“The Leap Motion Controller senses how you move your hands, the way you move them naturally. So you can point, wave, reach, and grab. Even pick something up and put it down.”

Click on Leap Motion Controller  to see some other fantastic features such as:  Slicing fallen fruit, steer cars, fly planes, build 3D objects, or simply browse the web.

There are more 3D City Views in Google 7.1 mainly for New York City, but other U.S. cities with 3D coverage are:

• Miami, FL
• Houston, TX
• Orlando, FL
• Encinitas, CA
• Spokane, WA

Other cities around the world include:

• Innsbruck, Austria
• Dijon, France
• Cagliari, Italy
• San Sebastian, Spain
• Santander, Spain
• Pamplona, Spain
• Manresa Spain
• Burgos, Spain

You can now view 50 countries on Google Maps’ popular Street View feature including:

• Hungary plus new and refreshed coverage in,
• France
• Italy
• Poland
• Romania
• Russia
• Singapore

Google says this is the large single update of Street View imagery they ever pushed with 350,000 miles of roads across 14 countries.

Click on Making Google Maps more comprehensive with the biggest Street View update ever to learn more.

First appearance of Dazzler

Marvel Comics super heroine Dazzler (Alison Blair) is usually associated with the X-Men first appearing in Uncanny X-Men in 1980.

As a mutant with the ability to convert sound vibrations into light and energy beams, Dazzler was originally developed as a cross-promotional, multi-media creation between Casablanca Records and Marvel Comics but the association was dropped in 1980.

Her career could be considered checkered. The character was originally commissioned as a disco singer, shifting to other musical categories including adult contemporary and rock. After starring in the Marvel Comic solo series Dazzler in the 1980′s for 42 issues and a four issue limited series called The Movie, she co-starred The Beast a four-issue limited series called Beauty and the Beast. Dazzle later joined the cast of the X-Men then briefly appeared with the spin-off group Excalibur before rejoining X-men.

After her return to X-men, the character went on to a notable run as an X-Men member before disappearing completely for much of the 1990′s and early 2000′s.

When the New Excalibur was launched Dazzler returned to monthly publication as a prominent cast member for the first time in over fifteen years.

When Marvel canceled New Excalibur (sounds like the annual TV Fall lineup with either joy and disappointment for hard-working actors), Dazzler was brought back as a supporting character in Uncanny X-Men.

Although Marvel published a one-shot Dazzler special in 2010, the good came news for the character in the 2012 series, X-Extreme E-Men which features Dazzler as the leader of a dimension-hopping X-Men team.

The character has earned her place in comic history and perhaps inspired Canadian startup company, Thalmic Labs, to come up with a computer interface that allows the wearer to control computers and even drones with the wave of an arm.

The control is programmed in an armband that reads electrical activity in the forearm muscles as the user gestures. Gesture control is becoming more and more common thanks to the Kinect and cameras that track users and translate their body motion into a computer command.

“PROVO, Utah & TEL AVIV, Israel–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 13, 2013–

MyHeritage, the popular family history network, today announced the launch of Record Detective(TM), the first technology of its kind to automatically extend the paper trail from a single historical record to other related records and family tree connections.

Record Detective(TM) turns historical records into smart objects that determine which people they are about, and conducts further research about them. Records found in MyHeritage’s digital archive, SuperSearch, will now include a summary of additional records and individuals in family trees relating to them, thanks to the Record Detective(TM) technology. This will provide users with new information and clues to take their research to new directions.

Examples of how Record Detective(TM) benefits users:

– When a user finds a gravestone photo, Record Detective(TM) is capable of automatically finding and displaying who was buried there, and providing a link to the person’s family tree, plus birth, census and marriage records and even newspaper articles about that person.

– For users viewing a page in a digitized yearbook on MyHeritage, Record Detective(TM) will show the people mentioned on the page in their respective family trees and allow users to learn more about their families and get in touch with their relatives (subject to privacy protections).

– When viewing a record in the US census collection, Record Detective(TM) will provide census entries of the same person in former or subsequent years, and do this for the entire household. The additional information could include newspaper articles about the person’s son or the immigration papers of his parents.

The new technology is highly accurate with almost no false positives.

To maximize its benefits, the technology behind the Record Detective(TM) uses an innovative technique called the Transitive Conclusion Trail. For example, it can link a death record to a birth record of the same person, by first linking the death record to a matching person in a family tree with the same death date, then linking that person through his parents to the same person in another family tree, this time having a birth date, and then use that extra information to locate the birth record of that person. During the process checks are made to ensure the lack of contradictions, and conclusions are made only if they are statistically solid. Users are not aware of the calculations behind the scenes, and are only handed the related information with confidence scores. This way Record Detective(TM) helps users find relevant information they may have never found on their own.

Licensing

To extend the benefits of this new technology to the wider community, MyHeritage is making Record Detective(TM) available for license to other family history websites and services that provide historical records, with revenue sharing. By adding just a few lines of code to their webpage, partners can harness Record Detective(TM) and display for each record, other records and family trees related to it, providing better value for users. Interested parties can contact bd@myheritage.com.

“We’re excited to unveil Record Detective(TM) – a major addition to the tool arsenal of any family history enthusiast”, said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “Record Detective(TM) makes a single discovery more interesting and rewarding by linking to more information about the same person. With this powerful new technology, our users will be able to make even more exciting discoveries. This is an industry first, and a testament to our focus on creating truly innovative technologies for family history.”

A summary of any record can be viewed for free and users can choose between affordable pay-as-you-go credits or a Data subscription for full unlimited access to all historical records.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is a family history network helping millions of families around the world discover and share their legacy online. As technology thought leaders and innovators in the space, MyHeritage is transforming family history into a pastime that is accessible, exciting and easier than ever before. MyHeritage empowers its global community of users with unique social tools, a massive library of historical content and powerful search technologies. The site is available in 40 languages. For more information visit www.myheritage.com

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20130513006086/en/

CONTACT: MyHeritage

Aaron Godfrey

PR Manager

Phone: US +1-347-329-5461 | UK +44-208-816-7571

Email: aaron@myheritage.com“

Apparently in the plant world, junk DNA really is just junk. While the findings published in the Journal of Nature yesterday May 12 do concern a carnivorous plant, they could have implications for the human genome as well—maybe not.

Scientists have known for decades that the vast majority of the human genome is made of up DNA that doesn’t seem to contain genes or turn genes on or off.  This black hole of dark DNA consists of genetic parasites that copy segments of DNA and paste themselves repeatedly in the genome or is made up of fossils of once useful genes that have now been switched off. I would interpret this as being part of evolution.

The findings while researching the carnivorous “bladderwort” plant suggest junk DNA really isn’t needed for healthy plants—and that may also hold true for other organisms, such as humans.

It is, however, still a mystery why some organisms have genomes bloated with junk while other genomes are studies in minimalism.

“One possibility is that there was some evolutionary pressure to strip the genome of extra material. But that’s unlikely given that similar plants with huge genomes don’t seem to fare badly.”

To read the entire article click on Live Science.

Christopher Guest pioneered the “mockumentary” on film and his latest comedy Family Tree, which starts tomorrow, promises to be entertaining and filled with eccentric characters.

Just when you think the television mockumentary format may be reaching oversaturation, I have a funny feeling family history researchers will find this one will touch their funny bone.

The show revolves around a sad Tom Chadwick (Chris O’Dowd) who has simultaneously lost his job and his girlfriend. Tom is floundering along life’s “dragway” until he receives an unusual bequest from his Great-Aunt Victoria to research his family history.

Victoria passes along a mysterious box containing a collection of mementos from his family’s complicated history. Instead of seeing it has a box of odds and ends, he decides to see it as the start of a journey to reconstruct the family tree and learn the truth of his family’s checkered past to understand his own.

There are several eccentric characters including Tom’s sister, Bea (Nina Conti) who is a few  knives short of a full dinner service. Bea walks around wearing a monkey hand puppet called Monk, an outgrowth of her childhood therapy that has clung to her in adulthood.

There’s a sense within Family Tree that the key to unlocking one’s identity is to take a deep dive into the past, no matter how convoluted or confusing the results may be. Viewers will find it interesting to see how many branches Tom is willing to climb to get his answers and just how many nuts he’ll discover up there.

Click on the video below to see the trailer:

Some up-to-date news from ScotlandsPeople:

“The University of Edinburgh is looking to create an online archive that contains stories told by Scots-Italians about Italian emigration to ‘Scozia’. 

This exciting project will be organised by Professor Federica Pedriali, who is the director of the ‘Italo Scots Research Cluster’ at the university. Although Scots-Italians are one of the oldest immigrant communities in Scotland, amazingly, this is the first time that the idea of creating an archive of their stories has been proposed. 

If you would like to get involved in the project, you can contact Professor Pedriali and her team at the the Italo Scots Research Cluster.

Also, if you are “Using the 1895 Valuation Rolls to break through an ancestral brick wall – please get in touch!
We’re currently working on the 1895 Valuation Rolls (VRs), which we plan to launch shortly on the ScotlandsPeople website. 

We’re hoping that the 1895 Valuation Rolls will help those customers whose ancestors appear in the 1891 Census, but ‘disappear’ by the time of the 1901 Census. So we’re looking to find a couple of interesting examples that we can highlight when we launch the 1895 VRs. In short, we’d like to try and find these ancestors for you, by searching the 1895 Valuation Rolls.

So if you think that the 1895 Valuation Rolls might well contain a missing ancestor of yours, then please drop us a brief email at press@scotlandspeople.gov.uk. Thank you!”

Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) is a considered a minor holiday in Mexico, but in the United States it has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage. As part of my after the day job, I taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to adult immigrants. My students loved to discuss the history and culture of Cinco De Mayo, even those who didn’t have Mexican roots.

When Benito Juarez became president of Mexico in 1861, the country was in financial ruin. When the Mexican government defaulted on debts owed to the European governments of France, Britain and Spain they sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand reimbursement. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew.

This was not the case with France, ruled by Napoleon III, who decided to take the opportunity to carve an empire out of Mexican territory. The well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz and landed a strong French force that sent Juarez and his government into retreat.

The French General Charles Latrille de Lorencez thought that his 6,000 troops guaranteed a swift French victory in Mexico. President Juarez managed to round up a rag-tag force of 2000 loyal men, led by Texas born General Zaragoza, they prepared for battle at the small town of Puebla do Los Angeles, in east-central Mexico.

On Cinco de Mayo, 1862, the French army well fed and supported by heavy artillery began their attack from the north. The battle lasted from day break until the early evening of the same day when the French finally retreated having lost nearly 500 soldiers. Less than 100 Mexicans were killed.

This was a tremendous moral victory for the Mexican government, symbolizing the country’s ability to defend its sovereignty against an assault by a powerful foreign nation.

The victory at Puebla tightened Mexican resistance, and six years later France withdrew.

Thomas Edison

Technology affects every aspect of our society and according to the Brookings Institution the most productive periods in the United States occurred during the early 20th century and the Great Depression.

Patents are the DNA of inventions, and the most patents (per capita) were registered in 1883, 1885, 1890, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1931, 1932 2010 and 2011. They established new industries, businesses and economies.

Listed below are  some of the inventions from those years, which includes Apple CEO Steve Jobs: 

1883 Thomas Edison’s Voltage Regulator:

Megastar-inventor Thomas Edison has claimed more than 1,000 patents, including the phonograph, light bulb and Voltage Regulator that was key to the development of radio, television and computer transistors.

1885 Machine Gun:

American-born British citizen Hiram Maxim invented a self-powered portable and fully-automatic machine gun that changed warfare. Its effects on society and the constitutional right to own it are still being debated today.

1890 Stop Sign:

William Phelps Eno proposed the first set of traffic rules and signs in an article published in Rider and Driver, although the first actual sign didn’t appear until 1915.

1915 Stainless Steel Sink:

The discovery of a new “rustless” steel by British metallurgist Harry Brearley was announced in the New York Times in 1915. Brearley applied for a patent during the same year, but American Elwood Haynes beat him to it. Its shiny surface, strength and corrosive resistant properties revolutionized modern industry from skyscrapers to kitchen utensils, trains and planes to medicine.

1916 Condenser Microphone:

Edward C. Wente of New Jersey’s Bell Labs invented the electronic condenser microphone in1916, which can be found today in recording, television, film and radio studios.

1917 Modern Zipper:

Gideon Sundback figured out that 10 fasteners per inch works much better than four and invented the modern zipper, also known as, “separable fastener.” Used to close boots and tobacco pouches, the zipper didn’t get into clothing for another 20 years.

1931 Stop-action Photography:

Harold “Doc” Edgerton began playing around with strobe lighting while a grad student at MIT, developed both stop-action and ultra-high speed photography. His images of exploding bullets, running athletes and milk droplets became iconic photos. He went on to invent underwater time-lapse photography, atomic bomb timing and lights for copiers and flash photography.

1932 Polarizer:

Edwin Land inventedthe polarizer in 1932, which filters light waves and reduces glare. He goes onto invent instant photography, while the polarizer leads to sunglasses, camera filters and LCDs.

2010 iPad:

Apple debued its iPad tablet in April 2010, but its history goes back to 1983, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he wanted to build a computer that users could carry around like a book, plug into telephone communications and link to libraries and other databases. The firm sold 23 million in the last quarter of 2012; total sales now top 100 million.

2011 Stark Hand:

This prosthetic hand is cheaper, lighter and doesn’t need wires or batteries. Garage inventor Mark Stark came up with this device in 2011 to help a neighbor who had been born without a hand. It’s now under commercial development.

Click on Brookings Institution to visit the interesting website

]]> http://spittalstreet.com/?feed=rss2&p=7114 3 http://spittalstreet.com/?p=7110 http://spittalstreet.com/?p=7110#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 15:57:47 +0000 Sandy http://spittalstreet.com/?p=7110

The following is a press release from MyHeritage via Geneabloggers.com:

“PROVO, Utah & TEL AVIV, Israel – May 1, 2013: MyHeritage, the popular family history network, today announced that it has added the entire collection of U.S. Federal Censuses conducted each decade from 1790 to 1930 to its growing database of billions of historical records.  Combined with innovative technologies and affordable prices, MyHeritage makes it easier and more accessible than ever to illuminate the lives of one’s ancestors during this fascinating period in American history.

Among the nation’s largest and most important set of records totaling around 520 million names, the Censuses provide information about individuals residing in the U.S. including age, address, education, occupation, place of birth, race, native language, marital status, relationship to head of household, neighbors – and more. Family history enthusiasts can now search the indexed images of the U.S. Censuses at http://www.myheritage.com/research and discover the legacy of former generations between 1790 and 1930 in the U.S.

To make discoveries easier, MyHeritage offers a sophisticated system of automatic record matching for the family trees on the site, dramatically reducing research time. New information uncovered in the Censuses triggers a domino effect of new discoveries within the MyHeritage global network of family trees and records. Resulting connections with other family trees could shed light on the roots of many families who immigrated to the U.S., connecting them to long-lost relatives abroad. Translated to 40 different languages, MyHeritage is the only company to deliver discoveries from the U.S. Censuses to a global audience.

The new records, which include the remaining fragments of the 1890 U.S. Federal Census mostly destroyed in a fire, complement the existing 1940 U.S. Census which is already available on MyHeritage. A summary of any census record can be viewed for free and users can choose between affordable pay-as-you-go credits or a data subscription for full unlimited access to all historical content, including the images of the original census pages.

“Adding the U.S. Censuses is paramount for offering a one-stop shop for family history”, said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “With this move we maximize value for users by combining the best family tree tools and the most powerful matching technologies with a massive library of historical content. The U.S. Censuses add incredible new value for our users, who will receive a string of new discoveries, and act as a catalyst for taking research further into the past and across new borders. This is just the tip of the iceberg as we’re set to add significant additional collections of historical records, both from the U.S. and around the world, in 2013.”

The U.S. census records are also being added to WorldVitalRecords and FamilyLink, and will be made available soon to the users of Geni – three additional websites owned and operated by MyHeritage.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is a family history network helping millions of families around the world discover and share their legacy online. Pioneers in making family history a collaborative experience for the entire family, MyHeritage empowers its users with innovative social tools and a massive library of historical content. The site is available in 40 languages. For more information visit www.myheritage.com. 

MyHeritage Announces Access to Entire US Census Collection is a post from GeneaBloggers.com. All rights reserved.“

What you might want to consider is Family Tree Magazine’s live seminar scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 9^th.  If you register before May 5, you can get it for $39.99 quite a bargain if you want to learn sooner rather than later on from Family Search. After May 5 the price goes up to $39.99.

“The schedule is below:

Date: Thursday, May 9
Starting Time: 7pm EST/6pm CST/5pm MST/4pm PST
Presenter: Rick Crume
Duration: 1 hour
Price: $49.99 ($39.99 early bird until 5/5)

YOU’LL LOVE THIS IF:

• You want to learn how to navigate the newly relaunched FamilySearch.org
• You’ve dabbled on FamilySearch.org but want to learn to make your time on the site more efficient and effective
• You use FamilySearch.org on a regular basis and want to master its more advanced features

It’s undeniable—FamilySearch.org is a fundamental figure in family research. And with its recent revamp, the site has added features including photos and interactive fan charts to its already rich repository of family records and searchable family trees. Let Family Tree Magazine’s resident genealogy technology expert, Rick Crume, help you navigate the new website in this hour-long webinar. This webinar comes with a free PDF download: a copy of our FamilySearch.org Microfilm Guide.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How to navigate the new FamilySearch.org now that it has undergone a redesign
• How to search the databases to get the most relevant matches
• Differences between the site’s Family Tree and Genealogies
• How to identify and contact a submitter to the Genealogies
• Which of the site’s databases are not covered by the global search, and where to find them
• How FamilySearch.org indexes all those genealogy records
• How to find ancestor’s records in an unindexed collection
• Whether you still need to use microfilmed records
• How to access records that aren’t online yet
• How the site can help you learn how to research your family history

PLUS: Get help with your Familysearch.org quandaries! All attendees have the opportunity to submit questions before the event and again during the webinar in a live Q&A session.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Rick Crume, a contributing editor for Family Tree Magazine, has also written for other American, Canadian and Welsh genealogical journals. The author of Plugging Into Your Past: How to Find Real Family History Records Online, he specializes in online research, genealogy software and British genealogy. Since he began researching his family history at age 14, he has traced his ancestry back to the 1600s and earlier in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.

REGISTRATION FOR THE LIVE SESSION INCLUDES:

• Participation in the live presentation and Q&A session
• Access to the webinar recording to view again as many times as you like
• 25+ page PDF of the presentation slides for future reference
• Additional downloadable handouts: Family Tree Magazine’s FamilySearch.org Microfilm Guide

Please note: You do not have to attend the live event to get a recording of the presentation. All registrants receive an email two business days following the live webinar with instructions on how to download the recording and handouts.“

Click on Family Tree Live Webinar to take you to the registration page.

Origins.net has an impressive database of wills. Wills are a terrific source of information before the census started in 1841 and make it easy to find your ancestors. They uncover relationships that you may never have thought to look for.

See below to understand the potential value of this type of information from Origins.net:

“Wills can provide an extraordinary amount of information about your forebears, but most people probably have never had the chance to delve into these documents to see what they can learn. But now Oxfordshire wills from the 16th century up to 1858 – over 30,000 of them – are available online, at www.origins.net.

Simply Register or Login to search the Indexes and uncover some of your family’s hidden gems.

What can the original wills tell me? 
Prior to census returns, meaning before 1841, wills can be the best source of family relationship information. The list of what you may find is impressive.

Names of heirs and beneficiaries
Relationships
Places of residence and origin of testators
Places of residence of the heirs and beneficiaries
Properties and whether freehold, copyhold or lease
Occupations
Debts owed and due
Business arrangements
Executors
Witnesses
Inventories of personal property
Personal comments about heirs and beneficiaries

The potential value of this information in furthering your research is high, particularly if more commonly consulted records such as parish registers have drawn a blank. The information in wills goes beyond immediate family, many wills name nieces and nephews, godchildren, husbands of sisters and wives of brothers and distant kin. Usually the relationships are defined and the place of residence may be stated.  

One example is that of a Banbury bacon seller:

The 1819 will of Thomas Abbotts, grocer and bacon seller, gives a remarkable amount of detail about Banbury people. Thomas owned several properties, including his own house and properties occupied by his two sons-in-law, William Kimberley (husband of Mary) and Frances [sic] Taylor (husband of Keziah). Frances Taylor was a baker, and used the bakehouse and meal chamber owned by Thomas. Thomas also owned a property occupied by George Stanton, and one in North Bar Street, which he had bought from John Eagles, a surgeon, and which was now occupied by James Claridge, butcher. Frederick Fleet, clerk to Mr Austin’s brewhouse, and John Boughan senior, shag manufacturer, both of Banbury, were to be trustees of the estate for the benefit of Thomas’s children and wife, Keziah, and his son Thomas (who was under 20) was to carry on his father’s trade. 

Accessing the records: 
Digitisation of these documents is now completed, and these images can be purchased with Pay per View credits and viewed directly from the index records. 

See full information on Oxford Wills 1516-1857

Simply Register or Login to search the Indexes and uncover some of your family’s hidden gems.”

Ancestry.com says:

“Early this morning the World Archives Project community achieved a huge milestone- 100,000,000 records keyed! The record count started in June 2008 and we reached 100,000,000 records early this morning.

The 166 indexes created through the World Archives Project are free for anyone to search. If you would like to join our community of contributors and play a role in helping others find their ancestors you can learn more here.

Thank you to the thousands of contributors who have given of their time to key these records!”

Deceased Online is a wonderful database with new records added on a regular basis. Unfortunately, as of April 22nd they have had to raise the rates: 

“For over 4 years we have managed to keep our document viewing prices fixed at a low rate, even reducing some of them. Unfortunately, due to increased costs, we can’t hold off price increases any longer. However we do feel the new prices will still be very reasonable when compared with other commercial genealogy websites. 

The increases apply only to viewing register page scans or computerised register records; all other prices will remain unchanged. The minimum purchase has been raised in line with this. 

The good news is that we are doubling the discounts on quantity credit purchases for a while. And more special offers will be available in due course.

The price increases will help us to get more records onto the website sooner, which we are sure you will applaud, and to develop the website to incorporate some of our users’ excellent ideas. 

Note that searching the database is still free, and you don’t have to spend any money until you are fairly certain that you have the right person. 

The price changes will come into effect at 12:00 GMT (13:00 BST) on Monday April 22nd. The new rates can be viewed here. The website will be unavailable for an hour or two from this time while it is being updated.

We hope you agree that Deceased Online offers excellent value for access to its unique database of burial, grave and cremation records, and hope that its ever-increasing rate of expansion will soon bring more records of interest to you.”

Bill Wilson-age 24

The Peace Corps program in the United States was established by an Executive Order issued by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961, and authorized by Congress on March, 1961.

Australia, under the heading of “External Affairs”, administered an organization similar to the Peace Corps. As part of this arrangement, Bill Wilson, a member of my extended family, went to Papua New Guinea (PNG) to teach school.

Life-long friendships were formed, laying the foundations of a truly remarkable legacy. When Bill arrived there in 1952, PNG was in the very early stage of the road to independence.

The following article, Friendship—two peoples join by mutual experience, was written by Barbara Short. The article describes Bill’s experience and discusses two of his students:

(1) the highly respected late Sir Alkan Tololo, who rose to become High Commisssioner to Malaysia, to Australia, chancellor of the universities in Port Moresby, Lae and Vudal and member of boards that served the nation and,

(2) Sir Paulias Matane, who served as the first Papua New Guinean Ambassador to the United States following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“TIM COSTELLO, CEO of World Vision, is calling for more young Australians to visit Papua New Guinea and become friends with the Melanesian people, to take time to get to know them and for an effort to be made to understand each other’s culture, dreams and aspirations.

One young Aussie who did just this back in 1952 was Bill Wilson (pictured) from Perth, Western Australia, then aged 24.

Bill ended up teaching at Keravat High School in the Gazelle peninsula for a couple of years. Here is his story.

After Bill Wilson’s arrival at Keravat in 1952 he had his 24th birthday and on looking back he can see that he was ‘green’ and very inexperienced. He remembers there was no common Territory wide school syllabus and we “tended to cobble our own.”

The key to everything seemed to be competence in English, a broadening of horizons and knowledge of anything that would help the boys on their way.

Bill remembers that many of his students were about his own age and, being single, he was generally free after hours to spend time with them.

He often found himself discussing, in English, just about any subject under the sun that he knew about, or thought he knew about!

No doubt he taught his students, who included Alkan Tololo and Paulias Matane, a lot about the world in general and improved their spoken English.  Matane was very keen to look him up in Western Australia in 1972 and Tololo looked him up in 1984. Here’s how it happened.

In October 1984, Bill Wilson read in The West Australian newspaper that Dr Alkan Tololo, the High Commissioner for PNG, was in Perth and trying to track down his old English teacher from 1952-53, named Wilson.

“I’d just like to say “hello” and talk about those old times. If I can find him I feel sure he would like to meet me and find out what happened to me,” Tololo told the journalist.

By sheer luck Bill Wilson heard about the article in the newspaper and phoned Alkan at his hotel. They arranged to meet at a car park as Tololo made his way to the airport. Bill was certain there would be a vacant space in a car park.

Bill reached the spot first. Within minutes a large, chauffeur-driven government car arrived, with flag fluttering. Out stepped Alkan, followed by his escort of two young men from the Premier’s Department and, without hesitation from either side “it was on”! In an hour they spanned 30 years.

The two young men were intrigued by this encounter and, when the time came to leave, one of them said, “Dr Tololo, how is it that you knew Mr Wilson after all those years?”

With a broad smile, Alkan replied, “Easily, he’s still wearing the same kind of trousers!”

The two young men thought it was a great joke, as did Bill. Later Bill realised that Alkan had read well the conservative nature of his old English teacher.

Bill Wilson summed up those old days like this:

“My days at Keravat were happy and uncomplicated. Without exception I liked the people I met, regardless of ethnic origin. Perhaps I helped some on their way. From them I certainly acquired some wisdom, although I did not realise it at the time. Such is life.”

Bill and Paulias Matane are now in their eighties but are able to keep in touch by email. Isn’t friendship wonderful!”

Please click on Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE to view the article and learn more.

I’m a huge fan of Superman and recently discovered that he has a fascinating history.

The character was created by two Cleveland, Ohio, high school students, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, in 1933.

It was especially interesting to learn that Superman was originally created a bald clairvoyant villain disposed to world domination. The character first appeared as a short story in a “fanzine” published by Jerry Siegel, in 1933, called Science Fiction: The Advance Guard of Future Civilization #3  and titled “The Reign of Superman”.

Later in 1933 Siegel changed the character to that of a hero bearing no resemblance to the clairvoyant evildoer. Superman was remodeled on a combination of the silent film star, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939), his bespectacled alter ego, on movie star and producer Harold Lloyd (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971), and Joe Shuster.  

The name “Clark Kent”  was created from the first names of movie stars Clark Gable and Kent Taylor. Lois Lane was modeled on Joanne Carter who became Siegel’s wife.  

The character was sold in 1938 to Detective Comics, Inc.  (later DC Comics) and Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) subsequently airing in various radio serials, television programs, films, newspaper strips and video games.

You can recognize him (just in case you come from another planet) in his blue costume, red cape and a large red and yellow “S” shield on his chest.  

He was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton and was rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father Jor-El only moments before Krypton’s destruction. He was adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife and named Clark Kent.

He started to display superhuman abilities at an early age which he resolved to use for the benefit of humanity when he became an adult. Superman lives in the city of Metropolis and as Clark Kent he is a journalist of the city newspaper called the Daily Planet.

Very early “Clark” started to display superhuman abilities and upon reaching maturity he resolved to use them for the benefit of humanity. Superman lives and operates in the fictional American city of Metropolis. As Clark Kent, he is a journalist for a Metropolis newspaper called the Daily Planet.

With the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic book.

Click on the video below to see the trailer of Superman: Unbound , scheduled to be released “June 14, 2013, on Blue-Ray, DVD, On Demand and for Download.” Looks great for 5 to 100 age group.

Superman: Unbound is  “Based on the Geoff Johns/Gary Frank 2008 release “Superman: Brainiac,” SUPERMAN: UNBOUND finds the horrific force responsible for the destruction of Krypton – Brainiac  descending upon Earth.”

Man of Steel is coming to movie  theaters on June 14, 2013.

ScotlandsPeople says:

All the statutory birth, marriage, and death indexes for 2012 have been made searchable on the ScotlandsPeople website. By law, all births in Scotland have to be registered, and local authority registrars send the original register pages to the National Records of Scotland (NRS) for permanent preservation in paper form. NRS then arranges for the pages to be digitally imaged for public access via ScotlandsPeople. In addition to searching names in ScotlandsPeople, you can learn more about the changing popularity of names using other resources of the National Records of Scotland.

Exploring changes in naming conventions in Scotland – babies’ names in 2012
You can gain a fascinating insight into the most popular and unusual names for babies registered during the period from January to November 2012 by looking at “Babies first names 2012″ on the National Records of Scotland website.

For the eighth year running, Sophie is the most popular girls’ name, and Jack the favourite name for boys. Emily, Olivia, Ava, Lucy and Sophie make up the top five girls’ names, while Lewis, Riley, James, Logan and Jack make up the top five names for boys.

During those 11 months, NRS registered births for around 26,400 girls and 27,700 boys. The top 50 girls’ names account for 41% of the registrations, and the top 50 boys’ names account for 44% of the registrations. There were 4,222 different first forenames for girls and 3,157 for boys – which shows just how many forenames exist in Scotland. Of the grand total of 7,400 different first names for girls and boys, almost 4,800 were unique.

You can read the full and final lists of all babies’ first forenames for the whole of 2012 – refer to tables 4 and 5. Going further back it is fascinating to see the most popular forenames changing since John and Mary ruled the lists in 1900. You can also learn about surnames in Scotland during the 140 years up to 2003.

When we think of our ancestors who traveled here to North America and others who journeyed to Australia and New Zealand we are reminded of how brave they were. Although for folks in Scotland and Ireland in the1700s and 1800s the New World was likely worth the risk as well as for good people who had no choice in the decision.

FindMyPast has added millions of new records as follows:

“Over the past six months, we’ve added hundreds of millions of records from right across the English speaking world – from Australia, New Zealand, the United States & Ireland – to our World collection, and made them accessible through upgrade to a World subscription or through PayAsYouGo credits.

These records include:

• US Censuses 1790-1940

• US WW1 Draft Registration cards

• Irish WW1 memorial records

• US WW2 Army enlistment records

• Records of Germans to America 1850-1897

• Records of Italians to America 1855-1900

• New Zealand electoral rolls 1853-1996

• Irish court & prison registers 1790-1924

• Australian school pupil indexes

• New Zealand WW1 soldiers records

• Ireland Births 1864-1958

• Ireland Deaths 1864-1958

• Ireland Marriages 1845-1958

• Australian Censuses 1841-1921

• Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858

• Irish Burial Registers 1618-2005

• Australian electoral rolls 1856-1940

• Convict arrivals in New South Wales 1788-1842“

To search these records click on Findmypast and select ‘All (excluding Britain)’ in the search box on the home page.”

One of the biggest surprises in the well-known ScotlandsDNA project is the fact that 10 per cent of Scottish men are directly descended from the Picts.

The fate of the tribe of fierce and enigmatic people who fought with Rome’s legions has been historically surrounded in mystery and they were assumed to have simply disappeared. Because of ScotlandsDNA project’s discovery, this version of history has been updated and it’s now believed they were outrun by political events and became assimilated by incoming Scots invasions from Ireland

The Picts were actually a confederation of tribes (like the modern clan system) who lived north of Scotland’s Forth and Clyde region, beyond the reach of the Roman Empire. They constituted the largest kingdom in Dark Age Scotland and successfully kept both Romans and Angles at bay. They were a dominant force in what is now Scotland for about 600 years.

The recently discovered DNA marker R1b-S530 suggests that 10 per cent of Scottish men are direct descendents of the people known as “Picti” (painted ones) by the Romans.

After testing this new Y-DNA marker R1b-S530 in more than 3,000 British and Irish men, Dr Jim Wilson, chief scientist at ScotlandsDNA project discovered it is ten times more common in those with Scottish grandfathers than those with English ­grandfathers.

“While ten per cent of more than 1,000 Scottish men tested carry R1b-S530, only 0.8 per cent of Englishmen have it.

About 3 per cent of men in Northern Ireland carry the ­lineage, but it was only seen once in more than 200 men from the Republic of Ireland.

It is believed the presence in Northern Ireland is due to the plantations of Lowland Scots in the 16th and 17th centuries. This is a pattern usually seen with markers that appear to be ­restricted to Scotland.”

Dr Wilson, is also a senior lecturer in population and disease genetics commented to the Scotsman newspaper that R1b-S530 is a very Scottish DNA marker and there is a huge difference between the Scots and the English. He considers this is a clear sign that while people do move around, a core group has remained at home in Scotland.  

I’m a little late with this blog post since National Library Week is usually celebrated during the second week of April. Nevertheless I’d still like to remind everyone of the importance of our libraries as resources for people need help, whether it be a literacy program, homework, or access to computers.

Although the video below is mainly for young people, please be reminded that there are adults out there who need the adult literacy programs provided by our public libraries:

FamilySearch has added 2.4 million indexed records and images this week from Brazil, German, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Peru, Ukraine, the United States, and Venezuela. Notable collection updates include the 1,033,852 images from the new Netherlands, Bibliothéque Wallonne Card Indexes from ca. 1500-1858, collection, and the 449,478 images from the Germany, Brandenburg, Berlin Probate Records from 1796-1853, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.