Photos and comments from Arizona and around the world
I got so busy at RootsTech 2013 that I didn't conduct as many interviews as usual. Most of my interviews were "informal" but this one was important. This interview gives a very good idea of the new developments at MyHeritage.com I talked about in the...
Perspective in the Colorado Plateau Country is really strange. It looks like I am standing a few feet above the river, not more than 467 feet above the river. I noticed how the steel girders of the newer Navajo Bridge are like a window and I am always...
At very few times in your life do you get to witness something that will literally change the world. This is one of those occasions. On April 18-19, 2013, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) will celebrate the groundbreaking work of hundreds...
I have found that there are many of the people I talk to who trace their ancestry to Eastern Europe and uniformly, there is a lack of English language resources for researching Eastern European ancestors. Additionally, few of the records have made their...
It may not seem to be an opportune time to visit the sites in Arizona, but if you don't mind a little wind and cold, Winter is a lovely time to have the entire place to yourself. Avoiding the summer rush of tourists has its rewards and finding this tranquil...
I frequently encounter both institutional and individual claims to a "copyright" for an old photograph or document, frequently a diary or journal. I mentioned this problem in a recent post with the opinion that imposing a copyright on such old documents...
As an issue, civil rights' disputes don't usually intrude themselves into genealogical discussions and to be quite frank, dead people don't have many rights, civil or otherwise, But since our society is so pervaded with the idea that people have a variety...
Did you know that the Family History Expos Catalog is expanding to include an extensive collection of U.S. Civil War source reference CDs? These and many other items are located under the Shop tab from the Family History Expos startup page. Take a moment...
During RootsTech 2013 I attended a panel discussion centered on the Family History Information Standards Organisation (FHISO). It appears that the goals of the organization overlap, to some extent, with those of BetterGEDCOM. It is strange, but the topic...
What part of a genealogist's work is subject to copyright law? What effect does posting an otherwise covered work on Facebook, Google+ or in a blog have on those otherwise valid copyright claims? Why would a genealogist care about copyright anyway? Rather...
In response to my post about "Can you copyright an old photograph or journal?" I received the following comment from Rob: As a lawyer you have made a fundamental mistake in this blog piece that really needs rectifying. As the US like the UK signed the...
I got the following comment from Anonymous recently and decided to elaborate with a response: So, I've had no luck uploading pictures to FamilySearch on my Apple computer. It looks like the website has changed a few things in the last week, but the program...
Genealogy's Star You would think that genealogy would be about the least controversial topic in the universe. But, as usual, where there are people with opinions, there is controversy. In my advanced age, I get the opportunity to review comments from...
Walking Arizona We waited for a while for this tortoise to decided to come out of his shell, but he evidently had more patience than we did, because we left before he decided to come out of his shell and go on his way.
Genealogy's Star There is an apparent proliferation of genealogy conferences. For example, if you live on the Wasatch Front in Utah (Salt Lake City, Provo, Bountiful etc.) you could attend a genealogy "conference" almost any weekend. About.com Genealogy...
Genealogy's Star The Overson Collection of Photographs gives a rare glimpse into the real old west of the United States. Since the photos date back to the 1850s and 1860s, there are views that show how the people really lived on the frontier. Here are...
Genealogy's Star From time to time, in talking about missing ancestors, I hear the comment that "of course, I can't find any records because the courthouse burned down." For the most part, I view this as an excuse to give up, not a real obstacle to finding...
Walking Arizona Herons often appear to be statues. They hold still for so long you think they must have gone to sleep, but they are merely waiting for a meal to swim into view and can move quickly when they see something interesting. This one was strolling...
Genealogy's Star I noticed that my blog has been posted on one of these website scraping sites. This is the kind of site that has no original content, but just repeats or scrapes content others have written and does it to get some small amount of ad income...
Walking Arizona This little bird was determined to drive us out of his territory with a puff up of feathers and loud squawking. There is nothing wrong with this bird that a leaving the area wouldn't cure.
Genealogy's Star This is another in the series of mystery photos from the Overson Photographic Collection. After processing over 5,5000 photos, I have determined that Margaret Godfrey Jarvis Overson was the primary photographer, but that photos were also...
Walking Arizona These beautiful backlit yucca blooms were mixed in with a thick area of other vegetation. Usually, they are sitting out on a hillside, prominently displayed. This is one of those photos where you need to click on the photo to see the...
Walking Arizona Sacred Datura is the politically correct name for this plant. It is commonly called Jimson weed (which we call jipsom weed) and Loco weed. It is highly toxic and a few people and a few cows die now and again from ingesting too much of...
Walking Arizona The mountains in central Arizona abound with needles and other similar rock formations that come from solidified lava in volcanic tubes that have subsequently become eroded leaving only the standing rock. They are common enough to be...
Genealogy's Star In one of my last posts, I explored the reasons why I believe that "scraping" in the form I found it, may not be a violation of the copyright law. There are still other considerations that apply to this "scraping" type activity. The key...
