Weekly Picks

Weekly Picks for October 25-October 31

James Tanner at Genealogy's Star asks Can You Do Genealogy on a Mac? Of course you can, there are several good software choices for the Mac. But he describes how you can run PC genealogy programs on the newer Intel macs. My favorite line from the entry: The main drawback is that running a PC on your Mac is like towing a house trailer with your Porche. You might be able to do it, but you better have a good reason to do it.

Preparing for Data Backup Day (the first day of every month), Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers updated his list of Resources for Backing Up Your Data.

The Facebook Blog explains how you can memorialize the Facebook page of a friend or relative who has died. "When an account is memorialized, we also set privacy so that only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in search. We try to protect the deceased's privacy by removing sensitive information such as contact information and status updates. Memorializing an account also prevents anyone from logging into it in the future, while still enabling friends and family to leave posts on the profile Wall in remembrance."

Lorine of Olive Tree Genealogy is asked for genealogy resources that aren't "LDS related." She provides some, but also suggests not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Whatever we feel about the Church of Latter Day Saints, they have scanned in a lot of vital records, and they're now making these vital records available online for free.

Dick Eastman of Eastman's Online Genealogy finds a news story suggesting bad driving habits are hereditary.

Maureen Taylor at The Photo Detective discusses how you can protect your identity at websites where you upload your photos.

The National Genealogical Society (among others) discussed Footnote's plans to digitize the whole census. I can't afford a personal subscription to both Footnote and Ancestry, but both are available for free from my local library. I feel if I have access to at least one of them from my home computer, I'm fine. Currently that is Ancestry, but that's mostly because of the census records. Footnote is considerably less expensive. Competition in the marketplace is always good.

The National Genealogical Society also directed its readers to the Boston Examiner, which recently published (brief) genealogies of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials.

Carolyn Barkley of GenealogyAndFamilyHistory provides some 'offline' resources for the beginning genealogist.

Several people have been talking this week about the 7th grader and her grandfather who allegedly connected President Obama's ancestry to all former presidents except Martin Van Buren. My favorite comment on this came last week from Chris Dunham at Genealogue: "she failed to find a link between Van Buren and his colleagues only because the Dutch are lousy at concocting dubious royal lineages." Of course, the news media is treating the genealogies as accurate.

Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings discusses the Online Historical Directories site created by Miriam Robbins Midkiff of Ancestories

Ancestories offers a Beginners Guide to Scanning Postcards

Jill Hurst-Wahl at Digitization 101 explains why Google's Book Search is a disaster for scholars.

Ruth at Bluebonnet Country Genealogy writes about how she likes her hosting company, Dreamhost. I've been using Dreamhost for several websites as well, and have been very pleased.

Marie Reed at Vintage Postcards, in honor of Halloween, has a postcard photo of the Catacombs of Paris.

The Highland Councils in Scotland are considering recycling graves. (hat/tip: GenealogyBlog )

In an example of a December-January romance, a Somalian claiming to be over 100 marries a 17-year old.

The MoSGA Messenger announces the St. Louis Genealogical Society's annual Book Jamboree

The Voice of America News discusses the 150th anniversary of John Brown's Raid

A project has been launched to preserve Jewish graves in the Ukraine (source: Chabad Lubavitch News)

and finally:

Wednesday's Unshelved webcomic may resonate for some.