Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

This Newsletter is Sponsored by MyHeritage.com

Will Some DNA Testing Become a Felony?

Writing in the Mocavo Blog, Michael Leclerc has some interesting observations about genetic sequencing on someone’s DNA without their consent. One law professor suggests that such action should be classified as felony theft.

Such action obviously could impact genealogists, not to mention law enforcement and others. I would guess it could also change the plots of all sorts of television programs.

Historic Tucker Family Cemetery of Hampton, VA May Receive New Owners

The Tucker Family Cemetery in Hampton, Virginia, is a wooded plot surrounded by low-slung brick homes built in the 1950s. Accessible by narrow strip of grass along Sharon Court, the property is widely believed to be the site where the first black baby born in English North America in 1619 is now interred. Even though William Tucker's grave is not marked, visitors to the cemetery are greeted with a granite marker that reads "Tucker's Cemetery, First Black Family, 1619."

Carolyn L. Barkley, R.I.P.

The genealogy community lost a good friend a few days ago. The following was written by Craig Scott and is republished here with his permission:

"In different hours, a man represents each of several of his ancestors, as if there were seven or eight of us rolled up in each man's skin—seven or eight ancestors at least, and they constitute the variety of notes for that new piece of music which his life is."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

That was the favorite genealogical quote of our good friend, Carolyn L. Barkley, unexpectedly lost to our genealogical family on Sunday, 12 May 2013. She was 65 and had much she wanted to do in life.

She had been employed by the Virginia Beach Department of Public Libraries for over thirty years; where from 1986 until her retirement she was the Central Librarian.

findmypast.com Will Offer Free Access to U.S. and International Military Records on Memorial Day

The following was written by findmypast.com:

In honor of Memorial Day on May 27, and in remembrance of all who died while serving our country, findmypast.com will offer its collection of U.S. and international military records for free in the days leading up to the national observance.
 
With more than 26 million U.S. and international military records available, findmypast.com is encouraging people to explore and learn about the heroic efforts of their ancestors this Memorial Day. Record sets such as ‘Draft Registration Cards,’ ‘Casualties Returned Alive,’ ‘POWs’ and others will offer a captivating glimpse into the lives and experiences of our veteran ancestors.

Genetic Genealogy Plus for Adoptees

The following announcement was written by Search Quest America:

Searching for birth relatives can be difficult in some states and impossible in others using standard adoption search methods but Genetic Genealogy Plus breaks down the barriers set up by closed records.

Search Quest America (SQA), a leader in reuniting families, is excited to announce Genetic Genealogy Plus, a new service for adoptees. This new service uses DNA and traditional genealogy research to find the family of adoptees with sealed records. Genetic Genealogy Plus is offered by SQA through an affiliation with two leading DNA testing companies, Family Tree DNA and 23andMe.

Imperial War Museum and brightsolid to bring First World War Stories to Life Online

The stories of eight million U.K. First World War soldiers are to be published online to mark the centenary of the war’s outbreak. an interactive digital project called Lives of the First World War. It will tell the story of the men and women who served in uniform and worked on the Home Front by bringing together records from museums, libraries, archives and family collections across the world.

The platform will go live later this year.

Details may be found in The Courier at http://goo.gl/TYJnW.

Google Wants to be your Camera's Digital Darkroom in the Cloud

At the Google I/O conference in San Francisco today, Senior Vice President Vic Gundotra introduced new photo enhancement features to Google+. "Google's data center is your darkroom," said Gundotra.

Later, Vic Gundotra posted the following on his blog:

Great pictures aren’t taken, they’re made. And it’s the making part that many of us don’t have time for. We'd all love to have photos that capture our vacations and birthdays and anniversaries the way we remember them. But wonderful images require lots (and lots) of work.

Oregon Update: House & Senate action on HB2093

Quoting an article by Fred Moss on the Records Preservation and Access Committee blog at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/2013/05/14/oregon-update-house-senate-action-on-hb2093/:

I don’t know how many of you listened in to the hearing or accessed the audio only archives—but we won!

The hearing was only on the amended version I sent out earlier today —4  and is attached again which keeps the birth records at 100 years, and death, marriage, divorce, annulment and partnership at 50 years.  See Section SECTION 33. ORS 432.121 (7a)  (page 73)   It also removes the restriction on cause of death that is in the existing statute.   See Section SECTION 33. ORS 432.121 (3)  [page 69] in the italicized ( redacted) portion and nothing comparable in the new language (bold)  page 70-71.

Mayan Pyramid In Belize Leveled By Construction Crew

Well, so much for history! A 2300-year old Mayan temple in the Nohmul complex in northern Belize was essentially destroyed by a construction crew in order to provide gravel for a nearby road construction. The head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology says the destruction was detected late last week, and only a small portion of the center of the pyramid mound was left standing.

(Click on the image to the right to view a larger picture.)

FamilySearch Adds to Dominican Republic, Italy, Peru, Spain, and the United States Collections

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

May 14, 2013

FamilySearch has added more than 1.5 million index records and images this week from Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Italy, Peru, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 217,016 index records from the U.S., Idaho, Eastport, Arrival Manifests, 1924-1956, collection, the 151,020 index records and images from the United States, Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files collection, and the 163,314 images from the South Africa, Orange Free State, Estate Files, 1951-2006, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world's historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

A List of Genealogy DNA Companies

A newsletter reader wrote and asked, "I would like to get my DNA done on my Mothers side. Can you tell me who would be the best one to do it?"

In fact, there is a long list of DNA companies in the business of helping customers find their ancestry. I cannot think of any one that I would call "the best." However, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, or ISOGG, does maintain a long list of companies in the business and even lists the specialties of each company. You can find that list at http://www.isogg.org/wiki/List_of_DNA_testing_companies.

(+) How to Use Evernote to be a Better Genealogist

The following is an update to a Plus Edition article I published about a year ago. Some of the information has changed since the original article was published. I have updated the article and am re-publishing it today.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

One of my favorite computer tools is Evernote. I've been using it for more than four years now and love it. Sometimes I wonder how I ever got along before Evernote. While Evernote has many uses, I use it primarily as a digital filing system. In fact, I find that it is a perfect complement to almost any genealogy program, often compensating for the shortcomings of whatever genealogy program you might use to track your research.

Admittedly, all this didn't happen overnight. When first installed, Evernote presents the new user with a blank screen. That user typically says, "Now what?" This article will hopefully answer that question.

MyHeritage launches Record Detective™ to Accelerate Family History Discoveries

I sat through a demo of this new software last week at the NGS 2013 annual conference in Las Vegas. I was amazed by the capabilities. I hope to spend some time "hands on" with Record Detective™ in the next few days and will then write about my experiences. Based on what I saw at the demo, I have high expectations. In the meantime, here is today's official announcement from MyHeritage:

MyHeritage launches Record Detective™ to accelerate family history discoveries

Global family history network makes technology breakthrough that turns dead-ends into new leads 

PROVO, Utah, and Tel Aviv, Israel, May 13 2013: MyHeritage, the popular family history network, today announced the launch of Record Detective™, the first technology of its kind to automatically extend the paper trail from a single historical record to other related records and family tree connections.

Google Unifies Gmail, Drive Storage and Google+ Photos with 15 Gigabytes of FREE Storage for ALL

Google announced today that it will unify the storage between the Gmail and the Google Drive online storage service. Now, instead of having 10GB free storage in Gmail and another 5GB in Drive, users will have 15GB total to use. The free storage can be used as you like between Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos.

Irish Statistics (1926 Census) Bill, 2013

Michael Merrigan, MA, FGSI, the General Secretary of the Genealogical Society Of Ireland, has sent a message to many noting that the Statistics (1926 Census) Bill, 2013 was published on the Oireachtas website. It is described as:

Bill entitled an Act to amend the Statistics Act 1993, in relation to the first census of population of Ireland taken since the establishment of the State; to afford that census a special heritage status and to have such released to the public for genealogical, historical and other research

Review of "Family Tree" on HBO

I did not get to watch last night's premier of "Family Tree" on HBO. I rarely watch television so I do not subscribe to HBO. The program is not supposed to be a genealogy program. Instead, it is a comedy or sometimes might be called a "mockumentary." However, several reviews of last night's program have since been posted online. Most of them state the program was not very funny. You can find several reviews if you start at http://goo.gl/OWVpt.

If you were able to watch last night's episode, please write a comment at the end of this article describing your impressions of the new program. I would like to read your opinion and I am sure others would like to do the same.

Evernote Web Clipper

Several recent comments posted by newsletter readers have mentioned methods of saving partial or complete web pages to your computer so that you may preserve them and also easily find them in the future. The obvious use for genealogists is to save information found on the web about an ancestor or other member of your family tree for future reference. A couple of these methods sounded rather complex to me so I thought I would write about the method I use to to save web pages. It is simple, smart and efficient. It also makes the saved web pages available to you, wherever you are.

Evernote Web Clipper allows you to save anything you see online, including text, links and images, into your Evernote account with a single click. The web page is saved forever in your computer, even if the original later disappears from the Web. You can clip webpages to Evernote and read them later on any device you use, including desktop computers, laptop computers, iPads, iPhones, and Android devices.

Christopher Guest’s Family Tree Is Really About the Genealogy of Comedy

As mentioned in earlier articles in this newsletter (as mentioned last year at http://goo.gl/HxGeV and more recently at http://goo.gl/kDWZA), a new television program called Family Tree will appear on HBO this Sunday evening. However, one word of warning: this will not be a genealogy program!

Despite the name, this is a mockumentary comedy, not a "how to research your family tree" program. The comedy series follows Tom Chadwick (Chris O’Dowd in charming loser mode) as he tries to learn more about his ancestors. His family tree is described as "a world full of weirdos." Tom learns that a great aunt has left him a trunk full of strange objects, and with nothing else to occupy his time, he sets out to learn more about the family members they belonged to. It seems that none of his family members qualify for the title of "normal."

What's New At Ancestry.com: May 2013 Edition

Crista Cowan gives a quick look in a YouTube video at the new features and tools available to help make your family history easier and more fun. You can view the video at http://youtu.be/lY0FBu-R1-U or by clicking on the icon in the middle of the picture below:

How to Save Web Pages from your iPad as a PDF File while using Chrome

The iPad tablet is a great device but, by itself, is poor at saving web pages for later viewing or printing. Michele Berner has created a YouTube video that shows a better way to save those web pages. However, her method only works with the Chrome web browser (available free of charge at the iPad App Store).

Once saved as a PDF file locally or on a cloud-based storage service (Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, or a similar service), you also can print that file, display it later on your screen, save it in Evernote, or send it to someone via email.

Putnam County, Tennessee, Begins to Scan Documents

Glenn Jones, Putnam County Archivist, recently received a grant from the State of Tennessee to digitize the Patton Papers to make them accessible to anyone anywhere. “The amount of records she collected is amazing,” Jones said. “Maurine Patton worked on these for years and she wanted them preserved.” Those records — totaling thousands of pages — are documentation of numerous families from all over the region in a chart organization.

Volunteer Help Wanted in Maryland

FamilySearch.org and the Maryland Archives have begun a joint venture to digitize Will and Probate Records held at the Maryland Archives. This important project will ensure the preservation of these vital records and make them more readily accessible to the public.


Records from Baltimore County, Carroll County and Caroline County will will be prepared by local volunteers and digitally imaged by FamilySearch.org. These documents date from the mid-1800's to the mid-1900's.

RootsTech 2014 Call For Presentations

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

Presentation proposals for RootsTech 2014 will be accepted June 17-July 8, 2013, online at rootstech.org/proposals.

RootsTech is a family history and technology conference "where families connect." The fourth annual conference, hosted by FamilySearch, will be held February 6-8, 2014, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. RootsTech brings together the best in family history tools and technology to help attendees discover and share their family's connections and stories. RootsTech 2014 will reach thousands of attendees both on-site in Salt Lake City and at remote locations around the world.

PBS Announces New Series, “Genealogy Roadshow,” Premiering This Fall

A new genealogy television show in the U.S. has been rumored for some time (see http://goo.gl/OWVzi for my earlier article), but now the producers have issued an official press release giving many of the details. The following was written by Big Mountain Productions and Krasnow Productions:

ARLINGTON, VA; MAY 9, 2013 – PBS announced today that it will add the new series GENEALOGY ROADSHOW to its fall lineup. Part detective story, part emotional journey, GENEALOGY ROADSHOW will combine history and science to uncover the fascinating stories of diverse Americans. Each individual’s past will link to a larger COMMUNITY history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of America. GENEALOGY ROADSHOW will air Mondays, September 23-October 14, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET.

 

Book Review: Genealogical.com's “At a Glance” Series of Genealogy Research Guides

The following review was written by Bobbi King:

“At a Glance”guides.
Four-page laminated 8 ½ x 11 publications. Published by Genealogical.com.

“Irish Genealogy Research” by Brian Mitchell
“Scottish Genealogy Research” by David Dobson
“German Genealogy Research” by Ernest Thode
“African American Genealogy Research” by Michael Hait
“Ellis Island Research” by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
“Revolutionary War Genealogy Research” by Craig R. Scott
“Michigan Genealogy Research” by Carol McGinnis
“Immigration Research” by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
“English Genealogy Research” by Paul Milner
“Italian Genealogy Research” by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
“French Genealogy Research” by Claire Bettag
“Virginia Genealogy Research” by Carol McGinnis
“American Cemetery Research” Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
“U.S. Federal Census Records” by Kory L. Meyerink
“Cherokee Genealogy Research” by Myra Vanderpool Gormley
“Pennsylvania Genealogy Research” by John T. Humphrey
“Finding Female Ancestors” by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
“Polish Genealogy Research” by Rosemary A. Dembinski Chorzempa
“Family History Library Research” by Carolyn L. Barkley

Sometimes you don’t want the full reference. Sometimes you just need a quick but authoritative guide to get you going or remind you where you need to go next.

I Have My Family Tree Back to Adam and Eve

In January, Nathan W. Murphy, Senior Research Consultant, of the LDS Church's Genealogical Department, wrote an article in the FamilySearch blog at http://goo.gl/twYxq to clarify the misconceptions that many novice genealogists believe to be true. Murphy write, "...it is not even possible to verify historically a connected European pedigree earlier than the time of the Merovingian Kings (c. a.d. 450–a.d. 752)."

Digging Your Canadian Roots Has Been Ripped Off

Scammers are amongst us in the genealogy community as well as elsewhere. Kathryn Lake Hogan, has issued the following announcement on her web site at http://www.looking4ancestors.com/:

I have been ripped off. A website called downloadprovider.me has illegally scammed my book Digging Your Canadian Roots and is offering it on their website. All you have to do is become a member, pay their fee, and you can download it. However, the problem is no one from the this website has contacted me requesting permission about selling my book on their website. What they are doing is ILLEGAL. My copyright is being VIOLATED!

National Genealogical Society Presents Awards Honoring Excellence in Newsletter Editorship and Service to NGS

The following announcement was written by the National Genealogical Society and announced at the Society's annual conference this week in Las Vegas:

Arlington, VA, 8 May 2013: The National Genealogical Society honored excellence in the categories of newsletter editorship and service to the Society with the presentation of several awards at the Opening Session of the NGS 2013 Family History Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 8 May 2013. The Opening Session keynote speaker was historian Marian Smith, Chief, Historical Research Branch, US Citizenship and Immigration Services who spoke on the topic “People, Policy, and Records: The Importance of Historical Background” after which NGS President Jordan Jones presented the following awards.

Stop the Impending Fiscal Disaster for Historical Records in the United States

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission’s (NHPRC’s) ability to carry out its legal mandate is in danger. Congress has proposed severe budget cuts. If passed, this will seriously impede the capacity of repositories nationwide to care for our nation’s heritage and make it available for use by our citizens.

The Society of American Archivists has issued a call for Americans to contact the members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services as well as other elected officials to tell them of our opinions of the budget cuts.

The Call for Action may be found at http://goo.gl/mZZ7t.

How Census Data Collection Changed Race in America

Lisa Wade has published an interesting article in the Pacific Standard magazine's web site about census data collected over the years. From 1790 through 1960, census enumerators visited households and recorded a lot of information about the residents, including race. However, in 1970, the Census Bureau switched to mail-in surveys where the individual self-identified their own race. The results were dramatic. The racial percentages in America changed overnight.

You can read the article and view some pictures of past enumerators at work at http://goo.gl/0D0G7.

Supermodel Cindy Crawford to be Featured in Who Do You Think You Are?

"Who Do You Think You Are?" was a popular U.S. television program. The program appeared for three seasons on NBC, but then was canceled. Several reports claim that "Who Do You Think You Are?" has been picked up by TLC, one of the cable networks owned by Discovery Communications. However, one thing is obvious: supermodel Cindy Crawford will be one of the guests whose ancestry will be explored.

European Migration Evident in DNA Patterns

A study of people in 40 countries illustrates long-established changes in Europe's population. Going back a few thousand years, researchers find that everyone on Earth is related to everyone else.

The Huns and the Slavs made incursions into Eastern Europe about 1,500 years ago. Migrants moved from Ireland to England in recent centuries. Populations in Italy and Spain have been comparatively stable. None of this is breaking news. But scientists were able to see it anew by examining the patterns of genes in 2,257 people now living in 40 countries on the continent.

Eneclann Joins FHISO Founding Members

The following is an announcement from the Family History Information Standards Organisation:

Date: 8th May 2013

Eneclann (www.eneclann.ie) and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that Eneclann has finalised its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. Brian Donovan, Eneclann’s CEO, said of the partnership “Digitising, indexing and publishing family history records online is fraught with problems. Genealogy needs FHISO to help navigate a collaborative solution to shared problems, and to set meaningful standards, and we in Eneclann are delighted to be partners in this”. The company will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information. As an organisation involved in the management, digitisation of, and research with archives, they bring a unique perspective on the work of FHISO. Fiona Fitzsimons, Research Director, commented ‘Digitisation of records has transformed the way we do genealogy, but we need standards so we can be sure of the quality of the electronic records we use. FHISO is a welcome development to achieve this goal.’

An Audio Interview with Elissa Scalise Powell of BCG

Elissa Scalise Powell is an expert genealogist, instructor and lecturer who exhibits the highest of professional standards. She is also President of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, or BCG.

The Board for Certification of Genealogists is an independent organization not affiliated with, or part of, any group. It functions as a certifying body, not a membership society. Its primary aim is to certify genealogists as meeting professional standards, somewhat similar to certifications as a CPA or other professional standards.

Google+ adds Instant Replay and Rewind to Hangouts On Air

I have seen more and more live genealogy "webcasts" on Google Plus lately than ever before. These Google+ Hangouts are great ways to hold meetings and are especially useful for online seminars, classroom instruction, and more. Now Google has announced even more powerful features are being added. These are not revolutionary but are simply incremental improvements to the service. The features reportedly have been "highly-requested."

City of Boston to Preserve Written Messages for the Boston Marathon Bombing Victims

John McColgan, Boston’s city archivist, and a team of four other city workers and archivists are preserving the hundreds of messages and other items left at Copley Square in the wake of the bombing. Thousands of notes were left by people from all over the world.

North American English Dialects, Based on Pronunciation Patterns

Rick Aschmann has created a web site quite unlike any other I have ever seen. Rick describe it this way: "Some people collect stamps. Others collect coins. I collect dialects."

The web site contains hundreds of audio and video samples of speech all over North America. In each case, Rick has captured the accent of a native (more specifically, someone who was raised in a particular location, though not necessarily born there, and whose dialect clearly represents that place). Did your ancestors speak like this?

I grew homesick just listening to accents from Maine!

Genealogie Online Hits 20 Million Profiles Mark

The following announcement was written by Coret Genealogie:

This week the website Genealogie Online reached 20 million profiles. Genealogie Online is a Dutch service which allows genealogists to easily publish their genealogical data and images. Over 5000 genealogists use this service to publish their data. The result is multi-language website with a lot of freely searchable information about ancestors.


The focus of Genealogie Online isn't solely on quantity. Bob Coret, who runs this service from his one-person business Coret Genealogie, also puts the quality of genealogical data in the spotlight. Genealogie Online automatically performs genealogical sanity checks on the data in terms of events and dates. This feedback is not exclusive for authors, errors and warnings are also shown in the publication. This ensures that the readers of the genealogical publications also get a signal about possible mistakes.

FamilySearch Adds to Collections for BillionGraves, Canada, Italy, Peru, Sweden, and the United States

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

May 7, 2013

FamilySearch Adds to Collections for BillionGraves, Canada, Italy, Peru, Sweden, and the United States

FamilySearch has added more than 9.4 million index records and images this week from BillionGraves, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Italy, Peru, Sweden, the United States, and Venezuela. Notable collection updates include the 3,368,091 index records and images from the U.S., Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952, collection, the 2,187,206 images from the new U.S., New York, Southern District, U.S District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946, collection, and the 848,610 index records and images from the BillionGraves Index. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Genealogy Course for Monaghan Diaspora Visiting from Abroad Announced

The following announcement was written by the sponsors of the Monaghan-focused Family History initiative:
 
Monaghan, Ireland, Tuesday, May 7, 2013

A unique Monaghan-focused Family History initiative is being organised as part of The Gathering 2013. It will provide two 4-day training courses within the county for tourists tracing their Monaghan ancestors.
 
The project is entitled ‘County Monaghan Genealogy – home to the little hills’. It will give participants information on the genealogical sources available, the cultural history of County Monaghan and the diversity of origin of its people.  The courses will take place in North Monaghan from Monday to Thursday, 14-17 October, and in Carrickmacross from Monday to Thursday, 21-24 October. The courses are designed for individuals and groups with Monaghan ancestry living overseas and members of Irish societies and social clubs abroad.

BitTorrent Sync has now Transferred More than One Petabyte of Data

In the January 25, 2013 newsletter, I described new software that keeps files in sync on two or more different computers. It operates a bit like Dropbox except that no data is ever stored on a web server belonging to someone else.  All data is stored only on computers you specify, such as at your home and at your office or any other locations you specify. It also works well to make sure you have the same copies of files on both your desktop and laptop computers or on any two or more other computers. All data is encrypted before being transferred across the Internet to make sure your data remains just that: yours. Nobody can intercept encrypted information being sent by BitTorrent protocol. Since your files are only stored on the computers you specify, all data remains under your control at all times.


I am what is called a "snowbird." That is, I have a summer home up north and a winter home in Florida. Both locations have computers with very large external USB hard drives. I use BitTorrent Sync to keep more than 500 gigabytes of data in sync at both locations. If a change is made at either location, the file(s) is copied to the other location within a minute or two. I use BitTorrent Sync to securely transfer all sorts of word processing documents, newsletter articles, web browser bookmarks, family photographs, and my collection of Grateful Dead .mp3 music files.

On the Road Again

By the time you read these words, I should be en route to Las Vegas to attend the annual conference of the National Genealogical Society (NGS).

This annual conference is always one of the larger, and better, genealogy conferences of the year. Holding it this year in Las Vegas is a great idea, in my opinion. Las Vegas is well equipped to handle all sorts of conferences, large and small. Visitors to Las Vegas can always find things to do so everyone is invited to bring family members along. If I have time this week, I hope to take in a show or two while I am there. I visit Las Vegas regularly and love all the attractions there. I am not a gambler but I do love the shows in Vegas.

The 2013 NGS event is being held at the LVH Hotel and Convention Center. I stayed at that hotel a few weeks ago and can tell you that it looks like a great place for the NGS conference.

Announcing a New Database of Newspapers in Rensselaer County, NY

The following announcement was written by the Troy Irish Genealogy Society:

A new data base on the Troy Irish Genealogy website - www.rootsweb.com/~nytigs/ identifies the 240 different newspapers that were published in Rensselaer County starting in 1787 up to the present day. To see this new data base, click on RESOURCES and then click on NEWSPAPERING IN RENSSELAER COUNTY.

The newspapers prior to 1880 will be especially valuable to genealogy researchers as they predate the New York State Law on centralized reporting of death and marriage records.These early death and marriage records may be available nowhere else except possibly in the church where these events were recorded.

Could DNA Help You Lose Weight?

As many genealogists already know, DNA has many uses. It can help you trace your family tree and find distant and not-so-distant relatives. Even the body found under a a parking lot in Leicester, England, was not positively identified as that of Richard III until DNA from the body was compared to living descendants of one of Richard's close relatives.

Different DNA markers can identify medical problems, often before other symptoms appear. In some cases, DNA helps to prolong or even save lives.

Online Databases Help to Commit Real Estate Fraud

Many genealogy organizations are upset that our elected officials and other bureaucrats want to delete Social Security Numbers from the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Genealogists have protested that eliminating those numbers will actually help commit fraud, not prevent it. Now new proof is given in an article in the ConnectionNewspapers.com web site. One new form of fraud targets recently-deceased home owners without requiring Social Security Numbers.

Con artists recently used online death records, including Ancestry.com and the D.C. property tax database, as well as in-person visits to search court records at local courthouses, to locate vulnerable properties where they could take over the home’s title without the real owners’ knowledge.

Plus Edition Newsletter Has Been Sent

To all Plus Edition subscribers:

The weekly Plus Edition weekly update notification was sent to your e-mail address a few hours ago. If you have not yet seen it in your in-box, check your spam folder. If it is not there, please contact your e-mail provider to see why it was blocked. This week's entire Plus Edition newsletter is ALWAYS available at: http://www.eogn.com/wp/thisweek.htm. Your email provider cannot block that address so the newsletter is always available to you.

Here are the articles in this week's Plus Edition newsletter:

(+) How to Create Blogs and RSS News Feeds – Part 3

NGS 2013 Conference Next Week in Las Vegas

You are Invited to the EOGN Dinner after the NGS Conference in Las Vegas

MyHeritage Delivers ALL 1790-1930 U.S. Census Records

You are Invited to the EOGN Dinner after the NGS Conference in Las Vegas

This is an update to an article published two days ago. I have added a few details, such as the menu, the price, and the URL for the order form.

Tickets are now available at http://eogn-2013-las-vegas.eventbrite.com!

I would like to invite you to a dinner for EOGN Newsletter readers, their guests, and other genealogists, to be held at 7:30 PM Pacific Time in Las Vegas on Saturday evening, May 11. That will be a few hours after the close of the annual conference of the National Genealogical Society.

NOTE: This is not an official event of the NGS and is not sponsored by or sanctioned by the Society in any way. It is simply an informal dinner for a few friends being held after the NGS conference is over.

Tickets are now available at http://eogn-2013-las-vegas.eventbrite.com.

(+) How to Create Blogs and RSS News Feeds – Part 3

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

Two weeks ago I described the easiest way to start a new blog (web log): sign up for a service that hosts blogs on their own servers. The process is simple. You can publish your first articles within a very few minutes after opening an account. The drawback is that people can only read your blog by going to some other company's web server.

Last week I described how to install blog software on your own web server. The advantage is that the blog remains on your own URL (web address). However, the process is significantly more complicated, requires more systems administrator expertise, and entails more future hours to perform system backups and to fix technical problems as they arise.

This week I will describe the best of both worlds: host your blog on someone else's web servers, but make it look like it is on your web site. While it is a bit complex to set up, once installed, you can forget all about system maintenance issues. The hosting service will handle all that for you. Yet your readers will be able to find your articles by going to your own web site.

Mocavo Announces Genealogy Karma

What may become a major genealogy site has been announced.  Genealogy Karma hopes to replace an earlier web site that has been missed by thousands. Many of us used Bridgett and Doc Schneider's Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) web site. The site went offline in 2011. Sadly, Bridgett passed away a short time later. Several people have tried to create replacements for RAOGK but none of the new sites have achieved the popularity of the original. Now a commercial company has created a new web site with similar aims and has dedicated the site to the memory of Bridgett Schneider. The new site runs on custom-written software that adds features not available on the original RAOGK web site. Best of all, the new site will remain available to all free of charge.

I invite you to check out Genealogy Karma at www.mocavo.com/karma.

The following was written by Mocavo.com:

Back in 1999, a fantastic resource was established to bring together members of the genealogy community all around the world. The brainchild of Bridgett and Doc Schneider, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) was created to help genealogists collaborate with the genealogy community to document their research, while also offering genealogists a way to give back to a community that had helped them in the past. RAOGK quickly turned into a global organization. The group’s volunteers were able to help thousands of genealogists make progress in their family history research.

Genealogists Spend a LOT of Money

An article by Jill Krasny, published on Mashable.com, states:

"People curious about family history spent a whopping $2.3 billion on genealogy products and services last year, according to a study by market research firm Global Industry Analysts. They took most of their work to sites like Ancestry.com, which charge between $22.95 and $34.59 per month for access to billions of pertinent records. One-on-one consultations set them back $2,000 to $5,000 per session, depending on the length and complexity of the project, a spokesperson told Mashable.

Despite those sites' popularity, 'it’s perfectly possible to do everything without spending a dime,' says Terry Koch-Bostic, a Mineola, N.Y.-based director of the National Genealogy Society, a non-profit education, training and records-preservation group."