Return of Weekly Picks

Back in January I got the idea I would create a weekly list of notable blog posts and news stories related to genealogy. Others do it, and I've found stuff I've missed in their lists, and perhaps I can return the favor. However, my weekly lists ended after about a month.

I had the notion to do this again a week ago. It may not be a coincidence that it is the beginning of another "New Year."

The relationship to genealogy for some of the links below will be a stretch, but I felt the items were still worth sharing.

Saturday September 19 - Friday September 25

On International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Tracing The Tribe expanded upon my entry, and discussed additional Sephardic Jewish Pirates.

The Genetic Genealogist has an entry on Tracing DNA to Individual Ancestors, and how scientists have been able to trace the genes responsible for some hereditary diseases.

The official blog of JewishGen has an entry on how the Jewish Genealogy Society of Long Island helped a metal detector hobbyist return a class ring to someone who had lost their ring in Sag Harbor Bay fifty years before.

What's Past is Prologue has had a couple entries on Passenger Manifests: Manifest Markings and Accidental Discoveries

I enjoyed Geneamusing's photograph on his "Wordly Wednesday" of a great great uncle using a 1916 telephone.

Carnival of Genealogy: Tracing the Tribe is hosting the October 1st CoG, and the theme is to write an obituary for your blog. Here is footnoteMaven's official poster for the CoG.

Hamilton's Habitat blogs about finding a photograph of her distant four-legged relative. And here's her entry a year ago when she learned about the woman. (A rare form of 'conjoined twinning' actually gave her two sets of legs.) The Genealogue had an entry on the woman, Josephine Myrtle (Corbin) Bicknell back in 2006.

While he isn't a geneablogger, and his blog is one of the most popular on the net, there are probably a few who missed Wil Wheaton's post celebrating the memory of his awesome dog. (Wheaton is best known for his television role as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek:TNG, and his roles in the films Stand By Me, and Toy Soldiers. He still does some occasional acting, but has begun a new career as a writer.)

Google has digitized Life Magazine's entire weekly run. (hat tip: Good Morning Silicon Valley)

Newspaper Articles

An article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch discussed how some schools are no longer teaching cursive handwriting, making some fear there will come a time when we are no longer able to read the letters of our ancestors, or other historical documents.

In the National Jewish Student Voice there is an article on whether the E-book is Good for the Jews -- "As Judaism protects texts so much that there are genizot, cemeteries for holy writings, literature is a vital piece of the culture, but the advent of the Kindle may mean the end of that culture as we know it." (hat tip: Jewish Publication Society blog). [I'd argue we protect the text, not the medium through which it is distributed. I was reminded of a 1998 article comparing The Talmud and Hypertext.]

Metro.co.uk has a 'Separated at Birth' story on how two twins met each other when they became employees of the same company.

On evolution: The St. Louis Post Dispatch has an article on how chimpanzees in the Congo are developing 'tool kits' for hunting.

DiscoveryNews has an article on whether mankind's evolutionary ancestors - Neanderthal and Australopithecus - were monogamous, and how scientists think they may be able to tell.

The Daily Mail has an article on the completion of the Fifth Revision of Confucius' family tree, (hat tip: GenealogyBlog ) Back in February of 2008 I blogged about their decision to stop looking for more descendants. I first heard about the revision back in September of 2007, when I learned it would be the first revision to include his female descendants.

Video:

A video on the Information Revolution (hat tip: Dividing by Zero)