The DAILY genealogy technology newsletter for genealogy
consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether
the vendors like it or not!
A new database launched Wednesday lets Britons curious about their family history uncover information that some might wish to forget: their ancestors owned slaves. Researchers at University College London spent three years compiling a searchable listing of thousands of people who received compensation for loss of their "possessions" when slave ownership was outlawed by Britain in 1833.
The database has details of around 46,000 individual claims and awards made to those who either owned slaves or benefited indirectly from ownership.
Beginning April 13, 2013, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City will change its Saturday hours to 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Previously, it had been open from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
“Unknown No Longer: A Virginia Slave Name Database” was launched by the Virginia Historical Society in the fall of 2011. The database contains information about slaves, including records kept by slave owners in Virginia.
There has been quite a bit of controversy recently about the Social Security System's Death Index, often called the SSDI. Politicians and bureaucrats are trying to eliminate some of the information in the SSDI for questionable reasons. (See http://goo.gl/wjbdk.) One man in San Diego also would like to remove some information from the SSDI: his name, Social Security Number, birth date, ZIP code, and last-known residence.
Then there is one more item he would like to remove: his death date. You see, Mark Pinney is very much alive but the SSDI claims he is dead.
The New Bern-Craven County Public Library’s Family Bibles Collection is online, featuring Bibles that date from 1723 to the mid-1900s, with information on many families in Eastern North Carolina. The online collection, which has 35 Bibles, is a project of the library and the Craven County Genealogical Society of North Carolina.
Warning: this article contains both facts and personal opinions.
Here is another change in lifestyles that is happening around us. Paper checks for paying bills are fast disappearing. As genealogists/micro-historians, should we be recording this change in our lives? Our descendants will probably be fascinated that we used paper "I.O.U.s" in the good ol' days that promised payment if given to a bank.
In an article on the Wired web site at http://goo.gl/5uzq8, Marcus Wohlsen asks, "In the 21st century, what could be more ridiculous than checks? Little pieces of paper upon which incredibly sensitive information is printed in a font from the punch-card era of computing: sign your name and, voilà, the paper becomes money!"
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.
In the January 6th, 2013 Plus Edition of this newsletter, I wrote (at http://eogn.com/wp/?p=23432) about a cell phone service I have been using that offers unlimited* usage, contract-free smartphone plan for $19 a month.
Please note the asterisk on the word "unlimited." Actually, there are some restrictions but I found them to be minor limitations.
I am using an Android “smartphone” that not only places and receives telephone calls but also surfs the web with a built-in web browser, sends and receives text messages, reads and writes email messages, takes pictures, reads and updates my calendar, maintains a large phone book, displays maps, provides directions, plays games, and much, much more. There is no contract to sign. I am not locked in for a year or two. Best of all, I will save $1,645 over the next two years compared to keeping my old cell phone service.
The African American genealogy website, OurBlackAncestry.com (often abbreviated as OBA), is developing an online repository of records that name the names of people who were enslaved. Working with a major genealogy company, OBA aims to create a platform where African American researchers will be able to search, view and download copies of records with the click of a button. This service will be provided FREE of charge and there is no limit to the number of pages/records that can be digitized, the more the better.
At the recent Who Do You Think You Are? Live! event held in London, TheGenealogist.co.uk announced the addition of three new record sets that will interest many people researching U.K. genealogy. They are: Casualty Lists, Naturalization and Denization Records, and War Memorials Records.
The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by
Dick Eastman.
WARNING: This article contains personal opinions.
One thing that constantly puzzles me is why do genealogists keep
re-inventing the same wheels? In fact, we have the tools today to reduce
this duplication of effort immediately and perhaps to even drive it to
zero within a few years. If we do that, the result will be
peer-reviewed, high-quality genealogy information available to everyone.
Kelly Clarkson will be featured on a future episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" to be broadcast in the U.S.
There WILL be future episodes of "Who Do You Think You Are?" to be broadcast on TLC.
The program ended on NBC last year but many genealogists have hoped it would re-appear. Rumors have floated around for months about a possible re-appearance of "Who Do You Think You Are?" in the U.S. However, the network involved was not announced until Clarkson was recently spotted in Americus, Georgia prior to filming her segment at the Andersonville National Historic Site. The location is the home of a confederate military prison where 45,000 soldiers were held during the Civil War.
The annual Who Do You Think You Are? Live! conference (often abbreviated to WDYTYAL) is now history. Held at the Olympia Centre in London, England, on February 22 through 24, this family history event is probably the largest such conference in the world.
I was fortunate to be able to attend this year's event in London although I did leave a bit early on Sunday in order to catch an afternoon flight back to the States. Attendance at past WDYTYAL events has varied from 12,000 to 14,000+ attendees. I left too early to obtain the final count from this year's event, but I think attendance was at least equal to past years, if not higher.
The weather was chilly, remaining around the freezing mark for all three days of the event. I saw a few snow flurries in the air every day although no snow ever accumulated on the ground. When I flew from Orlando, Florida, to London, the change in weather was a shock! I didn't warm up again until I returned to Orlando last night.
Forget Ouija boards. If you want to communicate with the dead these
days, all you need is Twitter. You can then communicate with the
deceased's add-on app called LivesOn.
Launching sometime within
the next few weeks, LivesOn uses Twitter bots powered by algorithms
that analyze your online behavior and learn how you speak, so it can
keep on scouring the Internet, favoriting tweets and posting the sort
of links you like, creating a personal digital afterlife. As its
tagline explains: "When your heart stops beating, you'll keep
tweeting."
NOTE: A newsletter reader wrote this week asking abut publishing the Social Security numbers of deceased people that she found on a web site. She wrote, "...which even lists social security numbers of deceased persons. How ... can this outfit secure and publish all this information?"
I referred her to an article I wrote five years ago explaining why the publishing of deceased individuals' Social Security numbers actually REDUCES identity theft, instead of what some politicians and bureaucrats would like you to believe. However, I noticed the article was a bit out of date. While accurate when it was written, several things have changed in the past five years and the article needs updating. I have now updated the original article and am re-publishing it again.
I have read comments from several people stating that the Social Security Administration should not release Social Security numbers of deceased people. The claim is that would-be thieves can obtain numbers from the list (called the Social Security Death Index, or SSDI) and therefore publishing these numbers contributes to identity theft. I have one comment:
The following book review was written by Bobbi King:
Zap the Grandma Gap by Janet Hovorka Published by FamilyChartMasters, Pleasant Grove, UT. 2013. 193 pages.
Ms. Hovorka wants to zap the gap between generations as she introduces her super-hero Grandma who is armed with the weaponry of story-telling and the will to leave her family the treasures of the past and help them prepare for the future.
This book is written in a casual style using the theme of the superhero, featuring Grandma in her many super-power roles. Each chapter takes on a theme of super Grandma with her power regalia making family history exciting, inviting the younger generation to experience the past and become inspired to appreciate their ancestors.
At the Who Do You Think You Are? Live! conference in London this weekend, I obtained a copy of a book (Thanks Brian!) that probably will interest many Americans and more than a few Brits. Your father or grandfather probably read this book when he arrived in England during World War II!
Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain was published in 1942 and I am told a copy was given to every American serviceman who arrived in Britain. (I obtained a 1994 reprint.)
Quotes:
"…The British don't know how to make a good cup of coffee. You don't know how to make a good cup of tea. It's an even swap…"
"…When you see a girl in khaki or air-force blue with a bit of ribbon on her tunic, remember she didn't get it for knitting more socks than anyone else in Ipswich…"
"…It is always impolite to criticize your hosts; it is militarily stupid to criticize your allies."
"instead of railroads, automobiles, and radios, the British will talk about railways, motor-cars, and wireless"
The following announcement was written by Ancestral Systems, LLC:
Connecting People through Documents
San Antonio, Texas – 23 February, 2013
Clooz 3.2 continues to excite its user base with new and unique features. After a steady stream of free program tweaks and upgrades, the Clooz developers have now provided a unique method to aid in analysis of the data clues contained in the hoard of documents that we all accumulate.
A major announcement was made today at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live conference in London, England. While not explicitly mentioned in the announcement, this looks to me to be a major expansion by Mocavo.com into the U.K. marketplace:
Today at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live conference in London, England we are excited to announce our new partnership with the FreeBMD Trust. The FreeBMD Trust shares Mocavo’s commitment to bring all of the world’s genealogical information online for free putting everyone’s family history within reach.
Beginning today, Mocavo community members can search nearly 300 million FreeBMD records through the Mocavo search engine. Information from FreeBMD will also be automatically matched to Mocavo members’ family trees. When one of our community members finds information from FreeBMD, they will be able to review that information in full detail on the FreeBMD Trust’s websites at freebmd.org.uk, freecen.org.uk and freereg.org.uk.
I attended Day #1 of the Who Do You Think You Are? Live conference in London today. In theory, I could have stayed home and watched much of the same thing. That's a great theory but, trust me, in-person attendance is always better. However, if you are unable to attend, you can view "the next big thing" via LIVE video streaming on the Ancestry.co.uk Academy web site. If you are outside the U.K., don't forget about time zone changes!
If you would like to watch the live events at The Olympia Exhibition Center in downtown London, go to the Ancestry.com Blog at http://goo.gl/rU4Zq.
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