IT Simple Tip #3: Basic new e-mail form

I have used the Google Mail new mail form to demonstrate the basics points of e-mail creation. I chose this one as it is free to use.

Basic e-mail fields on create e-mail

I will go into more detail about e-mail elsewhere in this blog.

Family History: Record Keeping

What sort of information should you collect about your ancestors and other family members:

• Name full name including any alternatives such as nicknames or name changes due to deed poll
• Titles/Rank if your family member was in the military, a minister of religion or a baronet etc.
• Date of birth
  
• Place of birth be as full as possible including county/state and country, if you have actual street address this is even better
• Baptism/Christening/other religious ceremonies these can help pinpoint Date of birth even if you haven’t got the actual date
• Parents’ names
  
• Occupation(s) this adds more interest to your tree
• Marriage date/place where applicable – you may find your family married in same church through the generations
• Spouse/Partners full name where applicable
• Children’s full names and date of birth where applicable
• Place of residence with date you can track the movements of your family through addresses on birth, marriage and death records as well as census records
• Other names if you find other people’s names on records then it can be worth noting them down as they may turn out to be family members
• Military service information dates, ranks, medals etc.
• Miscellaneous information photographs, newspaper articles, schools – basically anything that makes the person more interesting or provides clues for finding out more

It is essential to keep good track of your family history data not only the actual data but the source of it. It may well be that a few years down the line you get a conflicting piece of information on an ancestor and you may need to go back to the other source to double check.

IT Simple Tip #2: Acronyms etc.

The Internet and computers are confusing enough sometimes and then people throw acronyms into the loop it can seem like trying to read a foreign language. A lot of them are used to replace the fact that there is no visual contact with the person writing the message. Here are just some of the more common ones that pop up on websites, social networks and text messaging.

LOL laugh out loud

ROFL rolling on the floor laughing

OH other half

DH dearest husband

DD darling daughter

DS darling son

: -) happy

: -( sad

:-p not being serious (tongue sticking out)

l8r later

TY thank you

TMI too much information

BRB be right back

FF Follow Friday – on Twitter a recommendation to follow another person

PICNIC Problem In Chair Not In Computer

RTFM Read the * Manual

HD hard drive

ATM at the moment

DM direct message in Twitter

RT retweet the message in Twitter

There a re lot more but these are just a few that may confuse or mislead!

Getting started in family history

You can get started on your family tree with no expense other than paper and a pen or pencil so it is an easily affordable hobby to start off with. All you need to do is set down what you already know from personal knowledge and then speak to other older family members to see what they can add.

The key information you need for each person on your tree is as follows:

• full name
• date and place of birth
• date and place of marriage (where applicable)
• spouse name (where applicable)
• date and place of death (where applicable)
• names of any children

By word of mouth you may well be able to go back in the late 1800s or early 1900s with very little effort. It maybe that some of the key bits of information are missing but these can be filled in at a later date.

You can then construct a very simple family tree starting with yourself and moving backwards:

Sample Family Tree

I got this one free from http://www.obituarieshelp.org/ .

Once you have filled in what you and your family already know then you can start to work on the blanks.

IT Simple Tip #1: Keyboard Shortcuts

I have to start somewhere so starting with something simple! During my years working in schools I discovered that it was things like learning basic keyboard shortcuts that made people’s lives a lot easier.


So here are the most important shortcuts you can learn:

Name	Windows	Mac	Result
Copy	Ctrl+C	Cmd+C	Copies selected item
Paste	Ctrl+V	Cmd+V	Pastes the last item you copied/cut
Cut	Ctrl+X	Cmd+X	Deletes selected item and holds to paste elsewhere
Select All	Ctrl+A	Cmd+A	Highlights all the items on the page so you can quickly copy/cut or delete

HTML Tables

 

There are many more shortcuts that each application uses but the the four above are the ones that you will use on an almost daily basis.


More tips to come and please feel free to prompt me with a question!

Welcome!

As its a new year I decided to start in a new blog as a starting point for setting myself up in business later this year. My original blog will carry on with the personal stuff and anything to do with product reviews and also hints and tips will now appear on here instead.

If you have any questions relating to IT or family history then please post them on here and I will do my best to answer them! Anyone wanting a review done on products or books then please get in touch.