickr with specific tags.

You can add people with photos you like to your contacts list, leave comments for other photographers, and converse in Flickr's forums. And believe it or not, all that is just scratching the surface: The site also offers some simple photo editing tools; the ability to organize your photos into albums; and a slew of other group sharing features.

Flickr is free, but for about $40 per year you can subscribe to get more features, like unlimited photo storage and no advertisements. If you are an online photo junkie, this is one site you really need to check out.