Certification

There is a lot of information concerning certification all over the Froum threads, but it's not all in one same place. Therefore, I'm posting this message to try to get everything in one place as much as possible.

Certification is a way to prove that you are whoyou are. We may not know your real name, but at least we can't say you're hiding behind a fake identity, i.e. a male pretendingto be female, etc. While "certification" is not necessarily synonymous with "trustworthy," we tend to more easily trust members who are certified because they took that extra step to show they intend to be genuine.

You will be required to submit two photos of yourselfto the site administrator for certification purposes. In one photo you must be nude and in the other you must, unfortunately, be clothed. BOTH PHOTOS MUST INCLUDE YOUR FACE. In each you must carrya piece of paper on which your username and "truenudists" can be clearly seen. THESE ARE FOR CERTIFICATION PURPOSES ONLY. In other words, they do not get posted toyour profile unless you post them there yourself. So if you don't want anyone else to see your face except for the site administrator, you can do that.

NOTE: Many members here would like to put a face to a member's username, but it's entirely up to youwhether you want to show yourface or not. Likewise, aside from the nude photo you must send for certification purposes, none of your other photos need ever be nude. It's entirely up to you.

When I submitted my photos for certification, I printed out the information needed on a letter-sized sheet of paper to make sure it could be read easily. You can just take a pen or a marker and do the same thing by hand. Whatever you do, DON'T try to photoshop the information afterward. That will result in your attempt at certification being rejected.

Also, keep in mind thatthe photos must conform to the size requirements of the site. Sometimes, changing the format, like from JPEG toBitmap,will do the trick. Other times, you may have to actually resize your photo, either by croppingitor by using a computer feature to make the photo smaller. The important thing is to keep it below 1 MB.

I hope this helps. If any other veterans here haveanything to add, please feel free to do so.

EDITED on May 17, 2010,for clarification purposes.
EDITED FURTHER on June 4. See message 31 on page three.

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RE: Certification

Indeed, there are more people here than you thinkwho actually have trouble getting it right. I don't knowif the instructions just aren't clear or if it depends on the mood you're in when you read them, but not everybody"gets it," at least not the first time. I know of at least one member who is now certified and whowas here a very long time before finally understanding what had to be done to become certified. That person's intelligence is NOT in question. It's just that, for some reason, it was never done right until recently.

We hope that those who don't succeed the first time keep trying. If needed, ask your certified friends for help.

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RE: Certification

Personally, I have some mixed feelings about certification.
Yes, it does "tend to suggest" a genuine person, but it doesn't really prove anything.
For me, it's all about how one conducts themselves "in public." ( meaning chat, forums, and such )
True, we ( OK, me ) have been duped by one or two non-certified individuals in the forums, but since it's
about interaction for me, and I'm not a 20-something female, it's not a problem so much.
Still, it's a really good idea.

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RE: Certification

You're not the only one who has been "duped," Curt. I've lost a few "friends" who were outed when someone somewhere noticed they looked a lot like a famous Italian actress or other person of note. In some cases (though not all), I hope they come back as themselves, since aside from not being who they claimed they were, they weren't otherwise disrupting the site or causing trouble.

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RE: Certification

You're not the only one who has been "duped," Curt. I've lost a few "friends" who were outed when someone somewhere noticed they looked a lot like a famous Italian actress or other person of note. In some cases (though not all), I hope they come back as themselves, since aside from not being who they claimed they were, they weren't otherwise disrupting the site or causing trouble.

LOL, Curt and Gerry...you guys just proved the certification point altogether. Curt, I know a few of the profiles you've been duped by...one of them got me. Gerry, I'm pretty sure I know which profile you are referring to. None of them were certified members. How can you be when you can't provide a picture in a similar setting-one nude/one clothed, each holding the same sign?

To reiterate what several have already said - certification does not mean one is a nice person, it simply means that one has proven to site admin that they are the person in the pics that are being posted.

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RE: Certification

I'd just like to add my $0.02 - the fact that someone does not get certified straight away needn't mean they're a bad person, it could just be that they have misgivings about sending a nude pic to someone they know nothing about, who for all they know might be planning to post it on a porn site or send it to their boss ... So please be tolerant of people who don't take the plunge right away; if you make them feel comfortable and welcome, they're more likely to trust the process.

Very well said, Freedom, thank you!

We were on the site for about a month before we decided to become certified. Steve waited until I felt comfortable enough with the site amd the process.

Jen

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RE: Certification

You're not the only one who has been "duped," Curt. I've lost a few "friends" who were outed when someone somewhere noticed they looked a lot like a famous Italian actress or other person of note. In some cases (though not all), I hope they come back as themselves, since aside from not being who they claimed they were, they weren't otherwise disrupting the site or causing trouble.
LOL, Curt and Gerry...you guys just proved the certification point altogether. Curt, I know a few of the profiles you've been duped by...one of them got me. Gerry, I'm pretty sure I know which profile you are referring to. None of them were certified members. How can you be when you can't provide a picture in a similar setting-one nude/one clothed, each holding the same sign?
To reiterate what several have already said - certification does not mean one is a nice person, it simply means that one has proven to site admin that they are the person in the pics that are being posted.

It takes a little effort, but it is worth it. IMHO

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RE: Certification

I'd just like to add my $0.02 - the fact that someone does not get certified straight away needn't mean they're a bad person, it could just be that they have misgivings about sending a nude pic to someone they know nothing about, who for all they know might be planning to post it on a porn site or send it to their boss ... So please be tolerant of people who don't take the plunge right away; if you make them feel comfortable and welcome, they're more likely to trust the process.

It's not just the site or admin here I don't trust. I don't trust any of the ten+ ISPs that the picture will travel through to get to TN's server, or any of the other snoops along the way. I study internet security, so you could call it "educated paranoia". You can all trust that I am not claiming to be someone that I'm not, because I am not claiming to be anyone at all.

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RE: Certification

It's not just the site or admin here I don't trust. I don't trust any of the ten+ ISPs that the picture will travel through to get to TN's server, or any of the other snoops along the way.
Then, you don't really know how routing works, do you ?
Site submission is not e-mail.
I study internet security, so you could call it "educated paranoia". You can all trust that I am not claiming to be someone that I'm not, because I am not claiming to be anyone at all.
Well, I wrote some of it. Yes, it's "theoretically" possible to capture the wire, and later decode. The likelihood, unless someone is REALLY out to get you, is pretty close to zero.
"Internet security" is really not a valid excuse to not certify. It's quite a valid excuse to not e-mail credit card numbers, but this is a whole 'nother thing.

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RE: Certification

LOL, Curt and Gerry...you guys just proved the certification point altogether.
Doffs hat and takes a bow....

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RE: Certification

Then, you don't really know how routing works, do you ?

? lets see. traceroute? 31 hops outside my network. Sorry I seem to have under guesstimated. That is how it works Not that I would do it through a "safer" encrypted tunnel either. "not a good reason?" Good enough for me. Like I said I'm paranoid. What is theoretical today is an iPhone app tomorrow.

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