The Death of the Website

Websites are dead. Okay, not really, but I've found lately that they're becoming obselete. With the advent of blogging and the blessing of Flickr, I have lately found no reason to update my own website.

Why I regularly updated my website in the past:

1. Post new pictures of the family
2. Post new videos that we made
3. Give information on what our family is up to

Now, I still post these things online, but it makes more sense to do it in a blog. Besides, now that Megan has started a blog, she pretty much covers #3. And #2 will be covered by her and I both in our blogs. Number 1 is covered by our flickr account. It seems pointless to post pictures on my website when they're already on flickr.

So you can see: Websites are dying, blogs are thriving. :)

I'll still keep MegJay.com up and running of course, but it's in the blogs and in flickr that I'll be posting anything interesting.

Happy Birthday Maddy

Well Maddy turned 2 yesterday, and she had the most wonderful day. I'll tell you more about it in "(part 2)" of this blog post tonight or tomorrow.

Right now I wanted to tell you one of the things we got Maddy for her birthday because you get to participate in it! It's an idea I got from my cousin Jane on her blog.

Maddy now has her own email account! Why? Because now YOU can write to her, tell her about your life, you're interests and your feelings and wishes for her, and someday she'll be old enough to go back and read your words. It's almost like a journal for her. Don't you think it'd be cool if you had an archive of letters written to you when you were 2 years old?

So, please, if you feel inclined, and especially if you KNOW Maddy, drop her an email. Mention things you think she'd like to read when she's older. And her address is very easy to remember: madelyndougherty@gmail.com

Happy birthday, Maddy!

Flickr = Security

Okay, you may know by now that I've been uploading all my pictures to this website called flickr. But there's more you should know. These days photos are stored digitally. How many people do you know that actually develop thier photos anymore? It's rare. So where are your photos then? On your computer? And what if your house burns down? Or, more common yet, what if your hard drive fries or gets a virus? You've suddenly lost years of precious memories.

Flickr is the answer for us. For $25 a year you can buy peace of mind. That price gets you a pro membership, and UNLIMITED upload space for your photos. I don't care if you have a 20 megapixel camera and 3000 photos stored on your computer, you can upload ALL of them. Not only do they have a nifty website that allows you to organize, share, edit and display your photos, but they're online... on a different server... NOT at your house... NOT on your computer... and therefore, they're safe. If your computer crashes, your memories are preserved.

To me it was a no-brainer. I used to burn my photos onto a DVD every few months and store the DVD in my fire-proof saftey box in my closet. That hassle is no longer necessary.

Take a look at my Flickr page (my photostream as they call it) and then decide for yourself. It really makes sense to sign up.