Alan E.
Mann, AG
alan.familyhistory@gmail.com
Accredited
Genealogist
BYU 2007 Annual Family History & Genealogy
conference www.alanmann.com/articles
Tuesday, 31 July
2007 2:45 – 3:45
pm
New and Emerging Technologies
Which May Impact Family History
This
session looks at some new things on the Internet. There are so many new web
sites we can’t possible begin to look at even 1% of what’s new. Rather, I would
like to show you several new data sites, demonstrate some new technologies or
concepts, examine some new services, and give you a few hints on how to
keep find more of the same on your own.
New
Technology or Concepts
Surface
computing
An exciting new technology in Microsoft Surface. The initial introduction only
scratches the surface of its potential. The basic idea is that a common surface (initially a table top) become both the
display and the input device for a computer, and that the user can use any
physical object, from a pencil to a paint brush to a finger, to communicate
with the computer. It can accept multiple simultaneous inputs, as well. You lay
a wireless device such as a laptop, telephone, PDA, iPod,
MP3 player, etc. on the surface and it can interact with the device without any
connectors or special software. Thus, lay your digital camera on the tabletop,
and the computer grabs the photos off the memory card in the camera and
displays them on the table top. Want to share a photo? a
favorite sound track? A genealogy database? Just lay
the device that has it on the table top and it transfers it. Want to share the
file with someone else, lay their device on the table top and drag the file
from the table top to the device. Some of the potential can be seen once you
consider the surface doesn’t have to be a table top. It could be a wall, or a
sidewalk, or a street lamp. For more information, see:
Intro to MicroSoft Surface - www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html
and
Examples - http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/317737_msftdevice30.html
Social
Networking
What if we
now combine this with the current phenomenon of social networking—people adding
their opinions or contributions to a web site. Popular Mechanics has a demo of
how Microsoft Surface can be applied to allow a game of chess. One player is in
The possibilities don’t end here. Add GPS
and wireless devices, and our whole way of life could change. For example, see www.earthcomber.com. Right now,
it works with a cell phone. Earthcomber locates you
(your phone does not have to have GPS—it uses GPS in the cell phone towers), then
offers you local services similar to what you would have on the web. Right now,
digital cameras with GPS also mark you photos with where they were
taken—embedded in the saved digital photo itself. Thus, you could have a photo
your relative took of or at some location, then have a web-based service tell
you through your cell phone which way to walk to get to the spot where that
photo was taken.
What if we stored our genealogy on our PDA
or smart phone? Then, these devices could communicate with other devices nearby
wirelessly. They could compare genealogies without sharing actual private data.
Genealogical application would include:
Mark a spot with
your cell phone, and tag it. You and anyone else can then return to that spot
and know where it is (useful for headstones, where pictures were taken, family
historical locations, etc.)
Walking down the
street and your PDA/smart phone beeps. The screen displays a message—that lady
approaching you is your second cousin three times removed on the Kuykendall side…
Sitting the in the
Ubiquitous
Video
Recently,
lawmakers have been discussing a plan to have video cameras at every
intersection. This is being considered despite the incredible cost as a
possible way to reduce crime and aid in the capture of felons. Whether or not
this scheme succeeds, video available everywhere is probably in our future.
Perhaps through video drones or millions of fixed location cameras, but it will
happen. This may open new opportunities for genealogists. What if we could
connect to a video camera at the cemetery (placed there to catch vandals?) and
view what it says on our ancestors
New
Services
You Tube is
a phenomenon. It is video or even television on the web. Innovators are seeking
to apply the immense success of YouTube to genealogy.
YouTube is getting some genealogy postings, or try
Roots Television (rootstelevision.com). Social networking is getting involved
again. You can see others’ suggestions and recommendations as you view a
particular video. Why not apply this to supporting documentation? Have a video
explaining reasoning which also shows the evidence (documents, etc.). Then
genealogy enthusiasts add their recommendation or objection to the reasoning
and presentation of evidence.
See these
examples of videos uploaded:
Family Photo Collage - www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYxDp4-G1qM.
Julie
Andrews/Gene Kelly song - www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cnHQKqhF4&NR=1
I am my own
grandpa - www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfNpk2Bt0OM
Library VLog - www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiedZAXWrdk
RootsTube
– one of many channels on www.rootstelevision.com.
Widgets are
small things that perform some function over the web. There are tens of
thousands of widgets. NetVibes uses widgets to allow
you to customize your own homepage (www.netvibes.com),
and has now made possible shareable, customized, configured home pages. Thus,
one can create a home page for family history, or one specifically for family
history research for a certain country, and then share it. All of the
additions, links, and services can then be seen and used by others. NetVibes calls it the NetVibes
Universe. When a widget is added to a web browser, it is called an extension.
Many are designed for FireFox web browser, and
Microsoft has entered the game by allowing extensions in new Internet Explorer
7. One widget is for translation and dictionary lookups. It is
called Babylon6. Check it out at www.babylon.com.
It allow you to CTRL-rightclick
on a word and get a definition and translation into 85 languages. You can even
add it to your web page for others to use. It is free for private, non-profit
use, but also has a paid version.
Wikis are
a not-so-new concept that is becoming more common place. One of particular
interest is the Open University. They have courses designed for online
learning. I’ve seen course modules on life stories, war memorials, and family
pictures. I believe
I’ve often
mentioned automatic backup services, and I’ve tried to use several. One of my
long time favorites, Mozy, has introduced unlimited
size backup service for a fee of only $4.95/mo. Alternatively,
you get a free 2 gb (+256 mb
if you use this link - https://mozy.com/?ref=6H24GG).
How to
Find More on Your Own
There are thousands
more such sites on the internet. It would be impossible to list them all here.
Even if I could list them all, there would be more that weren’t listed by
tomorrow! So how can you find more? There’s a lot you can do to be aware of
developing technology. I would suggest:
Read online newsletters, chiefly
Dick Eastman’s newsletter (www.eogen.com).
See www.cyndislist.com/magazine.htm#E-zines
for a list of many others.
See www.webware.com/8300-1_109-2-0.html
for cool web sites & services
Participate in or read technology Blogs (www.mashables.com, www.ldscio.org, www.netvibes.com/techcrunch,
http://beta.tech.lds.org, http://labs.familysearch.org, http://eatslikeahuman.blogspot.com
or others.
Subscribe to blogs, podcasts, and searches via RSS (see www.rssgenealogy.com, or The Bluster about Blogging)
Review Wikis (www.eogen.com) and similar items.
Attend conferences
& institutes like this one. Check both speakers and vendors.
Participate in
societies with technology topics or publications (such as Blue Chips, www.ucs.org/index.php and Utah Valley
PAF, www.uvpafug.org).
Read industry
publications such as Genealogical Computing, PAFology (www.uvpafug.org), and Internet Genealogy (www.internet-genealogy.com) , and
society publications--most include technology articles in current issues.
Use search tools
and directories, such as
Linkpendium (www.linkpendium.com)
Search Systems (www.searchsystems.net)
Genealogy Sleuth (www.progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthb.htm)
State Archive site
list (www.sos.state.ga.us/archives/what_do_we_have/other
_state_archives/default.htm).
Cyndi’s List (www.cyndislist.com/primary.htm#Online)
Genealogy Links (www.genealogylinks.net)
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©Copyright
2006-7 by Alan E. Mann. All rights reserved. Written permission to reproduce
all or part of this syllabus material in any format, including photocopying,
data retrieval, or the Internet, must be secured in advance from the copyright
holder.