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Latest Standard Edition Articles

  • It is the First Day of the Month: Back Up Your Genealogy Files

    1 Feb 2023 7:09 AM | Anonymous

    Today is the first day of the month. Today is an excellent time to back up your genealogy files. Then test your backups!

    Your backups aren't worth much unless you make a quick test by restoring a small file or two after the backup is completed.

    Actually, you can make backups at any time. However, it is easier and safer if you have a specific schedule. The first day of the month is easy to remember, so I would suggest you back up your genealogy files at least on the first day of every month, if not more often. (My computers automatically make off-site backups of all new files every few minutes.)

    Given the events of the past few months during the pandemic with genealogy websites laying off employees and cutting back on services, you now need backup copies of everything more than ever. What happens if the company that holds your online data either goes off line or simply deletes the service where your data is held? If you have copies of everything stored either in your own computer, what happens if you have a hard drive crash or other disaster? If you have one or more recent backup copies, such a loss would be inconvenient but not a disaster.

    Of course, you might want to back up more than your genealogy files. Family photographs, your checkbook register, all sorts of word processing documents, email messages, and much more need to be backed up regularly. Why not do that on the first day of each month? or even more often?

  • Finding Your People: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future of Documenting Black Families in Special Collections and Archives

    31 Jan 2023 5:34 PM | Anonymous

    The following announcement was written by UNC University Libraries:

    Panel Discussion: Finding Your People

    Description

    "Finding Your People: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future of Documenting Black Families in Special Collections and Archives"

    Please join the Southern Historical Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Wilson Special Collections Library for a virtual panel discussion.

    The Black family, its structure, representation, and characteristics seem to be a near-constant topic of question and conjecture in our society. What role do archives play in these discussions and our understanding of the Black family?

    This panel discussion will bring together faculty researchers and archival practitioners to discuss the representation of Black families in the archive, the history, and impact of collecting, examine where we are at this current moment, and what the future of Black family collections might look like.

    This virtual event is co-sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage at Rare Book School.

    Feb 9, 2023 01:30 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)


    You can register to attend this panel discussion at: https://unc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_U5LfmlKYRb2C_kDzby9BuA.

  • ‘De-Extinction’ Company Will Try to Bring Back the Dodo

    31 Jan 2023 2:19 PM | Anonymous

    Genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences said Tuesday that it will try to resurrect the extinct dodo bird, and it’s received $150 million in new funding to support its “de-extinction” activities.

    The dodo was already part of Colossal’s plans by September 2022, but now the company has announced it with all the pomp, circumstance, and seed funding that suggests it will actually go after that goal. The $150 million, the company’s second round of funding, was led by several venture capital firms, including United States Innovative Technology Fund and In-Q-Tel, a VC firm funded by the CIA that first put money into the company in September.

    Dodo bird

    Adding the dodo to its official docket brings Colossal’s total de-extinction targets to three: the woolly mammoth (the company’s first target species, announced in September 2021), and the thylacine, a.k.a. the Tasmanian tiger, the largest carnivorous marsupial.

    If they can do that with animals, I wonder if they could do the same with humans. I really would like to ask my great-great-grandfather some questions!


  • Fun Game Makes You Guess What Year a Photo Was Taken

    31 Jan 2023 2:11 PM | Anonymous

    Do you think you really understand your family's history? Can you look at an old photograph and guess rather accurately the year in which the photograph was taken? Yes, clothing, hairstyles, and other clues can be very helpful

    OK, here is how to check your skill level.

    Chronophoto presents the player with a photo and a timeline ranging from 1900 to current times. The closer you get to the exact year of the photograph's creation, the more points you'll be awarded. Some of my answers were spot on, and others were embarrassingly off. You have 5 rounds to prove yourself. 

    Chronophoto is available at: https://www.chronophoto.app/


  • Microsoft 365 Integration Is Coming to Chromebooks

    31 Jan 2023 1:32 PM | Anonymous

    NOTE: This article is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, it is about another interest of mine: Chromebooks. I also believe that many readers of this newsletter share my interest.

    Chromebooks are designed to work with Google services first and foremost, but they also work well with everything from Linux apps to cloud gaming platforms. Google is now working to improve Microsoft 365 on Chromebooks.

    Google announced that it is working with Microsoft to offer “a guided setup experience that takes them through the process of installing the Microsoft 365 web app and connecting Microsoft OneDrive to their Chromebook Files app.” The new integration will be available sometime in the next few months, and will appear earlier in the Chrome OS Dev and Beta channels.

    There aren’t many specific details yet, but it sounds like opening Microsoft Office files from local storage (like a USB drive or the Downloads folder) will display a prompt for setting up Microsoft 365 on your Chromebook. Files that are opened through this method will be moved to Microsoft OneDrive, where the changes will be synchronized in the cloud.

  • This Smart New Search Site Is Like a Mashup of Google and ChatGPT

    31 Jan 2023 12:07 PM | Anonymous

    Want to try something new? Something that is at the bleeding edge of technology? Read on...

    A sleek tool called Andi combines the convenience of a chatbot with the credibility of a standard search setup—and it might just be the answer we need.

    THE ANDI SEARCH STRATEGY

    When you first pull up the Andi website, you’re greeted by a friendly looking prompt to enter any question or query you want. Kind of like a chat session so far—right?

    Where Andi takes a twist, though, is in what comes next, when the service combines that contemporary-chat approach with a more conventional-search interface. Yes, Andi always gives you a conversational answer to your question—even providing a clear citation of where the info came from, which is something ChatGPT notably does not do (and something Google’s sister company DeepMind is reportedly working to perfect prior to launching its own chatbot service).

    But Andi also shows you a separate panel with a scrolling series of more standard web results—right alongside the chat window on desktop or accessible via a “Full search results” link on mobile—in case you want to dig deeper. You can even click over to news or image results to refine the search further, just like you might with Google or any other typical search website.

    “It’s using the power of [AI interaction] but with factual grounding to make sure we’re giving you really high-quality and accurate-generated answers,” says Hoover.

    This week, Andi is in the midst of rolling out an update that adds in even more AI capabilities beyond just search. The service can now perform tasks like summarizing a long article for you, writing an email on your behalf, or giving you ideas for a LinkedIn post on a specific subject—all through that same chat-like setup.

    You can read more about Andi at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90839421/andi-google-alternative-chatgpt while the Andi web site is available today at: https://andisearch.com/. 

    Suggestion: to try something that I know works, go to https://andisearch.com/ and enter:

    What is eogn.com?

    After that, use your own imagination to create search terms for items that interest you.

  • Three Alexander the Great Manuscripts Newly Digitised

    30 Jan 2023 3:26 PM | Anonymous

    The following announcement was written by the British Library Board:

    Our current exhibition, Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth (closing soon on 19 February!), displays striking images of Alexander in medieval manuscripts of his legendary life. Many of these are already fully digitised, including high-status works of art like the Talbot-Shrewsbury Book and other superbly-illustrated Alexander legends in the British Library's collections.

    miniature showing knight wearing armour and a crown on horseback fighting charge at three small dragons. The knight carries a spear

    Alexander fighting dragons, in the Talbot-Shrewsbury Book (Rouen 1444–1445): Royal 15 E VI, f, 21r

    Left. A man seated, wearing blue robes and a black hat, a young child holding a school book stands before him

    You can read a lot more and view more images at: https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2023/01/three-alexander-the-great-manuscripts-newly-digitised.html. 

  • The Latest EOGN Newsletter Is Now Available

    30 Jan 2023 3:09 PM | Anonymous

    Here is a list of all of this week's articles, all of them available here at https://eogn.com:

    (+) QR Codes Create Internet-Connected Tombstones – A Good or Bad Idea?

    Woman Learns She Unknowingly Married Her Cousin

    Heredis Is Launching Its Genealogical Search Service for the Genealogists With French Roots

    Illinois State Archives Says Death Certificates Database Updated to 1971

    American Ancestors Announces Annual Young Family Historians Essay Contest

    Polish State Archives Website is Back Online

    New England Quaker Records to Be Digitized

    Archives New Zealand in Danger of Running Out of Space

    China-Based Firm Signs With Genealogy Society to Help Chinese Singaporeans Trace Roots

    Tracing Belgian Family Trees Made Easier by Massive New Archive

    The Family History Show Is Back Next Month! February 18th 2023

    Grammy-Winning Musician Anthony Hamilton Teams With africanancestry.com to Challenge Fans to Unlock the Power of Their Ancestors

    Cancer Blood Test Using DNA Fragments Brings Hope for Earlier Detection, Say Researchers

    Findmypast Adds Thousands of New and Exclusive Military Records

    The Open Secret of Google Search



  • China-Based Firm Signs With Genealogy Society to Help Chinese Singaporeans Trace Roots

    30 Jan 2023 8:16 AM | Anonymous

    NOTE: I know that a few people in Singapore subscribe to this newsletter. This article is for them.

    When a Chinese Singaporean in his 50s sought help to find out more about his late father, genealogist Huihan Lie and his team immediately scoured databases of Chinese ancestors and conducted field investigations in China.

    They found out that the father was a seaman from Fujian who fought in World War II and that the client had a half-sister in Liverpool, England. 

    On Saturday, the company inked a memorandum of understanding with the non-profit Genealogy Society Singapore to work together over three years to help Chinese Singaporeans trace their roots. The services include roots and genealogy research projects focusing on pre-migration family histories in China, China roots trips and the creation of publications.

    The society will market the services to potential customers here such as clan associations, private businesses, civic organisations and individuals.

    Mr Ng Yew Kang, 82, its president, said: “Many Chinese Singaporeans have little knowledge of their ancestry, where they came from and how their ancestors migrated from China to Singapore. By the time they want to learn more... many elderly family members would have died, taking the memories with them.”

    You can read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3956sry9.


  • Archives New Zealand in Danger of Running Out of Space

    30 Jan 2023 7:59 AM | Anonymous

    The national archive will not have enough space to store vital records even after its new $290 million building is ready in Wellington.

    The construction project is also making current storage pressures worse.

    Archives NZ said it was "acutely aware" of the pressures.

    These have been "compounded" because Wellington was not taking any more physical records until the new Heke Rua Archive opens, due in 2026.

    Even then, the new central city building will offer only "a small amount of shelving space" for extra records, Archives told RNZ.

    Instead, these records, currently held in the bowels of government agencies and departments, are meant to go into a new storage space at Levin/Taitoko.

    But though the land for this was bought with Budget 2020 funding and a design had been done Archives said there was no money for building it, Internal Affairs' director of Tāhuhu Rob Stevens told RNZ.

    The goal of opening it in 2025 "was subject to securing Budget 2022 funding for construction which was unsuccessful", he said.

    The new aim was 2027. RNZ asked what plan B was, if it did not get funding.

    "The business case for the next stages of the project will include analysis for a range of options," Stevens responded.

    You can read more in an article by Phil Pennington at https://tinyurl.com/ye5t5p4z.

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