Monday, February 1, 2021, 1pm-3pm PT Persons of Interest #Research Opportunity Join us to help tackle the brick walls in your tree! Go to https://skcgs.groups.io/g/Research-Group for meeting link, meeting reminders and discussion. This is a virtual meeting with closed captioning available. Dial-in (audio only) is also available.
Tuesday, February 2, 2021, 6:30pm-8:30pm PT Board Meeting SKCGS Board Meeting. All SKCGS members are invited to attend; only Directors may vote. Write to Board@skcgs.org for the meeting link.
Friday, February 5, 2021, 12:30pm-2:30pm PT German Interest Group (EGS) Topic is: “What’s in a Name: Going from Iowa back to Saxony”
How does someone locate an ancestral village when the original surname has evolved over time? Follow a near beginner as she builds upon clues discovered in ordinary documents and learn how taking some simple actions can be helpful in your family research. Presented by Beth Snyder. Visitors are always welcome and can request an invitation via Contact tab on the website no later than 2 days prior to the meeting: https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/
Saturday, February 6, 2021, 10am-noon PT Family Tree Maker User Group Question & Answer. Each month, we will learn about using the features of FTM. Go to https://skcgs.groups.io/g/FTMUG for meeting link, meeting reminders and discussion. This is a virtual meeting with closed captioning available. Dial-in (audio only) is also available.
Monday, February 8, 2021, 1pm-3pm PT Genetic Genealogy/DNA Topic is: GEDmatch, the Free Tools Go to https://skcgs.groups.io/g/Genetic-Genealogy for meeting link, meeting reminders and discussion. This is a virtual meeting with closed captioning available. Dial-in (audio only) is also available.
Monday, February 15, 2021, 1pm-3pm PT Technical User Group Topic is: All Things FamilySearch Go to https://skcgs.groups.io/g/TUG for meeting link, meeting reminders and discussion. This is a virtual meeting with closed captioning available. Dial-in (audio only) is also available.
Saturday, February 20, 2021, 9:30am PT Social time, 10am-Noon Program General Meeting & Speaker “Chronicling America: A Newspaper Site for Everyone” presented by Dana Palmer, CG, CGL Using online search engines can be tricky! Learn techniques to find elusive ancestors in newspapers on Chronicling America. Basic and advanced search techniques will be discussed, including tricks for Fraktur type and diacritics. Locating newspapers in print, microfilm and repositories will be covered. For meeting reminders and link, go to https://skcgs.groups.io/g/society This is a virtual meeting with closed captioning available. Dial-in (audio only) is also available.
Monday, February 22, 2021, 1pm-3pm PT Genealogy Chat Meet up and chat about genealogy subjects and topics. We have no agenda; we just like one another! Go to https://skcgs.groups.io/g/Society for meeting link, discussion and meeting reminders. This is a virtual meeting with closed captioning available. Dial-in (audio only) is also available.
SAVE THE DATE! Saturday, June 5, 2021 “LAWS, LEGACIES & LOSERS – A DAY WITH JUDY RUSSELL” South King County Genealogical Society is pleased to announce a full-day virtual seminar with Judy Russell, a noted speaker, genealogist, and writer with a law degree. We hope you can join us for a fun and informative day. More details will be posted on our website at http://skcgs.org/seminar.html as updates become available. Remember to mark your calendars and share the news with your friends.
Genealogical Journeys Our Speakers will be Jill Morelli and Linda Harms Okazaki. Jill’s topics: “Push and Pull: Decision-Making of the 19th Century Emigrant” and “Accessing and Using Scandinavian Records.” Linda’s Topics: “Finding Your Japanese Roots” and “20th Century Immigrants to the West Coast and Hawaii.” Door Prizes:All attendees will be eligible for Door Prizes. Must be present to win. All paid attendees will receive a coupon code to use at HQRL. Emcee and Virtual Meeting Host Cyndi Ingle, creator of Cyndislist.com will act as Emcee and Virtual Meeting Host.Detailed emails will be sent after registration. Mail-in registration must be postmarked by April 17, 2021. Online Registration closes on April 20, 2021. Please visit our site here or http://tpcgs.org/seminar.html to register.
Starting to spread the word for Skagit Valley Genealogical Society’s next monthly meeting. This one involves Irish research, covers some basics to be aware of when researching Irish ancestry and then follows the trail (paper and otherwise) of one Irish immigrant from County Cork to Skagit County in the last 1800s. Come join us!
Annual notice . We appreciate your interest in the news and information we provide about our organization and conference. This year, our international conference will be virtual. Follow developments on the IGGP website.
We remind our subscribers once a year that you have control over your subscription preferences and may change them, or unsubscribe, at any time. You will find the links to manage both options at the bottom of every email we send to you.
If you ever have a question about your subscription, please email us at info@iggp.org.
Registration Opened for NGS 2021 Family History Conference View this email in your browser NGS Announces Virtual 2021 Family History Conference Registration Opens 1 February 2021
Registration for the NGS 2021 Family History Conference opened 1 February 2021 at 1:00 p.m. (EST). Plans for our forty-third annual conference include a full week of virtual events* for individuals, societies, and organizations 17-21 May 2021.
Monday, 17 May, begins the week with a Kickoff Workshop for the NGS Delegate Council, the new advisory committee for member organizations including yours. This inaugural workshop will focus on helping delegates understand their role within NGS. Please make sure the name of Eastern Washington Genealogical Society’s delegate is on file with NGS.
Tuesday, 18 May, presents the debut of the SLAM! Idea Showcase, which highlights creative and innovative projects or programs by societies, libraries, archives, and museums (SLAMs). The day will also include presentations that assist librarians and others who serve genealogists.
In the coming days, we’ll be sending you a “call for proposals” for the SLAM! Idea Showcase.
On Wednesday and Thursday, 19‒20 May, our premier two-day virtual conference event―NGS 2021 Live! ―features award-winning authors Dani Shapiro and Ric Murphy; an opening session by esteemed genealogist and Virginia expert Barbara Vines Little; and presentations by nationally recognized speakers including Elizabeth Shown Mills, Thomas W. Jones, Judy Russell, Eric Grundset, Craig Scott, Janice Lovelace, and more. Two full days are planned by NGS to offer exciting new ideas to energize family historians’ research, announce the winners of NGS awards, and offer a unique experience―the camaraderie of thousands of fellow genealogists from throughout the United States and the world. Program content will include bonus lectures provided by conference sponsors and sponsoring organizations.
The week ends with Focus on Societies on Friday, 21 May. This all-day event is devoted to presentations offering expert advice for genealogy society leaders—on managing and growing your genealogical or historical society. The day will feature fourteen session topics including Jill Morelli’s kickoff with ideas and opportunities based on lessons learned during the pandemic, and the Society Shoutout.
A group registration rate is available for Focus on Societies.
In addition to NGS Live!, we will offer a choice of either a twenty or forty lecture package on-demand. Those who purchase a package may choose from more than eighty-five on-demand sessions available for viewing starting in June. Other programs will be priced separately. Throughout the week a virtual Expo Hall will be available.
Take advantage of the discounted Early Bird registration fee, plus member discounts, when you sign up by 15 March 2021.
*Note: Due to ongoing mandates in Virginia in regards to COVID-19 and our concern for the well-being of our attendees, exhibitors, volunteers, and staff, NGS will no longer be able to host an in-person conference in Richmond, Virginia in May 2021.
Saturday, February 6 Monthly Meeting (EWGS Meetings) 12:30 pm to 3:00 pmMeeting Via Zoom Margie Beldin will present:French Canadian Research and the Joy of Roman Catholic Records Margie Beldin is a member of the Tri-City Genealogical Society and has held positions as the President, Vice-President, Program Chair, Education Chair and Publicity Chair. She has a 40+ year career as a teacher but especially loves teaching genealogy.
Have you noticed the Blog banner changes every time you visit? The photos are submitted by readers like you — and Trish Hackett Nicola and Sue Schack Jensen and Jo-Anne Huber.
Horses in Vantage. Photo by Trish Hackett Nicola.
Thank you, Trish, Sue and Jo-Anne, for your contributions.
We’re always looking for scenic photos of our beautiful state for the rotating photo gallery on the blog banner.
Guidelines for the photos are few: •Landscapes, landmarks, and scenery photos are preferred. If, however, you have a perfect photo that includes people, please obtain their permission to post the photo. •Photo must have been taken in Washington State (this is the Washington State Genealogical Society blog, after all!). •Photo will be cropped to 1100 x 250 pixels, so keep that in mind. If in doubt, send it to us & we’ll figure it out. •You may submit as many photos as you want. •Final decisions on suitable photos will be made by the awesome WSGS Blog Team. •There’s no prize if your photo is chosen – just the satisfaction that your photo is being showcased on a blog viewed by hundreds of enthusiastic genealogists. •There’s no firm deadline to submit photos, just keep ‘em coming. We want to rotate lots of photos to keep the blog fresh.
To submit your photo, please email the image (jpg only, please); what, where, when, and by whom the photo was taken to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org.
Got questions? Email the blog team at WSGSBlog@wasgs.org.
This is great news fresh out of the MyHeritage oven!
As you know, in the past year, MyHeritage has transformed genealogy with our game-changing photo colorization and enhancement features. These features have delighted users all over the world and have been applied to 30 million photos.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce the release of yet another revolutionary photo feature: color restoration, which beautifully restores the colors in faded color photos. Unlike colorization, which simulates colors of black and white photos, the new color restoration feature is ideal for restoring scanned photos from the 1950s to the 1990s that were originally taken in color, but have faded over the years. This gives you the chance to revive your favorite moments from the days before digital photography. With color restoration, you get the authentic colors revived in seconds, and no colors are guessed in the process. As a bonus, color restoration also sharpens photos and improves their level of detail. When color restoration is applied, the original photo is left intact and a separate copy is created with the restored colors.
Over time, old color photos tend to fade. Bright and vibrant hues from decades past turn different shades. UV light can affect the chemical makeup of printed photos, causing them to turn sickly yellow and lose their colors. With color restoration on MyHeritage, even the most worn out color photos can come back to life, with exceptional results.
Color restoration is a powerful new addition to MyHeritage In Color™, our photo feature for colorizing black and white photos. The color restoration technology was licensed exclusively by MyHeritage from DeOldify deep learning experts Jason Antic and Dana Kelley, who also developed the world’s #1 colorization algorithms, that were licensed and integrated into MyHeritage. Colorization and color restoration technologies work differently but both make clever use of artificial intelligence.
When you upload your photo, MyHeritage first applies technology to quickly determine automatically if the photo is black and white (or sepia) or was originally taken in color. If the photo was originally taken in black and white, then you will have the option to colorize it, and if it was originally taken in color, you can choose to restore its colors.
Please see some incredible examples in our blog post hereand read more information in the press release below.
MyHeritage Releases Color Restoration Feature to Bring New Life to Faded Color Photos
MyHeritage In Color™ expanded, now beautifully restores faded color photos using AI technology licensed from DeOldify
Tel Aviv, Israel & Lehi, Utah, January 25, 2021 — MyHeritage, the leading global service for discovering your past and empowering your future, announced today the release of color restoration for faded color photos. A major enhancement to MyHeritage’s advanced suite of photo tools, color restoration revives the authentic colors in faded photos, with exceptional results.
Color restoration is ideal for old color photos from the 1950’s through the 1990’s, where the chemistry of printed photos stored in albums did not withstand the test of time and caused the colors to fade or turn yellow. The technology for color restoration was licensed exclusively from DeOldify, created by deep learning experts Jason Antic and Dana Kelley, and was integrated into MyHeritage. It accurately restores a photo’s original colors and sharpens the image in the process. Color restoration is a powerful new addition to MyHeritage In Color™, the company’s flagship photo feature for colorizing black and white photos, which was also developed by DeOldify and licensed exclusively by MyHeritage.
MyHeritage In Color™ and another AI-based feature, the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer, were released last year and have been used by consumers over 20 million times. Both have gone viral, received high acclaim, and have inspired a renewed appreciation for historical photos among consumers.
“In 2020, MyHeritage became the top online destination for colorizing, enhancing, and sharing historical photos,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “The addition of color restoration to our robust suite of photo features offers the incredible opportunity to bring cherished childhood memories back to life, and to share the beautifully revived photos with our family and friends. Nostalgia doesn’t get any sweeter than this!”
“We’re thrilled that our cutting-edge color restoration model will be enjoyed by the community as part of MyHeritage In Color™”, said Jason Antic and Dana Kelley, founders of DeOldify. “So much effort has gone into creating this software, and we can think of no better partner for bringing it to the market than MyHeritage, a company that is defined by innovation and whose mission is to make family history more accessible to people all over the world.”
Integration into the MyHeritage platform
Millions of people around the world use the MyHeritage platform to discover their family history and digitally preserve their family photos. With world-class technologies for colorizing and enhancing photos, and now with the addition of color restoration, MyHeritage offers cutting-edge tools that provide new perspectives on family history.
Color restoration is available on the MyHeritage platform on the web and on MyHeritage’s free mobile app for iOS and Android. The mobile app includes a built-in scanner so users can digitize family photos stored in physical albums. When a photo is uploaded to MyHeritage, the system automatically determines if the photo is black and white (or sepia), or was originally taken in color. Photos that were originally black and white can be colorized, and those that were taken in color can have their original colors restored. Color-restored photos can easily be shared with family and friends on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other social media. Restoring colors does not modify the photo, but creates a separate copy on MyHeritage alongside the original.
MyHeritage In Color™ is a freemium feature on MyHeritage. Users can restore the colors in 10 photos for free, after which continued use requires a subscription.
About MyHeritage
MyHeritage is the leading global discovery platform for exploring family history. With billions of historical records and family tree profiles, and with sophisticated matching technologies that work across all its assets, MyHeritage allows users to discover their past and empower their future. Launched in 2016, MyHeritage DNA has become one of the world’s largest consumer DNA databases, with 4.7 million customers. Since 2020, MyHeritage is home to the world’s best technologies for enhancing and colorizing historical photos. MyHeritage is the most popular DNA test and family history service in Europe. www.myheritage.com
MyHeritage Ltd., P.O.Box 50, 3 Ariel Sharon Blvd., Or Yehuda 60250, Israel 60250, Israel, +972-3-6280000
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