My 2014 New Year Resolutions - Tue, 31 Dec 2013
I. Finish Behold Version 1.1 2. Finish Behold Version 1.2 3. Finish Behold Version 1.5
Louis Kessler’s Behold Blog
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Archive for 2013
How many sources/citations is too many? - Sat, 28 Dec 2013
This was an excellent question asked at Genealogy & Family History StackExchange yesterday. I answered stating that each source should be included just once with each person it pertains to at the person level, or if it is specific to a certain event (birth, marriage, death, residence, occupation, etc.) then ...
Computer Chess - Wed, 11 Dec 2013
Today, I enjoyed some personal nostalgia as I went to see the Indie movie: Computer Chess. This was filmed in Austin Texas and released this past summer. It came to Winnipeg this week for a 4 show installment. I went to the fourth show, attended by 16 people in a theatre that holds about 100. The movie is ...
Sessions at RootsTech 2014 - Thu, 5 Dec 2013
#RootsTech - I always like to review the speakers and sessions well in advance prior to going to a Conference. As I noted in my last post, RootsTech is really making it hard by offering too many speakers and not enough time slots. Decisions will be tough, but lets see what’s of interest. Mine will be a ...
RootsTech 2014 Website Updated and App Available - Sun, 1 Dec 2013
RootsTech 2014 #RootsTech is getting closer, running from Thursday February 5 to Saturday February 8. There’s an extra day on Wednesday February 4 that has been renamed from Developer Day to Innovator Summit. That’s a nice wording change. To be an “innovator” sounds much more impressive than being just ...
What Should Genealogy Software Do – Really! - Thu, 28 Nov 2013
I read with interest, James Tanner’s blog post he wrote earlier today with the title: What should genealogy software do?. James refers back to Mark Tucker’s 2008 article entitled “10 Things Genealogy Software Should Do”. There’s also Michael Hait’s 2012 post titled “My vision of the perfect ...
What’s Left for 1.1 - Mon, 21 Oct 2013
Well, I got a few things out of the way and my slate has now been cleared until RootsTech in February. So now I can concentrate again on getting Version 1.1 of Behold out before the end of the year. These are major changes that I’m making for 1.1. I think they are necessary and innovative, but it’s a ...
Random Tidbits - Thu, 17 Oct 2013
Haven’t had a blog post in over a month. Better post one. Missed Behold target release dates (again). Better update them. I guess I’ve been very busy with Life, the Universe and Everything. My 8 page Software Reviews article has been published in the Family Tree Tracker magazine. I’m speaking on Saturday ...
Features Creep, Part 2 - Sun, 8 Sep 2013
I’m pleased I was able with my last post to goad James Tanner into responding: Respond? Who Me? Of Course. I do respect his writings. He writes how he thinks and always makes great points and does not demand that everybody agree with him. I thought he did a fabulous job as a last-minute fill-in keynote ...
Features Creep is NOT the Problem - Sat, 7 Sep 2013
James Tanner, in his blog post Genealogy Programs and Features Creep discusses a problem with computer programs, operating systems, smartphones, cars, and for that matter, every commercial product in our society. He gives many examples of the problem and each time incorrectly identifies the problem as ...
The Bloggers’ Geneameme - Wed, 28 Aug 2013
Jill Ball proposed another meme for genealogy bloggers for them to share the how and why they do their genealogy blogging. I enjoy a good meme. They are fun to do and interesting. I’ve done a couple of genealogy memes before: What I Do – in July 2010 proposed by Thomas MacEntee, and My Tech-Savvy ...
Countdown 15 minutes to Organization - Mon, 26 Aug 2013
It happens to me every so often. The papers and things to do and things to file start piling up on my desk. I attempt every so often to organize them and they end up on the floor in piles. The piles get kicked over or thrown into the closet to be put away later. My binders of reference material need be be ...
Family Tree Tracker Magazine Coming - Fri, 16 Aug 2013
In October, an Australian publishing company, Citrus Media, will be publishing Australia’s first ever glossy genealogy guide. This will be a 100 page magazine aimed at beginners and Australians, as a resource to help them begin their ancestry journey with advice on software, research resources, real life ...
A Recipe for GEDCOM - Sat, 3 Aug 2013
You can hear rumblings from the GEDCOM volcano of genealogy bloggers. On August 1, James Tanner wrote Sharing Data Files or What Happened to GEDCOM? He says most genealogists are not aware there is a file compatibility issue until they are personally faced with the problem. Dear Myrtle wrote Genealogy data ...
Inventing Source-based Data Entry - Mon, 29 Jul 2013
I’ve talked in the past about how I plan when I add editing, to make Behold one of the first genealogy programs to allow you to enter your sources directly, without the need to hook them up to the events that are attached to people. You’ll be able to add your conclusions from these sources at a later time. ...
Let’s See What’s Going On Around Here - Fri, 19 Jul 2013
A few weeks go by with no blog post, so it’s time to update. Haven’t worked on Behold in the past few weeks. The main reason is that I was writing an 8 page “Genealogy Software Reviews” article for the Australian publisher Citrus Media who in August will be publishing Family Tree Magazine, a 100 page ...
3 Proposed Presentations for RootsTech 2014 - Sat, 22 Jun 2013
The RootsTech 2014 Call for Presentations is now accepting presentation proposals until July 8. From those proposals, speakers will be selected to present at RootsTech 2014 from February 6-8 in Salt Lake City. I really enjoyed RootsTech 2012 when I went. They did not accept me as a speaker for that, but I was ...
Source Based Document Organization - Sun, 9 Jun 2013
You may have noted my thinking that source-based data entry is the best way to enter your genealogy data … even though there are few if any programs that currently support doing it that way. What I have also believed and may have posted elsewhere, but have never blogged about until now, is that you should ...
Nine Necessities in a GEDCOM Replacement - Wed, 5 Jun 2013
Note: This article has been submitted to FHISO’s Call For Papers as CFPS 78. Contents Abstract Introduction 1 Separation of Sources from Conclusions 2 Citations and Formatting should NOT be part of the Standard 3 Places must be a Top Level Record 4 Treat Events and Facts the same 5 The Data Model ...
Behold Version 1.0.5.1 - Sun, 26 May 2013
I made a few small fixes to version 1.0.5 that I released a few days ago. Most of you won’t notice anything different. Note that if you already installed version 1.0.5 and use “Check Online for New Version” on the File Menu, it will not find version 1.0.5.1. That is unfortunately a remnant from the beta ...
Ancestral Loops - Fri, 24 May 2013
In the most recent version 1.0.5 of Behold released yesterday, I’ve fixed and improved Behold’s ancestral loop checking. This was prompted by a question on the Genealogy SE Q&A site by Enno Borgsteede who asked How can I find loops in GEDCOM files? This sort of a problem is really appealing to me. Prior ...
Behold Version 1.0.5 - Thu, 23 May 2013
Enno Borgsteede asked a question on Genealogy SE not too long ago on How to Find loops in a GEDCOM file. There were very few programs identified as being able to detect loops in a GEDCOM file, with Behold being one of them. An ancestral loop is where a person is their own ancestor. This can happen if you by ...
Who’s Alive? - At Birth, Marriage, Death - Sat, 6 Apr 2013
As I was adding Life Events to Behold, some of the “events” included the names of parents and older siblings who were alive when the person was born. I was trying to force them into the Life Event structure I had created, but they weren’t really an event in the person’s life. I determined then, that ...
Behold Version 1.0.4.3 - Mon, 1 Apr 2013
Well I snuck a new version in, and no, it’s not an April fools joke. It includes one small fix for a particular type of date that rarely occurs but two people have now encountered it. It’s bad because it causes Behold to be unable to read the GEDCOM file and gives an Access Violation and crashes. The type ...
Multiple Events and Unions in GEDCOM - Sun, 24 Mar 2013
I have to make a decision on how to implement some aspects of the Life Events that are going into Behold. I’ve run upon a couple of places where GEDCOM isn’t clear. I thought I’d document them here for the benefit of other developers and for future consideration in any future standard. The lines in GEDCOM ...
Thoughts on RootsTech 2013 - Fri, 22 Mar 2013
Although I’m not at #RootsTech this year, I’ve been very interested in seeing what has been happening there since last year. Last year when I was there, I blogged every day on the goings on. For those who can’t be there, the live streaming that takes place from Room 1, the big room where the Keynotes ...
Technology Should Help You and Not Make You Miserable - Sat, 9 Mar 2013
One of my talks on the Unlock Your Past genealogy cruise was on choosing Genealogy Software. A point I made was that genealogy software should help you, and not be a burden on you. If you are not particularly good at computers, or even if you are and the particular program you are using is just frustrating you ...
Source Driven Genealogy - Sun, 24 Feb 2013
Theresa (Serenity2006) contributed a detailed and notable post on the Behold User Forum. It prompted my thinking and is some new thinking that I’ve not encountered before. I encourage you to read it now. Theresa is doing a one-place study. She needs software that can do source-based data entry. She needs ...
Home Again - Sun, 24 Feb 2013
After 3 wonderful weeks down south of the equator for the first time, across the international date line for the first time, and enjoying summer and days longer than 12 hours in February for the first time, after a total of 18 gruelling hours in the air, I’m back home again. Despite returning to snow on the ...
Unlock the Past, Day 8 - Wed, 20 Feb 2013
The last day of our onboard genealogy conference. I woke up early, and went to the top deck of the ship and did what I call the Voyager of the Seas marathon. I went through all the decks and all the public spaces, both inside and outside, starting with decks 13, 14 and 15 and working my way down to deck 1. It ...
Unlock the Past Cruise, Day 7 - Sun, 17 Feb 2013
At 9 am, Paul Milner’s talk was about “Occupation and Guild Records”. Paul always talked to a room-full of interested listeners. At 10 am, we all (145 of us) assembled on the majestic staircase of our ship’s main dining room for a group picture. Below is a picture of the proof, since I don’t ...
Unlock the Past Cruise, Day 6 - Sat, 16 Feb 2013
On Day 6, I caught Shauna Hicks' presentation: “Warning, Warning: Tips & Tricks to Avoid Family History Mistakes”. At 11 am, I gained further knowledge about writing an interesting family history with Carol Baxter’s talk on “Writing Narrative Non-Fiction”. My wife and I shared a nice lunch ...
Unlock the Past Cruise, Day 5 - Fri, 15 Feb 2013
Back at sea, sadly heading back for Sydney, meaning the cruise is half over. I have no talks to give today. My remaining 5 talks will be two tomorrow, two Sunday, and the last one on Monday. So today I had a chance to listen and learn. As usual, I wasn’t there early enough for the 9 am session. But I caught ...
Unlock the Past Cruise, Days 2, 3 and 4 - Thu, 14 Feb 2013
Day 2, Thu Feb 12 had a full day of sessions. Shauna Hicks started off the day talking about “Trove and other National Library of Australia Treasures”. Helen Smith was always busy helping with the conference at the back of the room. Jill Ball and Anthea Phillips Natalya Mills, from Clean Cruising, ...
Unlock the Past Cruise, Day 1 - Mon, 11 Feb 2013
My schedule for speaking is perfect. I’m always on in the afternoon sessions, 1 p.m. to 4 pm. So technically, all my mornings and evenings are free. But I am going to attend other sessions of interest to me and also make an attempt to talk to as many genealogy people as possible. My endeavor to get ...
Unlock the Past Cruise, Day 0 - Sun, 10 Feb 2013
Today we set sail. Wow! Prior to supper, we met up with Helen Smith (a genea-blogger) and Alona Tester (also a blogger, and an Unlock the Past employee who is not so secretly the daughter of Alan Phillips). It’s easy to identify each other by the green Clean Cruising lanyard we wear around our necks, which ...
Unlock the Past Cruise, Day -1 - Sat, 9 Feb 2013
We’ve had a great 4 days in Sydney, enjoying summer when it should be winter, enjoying walking around in t-shirts and shorts when it should be parkas and mitts, enjoying sunshine for 14 hours when it should only be daytime for 9, seeing all the mandatory sights of the city, and shopping, shopping, shopping. ...
One Week to the Unlock The Past Cruise - Sat, 2 Feb 2013
My wife and I are leaving tomorrow for Sydney Australia. We’ll arrive on Tuesday and we’ll be staying at the Swissotel until the cruise starts on Feb 10, and we’ll be there again for a few days after the cruise ends on Feb 19. If there are any Behold users that can make it to downtown Sydney while we’re ...
Two Weeks to the Unlock The Past Cruise - Sat, 26 Jan 2013
I’m all ready and looking forward to the Unlock the Past History & Genealogy cruise. My seven presentations are all prepared and should be interesting for those who attend my sessions. The final count is 145 people booked for the genealogy program. But it will still feel like a RootsTech type of event ...
Can Genealogy Software Be Rated Fairly? - Sun, 6 Jan 2013
As you know, I run the GenSoftReviews site that lists all genealogy software available and allows people to review and rate the programs. The ratings are from 1 to 5 stars. 1 is worst. 5 is best. They are subjective ratings, up to the user. For the past 4 years, at the end of the year, I have listed all ...
2013 is Upon Us - Tue, 1 Jan 2013
So let’s see what’s happening: +1 Behold just received an Honourable Mention in the Best New Genealogy Product category of Tamura Jones’ GeneAwards 2012. +1 Just compiled the 19 programs receiving the GenSoftReviews Top Rated Genealogy Software awards for 2012. -1 My Dad’s 88 and not doing so well in ...
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