What’s the shortest distance between two—or 20—points? An electronic map of your ancestors’ migration.
American families rarely stay in one place. Whether your ancestors were early colonial settlers or 20th century immigrants, your people were on the move.
Just as maps were vital to explorers and travelers in the past, they are indispensable to us today.
In the world of genetic genealogy, I descend from Helena, a “daughter” of ancestral Eve. My father descends from Jasmine. We know this because we tested our mitochondrial DNA. The results identified us as descendants of certain “clan mothers,” but more importantly, the results provided us with the potential for finding other people who descend from the same line of women.
I enjoy cutting-edge technology, but failed miserably at cozying up to blogs when they first appeared. I’ve been a bit gun-shy ever since, so I met this assignment—finding something to do with family history on YouTube—with some trepidation.
You’ve probably already heard of YouTube.
Genealogists might love portability, but an iPod? Borrow one from the nearest teenager and see for yourself how much room there is for a jammin’ little music player in your family history toolbox.
Looking for a way to justify an iPod under the tree? That’s easy, once you know what an iPod can do.
Let me show you slides from my vacation. Did you just groan? It’s a universal reaction to home movies and slide shows, especially when yours is not the family on display. Thanks to Microsoft PowerPoint, that ubiquitous reaction has migrated to the office and classroom as slide presentations are used to sell, educate, or simply bore us with things we really don’t care about.