Wednesday, June 17, 2009

CGSSD Meeting on Saturday 20 June - Gary Hoffman on "Genealogy in the Cloud "

From an email from Linda Hervig of CGSSD:

The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) meets on Saturday, June 20, 2009 from 9:00 am to noon.

* 9:00 - User groups for Family Tree Maker and Macintosh; and Special Interest Group “New Genealogy Websites”

* 10:00 - A break and refreshments

* 10:15 - Announcements followed by Program:"Genealogy in the Cloud" by Gary B. Hoffman

These days, storing your genealogy data in your hard drive and viewing it through a program installed on your computer is about as cool as driving your father's Oldsmobile or using a black landline telephone. Today's researchers upload their genealogy to a specialized website, either one you control yourself or a shared pedigree system. These programs are not on your computer but in the Internet "cloud," giving rise to the term "cloud computing." Some benefits include having your entire pedigree available wherever you connect to the Internet and being able to make links to cousins you didn't know. After all, genealogy is the ultimate social networking activity. (Are your ancestors on Facebook?)

In this presentation, Gary will review the latest developments in cloud genealogy applications, including MyAncestry, Geni.com, and new FamilySearch and several programs you can install on your own web site. After looking at the advantages of cloud genealogy, Gary will demonstrate some weaknesses and offer pointers to protect your research from poaching by others.

Gary Hoffman is former President and webmaster for CGSSD and works at U.C. San Diego in IT support. He has been making technology presentations for nearly 20 years at national and local genealogy venues. He also runs the Tarvin Family Association website and is actively researching his Hoffman, Harpold, Webster and Tarvin lines through Kentucky and Indiana.

We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pine Road turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any A, B, or S space. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website www.cgssd.org; or the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies website http://irps.ucsd.edu/about/how-to-find-us.htm for driving directions and a map.

I really look forward to the discussion of New Genealogy Websites and Gary's talk on "Genealogy in the Cloud."

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