Learned This Week - 16 May 2009
Our weekly compilation of interesting new tools, resources and short news stories for genealogy:
Family Members Can Now be Added to Facebook - Facebook now has a special section that allows users to do a basic 'family tree' by adding parents, siblings and children. [Link]
New Genetic Map of Mexico - A new genetic study of Mexico shows a great deal of genetic biodiversity across the nation. The genetic study may shed light on the issue of why the swine flu was so deadly in Mexico. [Link]
World's Oldest Person Dies Because of Kindness of Government - A woman in Kazakhstan thought to be 130 years old died this week after slipping on the bathroom floor of the brand new apartment given to her by the government. [Link]
Google as Big Brother - A very interesting article in ComputerWorld about how much Google knows about you if you use one of their many products. [Link]. Incidentally, our website's Privacy Statement contains a link to a Google page that alows you to block Google from collecting information about you. Google is required by law to provide this page but they don't make it easy to find on your own. [Link]
Google Launching New Search Options - Google is in the process of rolling out new search options for their Google.com page. We have not had a chance to test these features yet, but they do look promising for genealogy (you might have to wait a couple of weeks before these features become available). [Link]
US Library of Congress American Memory Site - This site run by the Library of Congress has interesting collections for genealogists on various American memories. [Link] Check out what was in Abraham Lincoln's pockets the night he died. [Link]