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

I have written several times about the wisdom of backing up your important computer files to the cloud and a couple of newsletter readers have questioned the wisdom and security of backing up files online. In my mind, this is a non-issue. Security is always under your control, if you wish. You can securely place any files on any online storage system if, and only if, you first encrypt the files before sending them from your computer. Luckily, that is easy to do.

Once your files are encrypted, nobody can read your files, not even the employees at the online service where the files are stored. Your encrypted files will be secure on any online service, regardless of that service's security policies. There are dozens of free encryption programs to choose from for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.

Most online backup services encrypt your files before sending them to the online service. That's MOST, but not all. There are a few exceptions. It is possible that some online services will not automatically encrypt files. You need to read the service's specifications closely in order to find out.

Some paranoid individuals won't believe any company's published specifications. Indeed, there is good reason to be doubtful. One online service published a specification several years ago claiming that nobody could read your files that had been automatically encrypted and backed up. The company's managers later became red-faced when it was revealed that a handful of systems personnel employed by the company COULD decrypt and read those files.

Indeed, the risk was small but any risk at all that contradicts any company's stated policies is cause for concern. Luckily, the entire issue can be avoided by encrypting your own files first before backing them up to any online service. Then even the employees at the online service will not be able to view your files.

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If you are not yet a Plus Edition subscriber, you can learn more about such subscriptions and even upgrade to a Plus Edition subscription immediately at https://eogn.com/page-18077. 

War disrupts and ends lives. It destroys homes and infrastructure. And as Russia continues its war in Ukraine, the cultural heritage of Ukraine is also at risk.

Some Ukrainian museum websites have gone offline as the servers hosting them lose connections or are destroyed in attacks. To prevent that information and cultural memory from disappearing entirely, around 1,000 archivists, programmers and librarians have volunteered to form a group called Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online or SUCHO.

They’ve been recording and archiving these websites before they go offline. 

You can read more at https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/digital-archivists-race-to-preserve-ukrainian-heritage/. 

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

The following announcement was written by Scottish Indexes:

Glasgow, Scotland – In a continuation of their Scotland's Criminal Database project, Glasgow based genealogists Emma and Graham Maxwell have released an index to a further 43,000 historical Scottish Prison records. These have been added to www.scottishindexes.com. Their ongoing project to open up historical criminal records to help people trace their family history is moving on apace and opening up more stories to the global research community. These latest prison records are predominantly from the prisons of Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Paisley, with some updates to other prisons around Scotland. Scotland's Criminal Database now includes over 30 prisons from across Scotland.

You can see a detailed breakdown of coverage here: https://www.scottishindexes.com/coveragescd.aspx

Emma Maxwell, genealogist at www.scottishindexes.com says, “I love the stories people uncover in these records. These missing pieces of the jigsaw give us the details that help us picture the lives of our ancestors. During this indexing project, we found entries for Dumfries civil prisoners relating to the aliment of children. These could be the clue you’re looking for to discover the father of an illegitimate child. Another entry we found related to James Gunning, a medical student in Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, who was convicted in 1852 for ‘Violating Sepulchres’; better known as ‘body snatching’.”

Join Emma and Graham at the Scottish Indexes Conference to hear more about their exciting projects: www.scottishindexes.com

A Louisiana lawmaker has proposed legislation that would allow adopted people to obtain copies of their original birth certificates once they reach age 24. It would follow a nationwide trend to reform decades of secrecy surrounding adoption records. 

House Bill 450, filed by Rep. Charles Owen, a Republican from the Fort Polk-area town of Rosepine, proposes that an adopted person who is at least 24 would no longer have to petition a court to unseal their original birth certificate. They could instead obtain an uncertified copy upon request from the state registrar of vital records. 

In a closed adoption under Louisiana law, most, if not all records, including the original birth certificate that often contains the identities of the biological parents, are sealed and not accessible to the adopted person. The state issues the adopted child an altered birth certificate with the legal fiction that the child was born to their adoptive parents. 

Closed adoption records can only be unsealed with a court order. Such a process typically requires hiring an attorney and providing a compelling reason to convince a judge to make the records available, Owen said in an interview. 

Owen pointed out access to consumer DNA testing is inexpensive and widespread through websites such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe.com. It allows nearly anyone to trace their genealogy and track down their biological family members for about $100, he said. 

The state doesn’t really have a good reason for requiring an adopted person’s birth certificate to remain confidential forever, Owen said.

“They arbitrarily think they need to keep them sealed,” Owen said. “No one has offered any good reason to me yet, though I’m told that they will come.” 

You can read more in an article by Wesley Muller published in the Louisiana Illuminator at: https://lailluminator.com/2022/03/09/people-adopted-in-louisiana-could-get-access-to-their-birth-certificates/.

The following announcement was written by MyHeritage:

We’re happy to introduce a new feature on MyHeritage: the Family Tree Timeline. The Timeline is a visual representation of one individual from your family tree, that you select, and his or her direct ancestors. The lifespans of these individuals (from year of birth to year of death) are mapped on the same axis to allow you to see them in relation to each other, which can provide refreshing insights into your family history.

The Timeline is a bright and attractive display, with each branch of the family displayed in a different color. The Timeline shows the ages of your ancestors at various points in their lives: how old they were when they had children, how long they lived, and how their lifespans overlapped with those of other family members or major world events. The Timeline can be downloaded and shared easily with your family and friends.

For example, it’s easy to visualize with the Timeline which of your 4 grandparents was born first, how old you were when each of them passed away, and so on.

Family Tree Timeline with 4 generations (Click to zoom)

Let’s dive in and see how it works:

The remainder of this (lengthy) announcement may be found at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/03/introducing-the-family-tree-timeline/

A new initiative aims to digitize some 35,000 Jewish texts sitting in the hands of 14 different Jewish community organizations and 25 state institutions across Italy.

Around 10,000 volumes have already been digitized as part of the Italya Books project, an initiative of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, the National Central Library of Rome, the National Library of Israel and the Rothschild Hanadiv Europe Foundation.

Tens of thousands of uncatalogued printed Hebrew books dating back hundreds of years, are held in collections belonging to local Jewish communities, as well as in libraries owned by the state, Italian church institutions and the Vatican. Many are of significant historical importance.

You can read the full story in an article by Giovanni Vigna published in the Jerusalem Post at https://www.jpost.com/j-spot/article-700832.

NOTE #1: This article is off-topic. That is, it does not concern anything to do with genealogy, DNA, or related topics normally found in this newsletter. However, I suspect that many newsletter readers will be interested in this article for many different reasons.

How about a brand-new (not refurbished) Chromebook for sale for $97 (U.S. funds)? BestBuy is selling the brand-new Chromebook IdeaPad 3 for that price, a $122 drop from the normal price of $219. I assume that price is only good in the U.S.

This would be an excellent choice for a second computer for you for use when traveling or for use when watching television or for a gift to a non-computer-expert adolescent or adult in the family. As stated by BestBuy:

"Fast, flexible, and fun, the Chromebook 3-11" brings everyone’s favorite Chromebook features, housed in a slim chassis, running on the lightning-fast Chrome OS that boots up in seconds, updates automatically, and is protected by built-in virus protection. Powered by an AMD A6 processor with up to 10 hours of battery life, the IdeaPad 3 Chromebook can seamlessly run all of your favorite apps at the same time."

You can read more at https://bit.ly/3CtszO3.

NOTE #2: I have no idea how long this price will be available.

NOTE #3: I am not compensated in any way for writing this article. I am simply a very satisfied Chromebook owner and user. I paid for my Chromebook (and for my earlier Chromebook) with my own funds. My Chromebook is not made by Lenovo but it works in the same manner as the one being advertised at BestBuy. It is my primary computer for use while traveling where I don't want to expose my more expensive Macintosh laptop to damage or theft. It performs all the tasks I need when traveling, including writing and posting articles in this newsletter.

All Chromebooks work well for using the more popular computer apps that are web-based: surfing the web, reading and writing email, text messaging, two-way video messaging, using Facebook (now called Meta), playing many computer games (although not all), using FamilySearch.org, MyHeritage.com, Ancestry.com, and most everything else that is commonly used today. A Chromebook would not be a good choice for applications that require heavy duty processing, such as CAD/CAM applications, or some of the graphics-intensive computer games.

You can learn more in the article "5 Ways That Chromebooks Are Better Than Windows Laptops" at https://www.reviewgeek.com/54223/5-ways-that-chromebooks-are-better-than-windows-laptops/.

NOTE #4: At this price, you are not receiving the latest state-of-the-art powerhouse. It has an AMD A-Series A6 processor which is not the latest or fastest available. It also has an 11.6-inch screen which is not the largest Chromebook screen available these days. But, then again, what can you expect for a brand-new laptop with a 32-gigabyte hard drive (that you probably will never fill up simply because Chromebooks default to saving files safely and securely in the cloud), can override the default to save files to different cloud-based file storage services, to the local hard drive, to network drives, to a flashdrive, to a plug-in USB hard drive, or to any other place for storing files), that never gets viruses, that invisibly installs software updates without interrupting the user, and includes a full 1-year warranty, for only $97?

Again, you can read more at https://bit.ly/3CtszO3.

The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG):

Did you want to submit a proposal for the 2022 Virtual Professional Management Conference but needed more time, or did you enjoy RootsTech so much that you completely lost track of time? Well, we have good news for you! The deadline for proposal submissions has been extended through Sunday, 13 March 2022. So don’t fret, you’ve still got some time to get those submissions in!
For more information visit our website: https://www.apgen.org/cpages/pmc-call

The following announcement was written by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG):

FREE BCG-SPONSORED WEBINAR

“Identifying Unnamed Free-born African Americans – A DNA Case Study”

by David Rencher, CG, AG, FUGA, FIGRS

Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 8:00 p.m. (EDT

 

Identifying unnamed individuals using a research plan incorporating genetic evidence takes creativity and patience. This session deconstructs a case study using Genealogy Standards to align and correlate DNA results and fragmentary records for African American families, beginning in 1812 in Virginia and North Carolina.

BCG’s next free monthly webinar in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars is “Identifying Unnamed Free-born African Americans – A DNA Case Study” by David Rencher, CG, AG, FUGA, FIGRS. This webinar airs Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at 8:00 p.m. EDT.

David Rencher, CG, AG, FUGA, FIGRS is employed as the Director, Family History Library and Chief Genealogical Officer for FamilySearch. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1980 with a B.A. in Family and Local History. A professional genealogist since 1977, he is one of the rare few who have earned both credentials: Accredited Genealogist® with ICAPGen in Ireland research (1981) and Certified Genealogist® with the Board for Certification of Genealogists (2006). He serves as the Irish course coordinator and instructor for the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research, the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, and the British Institute. He is a past president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Utah Genealogical Association. David is a Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association and the Irish Genealogical Research Society, London. He serves as a director on the board of the National Genealogical Society.

When you register before March 15 on our partner Legacy Family Tree Webinars website webinars page: (Identifying Unnamed Free Born African Americans - A DNA Case Study - Legacy Family Tree Webinars) you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Anyone with schedule conflicts may access the webinar at no charge for one week after the broadcast on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

“Every month the Board for Certification of Genealogists offers a new webinar as part of an ongoing series that supports our mission to promote excellence in research and working to standards in an ethical manner.” said President LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG, CGL, FASG. “These webinars are presented by certified associates and offer a quality genealogical educational experience.”

Following the free period for this webinar, BCG receives a small commission if you view this or any BCG webinar by clicking our affiliate link: (Webinar Library - Legacy Family Tree Webinars).

To see the full list of BCG-sponsored webinars for 2022, visit the BCG blog SpringBoard at https://bcgcertification.org/bcg-2022-free-webinars.  For additional resources for genealogical education, please visit the BCG Learning Center (https://bcgcertification.org/learning).