Do you plan to live forever? No? I didn't think so.

Have you thought about creating a secure credential inheritance plan for your loved ones? That is, once you are gone, how will your heirs be able to log into your bank accounts, stock broker account, crypto currency wallets, email, social media accounts (somebody has to inform the rest of the world of your demise and that certainly won't be you!), utility bills, mortgage account, Netflix and other streaming service subscriptions, or any of the other password-protected accounts that are so common these days.

I am sure there are plenty of ways of making sure your heirs have access to all your accounts, including passwords. However, probably the easiest method is to provide them with access to your password manager. (You DO have a password manager, right?)

Giving a trusted person access to your password manager vault could be the most useful legacy you leave behind. Talk about your online account inheritance plan with the people who will receive your passwords when you die. Let them know which password manager you use, and leave written instructions for accessing your digital vault.

If you do not yet gave a password manager, you might waant to consider some of these:

Bitwarden - https://bitwarden.com/ - FREE for personal use, modest fees for families, "teams," or for corporate use. Also, Bitwarden Send is a feature that allows all users to transmit data directly to others, while maintaining end-to-end encrypted security and limiting exposure. Versions available for a web browser (any sort of computer) plus native versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Chromebook, Apple iOS, or Android. There is also a command line option that you can run by itself or embed it into scripts. This is the password manager I use and I haven't yet found any other password manager that tempts me to switch.

1Password - https://1password.com/ - $4.99 U.S. for access by a family of five. Versions available for a web browser (any sort of computer) plus native versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Apple iOS, or Android.

LastPass - https://www.lastpass.com/ - Offers 30-days free access, $3 U.S. after that. Each user gets their own personalized account with LastPass Families.

Dashlane - https://www.dashlane.com/ - FREE although limited to use on only one device, additional devices cost money, families pay $8.99/month for use by all family members, an extension for the Chrome web browser.

Keeper - https://www.keepersecurity.com/ - Available for Windows, Macintosh, Android, and Apple iOS - primarily aimed at use by corporations, FREE for use by one person, $4.99 for use by families.

NordPass - https://nordpass.com/ - Set up emergency contacts so if unexpected happens, someone you trust could access your passwords.

RoboForm - https://www.roboform.com/ - for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android plus web browsers (on any sort of computer).

Finally, talk about your online account inheritance plan with the people who will receive your passwords when you die. Let them know which password manager you use, and leave written instructions for accessing your digital vault.

Millions of people pass through the doors of one of America's most popular museums each year.

But few come with a purpose as deeply personal as the group of Indigenous South Australians who recently arrived at the front steps.

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following story contains images and voices of people who have died.

For decades, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has held the remains of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people whose bones were taken from Australia in order to be studied in the United States.

Major Sumner was one of several representatives from the Narungga and Kaurna nations who made the long journey to the US capital to take their ancestors home.

"Let the world know this is what happened to our people, to the people that passed on," he said.

"They were taken away, they were put in boxes and kept in museums and poked.

"Once we rebury them, they [will] no longer be touched."

The repatriation from Washington was the third time the Smithsonian Institution had returned ancestral remains to Australia.

It earlier repatriated bones taken from the Northern Territory during a major scientific expedition to Arnhem Land in 1948.

You can read more in an article written by Jade Macmillan and published in the abc.net.au web site at: https://ab.co/3BFLCq5

NOTE: abc.net.au is the Australian Broadcasting Company, not the American Broadcasting Company in the U.S.

The WXYZ web site has an interesting article written by Ameera David that describes Black American genealogy research:

Black adults in the United States are more likely than any other group to see race as central to their identity. For many of those Americans, descended from enslaved Africans, the roots of their identity through ancestry remains a mystery.

When enslaved people were captured from the continent and brought to the Americas, they lost their names, they lost their languages, they lost the freedom to honor their ancestors,” said Gina Paige, President and Co-founder of AfricanAncestry.com.

Today those ancestors’ descendants are on a quest to reclaim what was taken all those years ago.

“I can only go so far back in my family as far as my great grandparents on one side and grandparents on the other side, and that was not enough for me,” said Evan Chaney, researching his family history.

Unlike his grandparents, Evan could use DNA to pick up, where the paper trail had ended- a test through Africanancestry.com that could trace his roots back hundreds of years to a specific country and ethnic group.

You can read the full story at: https://bit.ly/3BEWhRS.

In 2021, the Hawaii State Archives launched a project to digitize what is physically in the building so everyone can access the files online from home.

From people to parades, from buildings to boats, there are thousands of photos from the past that are now available to go through.

To see what Honolulu looked like in the 1930s, click here. And for dog lovers, click here.

The State Archives is currently balancing multiple projects to serve the community.

One of the largest known collections of Hawaiian music in the world recently landed in their hands. There are over 20,000 pieces of Hawaiian music in scores of boxes that will eventually become accessible to the public once they’re organized. Click here to learn about the project.

Now, the State Archives is digitizing over 22,000 glass plate negatives. To learn more, click here.

The following announcement was written by MyHeritage:

We’re delighted to introduce Photo Tagger, a free new feature on the MyHeritage mobile app that lets you easily tag multiple photos of the same individual in one go. Previously, tagging photos meant reviewing and tagging them one by one, which was time consuming. Photo Tagger makes organizing your family photos easier and accelerates your productivity, enabling you to tag hundreds of photos in minutes. You can still tag your photos individually as before, but Photo Tagger adds convenient and accurate bulk tagging.

The benefits of tagging photos

After you’ve tagged your photos, you can quickly locate photos of your relatives without having to “dig” through your entire photo collection to find them. You’ll know who everyone is at first glance, and you can easily filter photos by person to see all the photos of a specific individual. If you use the MyHeritage website, you can even filter photos to show only those where specific individuals, like you and your grandfather, appear together.

Tagging your photos enriches them and turns your family tree into an heirloom that your loved ones will treasure for generations to come, making it much easier for your descendants to enjoy these photos and know who appears in them. Tagging will also enrich your family tree by creating personal photos for your relatives,.

You can read a lot more, including step-by-step instructions on how to use the new Photo Tagger, in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/08/introducing-photo-tagger-tag-multiple-photos-instantly/.

The following press release was issued by Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI):

At its recent Extraordinary General Meeting, Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) announced the election of a new Fellow, Paul Gorry, one of its founding Members.

Paul is a former President of AGI, serving from 2007 to 2009. Previously he has served as the Association’s Hon. Secretary and on numerous sub-committees, panels and in many other and varied voluntary capacities.

His career in professional genealogy began in 1979 at the age of nineteen when he began as a freelance genealogist attached to the Genealogical Office, then still based in the Bedford Tower in Dublin Castle. With a number of other professional colleagues, in 1980 he went on to found Hibernian Research, Ireland’s first independent Irish genealogical company. Later, in 1987, he branched out to form his own genealogy research business, Gorry Research, one which, given its reputation for high quality work, has proved to be hugely successful.

Paul’s ability to ‘Think Big’ (and not be overawed or intimidated by a situation) allowed him, in pre-Internet days, to steer a course in setting up the first Irish Genealogical Congress, which met in Dublin (in Trinity College) in September 1991.

It saw several hundred delegates from around the world descend on Dublin to choose, over the course of six days, from an array of 60+ individual lectures about aspects of Irish genealogy, all given by acknowledged experts in their field. By anyone’s estimation it was a stunning success and so much so, it was repeated a further three times, with the last being held in September 2001.

Paul helped found the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO), and in 1995/1996 served as its chairman. He is a Fellow and a vice-president of the Irish Genealogical Research Society; a Fellow for at least two decades of the prestigious London-based Society of Genealogists; and in 1980 he was a founding member of the West Wicklow Historical Society and has been heavily involved in its progress and success ever since.

Paul is the author of many articles and several books, including with his AGI colleague, Máire Mac Conghail, Tracing Irish Ancestors published in 1997; Baltinglass Golf Club, 1928-2003, published in 2003; Baltinglass Chronicles, 1851- 2001, published in 2006, Seven Signatories: Tracing the Family Histories of the Men Who Signed the Proclamation, published in 2016; and Credentials for Genealogists: Proof of the Professional, published in 2021 (and now in its second edition).

In announcing Paul’s Fellowship, President of AGI, Nicola Morris, described his more than four decades of contribution to both AGI and the wider world of Irish genealogy as one which embraces such superlatives as “outstanding, sustained, scholarly, generous, consistent, and exceptional”. She went on to say “Accredited Genealogists Ireland is the successful organisation it is today because of the hard work and dedication of its founders, and no more so is this typified than in the distinctiveness and character of the contribution made by Paul Gorry.

“He has served as Hon Secretary, Vice-President, and then President, he's run sub- committees, sat on panels, been an AGI rep at other events; he’s drafted reports, website text, news items; he’s resolved problems, and worked on new initiatives to expand the membership and/or heighten AGI’s profile. He’s been a mentor, a cheerleader, and a source of endless encouragement to many in AGI. By any measure, his Fellowship is well deserved.”

AGI colleague, Steven Smyrl, said “over the course of AGI’s now 36-year history, Paul has given, and given, and given, in time, expertise, enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism - all to make AGI the successful accrediting body it is today.” He went on to describe Paul as “a stellar Irish genealogist, one who, enviably, has made a significant and lasting impact on Irish genealogy over the course of his long career.”

AGI’s Council, and its Fellows, Members, Members Emeritus, and Affiliates offer their heartiest congratulations to Paul.

Raymond Frogner says that when he found pictures of boarders in the archives of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Rome, he knew he was on to something important. “It had a very historic feel, very profound,” the senior archivist at the Winnipeg-based Center for Truth and Reconciliation said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

Few archivists are able to explore the order’s private records in the Italian city, Frogner said. But early last month he spent five days searching the archives of the Oblate General House, where photos, personnel files and manuscripts describe the group’s actions around the world since its inception in 1816.

You can read the full story in the newswaali.com web site at: https://bit.ly/3cZdrQ6.

Do you have an old family photograph that "needs work?" That is, does it have cracks or is it badly faded? A newly-released artificial intelligence (AI) model called the “Generative Facial Prior” (GFP-GAN) can repair most old photographs in mere seconds, and it can do it for free.

A YouTube video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLDVtzcSeqM

Anyone who has old photographs of their families and friends that have not held up well against time, regardless of the small and/or poor condition of the image, now has the chance to restore their faded and cracked images, returning them to their original state, or even better.

In the eight-minute video above from What’s AI, Louis Bouchard describes how well the “Towards Real-World Blind Face Restoration with Generative Facial Prior” project (published in March of 2022), worked at photo restoration with details on how to use it for free.

According to Bouchard, the AI model works with even very low quality and low-resolution files, yet it can still seemingly outperform many other photo restoration AI tools providing incredible results. While the restored images are impressive, Bouchard says “They do not represent the actual image. It’s important to understand that these results are just guesses from the model — guesses that seem pretty damn close.

You can read more at https://bit.ly/3Q7O8cK as well as in the YouTube video above.

More than two million records detailing baptisms, marriages and burials in York, England over five centuries have been released online thanks to a new partnership between the University of York and Ancestry.

Marriage certificate of Robert Duck and Catherine Peacock, 1837. Image credit: University of York

The records, which are held at the University’s Borthwick Institute for Archives, date from between 1538 and 1995 and will enable people with roots in Yorkshire to trace missing pieces of their family history from wherever they are in the world.

The records are from the archdeaconry of York, which covers the City of York and roughly 20 miles around. They feature famous families from York’s history, such as the Fawkes and Clitherow families, along with members of York’s chocolate dynasties - Rowntree, Craven and Terry.

You can read more in the University of York web site at: https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2022/community/york-records-online/.

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