Morguefile

[Noelle]

Does anyone know about a website called www.morguefile.com? There are some great free photography lessons and you can submit assignments to for critique. My question is this: How safe is it to do so? I just purchased a new computer due to a fatal crash, so I am now wanting to be more careful. Of course I have virus protection, but want to make an informed decision before submitting photos and working with the site. Any cause for concern, or am I just being paranoid?

I appreciate any input anyone may have!

Noelle

[Noelle]

I found some answers to my question about Morgue file by searching Photo classes in this site. It looks like it is a great find--just like this site. Too bad I was too late to participate! I learned a lot about photography from the site, even without the interactive portion.

I guess I was being paranoid and uninformed about viruses.

Have people who frequently upload their pics to community sites had any problems with viruses, malware, cookies, etc? I guess I don't really understand how computers get infected in the first place. Any insight is appreciated.

Noelle

[GaryK]

Hi Noelle

That is a great course at Morguefile. I too was too late.

Virusus?? virusii?? can pretty much only be caught by downloading them either from the from the internet or from an infected network computer or from infected storage media (cd/dvd etc.)

The problem is, sometimes you dont know you are downloading them. There are various ways that this can happen.

If you stick to trusted sites, use a firewall and have antivirus software running you are pretty safe. I am very wary of sites that make me download things to view them. (sometimes you need to but I never blindly say yes to any popup when I am surfing)
One other thing DO NOT open emails from anybody you do not know. On top of that, NEVER open attachments that you are unsure of. Even people who are on your list can get infected and then the virus will send you an email from them.

At the risk of being rude, I never open forwards that do not include some sort of personal hello in the message (more than just a Hi Gary).
Part of that is me being safe, the other part is me being stubborn.
I firmly believe that if the person does not have time to type a small personal message then I don't have the time to read the forward.

I am sure others will have more suggestions these are my personal habits.

[NMarti]

Gary
Nope - same caution for me. In fact, I often don't open anything that has more than a few names in the TO section. Once I recognize it as a forward I know it's most likely been through hundreds of hands and can have anything embedded. I don't care how well I know the sender, I still don't trust it and delete it.

On sites I don't click on anything that says CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE because it most likely has something embedded. I figure if they can't put it on the main page then they have an ulterior motive for sending you somewhere else. One exampe is TMZ.com I never started getting spam until I went there one time and clicked on the link to read the rest of the story. Coincidence? Maybe, but they have to pay for that site somehow.

[Noelle]

I guess I was on the right track by checking to see if Morguefile was a trustworthy site, and it looks like it is. What a great find!

I am fairly safe with my email, but when reading your responses, I see that I can be safer. I would also like to know how to surf the net in a safer manner.

I am also interested in digital scrapbooking. Perhaps I should continue this thread on that portion of the forum, but how safe is downloading free kits from a site that fellow scrappers seem to know? Any way to know for sure if the site is trustworthy and that the kits are not destructive? Can these kits/photography classes, etc. truly be free?

Thanks again for your insight!

Noelle

[NMarti]

Noelle
One safe way is to download the files into a specific folder. Run a virus scan on that folder before you open any of the files on your computer. You can then move them to a more permanent folder and empty the scan folder until the next time.

[lexcell]

I'm certainly no computer expert but, when I someone sends me a link to something I am unfamiliar with, I go to the site manually rather than following the link...

You also want to be careful of posting images that are of high resolution on the net as people can and will steal them!

[Noelle]

Thanks for your insight!

This site has helped me immensely.

Since I have spent countless hours recovering from viruses, I am considering purchasing a Mac. Is it worth taking the time to learn a new system? I want to learn Photography, Elements, and Digiscrapping and have spent so much time recovering from viruses. Any thoughts out there re: Macs and Elements?

Noelle

[Wendy]

Hi Noelle ..

I have used Macs for years and never had any problems with viruses and actually there really isn't much of a learning curve with a Mac, a lot of things are actually simpler than they are in Windows

I mainly use Photoshop & Elements and of course I do a lot of Scrapbooking

Wendy

[lexcell]

Macs don't tend to get hit with viruses the way PCs do. And, yes they are quite intuitive to use. (I've been able to troubleshoot problems for my mom on her Mac and I'm a PC user)

I would double check to see that the software you like to use is Mac compatible.