Genealogy This Week - 29 August 2009
Our weekly compilation of interesting new tools, resources and stories for genealogists:
Finding Gravesites of US Veterans - The United States Department of Veteran Affairs runs a very useful search website for anyone trying to track down a US war veteran. [Link]
Early Advertisements - The University of Washington has put online a fascinating collection of 450 print advertisements from 1867 to 1918. Check out the ad for the Aerocar. [Link]
Apple Launches a New Operating System - This week Apple launched Snow Leopard their latest operating system. Described as an evolution rather than a revolution, you can read about it in what we think are the two best articles on the topic. The first article from the Wall Street Journal gives an excellent overview for anyone thinking of upgrading their Mac operating system. The second article from the New York Times talks about some of the early hiccups in Snow Leopard. [Link to WSJ article] [Link to NYT article]
Do Iphones Explode? - Since we are talking about Apple, we have seen several headlines recently about IPhones cracking and possibly even exploding. Apple has done a good job about keeping the lid on this one but now the story has been picked up by the BBC. [Link]
Volunteers Needed to Translate Swedish Church Records - Here is an interesting new genealogy records project in search of volunteers. How is your Swedish? [Link]
How Newspapers Write Obituaries of Famous People - Have you ever wondered how a newspaper can write long obituary articles about a famous person within hours of that person dying? Take Michael Jackson, the famous pop singer. Withing a couple of hours of his death the accolades started to pour in. It turns out that most newspapers prewrite obituaries of famous people who are old, sick or "at risk" of dying. Slate Magazine has a fascinating article on how the process works. [Link]
Remember the Alamo? A New Battle is Brewing - The Alamo is an iconic Texas legend. What is left of the original Alamo fort is run by a group of volunteers called the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. It turns out that this nearly 7,000 strong group of women are having their own feud and one that threatens to tear the Alamo historic site apart. The group is feuding over money and the future direction of the Alamo site. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common problem in genealogical societies although it is unfortunate that it should occur in such a high profile group. [Link]
