Louis Kessler’s Behold Blog     The Behold User Forum

Louis, I read on Reddit that the tree is shown only for people you have connections to—is that your experience? I'm in the beta program but don't see the family tree anywhere (I believe it's supposed to be under DNA Relatives, right?).

In a comment on my GenealogyTools blog, Jack Minsky, president of Software MacKiev, said, "FamilySync is very much a part of FTM 2019 and will continue to provide syncing with your Ancestry trees." So that's good news, and even better is that TreeVault is a new feature, although it will require a subscription.

I agree that the ability to sync with multiple services is crucial. I was a beta tester for AncestorSync and was very disappointed when it failed. Regarding FTM 2019, there was no mention in Software MacKiev's announcement whether the FamilySync feature would continue, or if the new TreeVault feature is ...

Louis, good luck with that! But we should certainly look to movies for ideas about the possible scenarios and potential solutions. I fear we're already behind the eight-ball, though. According to this article, programmers don't even understand why AIs make the decisions they do: ...

I'm sure you know what Stephen Hawking has said about AI, but it bears repeating: “Computers can, in theory, emulate human intelligence, and exceed it. Success in creating effective AI, could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. We just don't know. So we cannot know if we ...

Louis, double congratulations on your birthday & retirement! Wishing you all the best

Thanks, Louis. I'm still learning about genetic genealogy, but I'll have a look at DMT.

That would be awesome if Behold could do complete GEDCOM validation, now that Tim Forsythe has discontinued VGedX. And it will be especially convenient to have it packaged with a GEDCOM reader/writer/reporter.

Louis, as I said, there are two sides to the debate, but I didn't say I favored one side over the other. I even specifically said "I like the idea of an open database that I can manipulate myself..." Your point that encrypted databases like FTM's can still be opened by anyone with the app is a good one and ...

Louis, you make a good case for making the databases open. However, clearly the issue is debatable, since there are apps in two camps, one that is open and one that is encrypted. I don't think the argument for encryption is any less compelling than the argument for openness. As a genealogist who loves to play ...