VGS News & Events: 3 December 2017 through 9 December 2017

Coming Events:

Monday: December 4, 2017
Jewish Genealogy SIG Meeting:
10:00 AM in the MacArthur Room at the Eisenhower Recreation Center

Topic: "Jewish Cemeteries and Tombstones" Phil Goldsmith

Monday: December 4, 2017
Roots Magic SIG Meeting:
2:30 PM at the Sea Breeze Recreation Center
Topic: Video on "RootsMagic 7"
Monday: December 4, 2017
Live Webinar:
8:00 PM Online
See more info below...

Tuesday: December 5, 2017

Italian Genealogy SIG Meeting

1:00 PM in the Atlanta Room in the Savannah Center
Topic: "Table Discussion"  We will open the floor to all topics so bring in your questions, brickwalls and we will try to answer as many questions as possible.

Wednesday: December 6, 2017

French Canadian Genealogy SIG Meeting:

9:00 AM in the Julio Iglesias Room at the La Hacienda Recreation Center

Wednesday: December 6, 2017

Mid-Atlantic States SIG Meeting

9:30 AM in the Defender Room at the Lake Miona Recreation Center
Topic: We will have Gene Clark, our Technology SIG leader as a guest speaker. He will cover the correct ways to download our genealogy data to a CD or flash drive. Bring your laptop and a device to use for backing up your data.  We will discuss GenealogyBank.com for newspaper research. 

Thursday: December 7, 2017

Eastern European Genealogy SIG Meeting:

1:00 PM in the Daytona Room at the Sea Breeze Recreation Center

Friday: December 8, 2017

Genetic Genealogy SIG Meeting has been cancelled.

VGS Live Webinar:

VGS
On December 4th at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Central, 6 p.m. Mountain, 5 p.m. Pacific) we'll have Blaine Bettinger, the Genetic Genealogist, presenting "Introduction to DNA." Blaine is also going to be one of our speakers on the 2019 VGS genealogy cruise, so if you’re not familiar with him, this is a great way to become so. The webinar will be open to everyone who is a member of VGS, but you do have to register using this link:

"In addition to learning about Y-DNA and mtDNA, we’ll learn about the newest tool available to genealogists, autosomal DNA.  Genealogists can use these tools together with traditional research to explore their ancient ancestry, find genetic relatives, and break through brick walls."

Gen News & Announcements:

FamilySearch Free Sign-in Offers Greater Subscriber Experiences and Benefits:

FamilySearch
"Beginning December 13, 2017, patrons visiting FamilySearch.org will see a prompt to register for a free FamilySearch account or sign in to their existing account to continue enjoying all the free expanded benefits FamilySearch has to offer."
Continue reading...

Surprising Facts about Immigration to New York:

NYG&B
"New York is the state with arguably the strongest connection to immigration in America - hundreds of millions of Americans can trace their immigrant ancestors to the port of New York, which has been the final destination of immigrants for over four centuries.
Get started by looking over these surprising and interesting facts about New York immigration - at the end of the article, you'll find some of our suggested resources for the different time periods in which your ancestors may have arrived."
Continue reading...

AncestryDNA Opt-Out Options for DNA Matches: What This Means for You...

Genealogy Gems
"A new AncestryDNA opt-out option allows DNA test takers to not participate in DNA match lists: they do not receive matches or show up in others’ match lists. Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard weighs on in the implications for genealogy researchers who may worry about cousin matches they may miss."
Continue reading...

Law Enforcement Won’t Use Your Ancestry.com or 23andme DNA Kits for Investigations:

Dick Eastman eogn.com
"A lot of negative, and often misleading, publicity concerning home DNA testing has been floating around the news services this week. Many of the news reports are completely wrong. The WCPO web site has a news story and video that clears the clearly refutes the misleading stories.
Watch News Story...

AncestryDNA Brings a Father and Son Together for the First Time:

Ancestry
"In “The Chance of Two Lifetimes,” IBM tells the story of Bob Nore, a Vietnam War veteran who fathered a child he never knew about while stationed there. This child, Son Vo, immigrated to the U.S. and spent most of his life searching for his real dad. On a whim, both submitted a sample to AncestryDNA."
Continue reading...

AncestryDNA Breaks Holiday Sales Record for Black Friday to Cyber Monday; More Than Triples Kits Sold Versus 2016:

Abundant Genealogy

"Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, today announced record sales for AncestryDNA kits during the four day Black Friday to Cyber Monday holiday weekend. The company more than tripled the number of kits sold during the same period in 2016, its prior record sales period."

Continue reading...

8 Ideas to Add Even More Excitement to Your AncestryDNA Gift:

AncestryDNA
"AncestryDNA kits make perfect holiday gifts. They’re unique, interactive, personal, and fun.
However, when your friends or family members first unwrap their kits, they might be a bit underwhelmed by receiving what appears to be a box with a plastic tube in it."
Continue reading...

Technology:

How to Save Google’s WEBP Images As JPEG or PNG:

How-to-Geek
"Google’s new WEBP image format is pretty cool: its unique compression systems can display images at approximately two thirds the size of the same image rendered in JPEG or PNG format.
But despite six years of development and being heavily featured in Google products, it still isn’t supported by some of the most common image tools around, like Microsoft’s default Windows photo viewer. Here’s how to save a WEBP image in a more common format."
Continue reading...

How to Make Sure a File Is Safe Before Downloading It:

How-to-Geek
"If you’re concerned a file might be malicious, you don’t need to download it and rely on your antivirus. You can scan the file for malware with over 60 antivirus engines before you download it—all with one single tool."
Continue reading...

Education:

Genealogy Debriefing After a Genealogy Trip:

Ancestral Findings
"Have you been on a genealogy research trip, or are you planning on taking one soon? Don't forget proper debriefing when you get back. I’ll talk about how to do it on today’s episode."
Listen now... 6.06 minutes

Webinars:

FREE Webinars from British Connections:

The International Society for British Genealogy and Family History is offering four FREE webinars beginning in January. (In the past, they’ve always charged for their webinars).
The first of four is January 13, 2018 on Irish Genealogy.
A Complete list can be found HERE...

Florida State Genealogical Society Webinars for 2018:

FSGS
"The "Poolside Chats: A Genealogy Webinar Series" is organized by the Technology-Outreach Committee and presented to the FSGS membership and the public on a monthly basis. We have had webinars on topics such as DNA in genealogy, cloud-based technology, Florida territorial records and everything in between - and we are just getting started."
See what's coming...

Finding Your Roots in Catholic Records:

Legacy Family Tree Webinars
"Catholic genealogical research has a depth unequaled by any other record group. The documents of the Catholic Church chronicle important events in the lives of members and can provide the key to uncovering otherwise impenetrable family mysteries. Author of the Catholic Genealogy Legacy QuickGuide™ and contributor to The Catholic Gene blog, Lisa Toth Salinas will guide you into exploration of the lives of your ancestors through sacramental records, additional Church records, and other Catholic sources. Join Lisa for an introduction into Catholic genealogy, an overview of traditional and often-overlooked documents, and research strategies that will help you dig into your Catholic roots."
Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.
Presenter: Lisa Toth Salinas
Learn more or Register for this webinar...