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A relatively new Internet phenomena made up of questions determining an individual’s behaviour seems to have been coined with the term “meme” (rhymes with dream). The genealogy topic memes are both interesting and fun to fill out. For bloggers, they give an opportunity to tell people about themselves. I’ve done one meme before called What I Do about what we, as genealogists, use technology-wise.
A new meme was proposed by Geniaus to inquire about our technological savvy, It had 50 items. John Newmark expanded the list to 80. John’s additions are preceeded with an asterisk *. The instructions are:
The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
Feel free to add extra comments in brackets after each item
So, here’s my answers, representing a typical(!?) programmer-genealogist type:
1. Own an Android or Windows tablet or an iPad [Don’t yet have the time to spend on these things]
2. Use a tablet or iPad for genealogy related purposes [Time gentleman please]
*3. Use a Kindle, Nook, or other e-reader for genealogy related purposes [I still like computer and hardcopy better]
4. Have used Skype or Google Video Chat to for genealogy purposes [only minimally so far]
5. Have used a camera to capture images in a library/archives/ancestor’s home [all the time]
6. Use a genealogy software program on your computer to manage your family tree [Actually, I don’t right now. Awaiting Behold for my editing. Last used Generations and before that Reunion]
*7. Use multiple genealogy software programs because they each have different functionalities. [I’ve got about 20 genealogy programs on my computer right now that I often use for testing purposes – but not for my own genealogy].
8. Have a Twitter account [user louiskessler]
9. Tweet daily [not every day, but I do average more than 1 tweet a day]
10. Have a genealogy blog [This one!]
11. Have more than one genealogy blog [Just this one]
12. Have lectured/presented to a genealogy group on a technology topic [A number of times]
13. Currently an active member of Genealogy Wise [I was there when it first started, but it fizzled out after a while and was rebranded by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I haven’t checked it out in a long while (my last activity was over 2 years ago) but it seems to be there, and I still have an account and profile page. Technically, I’m not active, but I’m claiming this anyway.]
14. Have a Facebook Account [Never did get one. My wife and kids have accounts and connect to our friends and relatives. It would suck up my time. Google plus is bad enough]
15. Have connected with genealogists via Facebook. [Using Google plus instead]
16. Maintain a genealogy related Facebook Page
17. Maintain a blog or website for a genealogy society [I’ve maintained the JHCWC site for many years]
18. Have submitted text corrections online to Ancestry, Trove or a similar site
*19. Have added content to a Person Page on Fold3 (formerly Footnote)
20. Have registered a domain name [beholdgenealogy.com, behold.ca, behold.usa, behold.asia, lkessler.com, jhcwc.org, jhcwc.mb.ca]
21. Post regularly to Google+ [Would say I post infrequently now, but I go there every day]
*22. Have participated in a genealogy-related Google+ hangout [just experimented, but not really].
23. Have a blog listed on Geneabloggers [This one]
*24. Have a blog listed on Cyndi’s List [The info about Behold is quite old on Cyndi’s List and she hasn’t listed this blog yet.]
25. Have transcribed/indexed records for FamilySearch or a similar project [I’ve done cemetery indexing for my local society]
*26. Have converted a family audiotape to digital [To Do]
*27. Have converted a family videotape to digital [Lots of these To Do]
*28. Have converted family movies pre-dating videotape to digital. [I’ve started this, but not finished]
29. Own a Flip-Pal or hand-held scanner.[I use my digital camera]
30. Can code a webpage in .html [Do it all the time]
*31. Can code a webpage in .html using Notepad (or any other text-only software) [That’s how I started]
*32. Can write scripts for your webpage in at least one programming language [Started with asp. Now use php.]
*33. Can write scripts for your webpage in multiple programming languages [Also javascript]
34. Own a smartphone [Another thing I have no time for. A simple mobile phone does fine for now]
35. Have a personal subscription to one or more paid genealogy databases [Once I get time to do research again].
*36. Have a local library card that offers you home access to online databases, and you use that access. [Winnipeg Public Library]
37. Use a digital voice recorder to record genealogy lectures [If I need to record something, I’ll take a video with my camera, which I carry everywhere]
38. Have contributed to a genealogy blog carnival [Never even heard of them until now]
*39. Have hosted a genealogy blog carnival [see previous answer]
40. Use an Internet Browser that didn’t come installed on your computer [I’m using IE9 now, and also have Firefox and Chrome]
41. Have participated in a genealogy webinar [a number of times]
42. Have taken a DNA test for genealogy purposes [Shall do one day, and maybe I’ll test and compare several services]
43. Have a personal genealogy website [My Family Research and Unsolved Mysteries]
44. Have found mention of an ancestor in an online newspaper archive [many times]
45. Have tweeted during a genealogy lecture [I don’t have a device to allow live tweets]
*46. Have tweeted during a family reunion [See previous answer]
47. Have scanned your hardcopy genealogy files [Plan to do all of them one day]
48. Use an RSS Reader to follow genealogy news and blogs [all the time, every day. Got about 50 genealogy related feeds I follow]
49. Have uploaded a gedcom file to a site like Geni, MyHeritage or Ancestry [Yes, but many years ago, to sites before those 3 even existed]
50. Own a netbook [Netbooks are losing it now that Laptops are getting so cheap]
51. Use a computer/tablet/smartphone to take genealogy lecture notes [I prefer to listen and manually write notes. Typing and listening don’t work well together for me]
52. Have a profile on LinkedIn that mentions your genealogy habit [Never got into LinkedIn – although I hear it is a front runner]
53. Have developed a genealogy software program, app or widget. [Behold is the one!]
54. Have listened to a genealogy podcast online [Several]
55. Have downloaded genealogy podcasts for later listening [Nope]
56. Backup your files to a portable hard drive [Yup]
57. Have a copy of your genealogy files stored offsite [Yup]
58. Know about RootsTech [And I’m trying (so far unsuccessfully) to get accepted as a speaker for RootsTech 2012]
59. Have listened to a BlogTalk radio session about genealogy [Hmm. No I haven’t]
60. Use Dropbox, SugarSync or other service to save documents in the cloud [Rain falls from clouds]
61. Schedule regular email backups [Is this asking if I backup my genealogy via email, or if I backup my email? No to the former. Yes to my latter]
62. Have contributed to the FamilySearch Wiki
63. Have scanned and tagged your genealogy photographs [More future work. I’ve got a lot to do!]
64. Have published a genealogy book in an online/digital format [Yes. Someday]
*65. Brought a USB device to a microfilm repository so you could download instead of print.
*66. Have a wearable USB device containing important files. (Watch, keychain necklace, etc)
*67. Created a map on Google Maps plotting ancestral homes or businesses.[I may even build this functionality into Behold one day]
*68. Recorded the GPS coordinates for a tombstone, or ancestral home [once I get my next camera, which will have GPS]
*69. Edited the Wikipedia entry for an ancestor, or their kin
*70. Created an entry at FindAGrave for a person
*71. Created an entry at FindAGrave for a cemetery
*72. Uploaded the MediaWiki software (or TikiWiki, or PhpWiki) to your family website. [I’ve looked at Wiki software, but my own custom stuff works the way I want it]
*73. Have downloaded a video (for genealogical purposes) from YouTube or other streaming video site using KeepVid.com, or in some other fashion
*74. Have transferred a video from a DVR to your computer for genealogical purposes
*75. Have participated in a ScanFest
*76. Have started a Genealogy-related meme at least one other geneablogger participated in.
*77. Have started a Genealogy-related weekly blogging theme other geneabloggers participated in.
*78. Have used Photoshop (or other editing software) to ‘clean up’ an old family photo
*79. Done digital scrapbooking
*80. Printed out a satellite photo from Google Maps of a cemetery, and marked where a tombstone was located on it. [Sometimes, you can even make out the exact stone]
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