GeniAus

Monday, March 9, 2026

Late to the Party

I've noticed several genimates posting caricatures on social media and, as I have a bit of spare time for play this week, decided to hop on the bandwagon.

I started with a very simple prompt suggested in a ChatGPT advertisement on Facebook. It was suggested to add a photo of me with the following prompt. "Create a caricature of me based on everything you know about me."

What came back was a creditable caricature of me but with very thick painted on eyebrows. The image focused on my interests in reading and travel but made no reference to family history. It also had a cat plonked on the desk, I'm a dog girl through and through.

After asking ChatGPT to recognise my involvement with family history, make a few deletions (cat and eyebrows) and to add a dog like my Paddy plus my GeniAus avatar I was rewarded with the following which I think is quite representative.

Should I ask ChatGPT to add something else to recognise my obsession for taking thousands of snapshots on my smartphone and camera as I wander around our world?

Friday, February 20, 2026

Genearosity - Not Just for Now

This morning I have been throwing a few ideas around and putting them into a Powerpoint for today's Hangout with the SAG - a weekly online get together and chatfest for Members of the Society of Genealogists.

The Hangout reminder on social media

As the host I chose the topic of "Genearosity - Kindness and Consideration in the Genealogy Community." I am hoping that those present will relate stories of when they have been the recipients of kind acts but, in case those online are shy, I have up my sleeve a few slides telling of times when I have experienced genearosity.

What struck me as I recalled those moments was that this blog was a useful point of reference. Here are links from my blog to some of the events I may mention today.

Cousins Baited https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2018/10/cousins-baited.html

Giggle and Scrape https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2016/12/giggle-and-scrape.html

Royal Treatment https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2019/06/royal-treatment.html

Surprises in Haddington https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2023/08/visiting-ann.html

Visiting Ann https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2023/08/visiting-ann.html

I haven't been blogging much lately as I am trying to get both my biological and DNA trees in order. Today's exercise has awakened me to the value of my past posts as a Gifts for the Future. Perhaps I need to do a bit more blogging!

I will remind the attendees today that Genearosity is not just something for the Past and Present. By preserving resources, stories and trees we are performing Genearosity for the Future.

My last slide for this afternoon

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Colourful Efficiency

Back in May last year I blogged about using WikiTree as a means of futureproofing my research. At that stage I was pleased to report my 16 Great-Grandparents had profiles on Wikitree.

Since then, in a haphazard fashion, I have been going through my list of People in my RootsMagic database and then searching for them on Wikitree. If I can't find someone I create and add a Profile to Wikitree for them. This has been inefficient as I often find myself looking for someone a second or third time.

Once each Person has a Wikitree profile I place them in a "Wikitree Profile" Group in RootsMagic. The other day it dawned on me that I could create a filter that would allow me to quickly identify those individuals in my tree. I decided to use the RootsMagic Color Code Tool.

WikiTree Tools - Color Codes

This nifty tool adds a small colour bar (lemon in this case) to the Name Label of each person in the Wikitree Profile Group. At a glance in the People View List in RootsMagic I can those cousins who do not have a Wikitree Profile.

The Yellow Bar on a Profile's name in RootsMagic indicates the presence of a Profile on Wikitree.

After capturing this image I noted that a close relation did not have the Yellow Bar. Apologies to Greg Curry, I will deal with that omission shortly.

I will also add this useful filter to the five other family trees I curate on RootsMagic.

Saturday, January 24, 2026

My Response - 2025 Accentuate the Positive

We had a busy Christmas period followed by a relaxing cruise around Australia and New Zealand and, I must apologise, geneactivities moved down my list of priorities. No that I have time for reflection I thought it appropriate to respond to my challenge.

I actually found it difficult to dig for memories and positives. Pondering on my 2025 my level of appreciation for those genies who responded to my prompts grew and grew.

Following are my responses to the 2025 Accentuate the Positive prompts.

1. I treasured the support of genies who responded to my 2024 Accentuate the Positive Geneameme. Responses to the Accentuate the Positive 2024 Geneameme.

2. I shared my direct ancestors' details on Wikitree. I am committed to Wikitree as a collaborative tree. I am working to ensure that my ancestors' and forebears' stories are not lost so I aim to give them all a profile on this platform. It's a future-proofing exercise

My CCC7 score currently stands at 4129. My profile on WikiTree is here https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Curry-3069.

3. I travelled to Brisbane for Connections2025 and had a wow of a time learning, presenting and socialising. As the NSW Ambassador for the event I revelled in its success. I will be visiting this next Congress in Wellington, New Zealand in 2027.

Bloggers at Connections2025 including several who have responded
to the 2025Accentuate the Positive Challenge

4. I learnt more and more about WikiTree as I progressed through the year. Help was always at hand as I struggled with the challenging interface. Thanks to Veronica Williams (Coat-12) ) for her guidance and support. Participating with the Super Aussie Genies Team in challenges helped me improve.

5. I changed my main software program to RootsMagic. I started using RootsMagic to manage the people in my CareyBay2283 One Place Study. Although I don't have a handle on its sourcing system I appreciate its fairly seamless syncing with Ancestry, FamilySearch and FindMyPast. As the year progressed I added more trees to RootsMagic11.

I also find it good for managing the DNA matches of some of the kits I manage.

6. I received several invitations to speak at family history events in person and via zoom.

8. I found many products and resources to test drive through my activities on social media channels. Thanks to all the Genies who use Facebook, Blogs and other Social Media to share their stories, thoughts and tips. A Big Bonus is that, after 19 years on Facebook and 20 years on Blogger, several of my contacts have become very good friends.

After ditching Twitter I found a welcoming genealogy community on Bluesky. I can be found there at @geniaus.bsky.social.

9. I taught in formal and informal situations in online and in face-to-face settings.

As an amateur I do not seek out speaking opportunities but, if I am in the country, I will usually respond positively to invitations. I especially love meeting and chatting with genies in local societies. As an old girl these invitations give me positive reinforcement. Pleased to report that I already have half a dozen gigs lined up for 2026. Once a teacher - always a teacher!

10. I cried when I heard of the death of my first cousin Ronda. Although we didn't see much of each other in recent years I have fond memories of spending many happy times tagging along with my big cousin. I was proud to be Godmother to her firstborn.

As I was overseas I was unable to attend her funeral. I am grateful to those family members who attended on our behalf.

Jill and Ronda at her wedding. January 1960

11. I was proud of my efforts in researching, recording and publishing information in my One-Place Study. I am concentrating on the research while concurrently writing the odd post and recording Carey Bay Burials On FindaGrave and adding Carey Bay Profiles to WikiTree.

12. I read several books in a a range of genres. Goodreads tells me that I read 101 titles but I know there were a few more genealogy titles that were not in the Goodreads database.