Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Technology - for Carnival of Genealogy #43

Here's the gist: What technology do you most rely on for your genealogy and family history research? Select one piece of hardware (besides your computer), one piece of software (besides your internet browser), and one web site/blog (besides your own) that are indispensable to you. Resist the urge to dilute the impact of your 3 choices by mentioning several others you use and appreciate as well. This is an exercise in appraising the technology you use/recommend the most.

Hardware: I would have to say that it would be my printer. Mine is getting dated, and I really need to replace it, but it's still working, and I don't really want to spend another $100 when it is working fine.

Software: Legacy Family Tree. I have used several different ones and have installed trials of others. In the long run, I always come back to it. I'm glad that I waited to get into genealogy until software programs were available, but I made the mistake of starting out on a very limited program.

Web Site/Blog: Janice has already chosen mine, but it was what I was intending to use, so I'm sticking with it--Google. Google is more than a search engine. I don't use their blog reader because I use another online one. I have used Picasa, their photo software. I love their books! Google Earth is another application they have. I'm not a huge fan of their applications (Google Docs, spreadsheets, etc.) but I'd use them in a pinch. They are just limited in their capabilities. I use their Gmail and Blogger. I've recently signed up for Google analytics. I'll see how it compares with others.

Runner-ups: My digital camera in the hardware category. Paint Shop Pro in the software category. Ancestry.com in the web site category. (I hate to use a subscription site, but the truth is that my third and fourth choices would also fall into the subscription category as well.)

3 comments:

Janice said...

Lori,

Great selections! I will admit to using several of the top-rated genealogy subscriptions, but I wanted to mention some of the less-thought of!

Toodles!

Janice

Bubba said...

Lori,

Great suggestions. I am amazed at the number of people who are choosing Google but, as I stated on other blogs, I guess we don't realize how much we rely on it. I too use the Google Mail and I have used Picasa in the past.

I'm not a big fan of subscription sites but I have to admit my free trial of Ancestry has been nice.

Ken

Colleen said...

Perhaps I need a lesson in using Google as things other than a search engine. Several COGgers have chosen it, yet I haven't explored it, apparently. Though I must say, I do have Picasa, and I, um, er, HATE it. I don't see any rhyme or reason to it's organization.