Sorry about the recent deluge of smut at the Forum . If anyone knows how to make it stop, I’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, I’ve taken steps to make sure I’m informed of postings the second they’re posted so I can remove the offensive before any of you have seen it. As long as I’m not sleeping, out running errands or at the gym, that should work.

Theoretically, one more temple went live with New FamilySearch (NFS) this week, although there has been no official acknowledgment (that I"ve found). Mexico City, closed for renovation, was rededicated Sunday and reopened yesterday with New FamilySearch. That brings the total number of temple districts using NFS to 107.

As I predicted, hearing nothing following the release of NFS 0.94 in August 2008 was bad news and almost certainly means that NFS is not coming to the red zone (Utah, Idaho, Vegas) in 2008. Following that release, the rumor mill fell remarkably silent. In ...

This is another in a series of encyclopedia-like articles written by the Ancestry Insider. Some serve as extensions to my failing memory while others give me someplace to link to for information that may not be known by all readers.

Helen Radkey Helen Radkey Courtesy AmericanAtheist.org

"Helen Radkey is an international renowned religion and genealogical researcher, writer and lecturer," according to her speaker bio from the 2003 convention of American Atheists. In 2002, Alana Newhouse, interviewed Radkey for an article in the Jewish newspaper ...

Readers occasionally ask us if we have information on the photos or letters we show in our articles. Unfortunately, for the most part, we don’t. "Many of our old photos have come from antiques stores and flea markets," says our editor, Allison Stacy. "We used to have a photo stylist go out and buy props for us—kind of like a mystery shopper." So where do we get all the stuff we show in Family Tree Magazine? Without a stylist these days, we have to get a little creative in finding ...

A Texas museum hopes a document found in its archives turns out to be an authentic government copy of Abraham Lincoln's eloquent letter consoling a mother thought to have lost five sons in the Civil War. The famed Bixby Letter, which the Dallas Historical Society is getting appraised as it prays for a potential windfall, has a fascinating history. The original has never been found. Historians debate whether Lincoln wrote it. Its recipient, Lydia Bixby, was no fan of the president. And not all her sons died in the war. The letter, written with "the best of intentions" 144 years ...

The oldest genetically identifiable nuclear family met a violent death, according to analysis of remains from 4,600-year-old burials in Germany. Writing in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), researchers say the broken bones of these stone age people show they were killed in a struggle. Comparisons of DNA from one grave confirm it contained a mother, father, and their two children. The son and daughter were buried in the arms of their parents. Dr Wolfgang Haak, from The Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, in Adelaide, conducted the DNA analysis. He ...

Heritage Collector Suite 5.1 has been released.

Changes:

• Create and share PDFs. Select from several image and information options. • Use the duplicate search tool to find and remove duplicate images to save hard drive space. • Batch convert and enhance old negative images to positives. • Share images and collections via e-mail. • Enlarge or zoom in on an image using the mouse wheel. • Drag and drop photos and images into collections. • Use the e-mail request system to receive files from others using Heritage ...

Shrubs 1.2 has been released.

Changes:

• Improved GEDCOM parsing code. • Fixed an issue when dealing with single parent (or parent-less) family records. • ASCII character set is now properly recognized. • Minor user interface improvements.

MacFamilyTree 5.3.3 has been released.

Changes:

• Improved Timeline Chart including a new time bar. • More Generations supported in the Ancestor Chart. • Improved GEDCOM Importer. • Bug fixes in the Date Parser. • Search function improved. • Localization fixes. • Many smaller improvements.

Brother’s Keeper 6.3.2 has been released.

Changes:

• Two more changes for the Individual Timeline report. The name of the file for editing has been changed from TIME4.DTA to BKTIME4.TXT so that your editor knows it is a text file. (See 6.3.1 below for more information.) Also a new item on the File menu that will let you edit the file directly using Notepad.

DearREADERS, We must always be thinking, learning, growing. Ol’ Myrt here may talk, blog, podcast, teach, cajole and brow beat her readers, listeners and study group members -- but she, too, must consider taking advantage of educational opportunities. Accordingly, though I will be serving as the dinner speaker during the 2009 Salt Lake Institute, I’ve also registered to take a number of classes in addition to coursework to assist with my British ancestral quest.

English Research with David Rencher (full course)Plenary Session with Dr. Thomas Jones, Ph.D ...

DearREADERS, Just received this note from Lisa Louise Cooke, Producer and host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, which reads as follows: “I had some fun last night and posted a video on my blog that features several of us genealogy gals. Here"s the link. Enjoy!” The ever-creative Lisa has outdone herself. I think you will get a kick out of it -- I know Ol’ Myrt here sure did! Happy family tree climbing! Myrt :) DearMYRTLE, Your friend in genealogy. Myrt@DearMYRTLE.com http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com http://blog.TeachGenealogy.com ...

NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just posted by our friends at the Utah Genealogical Association. The annual Salt Lake Institute is considered one of the top-tier educational opportunities for family historians in the US. Please address all inquiries to Geoffrey Morris info@infouga.org. November Discount for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy 2009! If you meant to register for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy 2009 before the early bird deadline but just didn’t make it… Good News! A window of opportunity is still ...

DearREADERS, Ol’ Myrt here just returned from the 2008 Mesa Arizona Family History Expo, where I met with many as you stopped by my booth and helped me tie the baby quilt for Expo organizer Kimberly Savage. (Dick Eastman was the one hold out. He said his sister is the true quilter in the family!) The folks in Mesa were wonderful hosts, welcoming all speakers and vendors with enthusiasm and a great hand of friendship. The 74 degree weather wasn’t hard to take, either. The Expo will return in January 2010. If you couldn’t attend, listen to my 36 ...

NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just posted by our friends at the Federation of Family History Societies in the UK. This will affect travel plans for those wishing to do onsite research. Plan accordingly. Please also note below Maggie"s signature an offer for those of us planning to attend the annual Who Do You Think You Are - LIVE in Feb-Mar 2009. The National Library to Close due to Budget Cuts As a result of increasing financial pressures, the Board of The National Library of Wales http://www.llgc.org.uk/ has decided to close the building to the ...