This article is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However, it discusses the future use of “how to use the Internet” so I will suggest everyone who uses the Internet should be aware of this information.

Google, Microsoft and others boast that generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT will make searching the internet better than ever for users. For example, rather than having to wade through a sea of URLs, users will be able to just get an answer combed from the entire internet. 

There are also some concerns with the rise of AI-fueled search engines, such as the opacity over where information comes from, the potential for “hallucinated” answers and copyright issues.

But one other consequence is that I believe it may destroy the US$68 billion search engine optimization industry that companies like Google helped create. 

For the past 25 years or so, websites, news outlets, blogs and many others with a URL that wanted to get attention have used search engine optimization, or SEO, to “convince” search engines to share their content as high as possible in the results they provide to readers. This has helped drive traffic to their sites and has also spawned an industry of consultants and marketers who advise on how best to do that.

As an associate professor of information and operations management, I study the economics of e-commerce. I believe the growing use of generative AI will likely make all of that obsolete. 

How online search works

Someone seeking information online opens her browser, goes to a search engine and types in the relevant keywords. The search engine displays the results, and the user browses through the links displayed in the result listings until she finds the relevant information. 

To attract the user’s attentions, online content providers use various search engine marketing strategies, such as search engine optimization, paid placements and banner displays. 

For instance, a news website might hire a consultant to help it highlight key words in headlines and in metadata so that Google and Bing elevate its content when a user searches for the latest information on a flood or political crisis.

How generative AI changes search process

You can read the full article at: https://tinyurl.com/2vb7v4d3https://tinyurl.com/2vb7v4d3

The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) is excited to announce their 2023 National Awardees.

This year the awardees are as follows; Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (James Dent Walker Award), Clevlyn Bankhead-Anderson (Paul Edward Sluby, Sr/Jean Sampson-Scott Meritorious Achievement Award), Stephen E. Hammond (Paul Edward Sluby, Sr/Jean Sampson-Scott Meritorious Achievement Award), Carol Austin (On-The-Spot Award), Mary Crosby (On-The-Spot Award), Taneya Koonce (On-The-Spot Award), Metro Atlanta Chapter (Chapter of the Year Award), Jacqueline Mary Tillman-Lewis (Certificate of Appreciation), Judy Rose Weaver (Certificate of Appreciation) and Chapters Committee (Certificate of Appreciation).

As the recipient of the James Dent Walker Award, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is now a Life Member of AAHGS. Stephen E. Hammond, Carol Austin, Mary Crosby, Taneya Koonce, Jacqueline Mary Tillman-Lewis and Judy Rose Weaver are all current AAHGS members.

The James Dent Walker Award is the highest award that can be bestowed by AAHGS upon a person who has exhibited distinguished accomplishments through a significant and measurable contribution to the research, documentation, and/or preservation of African American history.

The Paul Edward Sluby, Sr./Jean Sampson-Scott Meritorious Achievement Awards is the second highest award that can be bestowed by AAHGS upon an organization(s) or person(s) who has exhibited distinguished performance through a significant and measurable contribution to African American history and/or genealogy within the past two years.

The On-The-Spot Award is presented to a Chapter member for a recent, specific, measurable accomplishment that impacts or contributes to AAHGS's mission and goals.

This Chapter of the Year Award is bestowed on an AAHGS chapter that has made outstanding contributions to the AAHGS mission to preserve African American history and genealogy through sponsorship of quality chapter programs, activities, and services over the past year.

The Certificate of Appreciation is presented to an individual or team who has contributed to AAHGS or its principles and deserves a token of thanks. The Certificate will result from an act(s) performed within two years of its presentation.

Congratulations to this year’s awardees.

About AAHGS

The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. is a non-profit membership organization that strives to preserve African ancestral family history, genealogy, and cultural diversity by teaching research techniques and disseminating information throughout the community. Our primary goals are to promote scholarly research, provide resources for historical and genealogical studies, create a network of persons with similar interests, and assist members in documenting their histories.

From an Associated Press article:

New York's highest court on Tuesday ruled police can resume a DNA searching method that can identify relatives of potential suspects, a technique that has helped solve crimes but caused privacy concerns.

The method, known as familial DNA searches, allows law enforcement agencies to search information in their DNA databases to find blood relatives of people who have left genetic material at a crime scene.

The order from the New York Court of Appeals allows the state to use such searches in criminal cases, reversing a lower court ruling from last year that blocked the practice.

The case was brought by two men whose brothers were convicted of crimes and had genetic information in the state’s databanks. They alleged that searches could improperly target them because of their family members' crimes and that the technique was never approved by the state Legislature.

Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson, writing for the majority, said that the state's rulemaking process for the searches was legal and that regulations intended to protect privacy have resulted in very few search results provided to law enforcement.

You can read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4w3u952u.

The Calcasieu Parish Public Library has announced that the Southwest Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Library, located at 411 Pujo St. in downtown Lake Charles, reopened to the public.

The library had been closed for repairs and renovations. New features include furniture, fixtures, paint, shelving, new technology, and more.

Once a shelf in the main branch of the library, the genealogy collection moved to its own book cart, then to its own room, and finally, to the Carnegie Memorial Library building.

The library now has a collection size of over 12,000 items. The library’s collection, much of which can be accessed remotely, includes:

• Books
• Periodicals
• Microfilm
• Compiled family records
• An obituary index
• Records on most of the American states
• Limited information on British genealogy
• Cemetery and church records
• Parish courthouse records
• Military records
• Parish histories
• Land records

There are also online databases available for viewing including include the Maude Reid Scrapbook Index, the 1895-1896 Lake Charles City Directory, Ancestry Library Edition, local newspapers such as the American Press and the Southwest Daily News, Fold3 Library Edition, and HeritageQuest.

From an article by Emily Hemphill published in the Cardinal News web site:

Artifacts from the former Black school have now been digitized. It’s part of a national push to preserve Black history records and make them more accessible.

For 100 years, Christiansburg Institute battled white discrimination by serving as a model of Black education and culture tucked away in the mountains of Southwest Virginia. Today, the battlefield has transferred to a digital arena as the nonprofit that carries its name strives to preserve it for future generations.

A national effort to digitize archives and artifacts embodying African American history, which has long been ignored and inaccessible to the masses, began soon after the racial unrest of 2020. The digitization movement made its way to the institute, which once stood just down the hill from the current Christiansburg High School, after executive director Chris Sanchez and museum curator Jenny Nehrt successfully applied for a $250,000 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources for “Digitizing Hidden Collections” in 2022.  

“It’s basically immoral to underpreserve Black history in any society that claims to be democratic,” said Sanchez. 

The nonprofit, in collaboration with University Libraries at Virginia Tech, recently finished scanning and uploading 870 photographs, 60 slides, 15 diplomas, 48,000 typed pages and 3,300 handwritten pages from the school’s heyday. These artifacts can now be accessed by anyone with an internet connection: https://hub.catalogit.app/8896. The collection will also be stored in the University Libraries’ digital space. An exhibit to promote the almost-completed work is open to the public until Dec. 17 on the second floor of the Newman Library.

You can read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4xkxpz6p.

The following is a press release written by the (U.S.) National Genealogical Society:

Get Tips to Help You Scan, Record, and Write

October is Family History Month—a perfect opportunity to delve into the rich tapestry of your past. NGS is excited to support your genealogy journey as you explore, preserve, and share your family's unique history.  Whether you're curious about old photos and hoping to scan them, looking to record family members’ memories, or aiming to write stories that are part of your family's legacy, this is the moment to begin or restart a project. It's easy to put off these tasks, thinking there's always tomorrow. But as we're often reminded, the best time is now.  NGS created three resources to inspire you this month with steps to help make projects successful. Download Recording Family Memories and Stories: Get guidance to plan and record interviews and capture meaningful conversations. Scanning and Labeling Family Photos: Dive into our handy tips to preserve and digitize your family’s visual history. Writing and Sharing Family Stories: Find your voice and tell your family's cherished tales with our prompts and ideas. Get Family History Month Resources Sharing stories within your family cultivates a deeper connection between members in the past and present and the generations to come. (Remember to respect privacy. Discuss plans to ensure everyone is on board when conveying personal anecdotes and information.) So, gather your family, dive into those photo albums or boxes, and collect the stories that weave the fabric of your family history. NGS is here for you every step of the way. And pass this on—download free images on our site you can post on social media with #FamilyHistoryMonth and the link to ngsgenealogy.org/family-history-month.  Celebrate this October and invite people to join you!

An announcement today from the (U.S.) National Genealogical Society:

As of 1 October 2023, ConferenceKeeper.org is now officially part of the NGS family. ConferenceKeeper is the most complete, entirely free, online calendar of genealogy conferences and events. 

Created in 2012, ConferenceKeeper was the brainchild of Jen Baldwin. In 2015, Baldwin passed it on to Eowyn Langholf Walker and Tami Osmer Mize. Mize has been its sole manager since 2016 and will continue in this role as a consultant for NGS.

ConferenceKeeper will continue to support local genealogical societies, libraries, and genealogy-related businesses by providing a wider audience for their programs. The website will offer its calendar of thousands of genealogical education opportunities as a free resource for everyone interested in furthering their knowledge of family history research. ConferenceKeeper will also continue to accept genealogy-related advertising. NGS member organizations will benefit from a special advertising rate and increased visibility for their events.

Kinsta announced FREE hosting for up to 100 static websites, including static WordPress sites, and 100 GB bandwidth per month.

• Free hosting offered by Kinsta for static websites, including static WordPress sites
• 100 GB bandwidth per month per company
• 1 GB build image size per site
• Free tier will remain free "forever" according to Kinsta

Managed WordPress Hosting company Kinsta announced they are offering free static website hosting that comes with 100 GB bandwidth/month and 1 GB build size limit.

Kinsta says that the free hosting tier plan is being given away so that users can experience it for themselves.

According to the information that Kinsta provided:

“Static sites are completely free, you can host up to 100 sites for free.

Later we will introduce add-ons and features that might be paid, but as of now the service is free and this tier will remain free forever.”

Who Can Get Free Kinsta Hosting?

The free hosting is for static sites, can include WordPress sites that are converted to static (WordPress static site conversion guide).

Developers and users who leverage node-based static site generators that generate re-rendered content. Users of the Astro, Gatsby static site generators and other popular solutions.

Any individual or business can get a free static site hosting plan from Kinsta.

It’s also an opportunity for agencies and developers to test out static site hosting for free in order to see if it’s a good match for clients.

What Are Static Sites?

Many publishers are converting their WordPress sites to a static version and enjoying faster speeds. Sites with massive amounts of traffic can serve webpages all day with little stress on the server.

I used to create static affiliate sites back in the early days, some of which went viral and received massive amounts of traffic with zero downtime, no crashes.

Static sites also enjoy better security because vulnerabilities hidden in plugins or themes no longer exist on static sites.

An important quality of static sites is that they require little to virtually no maintenance.

Free Features In Kinsta Static Site Hosting

Kinsta is offering many features in their free plan.

• 100 static sites per company
• 1 concurrent build per site
• 1 GB build image size per site
• 600 build minutes per month per company
• 100 GB bandwidth per month per company
• API access
• Integration with GitHub, GitLab and BitBucket
• Deploying to the Edge – making your site closer to visitors by serving it from more than 300 locations
• Diff-based Uploads

Additional features that are planned for the service include:

• Maintenance mode
• Password protection
• More builders
• Choose a build template
• Detailed Analytics

Get Free Static Site Hosting Here

Kinsta free hosting is available right now for static sites. Visit Kinsta for more details or to sign up.

From battlefieldstrust.com:

This database provides information about monuments, including memorials, plaques and information boards, located across the British Isles which relate to events concerning and key figures associated with the British Civil Wars 1639-1660. It also covers monuments located anywhere in the world relating to soldiers who served in the British Isles between 1639-1660. Such memorials can be extant or non-extant. The database currently contains 245 entries

In time, we hope the database will become a key resource for those wishing to understand more about or research the memorialisation of the British Civil Wars, but also for those interested in the Civil Wars who may wish to know what memorials can be seen when they visit a place. We continue to source public contributions and if you are aware of a memorial that doesn't appear on the database that meets the criteria set out above, please help us by contributing an entry via our submission form. If you see an error in one of the entries please let us know by emailing bcwmemorials@ukbattlefieldstrust.onmicrosoft.com.

Copyright, data protection and other related information about the project can be found on the online submission form.  Images published on and information from the database can be re-used under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Do you have old tape recordings or possibly old videos with sound that now have excessive hiss or other background noise? If so, you might be interested in this press release that was issued today:

Background noise is one of the biggest headaches in audio recording: anyone who has ever used a microphone knows how difficult it is to deal with environmental noise and electrical interference. Before, you had to record in an expensive studio or use complex software that is time-consuming and difficult to use. This is about to change.

Today, music software developer Tape It released their free AI-powered Denoiser that automatically removes background noise such as hums and hisses. It produces studio-quality results on full songs, single instrument tracks, and field recordings — not just on spoken word. Tape It launched its Denoiser as a free web app and will later implement it into the company’s flagship product, the Tape It iOS app, which helps musicians organize and record song ideas. This tool is part of a bigger strategy to develop tools that simplify recording for musicians.

“Everyone is excited about AI being creative,” says Thomas Walther, CEO of Tape It. “We are excited about AI solving boring problems. We take care of background noise, so you can entirely focus on the creative parts and write more songs!”

Together with the launch, the company released an academic study with a comprehensive scientific listening test which has shown that the software’s quality competes with - and sometimes even outperforms - industry-leading denoisers that usually require hours of adjustment and tweaking.

“Other denoisers either sound bad on music, or require expensive software that takes time and a lot of expert knowledge to use. Tape It just works.”

The denoiser’s main areas of focus are:

Tape It Denoiser will be officially presented at the Audio Engineering Convention in New York from October 25th to 27th, and is available for free today on the website.