Activists are trying to end secrecy for sperm and egg donors — a campaign that troubles some L.G.B.T.Q. families.

A thought-provoking article by Emily Bazelon published in the New York Times:

A few years ago, when he was in his early 30s, Tyler Levy Sniff took a home DNA test he received as a gift. The results revealed a staggering truth: His father wasn’t biologically related to him. Levy Sniff confronted his parents, who explained that after years of trying and failing to have a baby, they turned to a sperm donor. Following the standard advice at the time, they decided not to tell him for fear of driving a wedge into their family.

Levy Sniff felt as if he’d found a key to his identity that he was looking for. “It made sense of why I felt different from my family,” he said recently. He wanted more information about the person he called his “bio father” to understand his genetic heritage. “It was so important to me to know my bio father’s life story, his personality and talents and struggles,” Levy Sniff says.

But by the time he found his donor, through relatives on two genealogy websites, the man had died — another revelation that shattered him, he says. To Levy Sniff, the value of knowing where you come from is self-evident. “A lot of influence comes from your biology,” he says.

There’s plenty of support for this way of thinking. Recent findings in behavioral science show the role of genetics in shaping certain individual characteristics. Questionnaires from doctors routinely ask for generations of family medical history. And learning about your genetic ancestry can be emotionally powerful — one reason millions of people buy inexpensive at-home DNA tests and sign up for genealogy websites.

Levy Sniff has helped found the U.S. Donor Conceived Council, a group that advocates for more transparency when it comes to donor anonymity. In a sense, it’s a battle that has already been won: For earlier generations of donor-conceived children, secrecy was commonplace, but today the widespread use of DNA technology has ended any guarantee of anonymity for donors. As a result, major sperm banks in the United States are requiring donors to agree to disclose their medical histories up front and reveal their identities when a child turns 18.

You can read more at: https://tinyurl.com/46wfb66s.

Here is an interesting article by Caitlin Rearden published in the wfmz web site:

Forensic genealogy is being used more and more to help the police and victims' loved ones get answers.

"Forensic genealogy is being used to identify DNA that we don't know who the source is," said Teresa Vreeland, BODE Technology director of forensic genealogy services.

Investigators recently used Virginia-based BODE Technology to help solve the murder of Cynthia Baver, who was killed at her home on North Tenth Street in Reading in 2001.

The company used forensic genealogy to help pinpoint her killer.

"We use that DNA, we process it in a lab and then we upload those results to genealogy databases," said Vreeland. "We use Family Tree DNA and GEDMatch Pro. Those both allow for law enforcement use and matching and from there we are able to find who is related by DNA to this unknown profile."

The company uses the DNA collected from crime scenes or human remains to build out a family tree. It basically generates new leads for detectives by giving them names of possible DNA donors who could be a match or related to the person of interest.

"Then the police do their normal investigative work to see who might have been in our area of interest at the time that we needed that person to be there from that family list we've provided," added Vreeland.

In Baver's case it led investigators to her then next-door neighbor, Timothy Bernard, who was arrested 22 years after her murder.

You can read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4vx9tfsh

Dear Fellow Genealogists,

The Program Committee for the 44^th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy is pleased to announce that the Call for Proposals is now open. The 2024 Conference will be held in Philadelphia from Sunday, August 18 through Thursday, August 22, 2024 at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel in Center City Philadelphia. 

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, January 28, 2024.

We expect to notify proposal submitters of acceptance of their proposals before March 15, 2024. 

Conference Themes 

Speaker Compensation

Speakers may submit up to four (4) unique proposals for regular sessions, panel discussions and computer labs. SIG (Special Interest Group), Research Division and BOF (Birds-of-a-Feather) meetings are not included in this limit. 

Financial compensation for speakers is based on the number of accepted sessions. Speaker compensation is provided only to the primary speaker of a session. 

All primary speakers will receive one free Conference Registration. Only one free registration is allowed per session. Speaking or coordinating a SIG or Research Division meeting or luncheon or a BOF session does not qualify the person for compensation from IAJGS.

Speaker compensation is summarized below:

The compensation in this table only applies to the primary speaker. Hotel nights will be provided and paid for by IAJGS at the Conference hotel. The one exception to this remuneration table is the travel allowance for speakers living within 25 miles of the Conference Hotel. For those speakers, no hotel nights will be provided and the travel allowance will be $50 and is not increased if the speaker has more than one session. 

How to Submit

To begin the process of submitting your proposal, click here: Call for Proposals, then scroll down and click on the blue "Start Application" bar. All of the proposals, subsequent processing of proposals and accepted sessions will be handled on the PheedLoop conference software platform. 

Thank you for your interest in the IAJGS 2024 International Conference on Jewish Genealogy and your proposals. 

Evernote has become an industry leader in note-taking apps. However, it is not everyone’s cup of tea and has a few severe limitations. If you are looking for an Evernote alternative that offers all of the same features (or more), check out these fantastic note-taking apps that all serve as alternatives to Evernote.

1. Best Overall: Joplin

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS

Joplin is a free, open-source note-taking app that is a great alternative to Evernote. It packs many of the same features: you can access it from virtually any device and easily migrate all of your existing lists to Evernote.

Joplin supports multimedia notes, meaning you can insert images, videos, and audio files into any note. You can write math expressions and diagrams, which can be handy for students using the app to take notes during class. Best of all, as Joplin is open source, you can customize the app with plugins, custom themes, and multiple text editors. 

That being said, Joplin does include a few shortcomings. For example, it doesn’t offer the same real-time collaboration features that some other note-taking apps support. It also doesn’t include the ability to record handwritten notes or document importing. Finally, Joplin requires users to pay for cloud storage, meaning you can’t easily sync notes between multiple devices. However, if you can live without these features, Joplin is an outstanding note-taking app and the closest Evernote alternative currently available.

2. Best for Google Users: Google Keep

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

If you rely on Google for everything, then Google Keep is a great Evernote alternative for you. It is a simple note-taking app designed to store reminders like virtual sticky notes, but it can also handle basic note-taking as well. 

With Google Keep, you can record typed or handwritten notes, voice memos, and audio notes. You can also add images, assign labels, and add collaborators, all with a simple click. Because everything is stored on Google Drive, you can access your notes from Keep on any device after you log in to your Google account.

Unfortunately, Google Keep doesn’t have any sort of desktop app, meaning you are limited to using it on a mobile device or within your web browser. Also, Keep doesn’t support any sort of sorting beyond labels, which doesn’t compare to Evernote’s organization system.

3. Best for Microsoft Users: OneNote

You can read the rest of the (extensive) article by Megan Glosson published in the marketcheasier web site at: https://www.maketecheasier.com/5-amazing-evernote-alternatives/. 

The following is a press release issued by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:

WASHINGTON, December 4, 2023 – Today, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making its fourth Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) release of documents related to the transfer of Obama-era Presidential records from President Biden to NARA, beginning in November 2022. 

NARA has received approximately 25 FOIA requests related to NARA’s receipt of these records. We are processing the requests on a rolling basis and posting any non-exempt, responsive records at https://www.archives.gov/foia/biden-vp-records-covered-by-pra. Today’s release consists of 15 pages of communications with NARA’s Office of Inspector General about the Penn Biden Center records. 

This statement is also posted online here: Press Statements in Response to Media Queries About Presidential Records.

Company says it believes breach was the result of customers recycling passwords 

DNA-testing company 23andMe confirmed Monday that information about 6.9 million people, about half of its 14 million customers, was accessed illegally. 

"Roughly 5.5 million customers had their 23andMe DNA Relatives profile files accessed in an unauthorized manner," a company spokesperson said in an email to MarketWatch. "Additionally, roughly 1.4 [million] customers participating in the DNA Relatives feature had their Family Tree profile information accessed, which is a limited subset of the DNA Relative profile information." 

The spokesman added that the company (ME) has no indication "there has been a breach or data security incident within our systems, or that 23andMe was the source of the account credentials used in these attacks." 

The spokesperson continued: "Rather, our investigation indicates threat actors were able to access accounts in instances where users recycled login credentials - that is, usernames and passwords that were used on 23andMe.com were the same as those used on other websites that have been previously hacked." 

The breach was originally reported by 23andMe in October.

Much of the U.S. is under early wintry weather conditions. Northern New England, parts of Pennsylvania and of Ohio are are receiving early season snow and ice. An "Atmospheric River" is  a bringing steady stream of rainfall to the Northwestern US. A Flood Watch is in effect for coastal Oregon and Washington State. 

But cheer up! It could be worse, you could be in Hawaii.  (Anyone who lives in Hawaii already knows what I am talking about.) "Winter wonderland" isn't a term often associated with Hawaii, but that's exactly how one meteorologist described the Aloha State on Thursday.

However, it is not uncommon for snow to fall on Hawaii's volcanic peaks given their altitude, and evenblizzard warnings have been issued in Hawaii during the winter months.

The Mauna Kea Weather Center is based on the Mauna Kea volcano. At nearly 14,000 feet above sea level, the volcano is the tallest peak in Hawaii. It is the world's tallest mountain when measured base to peak, as its base extends nearly 20,000 feet below sea level.

"It's snowing in Hawaii? At over 13,000 feet, the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa do get some snow each winter. Today is one of those days. Only researchers reside there," AccuWeather posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday afternoon.

Snow is a common occurrence in the winter months at Hawaii's three tallest volcanoes—Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Haleakala. Mauna Kea occasionally sees snowfall during the summer months as well. However, snow rarely falls anywhere in Hawaii with an elevation below 9,000 feet, even during the winter months, according to a report by World Atlas.

You can read more in an article by Anna Skinner in the Newsweek web site at: https://www.newsweek.com/photos-hawaii-snow-temperatures-plunge-1848774.

Here is another article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, it caught my eye. I am a very satisfied user of the Proton products and I will suggest that all computer owners who have an interest in personal privacy should at least check out the many features of Proton.

The following is from the Proton Blog:

In recent months, we’ve brought a lot of big additions to the Proton ecosystem, such as Proton VPN for Business(new window), Proton Sentinel(new window), Password Sharing(new window) in Proton Pass, and Proton Drive photo backups in beta. By comparison, we haven’t said a lot about Proton Mail and Proton Calendar, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been idle or moved our focus away from Proton’s main services. 

Instead, over the past three months, we intentionally took a different strategy for Mail and Calendar. Rather than focusing on big ticket items, we compiled a list of requests from Proton community members on how Proton Mail can make your life easier. This involved aggregating statistics from Reddit, Twitter, and UserVoice, and also analyzing data from over 100,000 support tickets dating back several years. Then we began diligently working through the list.

Why focus on small improvements rather than attention-grabbing launches? Because ever since our 2014 community crowdfunding campaign, Proton has been community supported. We don’t make money through ads and we have no venture capital investors, so you, the community, are the only people we answer to. This list reflects that as it is composed entirely of your feedback.

Today we’ve reached the milestone of 75% completion of our list, and we would like to share with you some highlights of what we’ve implemented, as well as a glimpse of what we’ll tackle next.

The full article is rather lengthy so I recommend that you read it at: https://proton.me/blog/mail-calendar-improvements-2023.

Scientists have used the remains of some 500 people to create a series of “bone biographies” that provide a glimpse inside the ordinary lives of plague survivors of the English city of Cambridge.

The skeletons, which came from a series of archaeological digs that began in the 1970s, date back to between 1000 and 1500.

During that medieval era, Cambridge was home to a few thousand people. The bubonic plague — known as the Black Death — came to the city between 1348 and 1349, killing 40% to 60% of its population, according to the study.

Archaeologists used radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis to study the bones of townsfolk, scholars, friars and merchants, eventually focusing on 16 people by examining their DNA, bodily trauma, activities and diets to paint a fuller picture of their existence, called osteobiographies. The findings appear in a study published Thursday in the journal Antiquity.

“An osteobiography uses all available evidence to reconstruct an ancient person’s life,” said lead study author John Robb, a professor at Cambridge University, in a statement. “Our team used techniques familiar from studies such as Richard III’s skeleton, but this time to reveal details of unknown lives — people we would never learn about in any other way.”

The bone biographies are available on Cambridge University’s After the Plague project website.

You can read more in an article by Ashley Strickland and Amy Woodyatt published in the CNN web site at: https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/01/world/black-death-cambridge-bone-biographies-scli-scn/index.html.

The Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock, Michigan—formerly part of shuttered Finlandia University and now managed by Finlandia Foundation National—has joined UPLINK, an effort to digitize Upper Peninsula historical materials to facilitate online access and preservation. The Central U.P. and Northern Michigan University Archives hosts the UPLINK website and is the principal service site in the region.

“Our university president [Brock Tessman] has expressed great interest in increasing Northern's community engagement in the region,” said Marcus Robyns, NMU archivist. “That's precisely the idea behind UPLINK. We are using our tools and expertise to partner with U.P. heritage organizations on a low-cost method for increasing awareness of the historical records available, and ensuring easy access for generations to come. It's good that a national entity stepped in to run the center after Finlandia shut down so these important collections weren't dispersed elsewhere.”

According to its website, the Finnish American Heritage Center Joanna Chopp, the archivist at the Finnish American Heritage Center, attended an early meeting during which Robyn's outlined his vision for UPLINK. She has wanted her organization to join ever since, but the opportunity did not materialize until now.

“I look forward to being able to share even small parts of our collection online so they can be accessible to anyone,” Chopp said. “We've had researchers from as far as Finland, Japan and Canada come here. When people know we exist, they are excited to discover the wide range of materials we have here. Things will be better under the Finlandia Foundation National umbrella. They are very supportive of digitizing materials and doing outreach in the communities that may not realize we have things here they could be using.”

Chopp added that most of those doing research are genealogists. For that purpose, the center has Watia Funeral Home records and congregational church records. There is also documentation related to businesses and material on the temperance societies that used to operate in communities throughout the U.P. While the center has announced its intent to join UPLINK, digitization of its records will take some time.

UPLINK, or the Upper Peninsula Digital Network, began in 2021 with a two-year implementation grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. It is a consortium of heritage organizations—archives, libraries, museums and historical societies—intended to pool resources and skills to make digitization and digital preservation affordable.

Visit the UPLINK website here.