The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
With 30,000 interments since 1836, the 260-acre cemetery is almost as populous as the living city of Bangor, Maine. The online database, which superintendent Stephen Burrill updates daily, has more than 28,700 entries, making it among the largest genealogical databases online in the state.
You can read the full story in an article by Roxanne Moore Saucier in the Bangor Daily News at http://goo.gl/pPeyf.
Irish Times Business Editor John McNanus has written a commentary about the Irish National Library's efforts to digitise its collections and make them available to everyone. He writes, "...the decision to try and capitalise on the wealth of genealogical data in its archives is likely to kick over a hornets’ nest of vested interests and public service fiefdoms that have combined to prevent any co-ordinated exploitation of the State genealogical records to drive tourism and revenue."
Anyone researching Irish ancestry will be interested in this article. For anyone in the business of digitising Irish records, this is a "must read."
The following announcement was written by the Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO):
London (United Kingdom) and Gilbert, AZ (USA) — September 24, 2012 — Calico Pie Limited and Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) announced today that Calico Pie has finalised its plans to become a founding member of the organisation. As part of this process, Calico Pie has designated its founder, Simon Orde, to be an organisational member representative. Simon will participate with other FHISO members from the global genealogical community in the development of standards for the digital representation and sharing of family history and genealogical information.
The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Genealogical Society:
Would your society like to honor a genealogist whose exemplary work lives on today? Perhaps there was a notable genealogist in your state or county whose name should be memorialized in the NGS Hall of Fame.
If so, the National Genealogical Society would like to hear from you. NGS is seeking nominations from the entire genealogical community for persons whose achievements or contributions have made an impact on the field. This educational program increases appreciation of the high standards advocated and achieved by committed genealogists whose work paved the way for researchers today.
In April, 1943, a German teenager watched a British Lancaster ED 427 bomber crash as it was shot down over Germany. The teenager visited the wreckage the following day. The British always listed the plane and its crew as "missing." Yet it wasn't missing at all. Instead, all the British had to do was to ask the right person, the eyewitness. He always knew the precise location but word of that location did not get back to British authorities until a few weeks ago. Now German researcher Uwe Benkel will lead an excavation to recover the Lancaster and, it’s hoped, the plane’s seven-member crew Saturday morning from a field outside Laumersheim, 10 miles west of Mannheim. If successful, the dig will put to rest a decades-old mystery.
Here is a quote from a recent article in the Bloomberg Businessweek web site at http://goo.gl/RxuQQ:
"Today, genealogy ranks second only to porn as the most searched topic online."
The article does not give any reference where that information came from so I might suggest taking it with a grain of salt. However, I suspect the statement is correct.
Congratulations genealogists - our favorite topic is now as popular as sex!
The Dunedin Public Libraries and the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (Dunedin Branch) have announced a formal partnership to provide a framework for a single genealogical repository and service that will be based in the Genealogy Room on the third floor of the City Library.
The Black Death killed tens of millions of people in the 14th century. Now a DNA study holds promise that it might study the ancient disease to better understand modern infectious diseases.
Between 1348 and 1351, the Black Death -- or bubonic plague -- killed up to three in five people as it spread rapidly through pre-industrial cities, unchecked by sanitation or modern medicine. That, and subsequent waves of the Yersinia pestis bacterium, claimed the lives of tens of millions of Europeans. Direct descendants of the same plague still exist, killing about 2,000 people each year – although they are often now treatable with antibiotics.
Scientists now have sequenced the entire genome of the Black Death using DNA extracted from plague victims.
Today's announcement may turn out to be a major event in genealogy history. Mocavo, owner of the genealogy search engine Mocavo.com, has announced that it is acquiring ReadyMicro, Inc. ReadyMicro is not exactly a household name. CEO Matt Garner has been mentioned a few times in past editions of this newsletter. See http://goo.gl/XeV0y for those past articles. However, thousands of genealogists use online images every day without knowing that ReadyMicro digitized those images. The company works as a subcontractor, providing scanning services to several of the well-known online genealogy information providers we all use every day.
Here is the official announcement as written by Mocavo. I will add my comments at the end:
The U.K. government is looking into whether there are less costly alternatives, with a view to scrapping the next census in 2021. The government said the census was outdated and a "more effective, less bureaucratic" survey was needed. However, the MPs also warned that other methods of data collection may not be adequate and might not be any cheaper.
The last census, which took place in 2011, cost an estimated £480m ($781 million U.S. dollars).
The following announcement was written by Deceased Online:
Victorian Charlton Cemetery features thousands of military graves
All records for the historically important Charlton Cemetery in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London have been added to www.deceasedonline.com
Microsoft used to offer a great product to create a server in your home. Windows Home Server (or WHS) allowed in-home users to network multiple Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers together to make backups. It also allowed for sharing Internet connections, printers, disk space, and more. Coupled with modestly-priced hardware, WHS has been a great product for any family with two or more computers in the house. It works well on desktop or laptop computers and can also be accessed by tablet computers and "smartphones" such as Apple iPhone or Android cell phones.
While it was called “Windows Home Server,” it also worked well in small offices that did not require the more sophisticated server functions.
I was very impressed with Windows Home Server and wrote about it at http://goo.gl/37UCg, http://goo.gl/F5Rf0 and at http://goo.gl/1j28G. I know from feedback to those articles that a number of newsletter readers use WHS and apparently agree that it has been a great product.
The KVEW TV web site has an interesting, although short, article about efforts by a coroner to unite unclaimed remains with as many families as possible. The Walla Walla County Coroner obtained more than 300 cremated remains, all of which have been unclaimed. Ten of the remains have already been identified as soldiers who were honorably discharged, and an honor guard conducted a proper burial of those soldiers.
The Coroner's office is looking for more relatives. You can read more, including a full list of the names of all unclaimed remains, at http://goo.gl/mOazn.
My thanks to newsletter reader Dee Passmore for telling me about this article.
This isn't an official announcement just yet, so don't go celebrating. Label this as a rumor. Bloomberg is reporting that TLC is in talks to pick up the U.S. version of the popular “Who Do You Think You Are,” a show that works with Ancestry.com Inc. to unearth the genealogy of celebrities, two people familiar with the discussions said.
Producers of the television show, which was canceled by NBC earlier this year, are also in talks with other networks, said the people, who asked not to be identified yesterday because the discussions are private. Negotiations with the TLC cable network are at an advanced stage, one of the people said.
Last week, Brian P. Kemp, Secretary of State for Georgia, announced that the Georgia State Archives would be closed to the public because of budget cuts. Under the new plan, the public would only be allowed to access the building by a limited number of appointments. Now Governor Nathan Deal has overturned that plan. He promises to keep the Georgia Archives open.
You can read the full story in an article by Kristina Torres in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at http://goo.gl/prqaA.
I might suggest that it is just a bit early to celebrate a victory. While the governor has promised to keep the State Archives open, he hasn't defined what the word "open" really means. Open or not, the Archives still must comply with the governor's earlier request that most state agencies trim their budgets by 3 percent. The State Archives probably will still need to lay off employees, curtail hours, and perform other cuts in order to meet the governor's budget cut requests. The exact impact to the State Archives is unknown at this time.
The General Register Office in Dublin has implemented new rules about General Searches and has increased the number of uncertified copies (photocopies) it allows each researcher to obtain on a daily basis from five to eight for those undertaking a General Search.
I believe this application has been around for a while although I only found it today after newsletter reader Jim Henderson sent a message about it. The app offers more than 150 maps of New York City. It is great for research, traveling, or for simple appreciation of the renowned city.
This app provides an easy and friendly way to learn about the history and geography of New York, from the comfort of your own home. Everything is accessible and viewable from your iPhone or iPad accessible anywhere, and at any time.
The following announcement was written by MyHeritage:
Discoveries made easy: Millions of MyHeritage users to automatically receive relevant newspaper clippings and historical records, adding color to their family history
PROVO, Utah & LONDON & TEL AVIV, Israel – September 19, 2012: MyHeritage, the world’s largest family network, today announced the release of Record Matching, an innovative new technology set to change the face of the family history market. Record Matching will help millions of families learn more about their past by automatically discovering relevant historical records and newspaper articles dating back 300 years.
The following article was written by and is copyright by Dick Eastman.
I became frustrated today. Luckily, I was able to solve the issue quickly and easily.
A certain web site–which I won’t name as I don't want to get sued for defamation or something–has a policy that makes it very difficult to stop their recurring billing for subscriptions. No, this is not a genealogy-related web site. Rather, it is a company that widely advertises "free credit reports." I was gullible enough to sign up. I should have known better.
I have written about Microsoft Word and its alternatives several times (see http://goo.gl/wVMzd) and also about cloud-based solutions (see http://goo.gl/vHSbb). I have also written a couple of times about Microsoft's Office 365, a cloud-based version of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office (see http://goo.gl/Llr6q and http://goo.gl/6We9x). Yesterday Microsoft introduced Office 365 Home Premium, and it has numerous changes aimed at the home user. In fact, the company is now pushing the cloud-based version to home users as a subscription service.
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