> [ For those who can't or don't want to follow those links, the > executive summary is that The Generations Network (the parent > company of Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com, publisher of FTM) > is not owned or related to the LDS Church. On the other hand, > TGN is based in Provo and pretty much inherently there's some > degree of interaction between TGN and the LDS Church. - Mod ] Dear Mod: A number of times I have read that one should not open/follow links. Your reference above causes me now to seek an answer to that troubling question: why not? What is inherently dangerous (to one's computer) in so doing? I am relatively new to computer usage. Thank you very much for replying to a serious question. Barbara Mac [ The short answer to your question runs like this: Depending upon how your Web browser is configured, it is possible to get a computer virus by visiting a malicious Web page. A fairly high percentage of spam deliberately tries to get you to go to Web pages that have such malicious content. On the other hand, most of the Web *is* safe. The main things to think about are where did the link come from and where does the link go. If the link came from GENMTD at RootsWeb.com and points to a normal Website (rather than "xprtxzzy.com.ru"), then it's prolly safe to open. If it came from "yourfriend@yahoo.cn" and leads to "xprtxzzy.com.ru", then you almost surely don't want to open it. ;) Of course, just never following e-mailed links is the safest thing to do! - Mod ]