7 Genealogy - Technology Links for Researchers

Gen-Tech Links brought to you by my Boo & my Gran.

Yeah. I never thought my Boo and my Gran would ever be bringing gen-tech links to you, but ta-da! They are. Here are 7 links to technology-related posts that may or may not be helpful to you in your genealogy and family history research. You just never know until check them out. There's no particular theme today, just some stuff that caught my eye.

How much iCloud storage do you need? — Apple News, Tips and Reviews by Geoffrey Goetz on gigaom.com ~ Geoffrey uses Apple and iCloud as an example, but this is a good question to ask yourself when it comes to online storage [or cloud storage]. Here's some more good questions to ask yourself: What are you storing? Where? Why? And do you have enough room to meet your current and future needs?

Travel Tech: International Calling Tips by Scott Tharler on fodors.com ~ Traveling to do some research or visit ancestral lands? Here are some great tips for using your phone. Scott covers various international traveling scenarios including cruise ships. Very helpful.

I've upgraded Windows, and now some of my hardware isn't working by Lincoln Spector on pcworld.com ~ Lately, I've been having problems with my daughter's Lenovo laptop, specifically, with its drivers. Come to find out, this is a common problem with the Lenovo laptop. Anywho, in looking for solutions recently, I stumbled across this post, and I thought, "Hm. Lenovo isn't the only one having driver issues." So. I thought perhaps some of y'all might be having this issue as well. Lincoln provides some great tips to try to fix the problem.

Get a free 15GB cloud-storage account from 4Sync by Rick Broida on reviews.cnet.com ~ Rick reviews 4Sync's services, and he honestly reports the cons along with the pros for 4Sync. So take a look at his review and see if their service sounds like something you could use. They offer 15GB for free and their service works more like SugarSync than DropBox. What's nice about Rick's review is that in reviewing the service, he also explains online [cloud] storage pretty well, I think.

Augmented reality apps transform class time by Stephen Noonoo on thejournal.com ~ I know I've mentioned them before, but I really like the idea of the augmented reality apps for sharing family history. Think for a minute about an app on your smartphone that literally shows you, or gives you a tour of, where your ancestors lived as you physically walk through where they lived? Impossible? Maybe. But read this article first before you discount my vision. 'k?

Workflowy for iPhone Makes Your To-Do Lists Portable by Alan Henry on lifehacker.com ~ I first played with Workflowy about a year ago on my laptop, and I thought to myself at the time, "I love this to-do app - really love it - and when they make an iPhone app for it, then I'll use it." And now they've got an iPhone app. Yay! What do I like about Workflowy? The simplicity even though it has lots of hierarchy. Hierarchy in list making for research is imperative. For example, the seemingly simple to-do item, 'Find my Gran's date of birth,' can explode into a lot of little to-do's in order to find her date of birth. [Because it looks like her Mom, my Boo, had Gran a year before she married Gran's Dad. Oh, these human ancestors!] As researchers, we know this happens all the time. So, read Alan's review of the app [Plus, they have a link in this post to their review of Workflowy on the desktop. Read that too.], download their free app, and give it a try because it might be the to-do app of your dreams. Or not. *shrugs*

3 Simple Steps for Creating a Successful Morning Routine by Will on Dreamaboutlife.com ~ Will explains why you should have a morning routine, and then gives 3 simple but effective tips on how to create a morning routine. Personally, I have a morning routine. What I do changes and evolves [Except for the drinking coffee bit & saying, "Howdy! on Twitter.] as I'm always trying to refine what I do to be more effective and efficient. But? It tends to follow Will's overall suggestions. Do you have a morning routine?

Want more links to what I've been reading? Check out my RebelMouse page.

Or? On Pinterest? I've setup genealogy and family history research boards to help you out. That's right. Organized and pretty. =) So Follow and Pin away.

Happy Researching!
~Caroline

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