June 25, 2005 Issue
Posted November 22, 2005 9:09pm*** G e n S m a r t s N e w s l e t t e r ***
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GenSmarts - Automated Genealogy Research From Underwood Innovations,LLC
Saturday, June 25, 2005 Contents
Upgrade News
Upcoming updates
Online Research Tip
GenSmarts Usage Tip
Technology Tip
PC Trivia
Editors Comments
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Instructions
*** U p g r a d e N e w s ***
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Version 1.0.8 is now available. We started shipping it earlier this month to new customers. For a free update to your paid version, see:
http://www.GenSmarts.com/UpdateTo108.asp
The new training video is also done. For more information and samples, see:
http://www.GenSmarts.com/training.asp
Lots of improvements to the product over the past 12 months:
1) New IGNORE button to mark suggestions you don't care about
2) Faster application of research results
3) Added a "hot key" to make it easy to flip back and forth with your record keeping software. See the TOOLS... menu.
4) Improved display with Windows "large fonts" option
5) More free vital records - Arizona, Ohio, and Oregon
6) Added Newberry library in Chicago
7) Improved explanation text with inline comment on estimating
8) Improved definition of red mouse/green mouse
9) Improved modem internet access
10) Improved suggestion logic dealing with widows
11) Improved land patent suggestion logic
12) Added more free Canadian, England, and Pennsylvania sources
13) Improved reliability of Godfrey library access
14) Added the ability for external programs to "call" GenSmarts to get suggestions - so you can use GenSmarts without ever switching away from your record keeping software. TMG V6 recently became the first vendor to add support for this. Lobby your genealogy software vendor to add this for you!
15) New TOOLS...CUSTOMIZE RECORDS... feature.
16) Support for Ancestry.com's Library Edition.
17) Added support for Brother's Keeper.
18) Updated inventory for Allen County Library in Ft. Wayne
19) Added inventory for Wisconsin State Historical Society library
20) New update check logic/module
*** O n l i n e R e s e a r c h T i p ***
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TIP 1) US Land Patents (www.blm.gov) are temporarily offline due to some chronic security problems. hopefully they'll get it fixed soon.
TIP 2) Use Google's "site:" and "+" search parameters to focus in on specific site when searching your ancestors. For example, a Google search phrase of:
+Fike +site:Rootsweb.com
will search rootsweb content for the surname Fike. For more common surnames, try something like:
+"Abel Fike" +site:Rootsweb.com
which will search for a specific name (Abel Fike) on Rootsweb.
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1) We've been building a database of customer questions and answers. You can look at it in our forum at:
http://www.gensmarts.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=185
It's a bit pithy, but contains over 200 interesting questions and answers.
2) When reviewing items in data cleanup, use TOOLS...GO TO INDIVIDUAL... to swap quickly to that person in your record keeping software. GenSmarts will put the record id or name of the person in the clipboard for you, so you can CTRL-V (paste) it for a quick lookup in your record keeping software. For an example, see the "I found a mistake in my data, how do I change it" training topic at:
http://www.GenSmarts.com/videoFAQ.html
A "hot key" is noted along side this option in the GenSmarts menu. Use that for quick access to this feature.
*** T E C H N O L O G Y T i p s ***
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A pet peeve of mine is technology that requires a bunch of other "pieces" to use on an ongoing basis - complicated instructions, specialized cords, etc. I always loose something. Here's something I've come across recently that the designer got right - the new Garmin portable GPS unit (C320/C330) for your car. It's a real gem. It's the first unit I've seen where you really didn't have to read the manual to figure out how to use it. The voice was loud/clear, and the touch screen interface was very simple and easy to use. On a recent 5 day, 7 state, "stay a different place every night" trip, I never once looked at a map - now that's stress free driving... not to mention saving wear and tear on your marriage! Because it's portable (and small) I can easily take it with me when I fly, and use it in rental cars too.
For those of you that know what a USB interface and an SD Flash card are, I recommend the cheaper unit (C320), because it has no moving parts (the 1GB SD card in mine will hold maps for 90% of the USA). Otherwise the C330 with it's pre-loaded hard drive full of maps would be the way to go. Approximately $589 for the C320 and $769 for the C330 at Amazon.com and the usual places.
No connection or affiliation to GenSmarts on the above - just a product I use and find very helpful.
*** P C T r i v i a ***
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Every wonder what the difference between that 2.4GHZ CPU and that 2.8GHZ CPU really was? Often times, there's no difference. The speed of your CPU isn't typically controlled by the CPU itself, but by voltages and signals applied to it. Processors are individually tested after they're manufactured, and some simply "can't take the heat", so they're only certified for a lower speed. If demand for the lower speed CPU exceeds the supply of "downgraded CPUs", then.... you guessed it, higher speed capable CPUs are substituted.
A hobby has formed around techniques for using processors above their labeled speeds. Google "overclocking" if you're curious...
*** E d i t o r ' s C o m m e n t s ***
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It's been about a year since our last newsletter. A combination of rapid growth and the changing landscape of spam filtering/prevention conspired to make it simply too difficult to publish the newsletter. Or rather, I should say, we didn't want to take the time away from GenSmarts enhancements to put it out. We've hired another company to manage the newsletter process so we can simply create the content and not have to spend time fooling around with the mechanics of newsletter publishing, spam filters, white lists, black lists, etc.
*** S u b s c r i p t i o n I n f o ***
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Tags: TMG Family Tree Maker Ancestry.com
