Bill Hopkins is the Webmaster of PhotoSourceFolio* (www.photosourcefolio.com) and a regular contributor to PhotoStockNotes. Send comments via Email to wh@photosourcefolio.com. Fax: 1 818 831-0916. Or US Mail: PhotoStockNotes. (*Display 6 of your images on our Web site!) For on-line marketing questions, contact him on the Kracker Barrel at www.photosource.com/board

Whether or not to post your images on the Internet is a frequent topic of discussion at seminars, photo shows, discussion groups, our own Cracker Barrel, and expert panels. Like anything else, there are at least two sides to the story, so here's our side: It's more of a risk NOT to allow the public (which includes access for photobuyers and photoresearchers) to view your photos. It's a financial risk, because without making your work available for viewing, you are missing out both on possible sales and potential new markets, which can generate business for you for many years to come. The great majority of people in the editorial photo acquisition field are ethical. The advantages of showcasing your work far outweigh the unlikely chance of unauthorized use of one of your photos.

Is Philip Greenspun's Web site, hosted on MIT computers? You could spend days there and not cover it all. Give it a look-see at http://www.photo.net. In particular, you may want to visit the photo.net portion. Buyers of photo gear have posted their experiences, warts and all, with camera stores, in the Neighbor to Neighbor section.

Wanna know how well your web site is designed from the computer's viewpoint? Check out http://www.websitegarage.com. It's really useful for checking the code behind your site. You can sign up (i.e., pay for) several different options, but you can also have it check your pages one at a time for free. You may not agree with the results, but it helps uncover areas that could use improvement.

You've just received an urgent Email warning you about a computer virus loose on the Internet. Wanting to be sure all your friends are aware, you quickly forward it to them all, without first confirming the validity of the "warning." What now? You just gave birth to another Melissa-like virus, by choking up the Internet with message traffic about a bogus virus. Take a few moments to check it out at the government's Computer Incident Advisory Capability Web site: http://ciac.llnl.gov.