Photos and comments from Arizona and around the world
Genealogy's Star Until the advent of digital photographs, each print of a photo was in a real sense "an original." The detail and quality of the photo were established at the time the camera clicked and recorded the information. But almost as soon as...
Walking Arizona The South Rim of the Grand Canyon can become a dark and mysterious place when the clouds move in and the fog covers the ground. It is particularly challenging to capture images when the light is fading due to the heavy cloud cover and...
Walking Arizona Green algae is likely descended from some of the earliest life forms on earth. Although not very appealing, it is a vital link in any ecosystem. In this instance, it is also quite beautiful.
Walking Arizona Herons and egrets spend a great deal of time just standing still and waiting for a possible meal to swim into view. If something does swim by, they will quickly bend over and begin hunting. Meanwhile, they are fairly easy to photograph...
Genealogy's Star Using Permalinks is essential to having an ongoing link with a blog post or other type of transient Web page that could end up in an archive and links to the page could disappear. This rotting links also occur when an item is retrieved...
Walking Arizona I used to go kayaking into the swamps and byways of Arizona lakes and rivers, but time and opportunity have mostly passed. Who knows, I might just go again sometime. But that might not happen in this life.
Genealogy's Star There seems to be a large measure of pride in having a very large genealogy file (VLGF), just as if there were a prize for the largest file. I routinely talk to people who claim to have thousands upon thousands of names in their files....
Genealogy's Star The question in the title to this post is not rhetorical. It has an answer. There is a significant movement in parts of the genealogical community emphasizing the acquisition and sharing of photographs. Most of the large online genealogical...
Walking Arizona If you have a fireplace or use wood for fuel, you have a woodpile. When we had no heating other than a fireplace, we had a huge woodpile, Our pile was not as neat or picturesque as this one, it was just a huge pile of scrap lumber from...
Walking Arizona Fog is a wonderful gift of nature. It can be dangerous, but when viewed from relative comfort and security, it is a marvelous thing to watch. If you live in the desert, fog is very unusual. If you live in a foggy place you probably think...
Genealogy's Star There are a bewildering number of software programs. The choices seem endless. Added to the tens of thousands, if not millions, of programs you can buy or download free for your own computer, there are millions more that run on the Internet....
Genealogy's Star This is a new family history video series from FamilySearch.org.
news.cnet.com Artist Mike Doyle has created an absolutely jaw-dropping extraterrestrial Lego city called K'al Yne. Read this article by Michelle Starr on CNET.
Genealogy's Star This is a short video about digitizing your family photos. There are certainly a lot of issues when you begin to learn about the options for archiving photos, but this video is aimed at getting started. Later videos will address other...
Genealogy's Star Some of the saddest incidents and tragedies of life such as accidents, natural disasters, criminal acts, divorces, estate battles and a multitude of other bad news can be excellently good news for a genealogical researcher. This might...
Family History Expos The time is quickly passing and the Northern California Family History Expo is right around the corner. This is an important opportunity for all of those in the Northern California area to gather together to sharpen their genealogical...
Walking Arizona You can see two stages of this saguaro's fruit; the flower and the ripening fruit with the withered flowers still attached. If a few weeks, this fruit will ripen and split open. Bats, birds and other animals will help spread the thousands...
Genealogy's Star The recent news stories are full of accounts and opinions about the surveillance of U.S. cell phone records. One such story in the Deseret News is entitled "Addressing the illusion of digital privacy." I would extend this concept to all...
Walking Arizona This huge saguaro is not nearly the largest one in Arizona, but it is a really good example of how big and high these marvelous desert plants can grow. If you look closely, you will also see some ocotillo blooming and the last blooms...
Walking Arizona Most cactus flowers are prominently displayed by the plant, but barrel cactus (also called fishhook cactus) are an exception. Their flowers barely have room to bloom among the spines of the cactus. Not very good planning, I guess.
Walking Arizona Yes, I do see rattlesnakes from time to time. Over the years, I have seen hundreds of them. But this sign was not so much meant to warn of the danger of rattlesnakes, but to keep people on the paved trail. I think the drop-offs of the...
Walking Arizona These yucca flowers are too gorgeous to ignore. I took several pictures of different plants but had to choose the one I thought was the best. I like the lacy-looking blooms on this plant.
Walking Arizona When you look at things in general, such as a crowd of people, you can make different judgments about the individuals than when you look at them as individuals. Each of these flowers is unique and special, but we often view them in clusters...
Genealogy's Star Google+ Hangouts seem to be a really good idea. Is the concept as good as the execution? This last week was my turn to find out. I spent about an hour with Family History Expos working out the mechanics of setting up a Hangout and getting...
Walking Arizona The cholla is the most fiercely protected cactus and apparently puts so much energy into spines that it has little left over for flowers. Cholla flowers are small and sometimes overlooked because the rest of the plant is so formidab...
