Another New Toy

Thanks to the members of the Facebook Technology for Genealogy Group who gave positive feedback on the  Fujitsu Scansnap IX500.

I bought one online from a Sydney store and it is running beautifully.

So far I have scanned ordinary paper, old air mail letters on very fine paper, photos on regular photo paper, business cards and old greeting cards. It will scan straight into Evernote, Google Docs, Dropbox.... or into any folder one nominates. This device has so many capabilities - there is so much to learn.

Lots of scanning options

The only item the device has refused to scan so far is a tiny ticket to an event. I thought I was stretching the friendship in asking it to do that but my trusty little Flip-Pal that will scan that for me. This latest toy will not scan everything; there is no way I would put a precious original old photo through the feeder, that's a job for my ancient old slow and reliable flatbed scanner.

What it will do for me is allow me to quickly scan the mountains of paper that surround me and help me along the road to becoming an organised genealogist.

Dragging out the Dragon

My copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software, version 11, is now nearly two years old. I haven't used Dragon much since I last reported on it because I basically forgot about it but I should reacquaint myself as I have a book to write and my keyboarding skills are not improving.

I don't know if it's because I have a new Logitech H390 USB headset but the Dragon behaved spectacularly well last night when I used it for My Big Day Out blog post. After the great results I got I will persevere as I am sure that with the Dragon's help my writing task will be made easier.

At sea with Family Historian

I am taking advantage of a day at sea to set up my genealogy software, Family Historian, on my new
 travel laptop that I purchased a few weeks ago in New York at the tech toy lovers mecca, B&H Photographics (note to Aussies - you can order online from this company).

When I was in Salt Lake City and New York recently I learnt more about Mr Geniaus' Gowans ancestors and I am anxious to add the information to my database. I have been neglecting my genealogy lately as I have been immersing in my latest travel adventure but I must get on track and get organised before I take off for a few days research in London at the end of next month.

Another catalyst for downloading the software is that I have heard from sources in the UK and my Family Historian User group in Australia that Family Historian guru, Jane Taubman, will be speaking on the next Unlock the Past Genealogy Cruise around Australia. Poor Jane may have to hide for me as I will be first in the queue to enlist her help.

While I have been writing this post the software has downloaded and is ready to be installed so I must away.

Postscript 10 mins later - software successfully downloaded, data imported, synched with big computer at home via Dropbox.  How easy was that?

Recent Family History - VHS Videos

On my must do list is the task of format shifting (copying of information from one form of storage to another) the many hours of video that I took of the family as the children as they were growing up. In order to preserve these memories for future generations they must be moved from tape to a form of digital storage.

In the Sydney Morning Herald today I found a review of a new device, Video to DVD Maker. This device that connects directly to a PC, looks as though it would be easy to use. I am going to investigate this further before my cache of videotapes disintegrates.