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  • 18 Jan 2024 8:37 AM | Anonymous

    Here is an article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, I suspect mzny computer users will be interested in this information:

    There are some major differences between JPEGs, GIFs, PNGs, and other image file types. Nolen Jonker has written an easy-to-read article that explains all the common file types and published the information in the makeuseof web site at: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/jpeg-gif-png-image-filetypes-explained-tested/

  • 17 Jan 2024 6:49 PM | Anonymous

    Among many developments, FamilySearch plans to digitize millions of more genealogical records, improve computer-assisted indexing and provide more volunteer experiences.

    Advances in computer-assisted indexing and other digital innovations, new volunteer experiences, the largest family history conference in the world and, of course, more genealogy records — are all part of what FamilySearch is planning for patrons in 2024. 

    FamilySearch, an international family history website sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offered a preview of its plans for the coming year in a news release on Jan. 17.

    Here is what Latter-day Saints can expect to see at FamilySearch:

    Access to more family history records

    FamilySearch will continue to work with record custodians and other organizations worldwide to digitize millions of more historical records, to preserve them and make them more widely available.

    FamilySearch will continue to digitize records in more than 75 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania, with significant new additions coming for collections in Peru and Portugal.

    Last year, FamilySearch collaborated with Ancestry and the Library and Archives Canada to make the 1931 Canada census available for free research. FamilySearch will add the full 1921 Canada census this year.

    FamilySearch will also continue to gather oral genealogies from Africa, as well as other unique record sets, and make them digitally searchable. This search feature will allow patrons to explore the oral genealogies from more than 15 African countries by tribe, village and surname with access to photos, audio recordings and lineages preserved through interviews.

    Computer-assisted indexing

    In 2024, FamilySearch plans to improve its computer-assisted indexing algorithms to recognize and index historical genealogical records in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English. This handwriting recognition technology, combined with the contributions of online volunteers, will make millions of document images text-searchable faster and enable more people to discover their family heritage.

    Full-text search

    On a related note, FamilySearch has been leveraging its AI-powered handwriting recognition technology to also improve its record search experience

    In 2024, FamilySearch hopes to make the search experience more powerful by adding full-text search capability to select record sets.

    You can read a lot more about future plans in an article by Trent Toone published in the thechurchnews.com web site at: http://tinyurl.com/mr4622r3.

  • 17 Jan 2024 6:36 PM | Anonymous

    From the wvnews.com web site:

    The Harrison County Genealogy Society is moving to the Clarksburg History Museum, located at the Board of Education building at 445 W. Main St., Clarksburg, West Virginia.

    The move will offer space at the History Museum for individuals to research their family ancestry. The Genealogy Society has been collecting information for over 50 years.

    The Genealogy Society also has awarded scholarships for the past 20 years. Recent awards have been two $500 scholarships per year to local high school seniors. The application consists of an essay about their family with supporting documentation of a family tree.

    The Society’s web page is available at: https://www.facebook.com/HarrisonCountyGenealogicalSociet/


  • 17 Jan 2024 8:47 AM | Anonymous

    Back in the old days of home computers, say thirty years ago, most of us had one free-standing computer in the house, and the whole family shared it. Those days are now long gone. Many families, perhaps most, now have multiple computers. As computers have become more affordable, portable, and necessary, it’s now common to find multiple computers scattered throughout a home. There is often one desktop or laptop or tablet computer per family member. In fact, most of our cell phones are also computers these days. With today's technology, the in-home computers are easily connected together by a network, sharing one Internet connection. 

    If you already have a broadband connection with a router, you probably already have a network installed whether you know it or not. If you have wi-fi installed at home, you definitely have a network.

    While many people may not realize it, once the network is installed, it is easy to also share printers, disk drives, and more. It’s even easy to share the resources among different operating systems. For instance, in my home we have Macintosh, Chromebook, Linux, Windows, iPad, Android  and “smartphone” computers all connected together via a mix of wired and wi-fi wireless connections. (Yes, we do own too many computers!) All the computers share the same Internet connection, the same two printers, and the same file server for storage of backup files.

    The printers and the Internet connection are items we already had. Sharing them was done at no extra expense. However, adding shared disk storage was a bit trickier. In our case, we added storage at very little cost. All the computers, even the handheld devices, can access the eight-terabyte disk drive that I bought on sale recently. That's a lot of storage for a six-ounce handheld computer!

    OK, that last statement might be considered to be technically incorrect. The eight-terabyte hard drive is not directly connected to any of the handheld devices. Yet the tablet computers and smartphones all can access the eight terabytes of storage space on that hard drive, as can the Chromebook, the Macintosh desktop, the Macintosh laptop, the Windows systems, and even cell phones. If I purchase another hard drive, that storage space also can be added to the mix. The maximum amount of storage space I can add is limited only by the money in my checkbook and, luckily, the cost of hard drives continues to drop every year.

    I can even access all that storage when I am traveling in another part of the country or overseas. However, that's a story for a different day.

    Technology changes quickly. Sooner or later, you will replace one of the computers in your home with a faster or lighter model, one with more disk drive capacity, one with greater capabilities. What will you do with the old computer? Will you give it away? Or perhaps simply put it in a closet where you will forget about it and let it gather dust?

    I have a better idea: convert it into a server. 

    Let that one machine serve all the other computing devices in the household, providing on-site backup for each device’s files, supplementing functionality that other devices may lack, and allowing everyone in the family to share the same printer(s), scanner(s), hard drives, CD or DVD drive(s), and more. 

    The following works with old Windows, Macintosh, or Linux computers. It will work with desktop or laptop computers.

    One of the first things you should consider is turning that old computer into a backup server. Doing so isn’t a very expensive proposition, and it’s relatively easy to set up, run, and maintain. You can use the old computer, now called the "new file server," as shared disk space, available to all family members. You may or may not need to install new software. If you do, the required software is available free of charge.

    As for the old hardware, the same stuff that was used as a personal computer is now re-purposed to become a server. No change in hardware is required. 

    Of course, the first use of a file server that pops to mind is making backup copies of files, just in case one of the active family computers falls victim to a hardware failure or human error. (Probably the most common cause of lost files is human error – when something is erased accidentally.) Having disk space on a separate computer, or file server, provides redundancy and protection from all sorts of problems.

    You can elect to share part of the disk drive in the old computer as well as leave other sections private, one for each family member. Want to review your child's homework papers? Have that child save the files in the family's shared space where you can access them. You can then access the files from your computer, even if it is in a different room or even if you are traveling in a different country. In other cases, you might want to keep some files private, invisible to other family members. Today's file sharing software allows for both shared and private sections, even on one server. Security is always under the control of the person who administers the server.

    Of course, your old computer probably has only one small disk drive. The disk may have appeared to be huge when you purchased that computer a few years ago, but the same storage space may seem puny by today's standards. However, you can easily add more disk space by plugging in an external USB drive. Two-terabyte drives are now available for $50 to $100, and that is probably more than enough storage capacity for most families! I must admit that my re-purposed file server has an external disk drive that stores much more than two-terabytes!

    Eight terabyte external disk drives now sell for $100 to $200. The family's teenagers can easily keep their entire MP3 collections and a lot more besides on an eight-terabyte drive.

    Some family members may be using inexpensive Chromebook computers. These are very popular amongst children and adolescents. The family can keep dozens of cartoons or full-length movies on one server in the home and everyone can watch those videos on their own computers, tablets, and smartphones. 

    Today’s laptop computers typically do not have CD-ROM drives. How do you load new software or access data that is only available on CD? Simply share the CD-ROM drive in the server, and then allow every family member to access it remotely – that is, from the networked computer in the playroom or perhaps their bedroom. Sharing is easy to accomplish and is available at no extra charge. Every family member can access the same CD-ROM drive in the server (although only one person at a time).

    Many of today's computer games are multi-player; that is, participants play against each other. Some of these games require a game server someplace, either in the home or someplace out on the Internet. Your new file server can be used as a game server. Speed on an in-home network should be lightning fast, even on a ten-year-old Windows machine.

    You may or may not want to attach a printer to the same file server, making it a print server as well. If you leave the server powered on most of the time, the printer will be available to all family members. Purchasing one printer and sharing it will be a lot cheaper than purchasing a separate printer for each family member!

    If the old computer runs Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, it can easily become a file server, sharing its connection with up to ten other computers. Windows XP and later versions of Windows can easily share files, printers, and even CD-ROM drives. Luckily, there is an easy and free solution for users of older Windows systems. Even old laptops can be used as a file server.

    For any Windows-based PC, you may prefer to replace Windows entirely and use either a Linux or UNIX operating system. Both Linux and UNIX are safer to use, are resistant to viruses and other malware ("malevolent software"), and are more reliable than Windows. Both Linux and UNIX are available free of charge, and both will run well on older computers with slower processors and limited amounts of memory. UNIX and Linux are "naturals" for use as servers; hundreds of thousands of UNIX and Linux servers are installed around the world.

    Any Macintosh running OS X can be used as a server. Older Macs that run OS 9 can also be used, although with limited capabilities. 

    I would suggest your server be a computer with at least a 1 gigahertz processor. Having a large internal or external drive is convenient but an older computer with a rather small hard drive can easily have additional, plug-in external hard drives added later, if you wish.

    The older computer can be used as a file server and printer server without replacing the operating system. Later versions of Windows and of Macintosh OS X and macOS already have built-in capabilities to share disk drives, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disk drives as well as printers. The simplest method of creating an in-home “server” is to keep the present operating system and simply enable file sharing and printer sharing. However, switching to a true server operating system adds more functionality, such as controlling who can access which files and how much files space each user may use as well as file mirroring or automated backups of each users’ computer(s).

    Either Linux or UNIX can be daunting to install and configure for a person not familiar with the operating systems. However, several free products solve all the technical issues. You can download FreeNAS (which stands for "Free Network Attached Storage") or Amahi or NAS4Free (now renamed to XigmaNAS). Another choice, called ClearOS, is a bit more complicated to install and configure but can result in an in-home server with even more capabilities. ClearOS is designed for use by small businesses but also works well as a home server if there is someone in the home with at least moderate technical skills to keep it running. 

    Perform a Google search on any of those names to learn more. 

    Once you select an operating system, burn it to a CD-ROM disk, insert that disk into the PC you wish to re-purpose as a server, and re-boot. This will install the software automatically. You will need to perform some very simple configuration. Minimal technical skills are required on FreeNAS or Amahi or NAS4Free and you will soon have a high-reliability server running in your home.

    I have used both FreeNAS and Amahi found them to be easy to install and configure by anyone with a bit of technical knowledge. 

    My choice would be to use the original Windows operating system, if possible. If not, then I would use OpenNAS. 

    If your old computer is a Macintosh and if you possess some technical skills, you can repurpose the Mac as a server. With OS X or the newer macOS, you can easily share files and printers without installing any new software. Macintosh OS X already has file and printer sharing included. 

    With both Windows and Macintosh systems, you will need to enable file sharing (and, optionally, printer sharing) in order to allow other computers to connect to the system. Step-by-step instructions to enable printer and file sharing on Windows may be found at http://compnetworking.about.com/od/windowsfilesharing/ht/enable_disable.htm. Similar instructions for Macintosh systems may be found by starting at your favorite search engine and searching for “macintosh enable printer and file sharing”.

    All of these servers, Windows and Macintosh alike, can also become mail servers by adding third-party software. Mac users can look at http://cutedgesystems.com/software/MailServeSnow/ for one such solution. Windows users can start at https://cloudzy.com/best-mail-servers-for-windows/.

    I recently repurposed an older Mac Mini as a file and print server. However, I decided to start with a clean installation. After making a full backup and storing it elsewhere, I re-installed the OS X operating system. During installation, I gave the Mac Mini a new name of "MiniServer" and have been using it for a few months now. It has worked perfectly. I plugged an eight-terabyte disk drive into the Mac Mini's USB port and now have a lot of storage space available to all the computers on the in-home network. I also share two printers on the same in-home network.

    If you have an older computer, Windows or Macintosh, don't let it gather dust. Put it to use! Convert it to a server and save your backups.


  • 16 Jan 2024 6:48 PM | Anonymous

    DNA provided Neanderthals with advantages as they adapted to new environments, however they also brought negative consequences - and nicotine addiction was among the downsides of some genes.

    There are six key indicators that show you have Neanderthal DNA, genetic experts say. 

    Up to two per cent of our DNA comes from our ancient predecessors. Around 60,000 years ago and Africa and Asia interbreeding happened with Neanderthals.

    Sebnem Unluisler, a genetic engineer, says genes impacted everything from the colour of hair to nicotine addiction among humans nowadays. Unluisler, of the London Regenerative Institute said: "Neanderthal DNA represents only a small percentage of the modern human genome, and these influences are just one piece of the genetic puzzle that makes each person unique." There are six unique characteristics that show we've still got some Neanderthal DNA.

    Hair

    Modern humans with thick, straight hair may also have Neanderthal DNA and some people with Neanderthral DNA may have this trait. Studies have also shown red hair was common among their ancient predecessors.

    You can read about quite a few more indicators that show you have Neanderthal DNA in an article by Graeme Murray published in the mirror.co.uk web site at: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/six-indicators-show-you-neanderthal-31830275

  • 16 Jan 2024 5:38 PM | Anonymous

    The following is a press release written by the folks at: Parabon NanoLabs, Inc.:

    Parabon proudly announces the groundbreaking achievement of having helped law enforcement agencies make over 300 positive identifications in cases involving violent offenders and unidentified remains. This milestone includes historic moments - the world's first conviction resulting from a lead generated by genetic genealogy (via a plea deal), as well as the first jury conviction from a genetic genealogy lead in both the United States and Canada. (1-3)

    Approximately 65% of Parabon’s cases involved violent offenders (living or deceased at the time of identification). The closure of multiple cases in 2023 by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) involving a serial predator provides a glimpse into the types of violent offender cases Parabon tackles. In 1987, Cathy Sposito, a college student, was sexually assaulted and murdered on the Thumb Butte Trail in Prescott, Arizona. At that time, the use of DNA was in its infancy. Because the unknown assailant’s DNA from the murder weapon was mixed with the victim’s, the case went cold. In April 1990 a similar attack occurred on the trail, but this time the victim lived. In 2020 Parabon was asked to analyze DNA from the 1990 case. Through the use of Parabon’s Snapshot genetic genealogy service, Parabon identified Bryan Scott Bennett as a possible person-of-interest. Upon investigation of Bennett, YCSO discovered that he had been tried and acquitted of another attempted sexual assault just a few months after the 1990 attack. After further investigation into Bennett, YCSO obtained authorization for an exhumation of his remains to confirm Parabon’s hypothesis. By directly comparing his exhumed DNA to the crime-scene DNA, his connection to the 1990 assault was confirmed. Noting parallels with Sposito's case, YCSO had the mixed DNA sample from the Sposito murder weapon reanalyzed using modern forensic methods and then compared to Bennett’s. It was determined by an accredited forensic laboratory that the contributors of the DNA mixture belonged to the victim, Cathy Sposito, and Bryan Scott Bennett, enabling the agency to close the case. 

    Parabon’s identification milestone also includes human remains cases. Many such cases have low quantity and/or poor-quality DNA. A notable example is the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) case in Washington involving human remains discovered in 1986, referred to as "Bones 17." This case was one of the last unidentified victims of Gary Ridgway, known as the 'Green River Killer' and one of the most prolific serial killers in the United States. In September 2019, KCSO reached out to Parabon for assistance. Despite only 3.04% of the entire sample registering as human DNA due to the commingling of bacterial and/or plant DNA, Parabon was able to provide DNA phenotype information, which included predictions of the victim’s physical description and ancestry, along with genetic genealogy analysis. The ability to use the DNA was due to Parabon’s implementation of low-coverage imputation along with a proprietary technique to ensure high-quality genetic genealogy matching to distant relatives. This breakthrough bioinformatics technique opened the door to additional genealogy matches in this case, allowing Parabon’s Chief Genetic Genealogist, CeCe Moore, to conduct the analysis. 

    With a voluntary DNA sample from an immediate family member, detectives from the KCSO confirmed the identity of human remains as belonging to Lori Anne Razpotnik, who had run away from home in 1982 in her early teens and was never seen by her family again. KCSO held a press conference in December 2023 to announce the resolution of the case.

    Since its inception, Parabon’s Snapshot® Advanced DNA Analysis Division, has been dedicated to providing leads to law enforcement around the globe. Reaching the mark of over 300 confirmed identifications is a testament to the expertise of the entire Parabon Snapshot team. By leveraging the latest advancements in DNA processing, bioinformatics, phenotyping, kinship inference and investigative genetic genealogy, the company has significantly contributed to the resolution of complex cases and has established a strong reputation for reliability and excellence within the industry.

    “At the heart of our Snapshot division mission is an unwavering determination to help law enforcement obtain justice and provide answers for victims and their families,” said Parabon CEO, Dr. Steve Armentrout. “I am tremendously proud of our Snapshot team for reaching this incredible milestone. It’s a reflection of their relentless dedication and expertise in providing top-notch solutions to our clients."

    For a detailed breakdown of Parabon's performance metrics for its Snapshot DNA lead generation work, please refer to the accompanying table available in the image section of this release.

    For more information about Parabon and its Snapshot services, please visit snapshot.parabon-nanolabs.com.

    ----------
    (1) State of Indiana v John D Miller (02D06-1807-MR-15); 
    (2) State of Washington v William Earl Talbott, II (18-1-01670-31); and,
    (3) Ontario Superior Court of Justice, defendant Robert Steven Wright (R v Wright 2019 ONSC 1598)

  • 15 Jan 2024 5:12 PM | Anonymous

    On March 29, 2011, the body of a decapitated woman was discovered in a vineyard in Arvin, a town just over the Los Angeles county line. 

    Earlier this month, nearly 13 years later, the victim was identified as Ada Beth Kaplan, a Jewish woman who was 64 at the time of her death. 

    The tortuous journey to cracking the mystery of Kaplan’s name involved a “long and hard” multiyear effort by a DNA-focused nonprofit, eight generations of family records and the work of two Jewish genealogists who understood just how thorny it can be, sometimes, to ascertain the identity of an unknown Ashkenazi Jew.

    “It’s kind of a miracle that this was figured out, in a lot of ways,” said Adina Newman, the co-founder of the DNA Reunion Project at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. “Giving Ada Kaplan her name back when people didn’t even realize she was missing is just such a big deal to me.”

    Kaplan’s decomposing body was found naked, decapitated and mutilated in 2011, with few clues to who she was or how she met her end. Her case remained unsolved and, in 2020, the Kern County Coroner enlisted the help of the DNA Doe Project, an organization that uses genetic genealogy analysis to build out the family tree of unidentified victims in an effort to find their identities. 

    Kaplan’s DNA indicated that she was an Ashkenazi Jew, an ethnic heritage that was as much a challenge as a step forward. The team of researchers initially found only Kaplan’s distant cousins, who had common Eastern European Jewish last names and spanned eight generations. 

    That made it difficult to pinpoint her specific ancestors, among all people with those surnames, and place them in a family tree. Researchers were barred from using certain large DNA databases such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe, whose terms of service bar working with police.

    “Honestly it scared me, because I didn’t know that I could solve her case,” Missy Koski, the researchers’ team leader, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency regarding Kaplan’s Ashkenazi heritage. 

    You can read more in an article written by Jackie Hajdenberg and published in the jta.org web site at: http://tinyurl.com/27jdumuf.

  • 15 Jan 2024 4:47 PM | Anonymous

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

    This Newsletter is 28 Years Old!

    (+) The Easy Way to Host Your Own Website

    Book Reviews: Crowder Books

    A Personal Library Without Books

    Man Sentenced for Kidnapping, Rape 25 Years Ago, ID’d Through Genealogical DNA

    Genetic Genealogy Identifies Suspect in 1982 Cold Case Murder in Toronto Apartment

    Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Program Alumni Solve Two Cold Cases

    A UK Petition: Do Not Allow Original Wills to Be Destroyed After 25 Years

    DNA From Ancient Europeans Reveals Surprising Multiple Sclerosis Origins

    U.K. International Bomber Command Centre Gets National Lottery Funding

    A Georgia National Guard Unit Is Heading to the Middle East to Document History on Behalf of the U.S. Army

    Record Number of Libraries Hit One Million Digital Lends in 2023

    How We Remember the Dead by Their Digital Afterlives

    Decoding Your DNA Seminar

    Genealogist Helps to Identify Woman Staying at Shelter, Locates Family

    Center for Brooklyn History Awarded $100,000 Grant to Hire Archivist for Long Island Work

    Decades Worth of Fall River, Massachusetts Newspapers Are Now Free Online

    The 2000-2010 Issues of The Carolina Times Are Now Available

    Records Help Family Connect With Oneida Nation Activist's Legacy

    TheGenealogist Updates the 1939 Register With Over 389,600 New Records

    Browse Derbyshire Baptisms, Boer War Records and More on Findmypast

    Digital Archive of Armenian Music

    This Chrome Extension Saves Downloads Directly to Google Drive — I Really Wish I'd Found It Sooner
  • 15 Jan 2024 8:05 AM | Anonymous

    I am celebrating an anniversary today. Maybe you will celebrate with me.

    28 years ago today I published the first edition of this newsletter!

    Where did the time go?

    It seems like only yesterday that I decided to start writing a genealogy newsletter for a few of my friends and acquaintances. Well, it wasn’t yesterday… it was exactly 28 years ago today!

    Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that 28 years would be so interesting, so much fun, and so rewarding. 

    Twenty-eight years has slipped by in almost the blink of an eye. It seems like only yesterday that I sent the first e-mail newsletter to about 100 people, mostly members of CompuServe’s Genealogy Forums. (Do you remember CompuServe?) The last time I looked, this newsletter now has tens of thousands of readers tuning in every day! If you would have told me that 28 years ago, I would have never believed you.

    This little newsletter started as a way for me to help friends to learn about new developments in genealogy, to learn about conferences and seminars, and to learn about new technologies that were useful to genealogists. I especially focused on what was then the newly-invented thing called the World Wide Web. In 1996 many people had never heard of the World Wide Web, and most people didn’t understand it.

    None of the first recipients knew in advance that the newsletter would arrive; I simply e-mailed it to people who I thought might be interested. In 1996 nobody objected to receiving unsolicited bulk mail; the phrase “spam mail” had not yet been invented. I shudder to think if I did the same thing in today’s internet environment.

    The word “blog” also had not yet been invented in 1996, so I simply called it an “electronic newsletter.” Some things never change; I still refer to it as an “electronic newsletter” although obviously it is a blog.

    Here is a quote from that first newsletter published on January 15, 1996:

    “Well, it’s started. This newsletter is something that I have been considering for a long time, but I finally decided to “take the plunge.” I’ve subscribed to several other electronic newsletters for some time now and have found them to be valuable. On many occasions I have said to myself, “Someone ought to do a weekly newsletter for genealogy news.” One day the light bulb went on, and I decided that perhaps I was that someone.

    “I hope to collect various bits of information that cross my desk and appear on my screen every week. Some of these items may be considered ‘news items’ concerning events and happenings of interest to computer-owning genealogists. Some other items will be mini press releases about new genealogy software or other products and services that have just become available. I may write a few articles about things that are not genealogy-related but still seem to be of interest to me and probably to the readers. This may include articles about online systems, operating systems or other things that affect many of us.

    “You will also find editorials and my personal opinions weaving in and out of this newsletter. Hopefully I will be able to clearly identify the information that is a personal opinion.

    “The expected audience of this newsletter includes anyone in the genealogy business, any genealogy society officers and anyone with an interest in applying computers to help in the research of one’s ancestors

    “I chose to distribute in electronic format for two reasons: (1.) it’s easy, and (2.) it’s cheap. In years past I have been an editor of other newsletters that were printed on paper and mailed in the normal manner. The ‘overhead’ associated with that effort was excessive; I spent more time dealing with printers, maintaining addresses of subscribers, handling finances, stuffing envelopes and running to the post office than I did in the actual writing. Today’s technology allows for a much faster distribution, and it is done at almost no expense to either the producer or the subscribers. I want to spend my time writing, not running a ‘newsletter business.’

    “Since the expected readers all own computers and almost all of them use modems regularly, electronic distribution seems to be the most cost-effective route to use. It also is much lower cost than any other distribution mechanism that I know of.”

    The original plan has been followed rather closely in the 28 years since I wrote those words. The newsletter still consists of “events and happenings of interest to computer-owning genealogists,” “mini press releases about new genealogy software or other products and services,” and “a few articles about things that are not genealogy-related but still seem to be of interest to me.” I have also frequently featured “editorials and my personal opinions.”

    One thing that has changed is that the newsletter was converted from a weekly publication to a daily effort about 23 years ago. I am delighted with the change to a daily format. There is a lot more flexibility when publishing daily and, of course, I can get the news out faster.

    Another thing that has changed is the delivery method. In 1996, this newsletter was delivered to readers only by email. The reason was simple: most computer owners in those days didn’t use the World Wide Web. In fact, most of them didn’t even know what the World Wide Web was.

    Tim Berners-Lee proposed a new service of hypertext inter-connected pages on different computers in 1991, when Web servers were unknown. By January 1993 there were fifty Web servers across the world. A web browser was available at that time, but only for the NeXT operating system, a version of UNIX. Web browsers for Windows and Macintosh systems were not available until June 1993. Even then, the World Wide Web did not become popular with the general public until the dot-com boom of 1999 to 2001.

    Prior to the dot-com boom of 1999 to 2001, email was the best method of sending information to others.

    One feature that I like about the current daily web-based publication is that each article has an attached discussion board where readers can offer comments, corrections, and supplemental information. The result is a much more interactive newsletter that benefits from readers’ expertise. The newsletter originally was a one-way publication: I pushed the data out. Today’s version is a two-way publication with immediate feedback from readers.

    The 2023 newsletter does differ from one statement I wrote 28 years ago:

    “Today’s technology allows for a much faster distribution, and it is done at almost no expense to either the producer or the subscribers.” If I were to re-write that sentence today, I wouldn’t use the phrase, “at almost no expense.” I would write, “…at lower expense than publishing on paper.”

    Since I wrote the original words 28 years ago, I have received an education in the financial implications of sending bulk e-mails and maintaining web sites, complete with controls of who can access which documents. I now know that it costs thousands of dollars a year to send thousands of e-mail messages every week. There are technical problems as well. Someday I may write an article about “how to get your account canceled when you repeatedly crash your Internet Service Provider’s mail server.”

    The truth is I did crash mail servers a number of times in the early days of this newsletter. And, yes, I got my account canceled one day by an irate internet service provider. I was abruptly left with no e-mail service at all. The internet service provider discovered that their mail server crashed every week when I e-mailed this newsletter, so they canceled my account with no warning. I now use a (paid) professional bulk email service to send those messages plus I now publish on the World Wide Web. I also hope that internet service provider has since improved the company’s email server(s)!

    In the third issue of this newsletter, I answered questions that a number of people had asked. I wrote:

    “I hope to issue this [newsletter] every week. … I reserve the right to change my mind at any time without notice. Also, the first three issues have all been much longer than I originally envisioned. I expect that the average size of the newsletter within a few weeks will be about one half what the first three issues have been. Do not be surprised when you see it shrink in size.”

    Well, I was wrong. The first three issues averaged about 19,000 bytes of text. The newsletter never did shrink. Instead, the average size of the newsletters continued to grow. The weekly e-mail Plus Edition newsletters of the past few years have averaged more than 500,000 bytes each, more than twenty-five times the average size of the first three issues. In fact, each weekly newsletter today is bigger than the first ten weekly issues combined!

    So much for my prognostication!

    In fact, you receive more genealogy-related articles in this newsletter than in any printed magazine. Subscriptions for the Plus Edition of this newsletter also remain less expensive than subscriptions to any of the leading printed genealogy magazines. Also, there aren’t as many printed genealogy magazines available today as there were 28 years ago.

    In 28 years I have missed only twelve weekly editions for vacations, genealogy cruises, 2 broken arms, multiple hospital stays, one airplane accident (yes, I was the pilot), and family emergencies.

    I broke both arms one day by slipping on an icy walkway and still missed only one newsletter as a result! I found typing on a keyboard to be difficult with two arms in casts. (There were a number of other things that proved to be difficult to accomplish with two arms in casts!) The following week I wrote an article about speech input devices as I dictated that week’s newsletter into a microphone connected to my PC.

    Several months later, I suffered bruises and wrenched my neck severely when I had an engine failure in my tiny, single-seat, open cockpit airplane. The plane and I landed in a treetop and then fell to the ground about eighty feet below, bouncing off tree limbs as the wreckage of airplane and pilot fell to the ground together. I landed upside down with the wreckage of the airplane on top of me. (Landing upside down in an open cockpit airplane is not the recommended landing procedure!) Yet I missed only one issue as a result of that mishap even though the following issue was written while wearing a neck brace and swallowing pain pills that made me higher than that airplane ever flew.

    Ten years ago, an emergency appendectomy caused me to miss mailing of the newsletter for a week. I have rarely taken time off for vacations.

    This past year I fell, hit the back of my head (with a really hard impact) on a paved driveway, and missed the next 5 days of publishing as I sat in a local hospital without an available computer. My eyesight still isn’t back to normal.

    Over the years I hopefully have become more cautious: I stopped flying tiny airplanes, and I have now moved to Florida in order to avoid the ice. I also have published more than 100,000 newsletter articles. Someday I really do have to learn how to touch type.

    Because of this newsletter, in the past 28 years I have traveled all over the U.S. as well as to Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, and Ireland, and have made multiple trips each to Canada, England, Scotland, Mexico, China, and to several Caribbean islands.

    Because of this newsletter, I have met many enthusiastic genealogists. Because of this newsletter, I have had the opportunity to use great software, to view many excellent web sites, and to use lots of new gadgets. Because of this newsletter, I have discovered a number of my own ancestors. I am indeed fortunate and have truly been blessed.

    I’ve always tried to make this newsletter REAL and from the heart. I don’t pull any punches. I write about whatever is on my mind. And if that offends some people, then so be it. I don’t expect everyone to agree with all of my opinions. There is plenty of room in this world for disagreements and differing viewpoints amongst friends. There are too many watered-down, politically correct newsletters and blogs out there already. I plan to continue to write whatever is on my mind. If you disagree with me, please feel free to say so.

    To each person reading today’s edition, I want to say one thing: From the bottom of my heart, thank you for tuning in each day and reading what I have to say.

    Also, one other sentence I wrote 28 years ago still stands: suggestions about this newsletter are always welcome.

  • 15 Jan 2024 7:44 AM | Anonymous

    The next decade of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) is now available online at Digital NC, thanks to our partner UNC Chapel Hill.

    One of the biggest moments of the decade? President Obama’s historic election win in 2008. Click here to revisit this incredible moment in United States’ history.

    Image of President Obama

    Image of 99-year-old citizen who voted for President Obama during the historic election.

    These volumes also offer commentary on a myriad of issues affecting the Black community, both in Durham and nationwide. Prominent topics range from civil rights, societal and political inequality, and police brutality. This newspaper is a rich resource for any researcher and historian.

    While the paper reports on national news, it also zooms in on local culture, celebrating joy in the Durham community. Below are selected images from parades, graduations, and other community-wide events.

    Image of Hillside High School Graduates. Image of Hillside High School Homecoming court.

    To explore The Carolina Times further, click here! And to search through other North Carolina newspapers, click here.

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