All I've got is a photograph

So TJ and I needed a way to post wedding pictures online for folks who couldn't attend any of the events. I did some research on the different sites: OFoto, Snapfish, Flickr, etc. I liked Flickr the best, except that it didn't seem to allow you to purchase prints (or maybe I wasn't smart enough to find out how to do that?).

TJ suggested Smugmug, because the photographer who was at his last track day posted TJ's pictures out there. So like a good wife (yikes did I really say that) I went out to the site, even though I was pretty sure Flickr was the right one.

And I was impressed. It's not free, but it's only $29.95 per year. I searched online for a coupon code that knocked off $5 from the price, making it the same price as the paid Flickr subscription. (Use my coupon code CKF89vdmpnglY and I will get some $$ credit on my account) They have drag-and-drop upload from Windows Explorer, a great, easy to use interface, and unlimited photo storage. They also have very reasonable prices on their prints and promise pretty fast shipping.

There are people out there who will ask me why I'm advocating a non-Microsoft service. I could be using MSN Spaces. Technology isn't about blind allegiance to a particular company or platform. It's about using what works for you. It always annoys me to hear folks who are rabidly anti-Microsoft complain about anything Microsoft does. Yes, some Microsoft products have problems. But so do some Mac products, or Linux products. Companies aren't inherently "evil" or "good" like comic book characters. I make jokes about the "Evil Empire" but I'm pretty darn proud to work there. Windows has to appeal to millions (100 million, I think?) of users, from the grandmother who just wants to see photos of her grandkids, to the braniac developer writing the next app that will take over the world. Of course it's not going to please everyone. Which doesn't mean Microsoft shouldn't stop trying to improve it and market it and sell it. If Linux works better for you, that's great. Use it. But don't bash Microsoft as a whole. Tell me why you think x product sucks.

I stick with GMail for my personal mail because Hotmail didn't give me as much space. I use the iRiver iHP-120 for my music because the iPOD didn't have support for WMA files when I bought it. I use Windows because as an operating system, it suits my needs just fine. The same is true for Internet Explorer. I *love* Microsoft Outlook for my email and time-management stuff (calendar, tasks, contacts etc.) And here I am on Blogger because I just liked it better than MSN Spaces.

Anyway, just needed to rant a little about all those people who are anti-Microsoft because either one product didn't work for them, or because they think Microsoft is "evil". Oh, and check out my pictures on the link at the right. More wedding pictures to come over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.