Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

On the Road Still Longer - Minnesota and New York

Greetings from Honolulu. I left home a couple of weeks ago and will not be back for some time. I'll be in Honolulu most of this week, "working" as a tourist and doing non-genealogy things. However, next Saturday I'll be at the 32nd Annual Family History Workshop in Moorhead, Minnesota. The workshop theme is "Old Trails, New Highways." If you can be in Moorhead on October 6, I suspect you will enjoy this workshop. I'd also enjoy meeting newsletter readers.

Changes at Footnote.com

The folks at Footnote.com have been busy. Several new changes were added to the site earlier today, including:

Connections:  In the gallery, you can now drag one image on top of another and then describe how the two images are connected. Connections might be images from the same document, two documents describing the same person, place or thing, etc. This is the first step of some more changes planned for Connections in the future.

Upload: The upload process has several improvements. First, you can multi-select when you choose images. You browse to your folder and, by holding down the shift key, you can select a number of images in a list; or by holding down the ctrl key (command for a Mac), you can select multiple individual images. This should make upload a lot faster and easier. In addition, you can now upload more than five files at once.

The Mother of All Genealogy Databases

Mike Elgan recently wrote an article in Computerworld with some interesting predictions. Among other things, he believes that Google will someday unveil "Google Maps" of genealogy, which will result in a massive, interactive, mashable, public, and free online Human Family Tree. In short, he believes that Google will someday be able to list information about all humans who ever lived and left records behind. Not only that, but he also predicts that the records of most of these people will be linked together to point to similar records of their parents, children, siblings, and other relatives.

Is combining all genealogy data too scary?

The Generations Network Selects Interevco to Sell its Online Advertising

It looks like The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com, is changing its online advertising focus. The following announcement was written by Interevco Ltd.:

NEW YORK and PROVO, Utah, Sept. 26 -- The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com, the world's largest online family history resource, announced today that it has named Interevco as its online advertising sales representative. Interevco will also consult with the organization in developing online advertising sales strategies for their leading genealogy and family history database sites, including the Ancestry.com network of sites, Genealogy.com, Myfamily.com and RootsWeb.com.

TreeX.com, a Newly Launched Web Site

The following announcement was written by TreeX.com:

Arlington, VA, September 25, 2007 -- Keeping track of family history and genealogy has never been easier.

Announcing the launch of TreeX.com, a new Web site where relatives, friends or professional genealogists can work together or alone to help grow their family trees. Through this innovative Web-based building interface they easily construct family trees, keep track of family ancestry and post photographs and historical text.

The owner of the family tree can invite as many people as he wants to assist him in this effort. Trees are grown by inputting data directly to the site or by accessing computer files saved in the required GEDCOM format. Other information, photos and videos can also be inserted into the tree generically or for each member, improving quality and scope of the tree. Furthermore, a family tree can be kept confidential, set to public view or set to allow specified persons or relatives to access it -- and forums and user message boards have also been made available to make the exchange of information easier.

Free Google Presentation Software Now Available

I have written several times in the past about Google Documents and Spreadsheets. It is an excellent free online word processor and spreadsheet. You can find my previous articles at http://tinyurl.com/yolm7r. Now Google has added PowerPoint-compatible presentation to the free office suite. Since the title of "Google Documents and Spreadsheets and Presentations" is a bit of a mouthful, the company has also changed the name of the service. From now on, these free tools will simply be known as "Google Docs."

(+) What is a Wiki and Why Should I Care?

A funny-sounding new word is being found more and more on the Internet: wiki. It is not a creature from Star Wars, and it is not a strange animal from Australia. In fact, wiki is a bit of software that gets its name from the Hawaiian or Polynesian word for "quickly." In fact, the shuttle buses at the Honolulu airport are called "wiki wiki," meaning to go quickly and easily. Now the word is creeping into genealogy vocabularies.

In the words of wiki inventor Ward Cunningham:

A wiki is the simplest online database that could possibly work.

Hello from the Carnival Spirit

This week's newsletter is being sent from a cruise ship, presently located about 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii. The Carnival Spirit departed Vancouver, British Columbia last Wednesday with more than 2,500 passengers, including 100+ enthusiastic genealogists. Luckily for me, I am one of those genealogists.

Millennia Software, producers of Legacy Family Tree software for Windows, is sponsoring their annual genealogy cruise for their customers and other interested genealogists. We are now in our fifth day of the 13-day cruise.

Technology on Board Cruise Ships

Advances in technology always fascinate me. We are now able to communicate with friends, relatives and business associates from almost anyplace in the world. Specifically, passengers on cruise ships are no longer isolated from the outside world.

Satellite Internet access has been available on cruise ships for a few years but a new advance is available this year. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Carnival Spirit even has a cell phone "tower" someplace on board. GSM cell phones work perfectly every place on the ship. I receive "five bars" signal strength everywhere I walk on board. I can place calls easily. If anyone back home dials my cell phone number, the iPhone on my hip rings a second or two later. I simply say "hello" and start conversing in exactly the same manner as I do when I am at home.

1900 U.S. Census Being Indexed by FamilySearch

FamilySearch is an organization funded by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). The organization recently expanded their efforts at making more genealogy records available to the public. One new project that raised a few eyebrows is the indexing of the 1900 U.S. census.

New Book Celebrates Central Massachusetts Polonia

WORCESTER, Mass.--Polish Americans are one of Worcester County's largest ethnic groups, but their shared history in central Massachusetts has never been documented--until now.  "Worcester County's Polish Community," by Barbara Proko and Janice Baniukiewicz Stickles with Our Lady of Czestochowa Guild of Catholic Women, tells Polonia's story for the first time, in more than 225 vintage photographs, maps, and other illustrations.

A new release in Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series, this photo history broadens the scope of Proko and Stickles' first book, "The Polish Community of Worcester" (2003).  It highlights the seven Polish parish seats of the Worcester Diocese--Clinton, Dudley, Gardner, Southbridge, Webster, West Warren, and Worcester--and encompasses Gilbertville, South Grafton, Uxbridge, and other towns where Poles settled in substantial numbers.

National Archives FY ‘08 Funding

The following was written by the From the National Coalition for History:

On July 12, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its fiscal year 2008 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill (S. Rept 110-129). The bill includes $313.9 million for operating expenses of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). This funding level is $1.1 million above the President’s request, $1.1 million less than the House recently approved in its bill (H.R. 2829) and $34.6 million above fiscal year 2007 budget.

The Electronic Records Archive program will receive $58 million, the same as the amount provided in the House bill and the President’s request. This is an increase of $12 million over FY ‘07.

Findmypast.Com Adds More New Records

The following announcement was written by Findmypast.com:

City of London Burials Index, 1871 census and outbound passenger lists are all expanded

Findmypast.com, the UK family history website, has added a number of new data records to its existing online collection, bringing the total number on the site to well over 500 million records.

Firstly, burial records from 75 more parishes have been added to the City of London Burials Index, which now contains 350,000 records of burials within the Square Mile of London, many pre-dating civil registration in 1837. The earliest record is dated 1742, while the majority cover the period 1788 to 1855.

Largest Argentine Genealogy Tree Database Now Online

The following announcement was written by WorldVitalRecords.com:

The largest online genealogy tree database of Argentinian people is now online at WorldVitalRecords.com through a recent partnership with Familias-Argentinas.com.ar.

Provo, UT -- The largest online genealogy tree database of Argentinian people is now online at WorldVitalRecords.com through a recent partnership with Familias-Argentinas.com.ar.

This Newsletter has an Audio Feed for iPod Users and the Visually Impaired

The Standard Edition of this newsletter now has an audio version for the visually impaired as well as for anyone who would prefer to listen to articles on an iPod or other MP3 player. The text of each article is narrated by a computer-synthesized voice that is amazingly lifelike and easy to understand.

There are two different ways of listening to the audio version.

Haverhill, Massachusetts Home to be Featured on BBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Producers from the British Broadcasting Corp. show "Who Do You Think You Are?" scouted the historic Hazen Garrison House recently as a site for future filming. Someone's family tree led the producers to the house at 8 Groveland Street, but they are not revealing the star's identity. They want to preserve the secret for fans of the show, which is entering its fifth season.

Genealogy Programs for Macintosh

Macintosh owners may have the best operating system, but they may have a bit of trouble finding genealogy programs. Actually, there are several excellent genealogy programs available for Macintosh, and some are as good as or better than the majority of Windows genealogy programs. However, they do not seem to be as well known, probably because of less marketing effort.

The thing that fascinates me is the international nature of Macintosh genealogy programs. The leading programs are produced in the United States, France, Germany, Australia, and even tiny Iceland.

We Live Longer Than Our Ancestors

Life expectancy in the United States has increased to almost 78 years, the country's highest on record, amid a downturn in deaths from heart disease, cancer, and stroke, according to new federal estimates.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics said in a report that a child born in the United States in 2005 can expect to live 77.9 years, up from 77.8 in 2004 and continuing a rise dating back decades. U.S. life expectancy was 75.8 years in 1995 and 69.6 years in 1955.

U.K. National Archives New Birth, Marriage & Deaths Now Online

The U.K. National Archives' collection of nonconformist birth, marriage and death records from 1567 has gone online for the first time. A new partnership project between The National Archives and S&N Genealogy Supplies means that you can now access images of these records online. BMD Registers provides access to the non-parochial and nonconformist registers 1567-1840 held in RG 4 and RG 5.

The announcement states that birth, marriage and death records are crucial tools for anyone researching their family history. Before 1837, when civil registration was introduced in England and Wales, church registers provided an important source of information on births, baptisms, marriages and burials.

Boston Area TUG Formed

A Boston-area TMG Users Group has been formed. Of course, "TMG" stands for The Master Genealogist. Ed Feustel organized a meeting of about twenty interested TMG users with a kick-off session held on Saturday, September 15, 2007 at the New England Historic and Genealogical Society (NEHGS).

The inaugural meeting included a visit by a surprise guest: Bob Velke, president of Wholly Genes Software and the mastermind behind The Master Genealogist. Other guests included John Cardinal, author of Second Site and of TMG Utility. Jim Byrum, a TMG expert user and frequent lecturer, was on hand to help answer questions. I also had a chance to attend this meeting and take notes.