Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

The Popularity of Your Last Name

The U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of Americans every ten years. The same government agency also asks a lot of questions of those people, such as how many bathrooms are in their house and whether or not the family owns a computer. The Census Bureau even counts how many people have the same first or last names.

Ancestry.com Introduces Family Tree Maker 2011 with more than 100 Enhancements

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com:

No. 1 Selling Family Tree Software Offers Simplicity and Depth for Recording Family Histories
 
PROVO, Utah, August 31, 2010 – Ancestry.com today announced the release of Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker® 2011, an improved version of the world’s No. 1 selling family history software.

Angus and Dundee Roots Festival

The third annual Angus and Dundee Roots Festival will provide practical help for everyone who wants to find out more about their family history in Angus and Dundee.

A special party to mark the milestone will be held at Restenneth Priory on Monday, September 27. For the occasion, staff will be selecting 21 of their favorite items from the archives.

Brazil Will use Smartphones For Taking the Census

The U.S. Census Bureau originally planned to use custom-built handheld computers and wireless data to take the 2010 census. See my 2006 article that described those plans at http://tinyurl.com/3xmasvo. After spending $600 million on the plan, the Census Bureau abandoned the idea and went back to paper forms. See http://tinyurl.com/3xdssex for details.

Now the government of Brazil plans to conduct a census using handheld computers and wireless data but there will be two major differences: (1.) Brazil plans to use off-the-shelf consumer-grade cell phones to collect the information and (2.) Brazil also plans to spend a lot less money.

New Disney Channel Series “My Family Tree”

Genealogy and geography are set to come together in a new Disney Channel series to premiere in November. “My Family Tree” will showcase kids from around the country engagingly reporting on their interesting ancestors and roots.

A quote from Disney spokesperson Patti McTeague stated that the children featured in the series all “have self-esteem and a gift of storytelling.”

Salt Lake Family History Expo - Day #2

The second and final day of the Salt Lake Family History Expo was held on Saturday, August 28. In short, it was a continuation of Day #1, as expected: many seminars and presentations were held and vendors presented their products and services in the exhibits hall. The weather was excellent and it looked to me like everyone had a good time.

I did snap a lot of new pictures and am showing them below. Click on any image below to see a larger picture.

Salt Lake Family History Expo - Day #1

I must say that I had a fun day today, hobnobbing with genealogists all day long. I was at the Family History Expo in Sandy, Utah, for the first day of a two-day event. I snapped a number of photographs which you can see here if you scroll down. Click on any image to see a larger picture.

The Family History Expos are held in a number of cities, mostly in the western U.S., although this year the Expos are expanding as far eastward as Atlanta, Georgia. While this week's event is called the "Salt Lake Family History Expo," it is actually held in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. When driving from Salt Lake City to Sandy, a stranger probably won't realize that he or she crossed the city line. It is all one metropolitan area. In reality, this is the "Salt Lake AREA Family History Expo."

Flip-Pal

I have seen a lot of scanners in the past few years, but this one really caught my eye. Flip-Pal is a portable scanner designed to scan photographs. It fits easily into a briefcase or a ladies' medium-sized purse or into some overcoat pockets. The Flip-Pal is 10.25 inches long, 6.5 inches wide, and 1.25 inches thick. That's small! While it is possible to scan larger photos, it really excels at any black-and-white or color photograph of 6-inches by 4-inches or smaller.
 
The Flip-Pal was being demonstrated at the Salt Lake Family History Expo today, and I must say that I was impressed. The Flip-Pal is a small, portable scanner. When I say "portable," I really mean it in every sense of the word. In this case, there is no computer required! There are no cables dangling about, no attached computer, no power cord to plug into the wall, nothing. Take a look at the picture above. Click on the image to see a larger picture. Everything required to operate the scanner is shown in the picture. That's one scanner and one human. That's all that is needed.

Older Users Flocking to Facebook, Twitter

Sometimes I think that "older users" is defined as "anyone over the age of twenty-five." (Sigh) In any case, CNN has a very interesting story about older users being the fastest growing customer segment on both Facebook and Twitter. Well, it is interesting if you are over twenty-five.

The number of internet users over 50 who use social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have nearly doubled in the past year, according to a study released Friday.

Between April 2009 and May, the percentage of internet users 50 and up who said they use social-networking sites has risen from 22 percent to 42 percent, according to the survey by the Pew Research Center.

Ancestry.Com Adds 58 Million New Yearbook Records

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com:

PROVO, UTAH – August 27, 2010 – Ancestry.com today launched millions of records that now make up the largest searchable collection of yearbooks available online. Along with Ancestry.com’s existing collections, there are now more than 60 million yearbook records available in the site’s U.S. School Yearbook collection, which also includes class and candid photos of famous celebrities.
 
The 10,000 yearbooks included in the new U.S. School Yearbook collection feature yearbooks from high schools, junior highs, academies, colleges, and universities—military, public, parochial, and private—from almost every state in the United States spanning 1875-1988.

On the Road Again

By the time you read these words, I'll be on an airplane to Salt Lake City or perhaps will have already arrived. I'll spend two days at the Salt Lake Family History Expo being held in Sandy, Utah. You can read more about that in my earlier article at http://tinyurl.com/292gxoh

After the conference is over, I'm taking a side trip to Las Vegas for a few days before returning home. During the next few days, I probably won't be writing as many newsletter articles as usual. I will have a laptop computer, a 3G wireless card, and a variety of other hardware so Internet access shouldn't be a problem. What I will be lacking is time. I do hope to write about the Salt Lake Family History Expo and possibly will include a few pictures as well.

Finding a Genealogy Society

This newsletter and many other genealogy publications often refer to "your local genealogy society." The question is: how do you find such a society? Or, how do you find such a society in another part of the country where your ancestors lived? After all, if you live in Colorado but are looking for ancestors in Kentucky, you need to find the resources held by the Kentucky society. Then again, you may need to find a national society that specializes in specific ethnic groups, such as French-Canadian, Italian, Polish, or Quaker ancestry. Of course, your local society can always help immensely with research techniques and local resources but where can you find societies in another part of the country?

Salt Lake Family History Expo

If you can be in the greater Salt Lake City area this weekend, you might want to stop in at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy. If you do so, you will find the Salt Lake Family History Expo in full operation there on Friday and Saturday, August 27-28, 2010.

Email Alternatives

I recently wrote an article entitled "Email Providers Are Rejecting Millions of Legitimate Emails Daily" that has generated a lot of user comments. You might want to read those comments to see all the ideas and problems that other newsletter readers have found.

One comment from "Tenn Tuxedo" got me thinking: "if you want to see the future of e-mail, go to any college campus and ask the students how many e-mails they send in a week. Virtually none, they all communicate on social networking sites like Facebook. Sending an e-mail is just an inconvenience. To them e-mail is so 2005."

How true! I would add instant messaging to that list of "email substitutes."

Still More Cemetery Vandalism: Lewiston, Maine

Three Lewiston men were arrested in connection with the desecration last week of one of the city's oldest cemeteries.

Police charged the three young men with aggravated criminal mischief and desecration and defacement of a burial site in connection with widespread vandalism at Riverside Cemetery. All three remained at the Androscoggin County Jail on Tuesday night.

Gmail Users: Add Free Telephone Calls

Google has merged Gmail and Google Voice together to allow users to place phone calls from within Gmail. Both services have been available separately for some time. Now Google is merging the two together. See a telephone number in an email message? Click on the number and a free telephone call is initiated.

Google also announced today that calls to the US and Canada would be free for "at least" the rest of the year, leaving the door open to possibly charging for calls beginning in 2011. Calls to other countries will always be very cheap. For instance, I used Google Voice this morning to call Ireland for 2 cents (U.S.) per minute. The connection was crystal clear, better than many other overseas calls I have made in the past.

(+) My New GPS and Camera and Mobile Internet Device and Secret Weapon

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

In an earlier article, I mentioned that I was planning to replace my aging and somewhat deaf GPS with a new model. I solicited suggestions and did receive quite a few worthwhile comments. However, in the end, I decided to purchase a different GPS from what had been suggested. The model I purchased is new, having been released by the manufacturer only a few weeks ago. It is so new that no newsletter readers had any experience with this particular model.

The device I purchased is quite different from any other GPS I have ever seen or used. For one thing, it is cheaper than most of the units I had previously considered. Next, it is smaller than most other GPS devices made for automobile use, which turns out to be a mixed blessing: some good, some bad. Finally, it has several features I have never seen on any other GPS unit. It has one feature that really excites me as I have another "secret weapon" that extends its capabilities.

Arkiv Digital Will Be Free this Weekend

Arkiv Digital is an online genealogy database service that specializes in digitizing Swedish historical records by taking photo images of original documents in color. Quoting from Laila Christiansen's blog:

*ArkivDigital for free this weekend 27 to 29 August*

This weekend (28-29 August), this year's Genealogy Days will take place in Örebro. Arkiv Digital is the main sponsor of the event and we hope that there will be a lot of people visiting Örebro. We have some new and exciting things to show in our booth and there will certainly be shown and sold many other exciting things in Örebro.

Unfortunately, not all of you will be able to visit the Örebro and that is why we would like to offer something to all genealogists as well as "celebrate" the event, Arkiv  Digital offers free access for research in our over 22.5 million images from the archives in Swedish and Åland.

Ancestry.com and NBC Team Up for a Second Season of “Who Do You Think You Are?”

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com:

World's Largest Family History Web Site Continues Sponsorship of Critically Acclaimed TV Series That Takes a Personal Look at Celebrity Family Histories
 
PROVO, Utah, August 25, 2010 – Ancestry.com is pleased to announce it has extended its relationship with NBC for the second season of the “Who Do You Think You Are?” television series.

(+) A Better (Cheaper) Method of Obtaining Wi-Fi Service

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

When at the FGS conference in Knoxville last week, I talked with several people about their Internet access when traveling. Many people travel with laptop or netbook computers these days, almost all of which include built-in wi-fi wireless networking. However, most of the people I talked with were paying $10 or $12 per night to their hotel for wi-fi access.

That's outrageous! Generally speaking, the cheaper hotels provide wi-fi at no charge while the more "upscale" hotels gouge their guests. Luckily, the guests do have options.