Picture This

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"This isn't your grandfather's photo-sharing site" is the tag line on flickr.com's homepage. But there's no reason for anyone of any age to be put off: the great appeal of this irreverent, one-year-old start-up is just how easy its technology makes it to share your pictures. The secret ingredient is Flickr's use of keyword tags. These can be attached to your photo files, making online albums as searchable as the Web itself. And with 80% of the site's 8 million photos open to the public (you can set your privacy levels when you join), Flickr lets you browse images related to everything from "architecture" to "zoo." But the real fun is in Flickr's feisty online community: more than 650,000 people are already members, and everyone can add his own comments and tags to public pics, as well as start his own special-interest photo group (pictures of bonsai trees, anybody?). Sign-up is free and comes with 10 megabytes of photo-uploads per month; for $59.95 per year (or a special price of $41.77 until the site officially launches later this summer), a pro account gives a full 1 gigabyte. Why not get one for gramps?