Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

TypePad Purchased by Video Ad Firm

I suspect not many people noticed this article in the New York Times, but it struck terror in my mind: Blogging Pioneer Bought by Video Ad Firm. The article is available at http://nyti.ms/alenoC

The article appears to be a run-of-the-mill business news article: an online firm that specializes in hosting blogs has been acquired by a company that specializes in displaying advertisements on web sites. It would seem to be a marriage made in heaven.

There's just one problem: the "online firm that specializes in hosting blogs" is Six Apart, the company that owns TypePad which, in turn, has hosted Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter for the past six years as well as several other blogs that I write. In short, my hosting service has been acquired by a company that delivers advertising.

From FamilySearch: Did You Say New Dominican Republic, Italy, Jamaica, and Spain Records?

The following was written by FamilySearch:

22 September 2010

Did You Say New Dominican Republic, Italy, Jamaica, and Spain Records?

You read correctly, FamilySearch has published nearly 2 million new digital images alone this week from the Dominican Republic, Italy, Jamaica, Spain, and the United States. The records are predominantly from civil registration and church records. Search them now at http://Beta.FamilySearch.org

See the chart below for the complete list of newly added or updated collections.

FamilySearch Indexing Update - 22 September 2010

FamilySearch volunteers have been very busy lately, indexing 8,684,146 records in the last nine days. There are also several new projects now available, including the first set of records from Uruguay and two additional states for the 1930 U.S. Census. Completed indexing projects soon to be published on Beta.FamilySearch.org include two state censuses.

New Projects in the Past Two Weeks

Ohio Cemetery Vandals Desecrate Wright Brothers Burial Site

Even more cemetery damage news: vandals have damaged 62 grave sites in a Dayton, Ohio, cemetery, including the gravesites for the Wright brothers, and poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Damage is estimated at $25,000.

I Want One!

I have written several times about the Apple iPad (see http://tinyurl.com/26ocmws). I own one and keep my genealogy database on this tiny powerhouse. I always thought it looked like an Etch-A-Sketch for adults and now my suspicions are confirmed.

Made of impact resistant plastic, the Etch A Sketch® iPad case will help protect your iPad.  Rubber feet and a felt backing gently cradle your iPad inside the Etch A Sketch® case.  Strategically placed windows throughout the Etch A Sketch® iPad case allow for easy use of all your iPad switches, ports, and buttons.  A retractable kick stand allows you to either lay your iPad flat, or angle it for easy use of the iPad keyboard.

Why Do You Have a Landline Phone?

NOTE: The following article has nothing to do with genealogy. However, I know genealogists make many research-related phone calls that can add up to significant costs. The use of the telephone is also a major change in our lives from that of our ancestors. With these thoughts in mind, I decided to share some considerations with you.

The American population increases every year, from 281 million in the year 2000 to 309 million today. Yet, according to a recent Federal Communications Commission report, the number of land line telephones in the United States has declined steadily each year during the same period: from about 192 million landline phones in 2000 to 163 million in 2007. That’s a 15 percent net loss. At the same time, the number of mobile wireless telephone subscribers in the United States has INCREASED from 114 million in 2001 to 238 million in 2007 — a 109 percent increase.

The reason is simple: we are seeing a big increase in the number of people getting rid of their land lines and just using cell phones. FCC statistics say almost one-fourth of American households have done that already, and the number appears to be growing.

Another handful of people are now using computer VoIP phones, something almost unheard of in 2000 but common today.

Access to the U.K.'s 1939 National Register

The following announcement was written by the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations:

The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations’ continues with its campaign to obtain full access to data recorded about deceased persons from the United Kingdom’s war time National Register. After high profile campaigns led by renowned professional genealogists Steven Smyrl (CIGO’s executive liaison officer) and Guy Etchells, at the end of last year the National Health Service Information Centre (NHSIC) finally conceded a public right of access to data from the National Register. It introduced its ‘1939 National Register Cost Recovery Service’, but then astounded all by disclosing only the data as recorded on the 29th September 1939 and continuing to withhold subsequent annotations to the register about dates of death and changes of surname. The NHSIC invoked section 44(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which is an absolute bar based upon the premise that some other piece of existing legislation provides an exemption against disclosure. The NHSIC held that such a bar to disclosure was contained in section 42(4) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Ancestorville

Ancestorville is a genealogy web site with more than 4,000 lost family photographs, antique paper, and identified genealogy antiques for sale. The site has identified more than 10,000 surnames amongst the items available for sale.

The Ancestor genealogy site and Facebook service was created by Debra Clifford, a full time antique dealer with a strong interest in genealogy.

Ancestorville also has a very active section on Facebook with more than 10,000 fans. It includes forums, photos and other items shared by members and offers "random acts of kindness." If you have a Facebook account, search for "Ancestorville" or go directly to http://www.facebook.com/Ancestorville

Washington County, Texas Plans to Digitize Archive Documents

Washington County commissioners have approved the county clerk’s archive plan to preserve probates and county records dating back 170 years.

“When we put all this stuff on the computer then the wear and tear on the documents and books are cut down tremendously,” County Clerk Beth Rothermel said.

Georgia State Archives Reduces Hours of Public Access

The Georgia Secretary of State has announced that, effective October 1, 2010, the public hours for the Georgia Archives will change to Thursday-Saturday 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

Announcing the New and Improved Sirius Genealogy 2.0

Sirius Genealogy has been a small web site that has served the genealogy community for more than a year. The online service has now been re-launched as a bigger and more extensive service.

The following was written by Sirius Genealogy:

Sirius Genealogy 2.0 (SG2) is pleased to announce that we have completed our transformation from a simple blog, into a complete online community for Amateur & Professional Genealogists. The old blog has been shut down and a new membership site has been launched and is publicly available. Membership is FREE! In addition to the general community atmosphere, SG2 has developed numerous Google Gadgets, Web Tools and other services to assist genealogists in their mission. Many more eliciting tools are on their way!

Help Wanted: Work at Home for WikiTree.com

I wrote about WikiTree.com recently in this newsletter (see http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2010/09/wikitree.html). Now Chris Whitten of WikiTree.com sent the following note:

WikiTree.com is hiring a "WikiTree Evangelist".

Hours: Part-time and free-lance, at your convenience. Approximately five hours a week to start.

Location: Anywhere on the Internet.

Victorian ‘Prison Ship’ Inmates Revealed in Online Archive

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.co.uk:

Records of Dickensian prison ‘hulks’ published online for the first time at Ancestry.co.uk

• Hulks were huge decommissioned warships that were converted into floating prisons
• Records reveal character assessments of 200,000 Victorian inmates
• Prison ships an iconic sight in Dickensian England, featuring in ‘Great Expectations’

How to Open and Operate a DNA-Driven Genealogy Reporting Service for People or Pets

Did you ever wonder what the next money-making step for entrepreneurs in genealogy is? Perhaps searching records for family history and ancestry? One author suggests you open a genealogy-driven DNA testing service. Take your pick: tracking ancestry by DNA for pets or people.

Ann Hart has written a a book titled, How to Open DNA-Driven Genealogy Reporting & Interpreting Businesses - Applying Your Communications Skills to Popular Health or Ancestry Issues in the News. In the book, author Ann Hart suggests "You don’t necessarily need any science courses or degrees to start or operate this category of small business emphasizing reporting, media, and communications only service that serves the holistic, genealogy, and DNA for ancestry customers looking for explanations about origins or possible family links in plain language of their DNA-for-ancestry tests. It can be done online, at home, or in an office. What should you charge per test? About $200 is affordable. You’ll have to pay a laboratory to do the testing. Work out your budget with the laboratory."

Family Tree Maker for Macintosh is Coming Soon

Last May, Ancestry.com announced the company would bring back
Family Tree Maker for Macintosh. At that time, the company said "before the end of the year." (See http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2010/04/ancestrycom-announces-new-macintosh-version-of-family-tree-maker.html for details.) Now the Ancestry.com blog says, "The Mac version is on schedule to be released within the next two months."

The one-line statement may be found at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2010/09/14/family-tree-maker-more-about-2011/ but details are not provided.

Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records

Joe Beine maintains an online site that is simple in design but valuable to genealogists. The Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records web site is a directory of links to other web sites containing online death indexes, listed by state and county. Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death notices and registers, obituaries, probate indexes, and cemetery and burial records. You can also find information about searching the Social Security Death Index online.

President Obama Descends from 14 Revolutionary War Soldiers

An article by Rosemary E. Bachelor in the Suite101.com web site claims that
President Obama can count 14 Revolutionary War soldiers in his family tree. Indeed, the further back you go, the more ancestors you have in common with others. Hundreds of thousands of Americans share at least one of these ancestors with the President, making them distant cousins.

Internet Explorer 9 Beta 1 is Now Available

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 9 beta 1. The new browser is available free of charge. The new version is especially important for Windows users who wish to read this newsletter online at http://www.eogn.com as Microsoft has fixed a problem that didn't display this web site's pages properly. Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7 always worked properly, as did Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and all the other available web browsers. Only Internet Explorer 8 had the problem. Microsoft has now fixed it.

The new Internet Explorer 9 beta 1 reportedly is faster, more secure, more standard, and all-around better than IE8. It is Microsoft's attempt to regain market share as Chrome, Firefox and Opera have been gaining more and more users over the past few years. At one time, Microsoft's browser had a market share of over 90% of the Windows web browsers in use but that has recently slipped to about 60%. Taken together, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and all the other non-Microsoft browsers command about 40% of the market.

Maine Genealogical Society Annual Conference

If you can be in Northport, Maine (near Camden), next Saturday, you might enjoy spending the day at the Maine Genealogical Society's Annual Conference. I will be there and expect a few hundred other people will do the same.

The conference will be held on Saturday, September 25, 2010, at the Point Lookout Resort and Conference Center, 67 Atlantic Highway, Northport, Maine. The location is about 10 miles north-northeast of Camden, Maine, where the coast is well known for its scenery.

You can see a map of the location at http://goo.gl/maps/H95q

Your Privacy Online

Caution: This article contains personal opinions.

A newsletter reader posted a comment at the end of my recent article about PeopleSmart.com. I feel so strongly about this reader's concerns and about my reply that I decided to repeat both in this separate article that you are reading now.

As a reminder, PeopleSmart.com is an online service that "mines public records as well as social networking profiles in order to build an online directory of people. An online phonebook that compiles information from across the Web, including cellphone numbers, e-mail addresses and social networking profiles." As I wrote in the earlier article, this "is bound to raise privacy red flags."

You can read the original article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2010/09/peoplesmartcom-the-ultimate-online-phonebook.html

Craig Kilby wrote a comment that I think should be required reading for everyone who uses online services:

If I read this correctly, this thing mines all sorts of personal data taken from my computer and Facebook sites, among other sources. I don't feel at all comfortable with this, and I am not sure I am comfortable with your promotion of it. Can you please elaborate?

My response:

Exactly. You SHOULD be uncomfortable.