The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
In the February 22 newsletter, I posted a short article about the proposed Google Glasses (see http://goo.gl/oPD2U) which reportedly will be available later this year. I then posted a short follow-up article in April at http://goo.gl/bYh0l. In comments posted at the end of those articles, several people, myself included, joked about the idea of wearing computer screens in our eyeglasses. Humorous or not, researchers at the Universidad Carlos III (UC3M) in Madrid, Spain, have developed a pair of somewhat similar “intelligent” goggles that make getting around a bit easier for partly-sighted people. This strikes me as an excellent use for the technology.
Joey Taylor has learned a lot in his seven years. In many ways, Joey is a typical first grader. He spends some of his spare time building Legos or watching Wipeout. But unlike many of his peers, Joey has been fascinated with dates of past events, both personal and historic. At the age of four he became enamored with Donald O’Connor’s magnificent performance of “Make ’Em Laugh” in the classic 1952 movie Singin’ in the Rain. After watching it incessantly, Joey went online and checked out Mr. O’Connor’s biography on Wikipedia. Three years later, Joey can still tell you when Mr. O’Connor was born, when he died, how he died, and when the movie was released.
"When Joey was five, he was intrigued with the planets and the solar system,” recalls John, his dad. “Last year after researching the history of skyscrapers around the world, he memorized the dates they were constructed and how tall each one was. After that he created his whole family tree on ancestry.com.”
This is a follow-up to yesterday's article, The First "Chromebox" Desktop Computer is Now Available, at http://goo.gl/rtVZb:
The "Chromebox" Desktop Computer is now listed in the BestBuy web site in two models: the Samsung Series 3 Desktop with 2 gigabytes of memory and a Celeron processor sells for $329.99 while the Series 3 Desktop with 4 gigabytes of memory and an Intel® Core™ i5 processor sells for $499.99. Both systems have a 16 gigabyte Solid State "disk drive."
If you have been reading this newsletter for a while, you already know that I have been traveling a lot. In fact, I left home last January 2nd and have since been living in a motor home most of the time. Occasionally, I leave the motor home locked up in a campground some place and jump on an airplane to fly to more distant destinations for a few days.
In the past five months, I have visited 22 states plus two foreign countries. I also had emergency visits with three dentists, two heart surgeons, and two motor home mechanics. It has been an "interesting" trip!
At 11:30pm last night, I returned home. I plan to remain here for about six weeks. Perhaps things will settle down for a while.
Beth June Rochefort of Macomb, Illinois, passed away on April 28, 2012, in Hagerstown, Md. at the age of 86. She was a former director of the Illinois State Genealogical Society, DAR General Macomb Regent twice, DAR State Workshop Chairman and Division I Chaplain, president of the Prairie Colony New England Women, and was McDonough County Genealogical Society president and editor. She also edited the book “Prairie Pioneers of Illinois.”
Will we soon see much cheaper DNA tests? Especially for autosomal DNA testing? It is a bit too early to say for sure, but today's news about lower testing prices certainly is encouraging.
When the human genome was first sequenced about a decade ago, the achievement took years and cost $1 billion. Now, scientists and entrepreneurs are predicting that the task will soon take just under 6 hours, with a price tag of just $900. A company called Oxford Nanopore Technologies claims it will accomplish this feat using a device that can plug into your computer’s USB port.
UK broadcaster UKTV has announced it has extended its relationship with online publisher brightsolid for a second series of Find My Past, commissioned for the UK’s highest rating history channel, Yesterday.
Find my Past, produced by Lion Television, will cover a broad range of famous historical events. Presented by Chris Hollins, the new series takes some of the best known moments from history and makes ordinary people stars of the show as they discover how their lineage links back to these defining historical occasions.
Historic photographs from the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library's archives will be available for public viewing beginning Thursday through an online photo collection called The Trumbull Memory Project.
The first group of photographs added to the Trumbull Memory Project will be the library's Tornado Memory Project collection, which documents the series of tornadoes that hit northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania on May 31, 1985, leaving behind a path of destruction. The collection of photographs was taken by residents showing the immediate impact and aftermath of the event.
The following announcement was written by the Connecticut Historical Society:
Using digitization as a tool for preservation, the Connecticut Historical Society increases its resources by making previously stored documents available.
Hartford, CT - May 30, 2012 -- Stories from the past have been handed down from one generation to another through various means. The most consistent of these have been documented in newspapers and books. Historians face challenges such as the degradation of paper and the fading of words and images. In order to preserve antique books, librarians store books in climate controlled rooms, avoid their exposure to UV rays, and limit how much books are handled. Keeping a book free from dust will also prolong its life. While all of these methods assist in preservation, they also limit the access to the knowledge within these books and, therefore, are not convenient for historians.
About a year ago I wrote about the Chromebook laptop computers that run Google's cloud-based Chrome operating system instead of Windows or Macintosh or Linux. These low-priced laptop computers have tiny hard drives as they store most all data and applications in the cloud. As long as the user has an Internet connection, these computers can perform nearly all the same functions as their more expensive cousins.
Chromebook computers never get viruses and are very, very simple to use, even for computer novices. In fact, they have been called "laptops for the AARP generation" because of their simplicity of use. They are great for use by anyone who is nearly computer illiterate. Chromebook computers are popular with senior citizens, grammar school children, and anyone else who has never learned the intricacies of computers.
British Director Christopher Guest and Jim Piddock (who co-stars in both Best in Show and A Mighty Wind) are hard at work on a new television effort. It reportedly is an improvised genealogy comedy called Family Tree, and it follows the efforts of one man — in this case, Bridesmaids star Chris O’Dowd — as he attempts to track down his real family.
NBCUniversal International Television is shopping the project to various pay services like HBO, Showtime, and even Netflix.
The following announcement was written by TheGenealogist.co.uk:
TheGenealogist has launched a major release of parish records, directories, poll books, freemen and jubilee records for its subscribers. The site’s user base has swelled dramatically with the launch of the 1911 census and it’s time limited special offer of £50 off an annual Diamond, which is valid until the end of September. Just use the code SUMMERSAVER to get the £50 off.
An article by Bob Dyer in the Akron Beacon Journal tells of the decline of one of the oldest cemeteries in Akron. Mt. Hope relies completely on donations, but unfortunately, cemetery trustees aren't receiving enough each year to properly maintain it. About 75 percent of Mount Hope’s 8 acres are now overgrown with grass and weeds.
Donations can be mailed to the cemetery office at 1338 Sweitzer Ave., Akron, OH 44301.
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
Placing your genealogy information on the Web is an excellent method of making that data available to anyone interested. It also reduces your workload in that you do not have to make copies and mail them (or e-mail them) to each person who is interested. You can simply say, "You can find that information on my Web site at http://www......"
However, not everyone wants all of their data available to everyone. Some genealogists may want to restrict data access to family, friends, or "people they know." While the Web is a great convenience for sharing data, many would like to "lock it up" with an electronic key. That is, access to the information would require a user ID and password. Luckily, this is easy to do.
I didn't plan it this way, but I seem to be criss-crossing the United States. I spent last weekend in Ohio. I then spent a few days in Massachusetts, followed by a weekend trip to Denver, Colorado. Tonight I am in the suburbs of Orlando, Florida. Unfortunately, this latest stop is not genealogy-related. I am here for a dentist appointment.
I spent much of this past winter in Florida. While here, I broke a tooth but found a local dentist to repair the damage. He is giving me a new implanted tooth. I have had a temporary implant for a while and am now in Florida for what I hope will be my final visit when I get the real implant installed permanently.
I had a fun holiday weekend in Denver. I had the pleasure of addressing the Colorado Genealogical Society's Computer Interest Group. This very active computer interest group met on Saturday at the Denver Public Library in Denver, Colorado. I was amazed at the turnout on a beautiful spring day on Saturday of a 3-day holiday weekend. I think attendance was about 130 genealogists.
The Colorado Genealogical Society sponsors many seminars throughout the year as well as numerous other activities. If you live in or near Denver, you probably will want to join this society.
NOTE: This article originally was published only a few weeks ago on May 15, 2012. However, another free Macintosh anti-virus program has now been released and has been added to this article. I am republishing the original article in its entirety and then am inserting additional information about the third program.
Once upon time, such as last year, any time you discussed the subject of computer viruses, the Mac owners would always say, "Macs don't get viruses!" They were mostly correct. To be sure, there were a few esoteric Mac viruses floating around online, but they were so rare that Mac owners never worried about them and apparently never became infected. A lot has changed in the past twelve months.
Mac viruses now are growing. Viruses are still unusual in the Macintosh world and not often encountered by Mac owners. However, the numbers have grown enough to the point that a Mac owner should think about adding anti-virus and anti-malware software to his or her system. While still rare, a few Mac owners I know have encountered malware. Luckily, several companies have produced anti-virus and anti-malware products for the Mac.
The following announcement was written by the Canadian Association of University Teachers:
(Ottawa – May 28, 2012) The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) joins today with archivists who have travelled to Ottawa to mourn the loss of the National Archival Development Program (NADP).
“The federal government is undermining the ability of Canadians to know our history and heritage”, said CAUT executive director James Turk. “Eliminating the NADP is yet another attack on research and knowledge in this country.”
Just in time for Memorial Day in the U.S., an article by Lori Tobias in The Oregonian Newspaper describes the work of a group of teens taking care of a historic cemetery next to their school. The article also has a link to the Oregon Commission on Historical Cemeteries. I'd suggest that all teens should read the article at http://goo.gl/q08f7 about contributing to your local community.
My thanks to Dee Passmore for telling me about the article.
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