Tagxedo

Every so often I create a Wordle. Today I decided to create a word cloud from the words that appear on my blog using a different tool, Tagxedo.

There were lots of options for formatting that I could have spent hours tweaking but as GeniAus is an Australian blog I chose the shape below for my first attempt and didn't play around much.

Spit and Polish

In need of a polish

The furniture in my home is in need of a good polish.

I can't say the same for my presentations for the 4th Unlock the Past Cruise, they are being polished to within an inch of their lives. I just can't seem to say "that will do". One of my sons asked me today, when I said that I had to get home to finish off my presentations, "How many do you have to finish?".

My reply was that they are all finished but that I am still working on them.

As I need to pack my bags and do some work around the house I have decided to save and back up all except the presentation that is scheduled for the first morning of the cruise. I will go through "Beaut Blogs: what makes a blog stand out from the crowd?" just one more time and then I'll call it a day.

Rootstech Downunder

I will be on the high seas on a geneacruise during Rootstech  2014 but I hope to view some of the live broadcasts that have been announced. I have used one of my favourite web tools
Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator to convert the times of the presentations into Sydney time (AEDT) and create a calendar for myself which I am sharing here for other Aussies who may wish to imbibe some of the Rootstech spirit.

I may not be able to view those that are scheduled on sea days but I am taking my new Telstra 4G wi-fi gadget with me so I should be able to view some of these from my cabin while we are in Adelaide.

Thursday, February 6

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Top 10 Things I Learned About My Family from My Couch by Tammy Hepps Friday, 7 February 2014 at 4:30:00 AM 

1 p.m. to 2 p.m., FamilySearch Family Tree: What's New and What's Next by Ron Tanner Friday, 7 February 2014 at 7:00:00 AM

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Intro to DNA for Genealogists by James Rader Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 8:30:00 AM

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Genealogy in the Cloud by Randy Hoffman Friday, 7 February 2014 at 10:00:00 AM 

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sharing Your Family with Multimedia by Michael LeClerc  Friday, 7 February 2014 at 11:00:00 AM

Friday, February 7

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Storytelling Super Powers: How to Come Off as Your Family's Genealogy Hero by David Adelman  Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 4:30:00 AM

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Tweets, Links, Pins, and Posts: Break Down Genealogical Brick Walls with Social Media by Lisa Alzo Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 7:00:00 AM

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Getting the Most Out of Ancestry.com by Crista Cowen  Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 8:30:00 AM

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Finding Family and Ancestors Outside the USA with New Technologies by Daniel Horowitz  Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 10:00:00 AM

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Do It Yourself Photo Restoration by Ancestry Insider  Saturday, 8 February 2014 at 11:00:00 AM

Saturday, February 8

10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Become an iPad Power User by Lisa Louise Cooke  Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 4:30:00 AM

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Information Overload: Managing Online Searches and Their Results by Josh Taylor  Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 7:00:00 AM

2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., A Beginner’s Guide to Going Paperless by Randy Whited  Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 8:30:00 AM

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., How to Interview Yourself for a Personal History by Tom Taylor  Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 10:00:00 AM

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Five Ways to Do Genealogy in Your Sleep by Deborah Gamble Sunday, 9 February 2014 at 11:00:00 AM

And the winner of my Rootstech competiton is....

...Fran Kitto aka TravelGenee from Australia.

Fran who is active on Google+, Twitter and in the geneablogging world submitted her post Preparation for RootsTech for a First Timer  as her entry in the competition and it was the lucky one to jump out of GeniAus' hat. 

Congratulations, Fran, you will now have a few extra dollars to buy some of the geneatreasures on sale at Rootstech this year.

I hope you have time to sahre your Rootstech excitement via social media.