The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
Here's another non-genealogy article about free telephone service. I wrote about one such service just a few days ago at http://eogn.com/wp/?p=11136. Now magicJack, the Internet phone gadget that is advertised all over late night television, is planning to offer FREE phone calls from computers, smart phones and iPads. That means that anyone will be able to call landline and cell phones in the U.S. and Canada, with no time limits on the calls. There will be no hardware gadget to purchase and no charge for the calls.
NOTE: This is an update to an article I wrote many years ago. It has had some new information added and several new links to new web pages have also been added.
Many genealogy records are indexed by a high-tech algorithm called the Soundex Code. Well, it was “high tech” in 1918 when Robert Russell invented it. In a nutshell, Soundex Codes provide a means of identifying words – especially names -- by the way they sound. They were used extensively by the U.S. Work Projects Administration (WPA) crews working in the 1930s to organize Federal Census data from 1880 to 1920. Soundex has also been used for many state and local census records and is very popular in genealogy software and databases. If you are a genealogist, it won't be long until you encounter Soundex.
I am amazed. Several days ago I announced that there would again be a dinner for EOGN readers following the close of the FGS Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. The restaurant is limiting us to 35 seats. In order to give everyone a chance to obtain a reservation, I announced six days in advance that reservations could be made beginning at 12 noon Eastern time on Saturday, August 14.
The reservation system went live at 12 noon today. The dinner was sold out in six minutes!
Last week I wrote about Families, a brand-new program from TelGen
Limited for the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad that imports its data from
Legacy Family Tree for Windows. Yesterday, I reported the program had
been temporarily withdrawn from Apple's App Store.
Today, Geoff Rasmussen reports, "This morning they announced that
version 1.1 is now available from Apple's App Store."
FamilyBee was originally a genealogy program for the Google Android Phone. However, the program has since been improved and now runs on all Android-based phones, such as the Droid, Evo, and Backflip. According to the program's web site:
A major announcement was made today of a brand-new genealogy technology conference to be held next February 10 through 12. It is expected to attract genealogy software developers, technology providers, technology writers, technology users, and many others, probably from all over the world. The RootsTech Conference will be hosted by FamilySearch in Salt Lake City and also will be sponsored by Ancestry.com, New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), Brigham Young University, and other leaders in the genealogy community.
The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:
New RootsTech Conference to Bring Technologists Face-to-face with Genealogists
SALT LAKE CITY —Technologists and genealogists from around the world will gather at the first annual RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 10-12, 2011. The new conference, hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by leading genealogical organizations, aims to bring technologists and genealogists together to help deepen understanding of current technologies and discover new ideas in applying technology to genealogy. Learn more at rootstech.familysearch.org.
The Alex Haley House Museum and Interpretive Center was dedicated today in the tiny town of Henning, Tennessee, 45 minutes north of Memphis. Visitors can now research their own roots at the Interpretative Center.
Originally known as the Palmer House, this ten-room, bungalow style home was constructed in 1918 and 1919 by Will E. Palmer, Alex Haley's maternal grandfather. From 1921 to 1929, and during some subsequent summers, Alex Haley lived here with his grandparents, Will and Cynthia Palmer.
The front porch was often the place where young Alex heard the oral accounts of family history, including stories of Kunta Kinte, the young Mandingo man captured near his West African home.
Here's another sad commentary of our society. The KAKE web site has a story about recent vandalism at the Beulah Cemetery in Colby. One hundred sixty-eight headstones were toppled. Some of the headstones suffered damage while others only needed to be reset. Damages are estimated at $25,000 but could climb as high as $100,000.
Last week I wrote about Families, a brand-new program from TelGen Limited for the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad that imports its data from Legacy Family Tree for Windows. The program has now been temporarily withdrawn from Apple's App Store.
Ancestry.co.uk has recently added England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941 to its online collection of records. This is a major resource for genealogists.
This collection contains summaries (not the actual documents) of the vast majority of probate cases in England and Wales between 1861 and 1941. It effectively forms an index to wills and probate records for this period.
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
This article has nothing to do with genealogy. However, it describes a bargain that I found a few weeks ago and have been enjoying ever since. I thought I would share this with others. If you are looking only for hard-core genealogy or history news, you might want to skip this article.
Would you like to obtain free telephone service?
Most people will quickly answer, "Yes." I should quickly explain two things:
British Pathe has digitized and released archive films dating back to the 1920s. Archivists are hoping that people will explore the Pathe collection online and help them document the films more fully, with names and places featured in the pictures.
Some of the other stories that were covered in Somerset include a father and son building model trams in their back garden and hippies holding a "love-in" at a park in Bath.
The New York Times has an interesting article about creating online memories of loved ones and raising money for projects, foundations or charities.
1000Memories, a company that lets people create online memories for lost loved ones. The company lets users create a simple, yet informative, page for people to come and remember a loved one. The main page launches with just the person’s name and a giant picture of them provided by the creator of the page.
In the past two weeks I have described easy, but expensive, methods of converting non-searchable PDF files to searchable PDFs. This week I will describe a third solution that is free of charge and also works on Windows, Macintosh, or Linux. However, be warned that this free solution is technically complicated and also may require additional hardware that you might already own. You need to understand computer networks and also know how to share folders on your computer while connected to your in-home network. A bit of knowledge of Linux wouldn't hurt but probably is not an absolute requirement.
The folks in Bryant Pond, Maine apparently don't change to modern technology without good reason. For instance, the small town of about 1,300 people in western Maine was the last municipality in the United States to switch from a hand-crank telephone exchange to a dial system. Even better, the townsfolk seem to miss the dear old hand-crank phones so much that some of them erected a statue in honor of the old-fashioned phones!
(Click on any of these small images to see a larger picture.)
The following announcement was written by Family Tree DNA:
HOUSTON, (August 11, 2010) -- Family Tree DNA, the world leader in genetic genealogy, will host its 6th International Conference on Genetic Genealogy on October 30-31, 2010, at the Sheraton North Houston in Houston, Texas. Each year, world renowned experts in genetics and science present cutting-edge developments and exciting new applications at this two-day educational forum which draws attendees from Family Tree DNA's Group Administrators from around the world. This year's conference will focus on the new Family Finder test which allows customers to find relatives across all ancestral lines.
The following announcement was written by the Godfrey Memorial Library:
James R. Benn, B.A., M.L.S., is the new Director of Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, Connecticut beginning September 13. He is currently the Coordinator of Information Technology for the West Hartford, Connecticut public schools.
Previously he has been the National Sales Director for Auto-Graphics, Inc., a library automation and internet service provider; a research associate for the National Commission on Libraries and Information Services; Director, Department of Planning and Network Services of the Connecticut State Library; Executive Director of the Southeastern Connecticut Library Association; and Director of the Ledyard, Connecticut Public Library. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at the Southern Connecticut University School of Library Science.
I often write about technical devices in this newsletter but this time I will turn the tables and ask you a question: which GPS should I buy?
Here's the problem: I have owned a Garmin Nuvi 680 GPS for several years and it has served me well. I named the GPS "Wanda." It helps if you speak with a New England accent, as in "It guides me as I Wanda all over the countryside in my cah."
The Nuvi 680 GPS includes a suction cup mount for the windshield and a power cord that plugs into the cigarette lighter. I travel a lot and always take the GPS with me. When I get to the distant city, I jump into the rental car, plug in Wanda, and let her provide navigation through strange cities and byways. Wanda has done well, providing perfect guidance on a 3-week driving trip in New Zealand as well as on several dozen trips all over the U.S. and Canada. Some of those trips have been for more than 2,000 miles each.
However, like many senior citizens, Wanda's hearing is fading.
I think "encore" is a synonym for "summer reruns." In any case, genealogists who missed the first showings will want to know about the "encore" starting this week. NBC is planning to re-air four episodes (not all of the episodes) of the Who Do You Think You Are? series starting on Friday, August 13 at 8/7c.
The following was written by the New England Historic Genealogical Society:
NEHGS and Ancestry.com invites you to join us for our second Family History Day on Saturday, October 16th at Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center Boston. Come and explore the world of genealogy, listen to engaging lectures, meet with expert staff, digitize your important family documents, and learn more about how the incredible resources at NEHGS and Ancestry.com can help you find your family.
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