Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Genealogy Programs for Android

One of the more exciting products in the world of handheld computers, cell phones, and "smartphones" is the Android operating system, a mobile operating system initially developed by Android Inc., a firm purchased by Google in 2005. Android is based upon a modified version of the Linux kernel. However, the operating system is so highly modified now that the Linux programmers probably wouldn't recognize it. Android is optimized for use on battery-powered handheld devices.

The popularity of the Android operating system has mushroomed in the past few years as many new Android-based cell phones, tablet computers, and handheld computers have appeared in the marketplace.

Like their competitor, the iPhone, Android-based systems can easily install new programs to add functionality never envisioned by the original developers. The programs must be written for the Android operating system; iPhone programs, Windows programs, Macintosh programs, and other non-Android programs will not work.

Thousands of Android programs are now available, including web browsers, email programs, calorie counters, ebook readers, games, programs to track your personal calendar, database programs for telephone numbers and addresses, and much, much more. Genealogy programs also appear frequently for Android systems.

Windows 8.1 Unveiled: Will It Change Your Mind About Windows 8?

Good news for anyone using Windows 8: Microsoft is bringing back the Start Button and is also making a lot of other changes, "based on user comments." In fact, the new Windows 8.1 contains a very long list of changes.

While Windows 8.1 will be a free upgrade, it will not be available until late this year.

You can learn more from an article by Ed Bott, available at http://goo.gl/HUy6d.

MacFamilyTree 7 and MobileFamilyTree 7 Released

Synium Software has released new updates to its two popular genealogy programs: MacFamilyTree 7 for Macintosh and MobileFamilyTree 7 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Major new features of both programs include a new iCloud sync, new Virtual Globe, a new Virtual Tree, a new Edit Mode, improved source management, a new user interface (which I rather like), and the ability to add "associated persons" to an individual's record. An "associated person" might be a godparent, a witness to birth or death, or any other person who played a significant role in a person's life.


MacFamilyTree 7
As stated on the Synium web site, "MacFamilyTree is not just another Windows app that's been ported over to Mac OS X. Developed exclusively for Mac OS X, MacFamilyTree draws on a wide range of core technologies from Apple's latest operating systems. Many user interface elements are based on Apple's CoreAnimation technology, making sure that MacFamilyTree is a pleasure to work with on your Mac. Core Data, a modern database technology, is ready to take on even the biggest challenges - your Mac will run smoothly even when handling a 10,000 person family tree. Recent Macs running OS X 10.7 or 10.8 execute MacFamilyTree in 64-Bit mode to harness even the tiniest last bit of your Mac's computing power."

The Easy and Free Way to Perform OCR Conversions of Documents

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is the electronic conversion of scanned images of typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. You can find hundreds of uses for OCR. I like it for converting typed text in old genealogy books into machine readable text. I also scan all sorts of bills and receipts for income tax purposes. However, OCR is expensive and not terribly reliable. OCR programs can cost hundreds of dollars for the more accurate ones. Traditionally, you had to use a scanner (which also might be expensive) to create an image of the paper to be converted, then use (expensive) OCR software to convert that image into text.

Now there is a better and cheaper way. That's "cheaper" as in FREE. You do need an Android smartphone or tablet computer, however.

StoryPress for Android

A few weeks ago, I wrote about StoryPress for the iPad and was impressed with it. As I wrote then:

StoryPress is an iPad app (with an Android version promised "real soon now") that helps you preserve your memories in your own voice by recording spoken history. StoryPress can be used for many different purposes. I can imagine a genealogist using the program to share grandmother's stories, in her spoken words, for the eventual listening by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Of course, the app can also be used for many other purposes, including recording stories about how your father built a business from scratch, your wedding, your first child, capturing your child's thoughts on the first day of school each year until he or she graduates, and many such memories that are too important to forget. You could also create an audio daily diary. Your imagination probably will find even more uses for StoryPress.

6 Best Free Genealogy Programs

Joanna Maria has published a list of what she believes are the six best FREE genealogy programs. I am not sure if I agree exactly with her list or not, but I will agree with five of the six. The remaining one she listed is a program I have not used so I don't yet have an opinion about that one. The title of "best" is open for discussion but her list is a great starting point for that discussion.

You can read Joanna Maria's list of the 6 Best FREE Genealogy Software at http://goo.gl/HqeOC.

MyHeritage launches Record Detective™ to Accelerate Family History Discoveries

I sat through a demo of this new software last week at the NGS 2013 annual conference in Las Vegas. I was amazed by the capabilities. I hope to spend some time "hands on" with Record Detective™ in the next few days and will then write about my experiences. Based on what I saw at the demo, I have high expectations. In the meantime, here is today's official announcement from MyHeritage:

MyHeritage launches Record Detective™ to accelerate family history discoveries

Global family history network makes technology breakthrough that turns dead-ends into new leads 

PROVO, Utah, and Tel Aviv, Israel, May 13 2013: MyHeritage, the popular family history network, today announced the launch of Record Detective™, the first technology of its kind to automatically extend the paper trail from a single historical record to other related records and family tree connections.

Evernote Web Clipper

Several recent comments posted by newsletter readers have mentioned methods of saving partial or complete web pages to your computer so that you may preserve them and also easily find them in the future. The obvious use for genealogists is to save information found on the web about an ancestor or other member of your family tree for future reference. A couple of these methods sounded rather complex to me so I thought I would write about the method I use to to save web pages. It is simple, smart and efficient. It also makes the saved web pages available to you, wherever you are.

Evernote Web Clipper allows you to save anything you see online, including text, links and images, into your Evernote account with a single click. The web page is saved forever in your computer, even if the original later disappears from the Web. You can clip webpages to Evernote and read them later on any device you use, including desktop computers, laptop computers, iPads, iPhones, and Android devices.

BitTorrent Sync has now Transferred More than One Petabyte of Data

In the January 25, 2013 newsletter, I described new software that keeps files in sync on two or more different computers. It operates a bit like Dropbox except that no data is ever stored on a web server belonging to someone else.  All data is stored only on computers you specify, such as at your home and at your office or any other locations you specify. It also works well to make sure you have the same copies of files on both your desktop and laptop computers or on any two or more other computers. All data is encrypted before being transferred across the Internet to make sure your data remains just that: yours. Nobody can intercept encrypted information being sent by BitTorrent protocol. Since your files are only stored on the computers you specify, all data remains under your control at all times.


I am what is called a "snowbird." That is, I have a summer home up north and a winter home in Florida. Both locations have computers with very large external USB hard drives. I use BitTorrent Sync to keep more than 500 gigabytes of data in sync at both locations. If a change is made at either location, the file(s) is copied to the other location within a minute or two. I use BitTorrent Sync to securely transfer all sorts of word processing documents, newsletter articles, web browser bookmarks, family photographs, and my collection of Grateful Dead .mp3 music files.

Barnes & Noble Adds Google Play Store To the Nook

This is great news for Nook owners and potential Nook owners!

If you own a Nook HD or HD+ tablet, you probably already know that it runs the Android operating system "under the covers." That is, Barnes & Noble added a great, user-friendly menu system on top of the Android operating system, then has sold Nooks at lower prices than most other Android-powered devices.

While easy to use, the one big drawback to the Nook has been that you could only add new applications from the Barnes & Noble app store. That app store only contained a small subset of the thousands of applications available on the normal Google Play Store used by most Android tablet computers. Barnes & Noble has now reversed that decision. A software update is being rolled out to give the Nook HD and HD+ devices access to all the apps available on Google Play. If something is available for Android, it is also now available for Nook, including a number of genealogy programs.

Google Hangouts Get Remote Desktops

Have you ever tried to help a non-computer-expert friend or relative troubleshoot a technical problem by talking with them over the phone? It is almost impossible. I have participated in many conversations similar to the following: "OK, click on the red icon. Now scroll down. Click on the that says 'Open Recent.' What do you see now?"

Yes, it can be done but there is a much easier way. Customer support professions have used remote desktop programs for years. Using such software means that both people in the conversation can see the same things on one computer at the same time. Dozens of remote desktop products are available these days, but Google has just introduced one of the easiest such products to use. While Google did release a free remote-access Chrome extension about 18 months ago, the company has now added similar capabilities in Google Hangouts.

Virus False Positives: How Can You Be Sure?

Almost every time I write an article about some Windows program that can be downloaded and installed on your computer, I will receive at least one email message or other report from someone saying something like, "I downloaded it but my anti-virus program says it has a virus." I also often receive similar reports from someone saying that their virus program has reported a problem with a certain web site.

My response usually is, "Well, maybe..."

In many cases, the claim of a virus is a so-called "false positive." That is, the anti-virus program reported a virus that isn't really there. In fact, there is no virus at all, but the anti-virus program thinks there is. All anti-virus programs will occasionally report "false positives."

Symantec, the company that produces and sells Norton AntiVirus and Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition, agrees. The Symantec web site says (at http://service1.symantec.com/sarc/sarc.nsf/info/html/what.false.positive.html), "A false positive, also known as a false detection or false alarm, occurs when an antivirus program detects a known virus string in an uninfected file. The file, while not infected with an actual virus, does contain a string of characters that matches a string from an actual virus. A false positive can also occur when a program performs an action, which appears to the antivirus program to be a virus-like activity."

How do you determine the truth? Actually, there are several ways.

Heredis for $24.99

Heads up! From Thursday, April 18 to Sunday, April 28, 2013 inclusive, there is 37% discount on Heredis for Windows at $ 24.99 instead of $ 39.90 available in http://www.heredis.com/en/heredis-pc/ and 33% discount on Heredis for Macintosh at $ 39.99 instead of $ 59.99 available in http://www.heredis.com/en/heredis-mac/ or in the App Store: http://appstore.com/mac/heredis/.

MyHeritage Releases Family Tree Builder 7.0 to Bring the Power of the Cloud to Genealogy Software

This looks like a major addition to Family Tree Builder. The following announcement was written by MyHeritage:

Updated version of world’s most popular free family history software now syncs with online and mobile, opens new channels for the discovery of historical records and is available for the first time also in Chinese, Japanese and Korean

PROVO, Utah & TEL AVIV, Israel – April 17 2013: MyHeritage, the popular family history network, today announced the release of Family Tree Builder 7.0, free genealogy software that combines innovative technology with easy-to-use features. The millions of family history enthusiasts and genealogists worldwide using Family Tree Builder to explore, document and showcase their roots, can now synchronize their family tree between different devices and enjoy sophisticated ways of making new discoveries via the cloud.

Family Tree Builder 7.0 is available as a free download from http://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder.

RootsMagic Certified to Share with FamilySearch Family Tree

FamilySearch recently opened full access to everyone in the new Family Tree. (See my earlier article at http://goo.gl/Yy2OA.) Family Tree is a free, single, large database available at www.FamilySearch.org that everyone can see and can also enter new data or can correct previously-entered data that contains errors. You can see family tree information entered by others, even those who might be your distant cousins. You can also enter information about your family tree manually, using a web browser. However, the FamilySearch programmers also created an API (application programming interface) so that other programs could communicate directly with the FamilySearch Family Tree. RootsMagic is the first program to be certified by FamilySearch to share data with the FamilySearch Family Tree. If you use a program that uses such an API, your workload required for enter and/or retrieving information to and from Family Tree will be decreased dramatically.

New Flip-Pal Scanner Software 2

The Flip-Pal team demonstrated the new Flip-Pal Software 2 at the RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City a few days ago. The new gives the Toolbox screen a whole new look, and the Flip-Pal Software 2 has a more intuitive interface. The software also makes your images easily sharable and you can get larger views of your images (both the scans and the stitched images).

The Flip-Pal software comes pre-installed on the Flip-Pal SecureDigital card. However, version 2 has only been available a few days. It includes important changes to the software and to the documentation. It also will make all future updates easier.

StoryPress for the iPad

StoryPress is an iPad app (with an Android version promised "real soon now") that helps you preserve your memories in your own voice by recording spoken history. StoryPress can be used for many different purposes. I can imagine a genealogist using the program to share grandmother's stories, in her spoken words, for the eventual listening by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Of course, the app can also be used for many other purposes, including recording stories about how your father built a business from scratch, your wedding, your first child, capturing your child's thoughts on the first day of school each year until he or she graduates, and many such memories that are too important to forget. You could also create an audio daily diary. Your imagination probably will find even more uses for StoryPress.

Reunion for iPad version 2.0

Reunion for iPad version 2.0 has been released. It is a major upgrade to the app. New features in Version 2 include:

• Optimized graphics for Retina displays.
• Sidebar can be positioned on either side of the screen.
• Search for places and display a list of people whose records include an event with the desired place.
• Use your iPad's camera to take pictures and link them to people in your family file.
• Link pictures from your iPad's photo library to people in your family file.
• Support for screen mirroring.
• The contact fields introduced in Reunion 10 for Macintosh are supported.
• Tap and hold a person's name in any list/view to show more details about a person, without closing the list/view.
• Tap and hold an event or fact in the Edit Person or Edit Family window to see all of the data for that event.
• Tap and hold a source in the Sources List to see more of the source text.
• Tap the relationship field in the Edit Person window to see (and optionally go to) the source person for whom relatives have been identified.
• A heart icon appears in a person's button when he or she has multiple spouses. Tap this icon to see the person's spouses and the children with each spouse.
• And many minor changes and bug fixes.

Progeny Genealogy Announces a 3D Family Tree

This is really slick! The following is an announcement from Progeny Genealogy (Click on the images to see larger versions.):

See your Family Tree in 3 Dimensions!

Progeny 3D Family Tree™ is the only program that can display your family tree in 3 dimensions.

The 3D Family Tree gives you a whole new insight into your roots. 3D Family Tree builds pedigree and descendant trees in three dimensions. Photos of your relatives really make the tree come alive.

You can build the tree interactively by clicking on a person, and adding ancestors and descendants. The new trees are placed in parallel planes, in the third dimension.

Genealogy Programs for Macintosh

Macintosh users can feel smug about using the best operating system available today. The OS X operating system is easy to use, very reliable, and doesn't "get in the way" with all sorts of pop-up messages. It is very resistant to viruses and other forms of “malware.” In short, "it just works."

However, one major disadvantage of the Mac is that it doesn't have as many genealogy programs to choose from as does the Windows operating system. Or does it? I would contend that Macintosh has MORE genealogy programs available than does Windows.

The following is a list of all the more popular genealogy programs that I know of that are actively being marketed for Macintosh users in North America. For this list, I will focus only on the products that are current and still have developers writing updates, bug fixes, and new releases. All programs listed here support GEDCOM import and export.