Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Pocket Genealogy becomes Pocket Ancestry

In the June 1 daily edition of this newsletter, I wrote about a new genealogy program for handheld PocketPC computers. The program was called Pocket Genealogy. I mentioned that the program's name was easily confused with another genealogy program for PocketPC computers: the Pocket Genealogist. Now the author of the newer program has changed the name of his product to reduce the confusion.

New Fellows of the Society of Genealogists

The following is an announcement from the Society of Genealogists in London:

New Fellows of the Society of Genealogists

Jean Audrey Cole was nominated and elected for the following services:
Jean's transcription work is too numerous to list but includes many Miscellany of Bastardy records, Coroners reports and inquisitions, Bishops Transcripts, Freemasons Indexes and Poor Laws.

Genealogy Newsfeeds available in RSS Format

Here is a list of the genealogy newsfeeds that I monitor. When you obtain an RSS newsreader, you can use this list to get started quickly. If you prefer, you can even download this file by clicking here and saving it as GENEALOGY.OPML on your hard drive.

NOTE: If asked, enter a user name of anonymous. (Not all web browsers will ask.) No password is required.

A new, free RSS Newsreader for Windows

I have written a number of times about the joys of using RSS newsreaders compared to standard web browsers. When it comes to viewing information that is available in RSS format (such as this newsletter), RSS newsreaders offer numerous advantages over a standard web browser.

For one thing, most RSS newsreaders automatically poll the web sites you wish to monitor so that you do not have to spend time visiting each site. This is often called "pre-fetching." All the information is periodically stored on your local hard drive and is available instantly whenever you want it. You do not need to wait for the various delays you encounter when using Internet Explorer or other web browsers. In fact, dial-up users need an RSS reader even more than those who use broadband. You can even read all the information later when you are offline. That feature alone can save a lot of money for those who use long-distance connections or cell phones to connect to the Internet.

Canadian bill S-18 passes!

Canadian genealogists have been involved for several years in an effort to make post-1901 census records available to genealogists. For background information, look at http://www.globalgenealogy.com/Census.

Now a victory seems to be at hand. The following message is from Gordon A. Watts, Co-chair of the Canada Census Committee:

Transferring 8mm Tape to Digital Video

I just read a great article by Beau Sharbrough on the topic of "Transferring 8mm tape to Digital Video." The article is short on technical mumbo-jumbo and long on "here is how I do it." In short, it is an interesting read.

If you have an interest in transferring videotapes in any format to digital video, take a look at Beau's article at http://ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=10115

(+) Rename Lots of Image Files Quickly

Here are two frequent scenarios:

1. You take more than 100 pictures with your new digital camera, then copy them to your computer's hard drive. A few weeks later you go back looking for a specific picture, only to find that all the images are stored with cryptic filenames, such as: DSC0032V.JPG.  You spend a long time trying to find the picture you want.
2. Your local genealogy society scans more than 1,000 images from the local county's tax records. You later go looking for a specific image. Again, you discover that all the images are stored with cryptic filenames, such as: SCN0332F.JPG.  You spend a long time trying to find the picture you want.

You could go through each image one-by-one, looking at each and giving it a descriptive name. That is about as exciting as watching paint dry. There must be a better way to name and catalog the files you save.

Give me a Petabyte of Data, Please

Genealogy databases tend to be huge. For instance, one new database that I am aware of and hope to write about in a few weeks contains 1.5 terabytes of information about French-Canadians, including dates of christening, marriage, and death. In case you are not familiar with the term, a terabyte is one thousand gigabytes or one million megabytes or roughly 700,000 floppy disks. That's a lot of data! Would you want to go through the task of making a backup of this data?

Update: Encyclopedia of Genealogy

A few months ago, I created a free online service for genealogists, called the Encyclopedia of Genealogy. While I'm the person who created the "shell" of this new service, newsletter readers like you write much of the information within it. If you missed the announcement, you can read it here.

I must admit that I am quite pleased with the Encyclopedia of Genealogy. Many newsletter readers have offered new content or have corrected existing information within the Encyclopedia of Genealogy. Here is a partial list of some of the articles added or updated by newsletter readers and myself in the past few weeks:

Carmack's Guide to Copyright & Contracts

What is and what is not protected by copyright? What are your rights to your own genealogical discoveries? When do you need to ask someone's permission to reprint his or her work? Can you use genealogical information you find on the Internet?

These are simple questions with sometimes not-so-simple answers. If you plan to publish your genealogy findings, either on paper or in electronic form, you really need to know the answers to these questions before you publish. Luckily, Sharon DeBartolo Carmack has just released a 118-page book with the answers to these questions and more.

U.K. Plan to Send Records to India is Criticized

Plans to electronically send records of United Kingdom births, deaths, and marriages to India for indexing are "outrageous", a civil service union says. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said the Office of National Statistics (ONS) was playing "fast and loose" with sensitive information and that hundreds of UK jobs could be lost. Some members of Parliament seem to agree.

Historical Perspectives of Death and Burials

Genealogists spend hours reading death records and walking in cemeteries. Yet we typically ignore the events of the three or four days prior to burial. To really appreciate your ancestors' lives, you also need to understand their deaths, funerals, and burials, as well as the roles of family members in the process.

Unlike today, most people 100 or more years ago died at home. Those who were ill typically did not go to a hospital for treatment and care by skilled doctors and nurses. In fact, most stayed at home and were cared for by family members. Upon death, the body was prepared for burial by the family members. Wakes were held at home, after which the body was typically moved to a church for the funeral service, then taken directly to the cemetery for burial. (In northern climates, burial often had to wait until the ground thawed in the spring. Bodies were stored in tombs until then.)

DNAPrint genomics Acquires Trace Genetics of San Francisco

The following is an announcement from DNAPrint genomics, Inc.:

SARASOTA, Fla., June 21 -- DNAPrint genomics, Inc.(OTC Bulletin Board: DNAP) today announced that it has acquired TraceGenetics, Inc., of San Francisco, Calif., a provider of products and servicesfor the genealogy, forensics, and molecular diagnostics markets. In the all-stock transaction, Trace shareholders exchanged all of the outstanding shares of Trace for 25,000,000 shares of DNAPrint common stock and options to purchase 5,000,000 additional shares at $0.02 share.

Anyone Can Take Money From Your Checking Account

NOTE: This article is not genealogy-related. However, it describes a situation that I face frequently, as do many others who operate e-commerce web sites.

I often hear the cyber-myth that "it is dangerous to use your credit card on the web." In fact, the reverse is much more accurate: the web is probably the safest place in which to use a credit card. (For details, see my earlier article on this topic at http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0245.htm#SafetyofOnlineCredit.) Now we hear that use of a credit card on the web is much, much safer than sending a check in the mail. One of the better-known anti-scam web sites has shown how easy it is for anyone to steal money out of your checking account.

Preserve the DNA Profile of Relatives

The following is an announcement from Orchid Cellmark Inc.:

Orchid Cellmark Inc. (Nasdaq: ORCH), a leading worldwide provider of identity DNA testing services, today announced the launch of a new service that gives families a simple way to preserve the DNA profile of their relatives.  This new service preserves this unique source of genetic information with potentially important medical, legal and genealogy applications after a person's death.  A record of an individual's DNA can provide a number of safeguards to families -- as a possible protection against future estate or lineage issues, as a way to trace family genealogy and identify ancestry, and so families may be able to track more detailed information about their medical history as technology advances.

Monks to use Hyperspectral Imaging to Retrieve Ancient Texts

Monks at the oldest Christian monastery in the world - St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt - plan to use digital cameras to extract hidden information from ancient Bibles. Using hyperspectral imaging, which takes pictures of the pages at different wavelengths, the monks will attempt to extract hidden text from the 1,600-year old Greek Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest existing Christian Bible. The monks hope to be able to use this method to retrieve faded revisions that were made to the parchments by hand over the years by ancient scholars.

National Archives Co-Sponsors Full-Day Genealogical Seminar in Massachusetts

The following is an announcement from the National Archives and Records Administration:

The National Archives and Records Administration-Northeast Region is co-sponsoring a full-day genealogical seminar, along with the Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC) and The Irish Research Ancestral Research Association (TIARA).

New Blog: Librarians Helping Canadian Genealogists Climb Family Trees

Blogs are popping up all over the genealogy world and for good reason: they work well for distributing often-updated information. Elise C. Cole has started one that is designed to be a collaborative space for Librarians who assist family historians with their Canadian genealogical research.

Kodak Discontinues Black-and-White Photo Paper

Ending a century-old tradition, Eastman Kodak Co will soon stop making black-and-white photographic paper. As the industry shifts rapidly from chemical-based to digital imaging, demand for black-and-white paper is declining about 25 per cent annually, Kodak spokesman David Lanzillo said.

RootsChat.com

Sarah Mackay of Bury, Lancashire, England, used the Internet frequently in an attempt to learn about her family tree. However, she became annoyed because most of the results were geared towards people living in America - stuff like census and trade information, old photos, and maps. All of Sarah's ancestors were British, so the information found seemed worthless to her.

Sarah discussed the problem with her fiancé, Trystan Davies. According to Miss Mackay, "I was complaining to Trystan, and he asked me what I would do if I were running a website. Then he said, 'Why not do it?' So we did."