Epics3 also allows users to serve up photos using their own domain names, and can link photos stored in the service with Amazon S3. Carlsbad-based Epics3 , a new startup focused on photo sharing through Twitter, Facebook, and other web sites, said today that it has launched its services. The new company, headed by Joe Moreno, said it will allow users to post photos to the web, and that it will share advertising revenue with users when people view their photos.

How does this differ from the kind of data Amazon has said it will make available through services like S3? They are making storage available to people or to institutions who have data they want to share publicly, for free, on S3. This morning's interview is with Gil Elbaz , founder of Factual (www.factual.com), a new startup based here in Los Angeles focused on open data sharing and accuracy. Gil is one of the founders of Applied Semantics, the firm acquired by Google for its AdSense technology.

ElephantDrive is a developer of software used for online backup and restore; the firm uses a combination of its own storage and Amazon S3's storage service for its back end data storage. "We're Los Angeles-based ElephantDrive is powering a new cloud storage service which was rolled out this week by Netgear, a manufacturer of data storage hardware. Netgear, which announced its new ReadyNAS Vault online backup and disaster-recovery service Monday, is using ElephantDrive to provide the service to its users.