Genealogy Freebies: Website, Tutorials, Graphics

Family History Research brings up the word "Genealogy". If you get the bug, you'll be chasing them bones hither and yon, burning the midnight oil, trying to put the pieces together for current living family members, and those elusive ancestors. Building a family tree can be done with pencil and paper, or learning how to use one of the Family Tree programs. Your endless hours are now bearing fruit, and you're ready to share it with the world. Your work should not be kept a secret from others. Whether it be printed versions to share with other family, or an online presence, an objective of this time consuming work is to get it into the hands of as many people as possible, which will be preserved for future generations. The next person interested in the family history may be your great-great grandchild. Give them a legacy to go on.
Being interested in sharing prompted the title of this post. Printing stuff was easy, but I wanted an online presence. Finding FREE methods fit the budget just right. The following are intended to help you discover ways to share/improve your data. All FREE.

1) Database: If you would like a database program to store and create family history, consider the one you can download from LDS (familysearch.org) . http://www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/
It is totally FREE. Quite simple to learn, you'll have a professional database in no time.

2) Online presence. I found ROOTSWEB/ANCESTRY which offers FREE web space. Which is unlimited web space for genealogy purposes. Simple (like me), or hog wild (with graphics), its your choice. It's called FREEPAGES.
http://accounts.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index.cgi?op=show&page=freagree.htm
Read the simple rules, but take your time to create a NAME for your site. Select your account name carefully as names of accounts can NOT be changed and you may not close an account and open a new one.

Check your own ISP. Many of them do provide free web space to customers. Mine offers 10MB free. More than enough to create a web site.

COLLATERAL SITES: If you have cemetery/gravesite/tombstone information, consider FIND-A-GRAVE website to share your data. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gs&LGaction=li&
FREE, registration is required. Easy to link your deceased ancestors together, include obits, and make a link to your website. Search the site for people others may have posted to help your research.

2) BUILDING A WEBSITE
Your "free space" does not mean a website of your data will magically appear there. You first have to "create" a web site.. This could mean taking time to learn HTML, the computer language. Using some of the FREE tutorials, and NOTEPAD (on your computer), you'll master this quite quickly. I still use Notepad, and less than a dozen commands, to build my websites.
Tutorial 1: http://www.boogiejack.com/html_tutorials.html
Tutorial 2: http://www.htmldog.com/guides/
Tutorial 3: http://www.pagetutor.com/html_tutor/index.html

3)FREE "EDITOR" to create a website. Too lazy to learn HTML?  One of MANY free editors to download and create a website is Kompozer: WYSISYG.
 http://download.cnet.com/KompoZer/3000-10247_4-10655200.html?tag=contentBody;pop
 DO NOT, DO NOT, DOT NOT, DO NOT EVER use WORD to create a website. YUK!!!!!!!

4)BONUS FREEBIES:
Most of us like to fiddle with graphics (photos, images, documents, self created, etc.) Here's some FREE graphic editor downloads that will do more than you need.
The original PSP v3.12 version, offered as a 30 day trial (clever thinking) , it NEVER expires. A powerful tool to do more than what you need. Mine is now 7 years working.
http://www.pagetutor.com/downloads/psp312-32.html

IRFANVIEW is another free graphics editor to be impressed with. Download from:
http://www.irfanview.com/

Hope some of these have helped you in your Genealogy adventures.
Thanks for stopping by.






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Indiana Sunsets, Lake Michigan

Gosh I miss summer. Those blue sky days with hot sun. Getting off work and hitting the beach for 4-5 hours, hoping to enjoy a Lake Michigan sunset. NW Indiana has some wonderful beaches, and a prime location for spectacular summer sunsets.

  A windy day helps clear the skies. Notice the Chicago Sears Tower in the background?

Somedays the sinking globe is a marvelous sight to behold across the water.

Think I'm counting 120 days til Spring. See ya at the beach!!

Casinos of NW Indiana

Indiana introduced casino gambling, adding the term "Riverboat Gambling". The word "Boat" was a key element. It had to float on water, and be able to move (cruise). Although a cruise sometimes meant being only a few feet from the dock. A floating vessel with passengers, they also had to meet all USCG requirements, quite an investment compared to land based casinos. Passengers had to wait in long lines for the next boarding time. Each "cruise" lasted 2 hours.
Eventually they went to "open boarding", patrons could enter/depart 24/7. The boat no longer had to leave the dock. But it still had to float.
Casinos on water brings us to NW Indiana, and Lake Michigan. Lots of water! Having a shoreline of 35 miles, 5 gaming licenses were issued. Centrally located in a customer market with millions of people, the rush was on. The following map shows the location of the 5 Casinos.

Harrah's Horseshoe is in Hammond, Indiana.

              Ameristar is in East Chicago, Indiana

                                Majestic Star I & II are in Gary, Indiana, side by side at the same dock.

                                                   Blue Chip is in Michigan City, Indiana.

This is an informative post regarding their location, NOT an advertisement to get them business!!

You'll need to do your own homework to find more about the one arm bandits.

Obviously if you're not a gambler, you could care less about this post. Thanks for stopping by.

                             

The Feast: 2012

11/22/2012. The day of feasting and giving Thanks is almost upon us again. Let's hope your shopping excursions for necessities is about over, soon giving way to preparations in the kitchen, filling your home with mouth watering aromas. Some will opt to avoid mountains of dirty dishes that the process creates, and choose to dine out. Also available from various establishments are the fully cooked "heat n' serve" meals. Prices for a complete meal that will serve 6-8 seem to range from $60-150. And of course, thanks to the many charitable/public organizations who provide a delicious free meal to those in need. Being a long weekend for most, there may be long or short travel plans on your agenda. Whatever your mode of transportation, have a safe trip with family and friends.
My place will be a nice home cooked meal, but not overboard with a 16# Turkey!! Cooking does permit enough of those delicious leftovers too. The selection of meat will be a tasty Cornish Hen with a bit of stuffing. Bird is easy to cook, just some seasonings, poke it in the oven (make sure the oven is ON), do some basting, and watch for that crispy brown skin, something worth fighting over. Don't forget those pan drippings for Gravy. Mashed & Sweet Taters. Probably Corn. And an old family recipe for Kidney Bean Salad. Munching condiments will be Celery stuffed with Cream Cheese, Deviled Eggs, and some Jumbo Black Olives. An accompanying wine should be tasted beforehand too. Easy enough. Leave room for that home-made Pumpkin Pie too. One of the simplest to make ....... no peeling anything! Mix n' bake.
Those full bellies will soon tell the body it's time to digest, and snoozers will be spotted in a favorite chair, on the couch, or on the floor. Shoppers will be eagerly discussing plans for the Black Friday adventure, anxious to attack some of those pre-dawn bargains. Good luck in the crowds, that's not for me.
Enjoy your day of family traditions, and Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for stopping by.