The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
Genealogy cruises are great ways to combine a family vacation and multiple genealogy workshops. These "genealogy conferences at sea" provide some of the best educational and entertaining experiences available to genealogists.
Today, Wholly Genes, Inc. announced the company's latest cruise initiative. Not only will this be one of the biggest cruises, it is also being held on a brand-new cruise ship that hasn't even been launched yet! (The launch is planned for July, 2010 and the genealogy cruise will be held on board September 18 through 25, 2010.)
Quoting from the Genealogy Conference and Cruise web site:
In 1991, when during construction of a General Services Administration office building in Lower Manhattan, graves were discovered 24 feet below ground. Soon, hundreds of other bodies were found in the same area. Historians determined that these were black New Yorkers interred in what a 1755 map calls the “Negros Burial Ground.”
In all 419 bodies were discovered — giving a clue to how many others still lie under the foundations of Lower Manhattan. (Estimates have ranged from 10,000 to 20,000.) A new visitor center, inside the federal building that was ultimately constructed over a portion of the excavation (the other part became a burial site and memorial), is meant to explain the site’s significance.
I am always amazed at the knowledge and expertise of newsletter readers. A case in point is the article I published yesterday on "The Impact of Touch." I wrote, "Remember Spock trying to use the ancient computer in an episode of Star Trek?"
Wrong!
Within hours, probably a half dozen newsletter readers wrote to point out that the Star Trek character who attempted to use the "ancient" computer was Scotty, not Spock. I am in awe of the detailed knowledge of newsletter readers. I would not have believed this newsletter would attract so many Trekkies.
I had a bit of a surprise last night. As I left a shopping mall about 9 PM, I heard a noise coming from a trash dumpster in the back of the parking lot. I stopped, looked, and saw a very well-dressed young man standing in the dumpster. I watched as he methodically opened each bag of trash and every box in the dumpster and examined the contents. He also had a flashlight to help him read the individual pieces of paper.
I have written about security issues many times, including computer security and other factors involved in identity theft. I used to be in the computer security business some years ago, charged with protecting hundreds of thousands of credit card numbers stored on my employer's web servers. I used to train our customers' employees on security issues, including "dumpster diving." However, last night was the first time I ever saw “dumpster diving” with my own eyes.
If you have read any articles about credit card theft or identity theft, you already know that such theft of information rarely happens online. Credit card theft usually occurs in one of two scenarios:
It is with sadness that I write about the demise of one of my favorite web sites. I enjoyed watching all the videos on RootsTelevision.com over the past several years. I was even able to participate in the creation of some of the videos on that site and was always impressed with the professionalism that Megan Smolenyak brought to the site. She created a "class act." She and an assortment of co-workers, volunteers, and "hired guns" carried heavy and expensive video equipment all over the U.S. as well as to England several times, to New Zealand, and even videotaped genealogy shows on board cruise ships.
RootsTelevision.com brought new and interesting content to genealogists, using what was at the time a brand new media: Internet television. Indeed, RootsTelevision.com has been the leader in the field of Internet television for genealogists.
You can see dozens of my past interviews with leaders of the genealogy world as published on RootsTelevision.com if you start at http://tinyurl.com/yjgt6jj.
The earliest computers I ever used didn't have keyboards or video screens. I haven't seen a computer in years that reads JCL (Job Control Language) commands from punched cards, like most all the early computers used.
A few years later a new generation of computers appeared, and keyboards and video screens became the norm. Computer programs were re-written to accept keyboard input. We learned to type our commands.
Still a few years later, the computer mouse appeared. Software was re-written, and then entire operating systems were re-written to accept this new method of input. We no longer have to type archaic strings of letters and numbers in order to start a program or to switch to a different disk drive. Today, we click the mouse.
Jan Gow is one of New Zealand’s top genealogists, according to an article in the Auckland Stuff online newspaper. She spends her days searching through information, hunting for clues, and piecing together fragments of the past. It’s something that captivated her in the early 1980s.
Jan is also is one of the key speakers at an upcoming writers’ forum hosted by the St Helier’s Writing Group. The online newspaper article describes her genealogy work and then points out that she is but one of the speakers at the upcoming writers’ forum.
The article continues, " Mrs. Gow gives advice on how to trace your family in a regular Net Guide column, teaches night classes and takes groups of people on genealogy tours.
Should heir hunters be allowed to charge up to 40%? It's not surprising that the heir hunters themselves usually say, "Yes." However, many people in and out of the legal profession disagree.
"Heir hunters" look for lost heirs: people who have inherited money but don't yet know about their inheritances. Heir hunters may be freelancers, or they may be employed by the deceased person's estate. They typically are experienced genealogists who look for the heirs.
Once found, the new heirs are typically told they have inherited money but are not told the amount or the source. Instead, the heir finders will tell the heirs, “We will not tell you what we know unless you sign this agreement to give us 30%.” A fee of 30% is typical but might be as low as 20% or as high as 40%, depending upon what the heir hunter thinks he or she can get away with.
Edward Hapgood Little of Nantucket died in Milford, Connecticut on February 20, 2010 at the age of 82. He worked for 32 years as a professional genealogist, researching and compiling genealogies as well as establishing a number of collections at the Connecticut Historical Society. His prime interest was in the importance of heredity in family lineages. In his research he sought to draw aspects of personality from historical records, so as to reveal a person’s life experiences and qualities imbedded therein. Among other published works, he was privileged to research and write The Davis Story with his friend John K. Davis, published in 1992.
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently caused some controversy by proposing major changes that will significantly reduce the space and services available to researchers who wish to use NARA records in Washington, D.C. Specifically, the proposal is to relocate the Finding Aids/ Consultants to a smaller, open space within the library, reduce the number of microfilm readers, and replace self-serve microfilm access with a "pull on demand" process that requires staff to retrieve each film as someone requests it.
Angela Walton-Raji has been researching African-Native American
genealogy for nearly 20 years and is the author of the book Black
Indian Genealogy Research: African-American Ancestors Among the Five
Civilized Tribes. She recently presented a series of genealogy
workshops at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington,
D.C., in conjunction with the exhibit IndiVisible: African-Native
American Lives in the Americas.
The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) has an interesting article about the current status and the future of the National Archives of Australia (NAA). Like many government agencies worldwide, the National Archives of Australia is facing major budget cuts. In this case, the agency has been asked to cut several million dollars from its annual budget. The three smallest offices (Darwin, Hobart, and Adelaide) have been closed, and other changes are being made. Archivists, historians, and genealogists alike are uncomfortable with the changes.
I have heard of Hi-Fi and of Wi-Fi but this is a new term for me: Die-Fi. Arizona company Objecs announced today that it has developed "enhanced memorial products" that add Near Field Communications tags to cemetery markers, which allow text and photos to be "embedded" in a headstone and retrieved whenever a cell phone is touched against its surface.
Objecs, which specializes in "object hyperlinking," or assigning a Web-based presence to real world objects, sells two products. One is called RosettaStone, which is a palm-sized stone tablet; the other is Data Tag, which adheres directly to headstones. In good outdoor conditions, the company says the Personal RosettaStone should be readable for as much as 300 years.
Yesterday I posted a short article describing an episode of The Simpsons that describes Lisa's school project to research her family tree. Austin Shinaberry later posted a comment at the end of the article pointing out that you can watch the episode right now on Hulu.com (in the U.S. only) at http://www.hulu.com/watch/126740/the-simpsons-the-color-yellow or click on the PLAY icon in the image below.
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
If you want to take a digital copy of a family photograph or an important family document, you could simply hold the camera in your hand and snap a picture. I have done that successfully many times. However, I’ve also had some useless, blurry results. As frustrating as this can be when you’re at home, it can also eat up precious research time when shooting old documents and photos at a library or other repository. You can almost always get better results if you place the camera on a camera stand or possibly a tripod and then use some sort of remote shutter or a tethering arrangement that will squeeze the shutter for you – and maybe do even more – with no hands touching the camera.
The problem is your heartbeat. It is impossible for a human to hold a camera perfectly still. If your heart is beating, there will always be imperceptible movement in your hands. As we age, some of us tend to "shake" a bit more. It is physically impossible for anyone to hold a camera perfectly still when it is in your hands. You can improve the results by taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as you lean up against a wall or some other solid object and snap the picture. However, no handheld camera will ever take a razor sharp picture that compares with those taken by tripod-mounted or copy-stand mounted cameras.
A post on the Records Preservation and Access Committee (A joint committee of the Federation of Genealogical Societies & the National Genealogical Society) website at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/2010/02/22/library-of-michigan-the-threat-continues/ discusses a recent meeting that took place on Feb. 17th between Cynthia Grostick, President Michigan Genealogical Council and Michigan’s State Librarian, Nancy Robertson regarding the State Library of Michigan and budget issues.
The article, written by Cynthia Grostick, President of the Michigan Genealogical Council, states (in part):
Genealogy has gone mainstream. Yes, Lisa has been bitten by the genealogy bug.
On the latest episode of "The Simpsons," Lisa digs into the roots of the most American of fictional TV families – ignoring warnings that she's headed down a yellow-hued road to disappointment.
“I won’t give up,” she declares. “I have to know that somewhere in the muck and mire… that this family had a noble spark.”
The following was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Illinois State Genealogical Society:
The Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Illinois State Genealogical Society are pleased to announce the official call for lecture proposals for our 2011 national conference, “Pathways to the Heartland,” to be held in Springfield, Illinois, 7-10 September 2011. The conference will explore the resources of America’s Heartland through a variety of regional and national topics aimed at engaging genealogists and family historians of all levels and experience. Topics relating to the Midwest, migration patterns, and religious and ethnic groups are encouraged. Wednesday, 7 September 2011 will include “Focus on Societies,” with lectures, focus groups, and other special events devoted to assisting genealogical societies, lineage societies, historical societies, and family associations succeed and thrive in their activities.
Would you like to see film of the city of Detroit as it was when your ancestors lived there? Or perhaps as it was when you were a child? Lost Landscapes of Detroit, a show of public domain footage showing the grand landscapes of Detroit in its heyday, screened two weeks ago to a standing-room-only and vocal audience of Detroiters. It's now online for free downloading.
The compilation of historical images of Detroit, Michigan (1917-1970), edited by Rick Prelinger for presentation at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) can be found on the Wayback Machine at http://www.archive.org/details/LostLandscapesOfDetroit2010 or click on the icon in the center of the image below.
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