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The Southern California Genealogy Jamboree continued today under cloudy skies, accompanied by cool weather. I have now learned a new phrase: the locals call this "June Gloom." However, everything was bright and cheery inside the convention center.
Today was mostly a continuation of great presentations, along with a banquet this evening. You can find a full schedule at http://goo.gl/lLILu.
One of my highlights of the day occurred when I participated in a panel discussion on Blogger Summit 2: Blogging Issues Roundtable Discussion. The audience asked some tough questions about copyrights, conflicts of interest, affiliate advertising, and more.
The 42nd Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree began today in Burbank. The weather was cool and overcast, perfect for an indoor genealogy conference. I don't know the attendance numbers today, but it was obviously a large crowd. Last year's attendance was about 1,900 over three days, including presenters and exhibitors. I'd guess this years numbers will be around the same, possibly a bit higher, if today's attendance was any indication.
I always enjoy the annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree. First, the conferences are held in a great location: the Marriott Airport Convention Center in Burbank. The events are always a bit "laid back" and casual, probably caused by the fact it is held in southern California. Also, the Jamboree deliberately offers a lot of presentations for genealogy novices. Unlike some of the larger conferences held in the U.S., the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree seems to be especially good at attracting novice to intermediate genealogists.
John Grenham is an expert in Irish genealogy. (See my earlier articles at http://goo.gl/06No4 to read about some of John's past accomplishments.) Now, working with Irish Times, John has produced online training courses that can increase your Irish genealogy expertise.
The following announcement was written by Irish Times:
Irish Times Training have just launched a new online course, delivered by well-known Irish genealogist John Grenham, which provides users with a comprehensive guide to all the records, resources and research techniques needed to trace Irish family history. It combines detailed analysis of all the relevant research sources with hands-on internet research tasks in order to produce a personalised research plan.
The course includes more than 30 hours of talks, all using Flash video, so that users can pause and rewind at any point, and can take the course at their own pace. There are also extensive downloadable notes and quizzes, again designed to be taken at the user's own pace. Full information is at www.irishtimestraining.com.
It's time to pack up the laptop computer, the Google Chromebook computer, the wireless modem, my USB jump drives, a digital camera, and a host of other gadgets and hit the road. Oh yes, if there's room left over in the suitcase, I may throw in a change of clothes! This time, it is not one trip, but two trips back-to-back.
By the time you read these words, I will be en route to the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank. You can read my earlier description of that event at http://goo.gl/TofO3.
I will return home about midnight on Monday night, June 13. The following morning, I will leave again for a few days rest and relaxation on the coast of Maine. There's a rumor that I may even squeeze in a bit of time researching my own ancestry in Maine while I am there.
I mentioned GenDetective briefly in an earlier article at http://goo.gl/XD5iV when the program was first introduced. Now the program is available for downloading. The following announcement was written by RumbleSoft:
RumbleSoft™ Incorporated has made GenDetective™ available for download
GenDetective™: Tells you what you DON’T KNOW and what you need to FIND!
Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania (June 8, 2011) – RumbleSoft™ Incorporated, supplier of innovative solutions for genealogists now has GenDetective™ available for download either as a ten day free trial or for purchase at www.rumblesoftinc.com.
The following announcement was written by DeceasedOnline:
Historic Essex [England's] town’s burial records date back to 1871
All 39,400 burial records for Romford Cemetery, are now available on the Deceased Online website.
Digitised burial register scans for the period 27 October 1871 to 15 August 1994, and computerised records thereafter, include a range of details such as description of occupation and/or marital status, age, place of death and grave number.
Grave details for all interments are also available.
Romford Cemetery is managed by the London Borough of Havering and joins Hornchurch, Rainham and Upminster cemeteries which have their full range of records on www.deceasedonline.com.
Deceased Online now has well over 1 million burial and cremation records for the Greater London area and this will increase by a further 200,000 over the next few months.
Deceased Online will be adding many more records for cemeteries and crematoria across the UK.
Check out the Database Coverage section at www.deceasedonline.com to find out more details of the above and many more towns and areas in the UK.
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
The delivery truck rolled into the driveway early this morning, exactly as promised. The driver left a medium-sized box with no label or brand name on it, other than the address label. Of course, I knew it was the Chromebook laptop computer I have been waiting for. As I wrote earlier at http://goo.gl/Io3M8:
Chromebooks are low-powered (and cheap) laptop computers built and optimized for the web, where you already spend most of your computing time. With a ChromeBook, you get a faster, simpler and a more secure computing experience without all the headaches of ordinary computers.
Chromebooks also might be called "cloud computers." They have very low-powered processors, very little memory, and tiny disk drives. That doesn't sound very attractive until you realize they are designed to always be connected to the Internet. A Chromebook boots up in eight seconds or less. That's fast! As the Chromebook boots up, it quickly connects to your favorite wireless network so you're on the web right from the start.
Of course, the purchase price of $350 to $500 is also very appealing for a computer with infinite storage capacity and hundreds of applications available.
I have now used the Chromebook for a few hours and have some initial impressions. I am pleased with it, although I cannot say that everything is perfect. In fact, I am going on a trip to California tomorrow morning and am not sure which laptop I will take with me: the Chromebook or my older MacBook Air. Maybe I will violate my "pack lightly" philosophy and take both of them while I test the new computer.
I believe this is a major announcement. As readers of this newsletter already know, using technology is not necessary to research one's family tree but it certainly can help! FamilySearch has been involved in providing genealogy information for decades. Now the same organization is assembling technical information on a new web site with the purpose of providing helpful information to you and to everyone else interested in genealogy. The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:
Genealogy has been a popular hobby for over a century, but the pursuit of one’s ancestors is now a decidedly technology-intensive endeavor. To help family historians take advantage of the latest technology, FamilySearch has launched a new section on its FamilySearch.org website called FamilySearch TechTips.
It’s a mystery how and when the Kings County Surrogate’s Court lost its earliest records of guardianships in Brooklyn. Perhaps they were stolen a century ago. But last week, they came home.
The record books, Brooklyn’s “Bonds of Guardianship, Vol. 1 through 4,” date back to 1830 and record the details of guardianships through 1852. The historic volumes were found last year at a used bookstore in Philadelphia by professional genealogist Sandra Hewlett.
The following announcement was written by TheGenealogist.co.uk:
We have now added completed our transcription of Paddington, Chelsea and Kensington from the London 1911 census and these have been added into our Diamond Premium subscription.
UKTV has signed a deal with Brightsolid, the company that owns Find My Past and Genes Reunited, to launch a new 10-part one-hour series called Find My Past. Each week the show will use the findmypast.co.uk website to focus on a famous moment – such as Dunkirk or the Jack the Ripper attacks – to connect "three seemingly unrelated members of the public".
UKTV, which is jointly owned by the BBC and Virgin Media, will broadcast the show this winter on Freeview channel Yesterday.
The following announcement was written by MyHeritage.com:
Participate in the contest and win a free family reunion! We're very excited to launch a joint contest with Family Tree Magazine, the leading family history magazine in the USA, to celebrate long-lost relative discoveries! Lots of amazing prizes to be won! Read on…
Ever discovered a long-lost relative through your family history research?
Share your “long-lost relative discovery” with us and enter a contest to win a free, expenses-paid reunion with them, a year-long VIP subscription membership with Family Tree Magazine and a three-year Premium-Plus subscription with leading family history site MyHeritage.com (among other prizes - a digital subscription to Family Tree Magazine and a 3-year Premium-plus subscription on MyHeritage.com for the two runners-up!).
Can you be in the greater Los Angeles area this weekend? If so, I suspect you will enjoy attending the 42nd Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree being held Friday through Sunday, June 10-12, 2011. The conference is at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, 2500 Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA 91505.
This annual event usually is the largest regional genealogy conference in North America. Last year, more than 1,700 attendees, speakers, exhibitors, and volunteers were in attendance. I am guessing that this year's event will be as big, if not larger.
I recently had a chance to sit with David Rencher, Chief Genealogical Officer of FamilySearch. We were at the annual conference of the National Genealogical Society, held in Charleston, SC. You can listen to our conversation now by clicking on the link below.
The following announcement was written by MyHeritage.com:
MyHeritage.com, a relatively heavily-funded Israeli startup operating a huge family-based social network, has moved to acquire Bliscy.pl from Poland’s Internet publishing company Wirtualna Polska to solidify its position in the Polish family history market.
The acquisition translates to growth of MyHeritage’s family network to 56 million registered users and roughly 760 million profiles.
The move follows the company’s acquisition of several other family networks in 2010, including ONS and its Polish site MoiKrewni.pl. Merging Bliscy.pl with MyHeritage.pl, the Polish website of MyHeritage.com, essentially unites Poland’s two competing family history sites.
The following announcement was written by Origins.net:
Special offer - 20% discount on all Burke’s Peerage & Gentry subscriptions.
On 10th June 2011, HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh will celebrate his 90th birthday. He was born a Prince of Greece and Denmark at Villa Mon Repos, Corfu on 10th June 1921, the only son and youngest child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife Princess Alice of Battenberg, but renounced his Royal title when he became a naturalised British subject in 1947, adopting his maternal grandfather’s surname of Mountbatten. At the time of his engagement to Princess Elizabeth he was known as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN.
The following announcement was written by Cyndi Ingle Howells, owner of Cyndi's List at http://www.cyndislist.com:
A major upgrade to celebrate 15 years of service
EDGEWOOD, WASHINGTON (June 6, 2011) – Cyndi's List is proud to announce a newly upgraded web site. With improved navigation, a custom database, and a custom administrative interface, the upgrade means that everything will be quicker and easier for both visitors and for the site's owner and administrator, Cyndi Ingle Howells. The upgrade has been done by fusionSpan of Maryland. Their staff worked closely with Cyndi to make improvements and to implement new technology and new ideas designed specifically for Cyndi’s List and for the genealogical community.
I have written before about unusual tombstones and even unusual cemeteries. Today I found an article and some pictures about a cemetery that is quite unusual. A blogger in Budapest, Hungary has taken pictures in the village of Săpânţa in the far north of Romania. According to the blogger, the most popular activity in the village appears to be drinking and the fact is well illustrated on the tombstones. For instance, here is a picture of a bartender's tombstone in the "Happy Cemetery:"
[Click on the image to see a larger picture.]
You can read more and view the many pictures in the "dumneazu" blog at http://goo.gl/Zeg0K.
The Economist has an interesting story about accents in England. Increased mobility and the ubiquitousness of television and radio have done surprisingly little to homogenise the distinctive accents and dialects that characterise the different parts of the country. Some are spreading; some retreating. Some are mutating; some are even getting stronger. But, overall, the pronunciation and prosody of spoken English seems to vary as much as ever across the country of its birth.
As predicted in this newsletter last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs today announced the official release of a new digital storage and syncing service, called iCloud, at Apple's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference. The new service is not a general-purpose cloud to compete with Amazon's S3 or Rackspace's cloud services that allow customers to configure servers and run applications in the cloud. Instead, the iCloud service is restricted mostly to data storage and is customized to integrate with several products found on Apple's handheld computers as well as on desktop and laptop systems. A few of the new services will also work with iTunes on Windows.
Apple's iCloud appears to be a modern service designed to replace the aging and over-priced old cloud service, called MobileMe.
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