VGS News & Events: 14 July through 20 July 2019

Coming Events:

Tuesday: July 16, 2019

Family Tree Maker Users SIG Meeting

1:00 PM in the Patriot Room at the Mulberry Grove Recreation Center

Topic: "Dealing with Media"

Gen News and Announcements:

New Filtering System for DNA Matches:

MyHeritage
"We’re excited to announce the release of a new feature — a brand new filtering system for DNA Matches — which will be very helpful for our users."
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All About Mitochondrial DNA:

DNAeXplained
"This is a 4 Part series about mitochondrial DNA. I suggest you read all 4 articles in order...

• Mitochondrial DNA: Part 1 – Overview
• Mitochondrial DNA: Part 2 – What Do Those Numbers Mean?
• Mitochondrial DNA: Part 3 – Haplogroups Unraveled
• Mitochondrial DNA: Part 4 – Techniques for Doubling Your Useful Matches

Half-Siblings Reunite Thanks to MyHeritage DNA

MyHeritage

"Terry Keith, 54, from Pleasant Hill, Missouri, USA, received the surprise of a lifetime when a MyHeritage DNA test revealed not one, but two half-sisters he never knew about. Ever since he’s been fortunate enough to reconnect with his newly discovered biological family, he can’t imagine life any other way."

Continue reading...

The 10 Best (Mostly Free) Scottish Genealogy Sites for Finding Your Ancestors

Family History Daily
"If you are lucky enough to be from Scotland, or are of Scottish descent, then you will love the plethora of records just waiting to be researched here (tha thu fortanach, gu dearbh)."
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Find Historical Photos at Flickr Creative Commons:

Lisa Louise Cooke
"One of the best free online resources for historical photos is the Creative Commons at Flickr. Flickr is a popular photo, image and video hosting and sharing service. It’s a great platform for sharing your favorite photos with family and friends. It’s also an excellent place to find images that fit into your family history."
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Technology:

How to Keep Your Mac and Apps Up To Date:

How to Geek
"Beyond the usual security patches and app updates, Apple offers shiny new versions of macOS to Mac users every year—for free. We’ll explain how it all works. You can automate much of this process so that updates take care of themselves without bothering you, too."
Continue reading...

Education:

Using Freedmen’s Records in Genealogical Research:

Ancestral Findings
"The Freedmen’s Bureau records are an invaluable resource for the descendants of formerly enslaved people in the United States. They provide information that isn’t found anywhere else and can bring people long lost to history back into the light."
Listen now... 8.26 minutes

Webinars:

Research Your Newfoundland Ancestors

Legacy Family Tree
"It was visited by the Vikings, became a British colony, and ended up as a Canadian province. Along the way it has been home to British, Irish, Spanish, Portuguese and French settlers, some of whom moved on to other parts of Canada and the United States. A bit of history, suggestions for researching online, and tips for making that research trip to "The Rock" if you have ancestors from Newfoundland."
Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Presenter: Tessa Keough
Learn more or Register for this webinar...

VGS Latest News and Tips: 6 July 2017

Reminder:

Today: July 6, 2017

Eastern European Genealogy SIG Meeting:

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

Gen News:

Details of new Presbyterian records on ScotlandsPeople:

GENES
"The National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) has updated its press release on the additional records for dissenting Presbyterian congregations added to ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) in June 2017 (see the original release announcement on The GENES Blog HERE...
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New Historic Records on FamilySearch: Week of June 28, 2017:

FamilySearch
"This week 3 million New York City marriage licenses were published, plus nearly 3 million for Find a Grave records and millions of new browsable images and indexed records from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Dominican Republic, England, Italy, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Scotland, and the BillionGraves Index. Search these new free records and more at FamilySearch by clicking on the links in the interactive table below."
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Uncanny Resemblances: Father Look-Alikes:

My Heritage
"Although we each receive equal amounts of DNA from each of our parents, half from our mother and half from our father, we can still resemble one parent, over the other. It’s the exact mix of genes that we receive from each and whether they are dominant or recessive traits that determine our appearance, and whether or not we resemble one or both or our parents."
Continue reading...

Tech:

How Long Will Microsoft Support My Version of Windows With Security Updates?

How-to-Geek
"The recent WannaCry ransomware attack demonstrates the importance of automatic security updates. No matter how careful you are, malware could exploit a security hole over the network and gain control of your system—unless you install security patches."
Continue reading...

How to Add Custom Buttons to the MacBook Pro Touch Bar:

How-to-Geek
"Is there a button, or piece of information, you wish you could add to the Touch Bar on your MacBook Pro? You can, and we’ll show you how to do it."
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Education:

Civil War Medical Cards: Using Them to Research Your Union: Ancestors:

Ancestral Findings
"Have you ever heard of the Union medical card collection? It is an invaluable and little known resource for Civil War genealogy research. Here's how to use it."
Continue reading...

VGS Latest News & Tips: 8 November 2016

Today: November 8, 2016
Genealogy Writers SIG Meeting

This meeting has been cancelled due to Election Day!

Tomorrow: November 9, 2016

Irish Genealogy SIG Meeting

10:00 AM in the Osceola Room at the Chula Vista Recreation Center

Double Bubble, Toil And Trouble: Names Of Witches In Scotland, 1658 Collection Launches:

Ancestry
"The Names of Witches in Scotland, 1658 collection, digitised from original records held by the Wellcome Library, holds the names of both women and men who were accused of witchcraft during a period of Scottish history in which persecution of supposed witches was rife."
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What’s New on FamilySearch—October 2016:

FamilySearch
"Each month, FamilySearch publishes a list of new changes and updates to the FamilySearch.org website. This list includes changes to Family Tree as well as other parts of FamilySearch.org. In some cases, these changes will also be published as individual articles where the need to do so exists."
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Beginning Genealogy: How to Get Started the Right Way:

FamilySearch
"If you’ve seen TV shows such as “Who Do You Think You Are,” you might have wondered about this whole genealogy thing and how you find your own ancestors. One way is to get famous and wait for someone to invite you onto that show. A more practical way is to start finding the information yourself."
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No, Actually, We’re Not Related:

Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist
"The Legal Genealogist refused to trade her lederhosen for a kilt just because the AncestryDNA ethnicity estimates might have said so.
And I refuse to add cousins to my family tree — even cousins I might like to be able to add — just because of some app from Ancestry either."
Continue reading...

How to Take and Attach Photos to Messages in iOS 10:

How-to-Geek
"In iOS 10, Apple made a change to how you take and attach photos in iMessage. It’s a small change but it might take you a moment, or five, to figure it out."
Continue reading...

This Day In History: 8 November

1864: President Abraham Lincoln is re-elected in the first wartime election in the United States.
1904: President Theodore Roosevelt is elected president of the United States. He had been vice president until the assassination of President William McKinley.
1960: John F. Kennedy is elected 35th president, defeating Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the closest election, by popular vote, since 1880.
1887 Death: Doc Holliday, who fought on the side of the Earp brothers during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 6 years earlier, dies of tuberculosis in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

State Timelines:

Even though it is hard to tell what made people move or disappear, these are just a few possibilities.
Iowa:
1820: As part of the Missouri Compromise made a non-slave state
1833: Burlington settled
1836: Census reported 10,500 living in the Iowa District

VGS Latest News & Tips: 25 July 2016

Windows 10 Survival Guide for Genealogists:
Legacy Family Tree
Did you miss the webinar on Windows 10 survival?
It's available online for free until July 29, 2016
"The Windows 10 operating system is not so much a choice as it is an inevitability. As Microsoft continues to remove support from Windows 8 and earlier versions, you should get on board the Windows 10 upgrade train now! Learn the new features of Windows 10, how it will impact how you research genealogy, and more. You’ll also learn which default Windows 10 settings to change as well as how to fix common “annoyances” experienced by most users."
Watch webinar...

WARNING!
Fake Urgent Chrome Update making rounds, do not open Chrome-update.bat file:
Techdows
"Many Chrome users reported on twitter, Google product forums and on reddit that while they’re browsing certain sites they’ve suddenly seen a new window opened labelled with Urgent Chrome Update having download now button (definite scam, don’t click on the download button or any ware in that window) and immediately a batch file was downloaded to computer with name Chrome-update, be aware! This can happen to you."
Continue reading...
Eastern European SIG News:
VGS SIG News
The Eastern European SIG has received a confirmation from the Recreation Department that they have been assigned a new room for their meetings. They will now be held on at the Sea Breeze Rec Center in the Daytona Beach Room. This will provide them with the necessary WiFi connection necessary to broadcast webinars etc. at our meetings. They still have the same dates and times: the First Thursday of each month at 1:00 pm to 2:50 PM starting in September.

No Right To Sharing:
Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist
"Reader Ruth is offended when people post things on the internet and don’t make it easy for others to use them:"
Continue reading...

Use Google Books to Get Free Copies of Pages of Family History Library Books:

FamilySearch

"Earlier this year, FamilySearch announced a free lookup service for genealogy books and microfilm available at the renowned Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The response was overwhelming, 1000s of people contacted us to take advantage of this free service. Another way to utilize this service is to start with limited preview Google Books and get us to scan the entire page and email it to you for free.

Continue reading... OR View Map...

New Interactive Map Lets You Discover Scottish Clans:
Border Telegraph
"HAVE you ever asked yourself which clan ruled your area?
Or have you wondered if you descended from them?"
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Fitzgerald Family Reunion Celebrates 50th Anniversary:
Ancestry
"This is a guest post by Patricia (Patty) Fitzgerald Adriance. Fifty consecutive years of the Fitzgerald family reunion! We knew what an incredible achievement this was so we asked Patty to share some lessons learned about hosting the reunions, plus, tips on how she gets the younger generations of her family excited about their family history."
Continue reading...

How to Log Out in Windows 8 and 10:
How-to-Geek
"It may seem rudimentary, but if you’re new to Windows–or just upgrading from Windows 7–the simple option to sign out of your account is a bit hidden in Windows 8 and 10. And even we geeks can be baffled at times, especially when Microsoft decides to hide common features away in new places. You can still sign out of Windows from the Start menu; it’s just not part of the Power options any more."
Continue reading...

This Day In History: 25 July
326:Emperor Constantine refuses to carry out traditional pagan sacrifices.
1587: Hideyoshi bans Christianity in Japan and orders all Christians to leave.
1850: Gold is discovered in the Rogue River in Oregon, extending the quest for gold up the Pacific coast.
1902 Birthday: Eric Hoffer, American longshoreman and philosopher (The True Believer, Before the Sabbath)

State Timelines:
Even though it is hard to tell what made people move or disappear, these are just a few possibilities.
South Carolina
1671: Dutch from New York arrive in Charleston
1675-1750: New England ships winter along the SC coast
1680: French settled in Charleston