Some Digression April 26, 2006
Posted by trmurphy in Life and Ramblings.add a comment
While thinking about todays toys, I thought about some of my childhood pursuits. One I use to enjoy was to make little sailboats out of twigs and paper. They would float them down the driveway and into the street gutter out front of the house after it rained. (I don't remember the water being dirty or muddy… I do recall everything seemed cleaner, nicer, smelled better after it rained. ) So, I got to thinking … I can't retrieve a picture that was never taken at age 6. But it would be nice to (almost) see the location. Well the driveway is there, and the street is obvious, so you only need imagine the gutter. Since I now like to play with the PC, and maps… I managed to "almost" create the background for my old "canals". Check out the location in 20 years…. you'll see the gutter too. I thought this exercise would be a good opportunity for an example of Digress, but I AM NOT IMPRESSED… Oh well, did you like the map stuff?? http://news.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=14217&t=h&om=1&ll=42.964029,-78.872008&spn=0.001193,0.003819 is zoomed even larger…
The Turkies are Back April 18, 2006
Posted by trmurphy in Life and Ramblings.add a comment
As I sat on my front porch Saturday, Luke and I were amazed to hear and see a (confused?) huge turkey land in the driveway and saunter across the street. I'd seen deer in our development before, but this is the first turkey! This photo shows a guys back yard about a mile from me where he feeds the turkeys. Some days there must be 30 birds to be seen from the heavily trafficed Sheafe Road.
Then again, yesterday, on South Smith Road in Unionvale, a single turkey crossed the road in front of us…. Getting to be as common as deer.
How I Use my Genealogy Programs April 4, 2006
Posted by trmurphy in Computing, Genealogy, the Journey.1 comment so far
I make all updates into the PC program TMG. Periodically (I'm going to shoot for 1/quarter), I export the contents to a Ged file which I can then load into phpGedView.
Advantages
- Users aren't bothered with update software
- Users don't interfere with each others updates
- Better control over content
- I have the advantage of TMG reports, analysis, and guidance, etc.
Disadvantages
- User can't see his updates right away
- Other user's view is always a little inaccurate
Of course, I'm always open to suggestions and requests. If for any reason somebody needed a quicker update, I would accomodate.
Some Murphy Numbers April 3, 2006
Posted by trmurphy in TomSide.add a comment
The 5 generations of Mom & Dad's descendants consists of 74 people. Birthdates range from Dad's 1/14/1902 to Jenna and Jordan Murphy (May 23, 2005) of the 4th generation. The youngest of the 5th generation are also twins: Alex and Alexia Castro born Aug 27, 2001.
Last Full Group Pic April 3, 2006
Posted by trmurphy in Family News.add a comment
I should have started off the Family News category with this photo. It was taken 10/2005 at Tim's when the twins were Christened.
In Back
Grandpa holding Jordan, Tim&Caroline, Grandma holding Jenna,
Chris, Deb, Lisa, Kyle, Ed Kennedy
In Front: Deb's John, Chris' Kate & Kira, Kerry in front of Deb.
Software I’ve Used for Genealogy April 1, 2006
Posted by trmurphy in the Journey.add a comment
I now use: ( TMG,phpGedView, GenView ). In the past I’ve used: FTM, Brothers Keeper, Apple II+ Basic
TMG The Master Genealogist I bought this in late 2005. It is supposed to be the most “professional”, flexible, full functioned program on the market. It has a lot of citation/reference features. I thought it was going to have a lot more reporting/charting capability than FTM. Well, it is better, but maybe not sensationally. The list reports let you list out just about anything. The main problem is learning difficulty. It’s a bear. The
more I use it the better I like it. Perhaps since I’m not a professional genealogist, I should have stayed with FTM. But there is much more room for my “growth”. We’ll see.
FTM Family Tree Maker I used this for about 7/8 years; version 3 thru 9 I think. Good intermediate gene. program.
BK Brother’s Keeper I still see occasional references to this old package.
The Apple Basic program must have been in the late 70’s. Main thing was to organize the data and print out basic data.
The above were all used for single PC usage. phpGedView is a server of Genealogy Info for online access via the internet. Its relatively new and free…. and therefore I think has some bugs left… But I think it’ll do the trick. An alternative would be to use a commercial package aligned closely with TMG. Update/maintenance of data could push me to it. Not sure yet.
GenView is a real nifty little package for casual view of a Ged file. A ged file is the standard export file for gene. data. I particularly like the ability to easily produce (Readonly) executable/searchible copy for use by other family members.
