Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

(+) Windows 7 versus Macintosh OS X

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

Warning: This article contains personal opinions.

I have read many comments in this newsletter's comments section and elsewhere from computer users wondering if they should switch from Windows to Macintosh. Those comments increased significantly with the introduction of Vista and still continue after the introduction of Windows 7. Many have asked, "Should I switch?" Since I use both Windows and Macintosh every day, I thought I could describe many of the differences. (I also use Linux often, although not every day.)

In fact, there are hundreds of differences and I will not describe every one of them. However, I will give my impressions of the issues that seem to be important to me.

(+) Google Sidewiki for Genealogy

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

Sometimes I think Google releases one new product or service per day. Well, perhaps not EVERY day but the company certainly is cranking out new products all the time. I recently had a chance to use a new product that Google released about six weeks ago and I found it to be a great service for genealogy purposes.

Google Sidewiki allows you to compare notes with others about any web page. Yes, ANY web page. Now, any time you want to add information to a web page, you can easily do so, as well as read what other people have to say about it. Whether you're researching advice on heart disease prevention or looking for museums to visit in New York City, many others have done the same and could have added their knowledge along the way. However, for the rest of this article, let's focus solely on genealogy pages.

(+) Clone a Hard Drive for Safety

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

I recently purchased a new Windows 7 computer (see http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/11/i-bought-a-windows-7-pc.html). I brought it home, installed it, set it up, and then installed an anti-virus program. Then I cloned the hard drive.

Why? I want the safety of having a complete copy of the hard drive available at any time. If I ever have a problem in the future, such as losing a critical Windows file or picking up a virus that proves to be too stubborn to remove, I want to go back to a known good state. If I have a copy of the hard drive available, I can do that at any time.

(+) How to Charge for Your Content on the Web

The following is a Plus Edition article, written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

Do you, your employer, or your local genealogy society have information that you would like to offer to others online for a fee? Do you have questions about how to do that or how to charge money or how to handle credit cards? Do you want to know how to control access to the information? If you would like to save some time, money, and frustration with these tasks, this article can help! I have decided to share with you some of my own “lessons learned” in finding and implementing a solution that has worked well for me and for many others.

(+) 3M MPro110 Handheld Projector

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

I frequently make presentations to genealogy groups. This often means jumping on airplanes, flying to a distant city, and then standing in front of a group while I talk about some genealogy-related topic. Most of the time I use an overhead projector to display PowerPoint slides or to demonstrate a program or web site. I usually carry my own equipment because I have found that using borrowed equipment entails risks of not having everything working as expected. I usually pack my laptop, charger, my own overhead projector, various extension cords, cables, wireless "aircard," and other paraphernalia. It's a wonder that I have any room left in the suitcase for clothes!

I prefer to travel light, packing only a small, carry-on suitcase that fits in the overhead luggage compartment. However, when I started carrying my own projector, that became impossible.

(+) Donald Duck’s Family Tree

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

This week I would like to present the family tree of one of our best known and most-loved movie stars. The ancestry of this famous movie actor has been ignored for far too long. Now is the time to document the extended family of a great movie star, the subject of film, television, and numerous comic books, the anthropomorphic duck with yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet: Donald Fauntleroy Duck.

Actually, this isn’t as much of a joke as one might imagine. It seems that the Disney Corporation has kept meticulous details about all the Donald Duck cartoons and comic books since Donald’s first appearance in 1934 in The Wise Little Hen. For the following seventy-five years, the Disney Corporation has been remarkably consistent in referring to Donald’s relatives as well as many other facts.

(+) How to Avoid Web Sites containing Viruses, Phishing, Trojans, and Other "Bad Stuff"

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

Even computers with up-to-date virus protection can get viruses, as a friend of mine discovered last week. His anti-virus protection on the computer in his office was up to date (he and I later checked it) but he still got a bad root kit virus. He remembers the exact moment he got it: he mis-typed a web address (also known as a URL) and was taken to a web site that immediately produced a pop-up warning message. The message stated that his PC had viruses (which I now doubt) and asked him if he wanted to download the "Microsoft Anti-Virus Removal Tool" to fix the problems. Thinking this was a good idea, my friend clicked on DOWNLOAD.

Sadly, what he downloaded was not what it claimed to be. It wasn't an anti-virus tool and it wasn't produced by Microsoft. In fact, it was a root kit virus, one of the more difficult viruses to remove. Within a few seconds his PC slowed to a crawl and all sorts of warning messages started to appear. The pop-up messages warned of dire results, such as loss of data, data corruption, and worse. However, these warning messages assured him that he could correct the problem by entering his credit card number into the pop-up messages and being charged $39.95. Instead, my friend called me.

(+) Your Camera Can Upload Photos with No Computer Required

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

This morning I went to a wedding in Utah and, of course, I took lots of photos with my digital camera. I snapped pictures before, during, and after the ceremony. My digital camera uploaded all of the pictures to a popular online photo sharing site that I use. In fact, the camera was uploading the pictures while I was still snapping them. I was uploading photos to Picasa but I could have done the same to Facebook, Flickr, MobileMe (Apple), SmugMug, PhotoBucket, EverNote, Snapfish, and a bunch of other photo sharing web sites.

The network connection was wireless and there was a wi-fi wireless network available at the wedding location. If no connection had been available, I could have snapped all the pictures and then the uploads would have been made automatically as soon as I returned within range of a known wi-fi network location. I do have to "register" each network in the camera's new software. Luckily, I can register dozens of networks at one time and uploads will be automatic as soon as I am in range of any of the registered networks. Anyone for lunch at McDonald's?

Best of all, the upload was done automatically without any involvement from me. As soon as I started snapping pictures, the uploads began. Whether I snapped one picture or dozens, the photos were uploaded as fast as the network connection allowed. Best of all, this was not some grainy cell phone camera. (My cell phone was powered off so that it would not embarrass me during the ceremony by ringing at an inappropriate time.)

I took today's photos with a Casio Exilim shirt pocket sized camera that I purchased several years ago. The camera originally did not contain any wireless networking connectivity. I added that this week for less than $100 by inserting a single internal card into the camera. The camera still looks the same as it always did but it now has significantly different capabilities. Best of all, you probably can do the same with your present digital camera. Most digital cameras, although not all, can do the same as what I was doing at the wedding this morning. Most digital cameras can upload the pictures without being attached to a computer.

(+) Life Expectancy of Audio Tapes and VHS Video Tapes versus CD and DVD Disks

The following is a Plus Edition-only article written and copyright by Richard W. Eastman.

"How long will a CD or DVD last?" As you might guess, the only correct answer is, "It all depends."

The one thing to remember about digital data is that there is no signal degradation in the output. In a digital environment, data is stored in "bits," often referred to as "ones and zeroes." Each bit either is there or it isn't. Analog data, however, is stored in an infinite number of signal strengths. This variable information is the problem; if not exactly perfect, the result is degraded audio or images. Analog data will degrade over time; digital data will not.

(+) How to Easily Share Large Files

The following is a Plus Edition article, written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

There are dozens of ways to share digital pictures, GEDCOM files, word processing documents, and other files with friends, relatives and co-workers. However, almost all the file sharing services have some drawbacks:

(+) Geotagging Photographs

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

This may not help much with old family pictures, but geotagging can be a major addition to digital photographs. In short, geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification to digital photographs, video, websites, or even RSS feeds. The information added typically consists of latitude and longitude coordinates, but it can also include altitude, bearing, accuracy data, and place names.

(+) Genealogical Privacy

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

Many times I receive messages from people who write, "I sent my genealogy information to person X, and now it is published all over the Internet! How can I stop that?

The quick answer is, "You cannot."

(+) How to Transition Your E-mail to a Better Service (AOL Members: Read This!)

Last night I was asked to help fix a Windows computer that reportedly wouldn't connect to the Internet. Upon arriving, I found the DSL broadband Internet connection supplied by the local telephone company was working perfectly. I was able to open Internet Explorer and go to any web site I tried. After a bit of conversation with the computer's owner, I found that the only problem was that AOL did not work. The owner thought the Internet connection was bad because she makes all her connections through AOL's software.  She uses AOL Explorer to look at web sites and AOL’s software to access her e-mail messages. She had never used Internet Explorer, Firefox, or any other non-AOL web browser.

The AOL software had a corrupted file. I have no idea how it became corrupted but such things are not unusual. I simply re-installed the AOL software and she was soon computing online again.

We then had a bit of discussion about AOL versus the Internet. She thought they were one and the same until we started chatting. I was able to convince her that AOL was a service that runs on top of the Internet. An AOL membership is not necessary to enjoy all the millions of web sites on the Internet nor is AOL required for e-mail service unless you want an e-mail address ending in "@aol.com.

After a while, I was able to convince this lady that AOL was not the same thing as "the Internet."

(+) How Safe Are Your Old Documents?

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

A number of us are fortunate enough to own old books, birth certificates, marriage certificates, naturalization certificates, old newspaper clippings, or other family heirloom documents that we want to preserve. What condition will they be in 20 or 50 years from now? For that matter, will the fruits of your genealogy labor be available to your descendants 200 years from now? You should take steps now to make sure the documents remain in the best possible condition. I thought I would discuss the techniques of document preservation a bit more in this newsletter.

(+) Should All Data on the Web be Verified? A Contrarian View

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

Caution: this article contains personal opinions.

I often hear people moaning and groaning about the quality of genealogy information to be found online. Some claim that much of the online genealogy data is worthless. These comments seem to insinuate that people shouldn't place information online until they have verified it. I have heard a few exclaim, “We have got to stop those people!”

You know what? I don't care.

(+) Publishing Your Genealogy Book on Demand

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

Would you like to publish the results of your genealogy research? Does your genealogy society or family name organization want to publish data in book form? Publishing genealogy books has long been an expensive proposition. Genealogy authors often have paid book publishers $5,000 to $10,000 or more in advance in order to have a book published. However, new business models today can reduce those "up front" expenses to zero, thanks to online services.

There are a number of publishers specializing in short-run books; that is, the publication of small quantities of books. These short-run publishers traditionally have charged the author for publication costs. Most genealogists who wish to publish their findings as books use short-run publishers for printing. Family organizations also use short-run publishers to reprint old family genealogy books that have long been out of print. These are the books you often see on the shelves at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, in other genealogy libraries throughout the world, and in the homes of many genealogists.

(+) Divided By The Pond: Why Genetic Drift Means US Results Can’t Pinpoint the Origin of a British Surname

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Chris Pomery.

Like so many great technological innovations, the use of Y-chromosome DNA testing to unravel the history of a surname was invented in Britain…and commercialised in the USA.

Since the very first published surname project, on the Sykes surname back in the year 2000, the number of Y-chromosome test results has risen to several hundreds of thousands worldwide. FTDNA alone has 165,000 in its database, many within the more than 5,500 surname-based projects registered on its site. In just over a decade we’ve gone from one surname project to a point where a significant percentage of surnames of Western European origin are included within a registered DNA project. And more are being created every day.

(+) What Should Your Society Give Away Free of Charge?

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

If your genealogy society is thinking of creating a web site or improving an existing web site, one discussion is sure to arise sooner or later: how much information should the society place on the web site?

Should the ENTIRE society newsletter be published online? Or should the newsletter be held back as a "benefit of membership" and only made available to paid members?

(+) Are You a Family Historian or a Name Collector?

The following is a Plus Edition article, written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

I have a question. None of my living relatives knows the answer to this question. I have not found the answer to this question in any public records, nor have I been able to find the answer in cemeteries. I have read a few magazine articles and Internet pages about the topic, but none of them have directly answered the question.

The question is…  “Why do we study genealogy?”

What makes anyone so curious about his or her family tree? What drives us to dedicate time, effort, and sometimes expenses to go find dead people?

What is it inside of us that makes us spend hours and hours cranking reels of microfilm, then we go home and report to our family members what a great day we had?

(+) Genealogical Networking - Why ISOGG’s successful collaboration with NIST is so encouraging

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Chris Pomery.

The recently announced news that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has published a common standard for the reporting of Y-chromosome DNA profiles is extremely good news for any male genealogist who has already, or will in the future, take a Y-chromosome DNA test.

During the ten years since this kind of DNA testing was first targeted at family historians, a range of DNA testing firms have marketing tests specifically aimed at you and me. The result they send us back is basically a series of numbers. Compare that series with another man’s series, and you can estimate whether the two of you share a common male ancestor within the past thousand years, the widest historical timeframe that genealogical research can handle, or whether the link between you goes back in time much further.