Today’s Google Doodle features the birthdate of author Jorge Luis Borges who was born in Buenos Aires in 1899.
Is your website or blog "mobilized"?
With the growing popularity of smartphones and the prediction “that within the next five years more users will connect to the Internet over mobile devices than desktop PCs”, the need to optimize websites and blogs becomes more important.
Do you know how your site displays on a mobile device? For an analysis of how your site might look on mobile devices, use the W3C mobileOK Checker.
Then head over to Mowser to see what it should look like. Of course you could encourage visitors to your site to use Mowser, but most wouldn’t want to be bothered with the extra step.
I searched for and found a handy plugin for WordPress that detects the type of browser used by visitors, then automatically renders the mobile version of the page.
Read about best practices and useful resources at the W3C Mobile Web Initiative site.
The Debate Continues
The debate over access to original birth certificates continues. Listen to this discussion on The Takeaway, a national morning news program.
Adoptees Fight for Access to Original Birth Certificates
Monday, August 02, 2010
Who Do You Think You Are?
As I have posted earlier, few television shows catch my interest, however there is a new one that I think I’ll check out. Premiering on NBC on March 5, “Who Do You Think You Are?” could be an interesting show. The website briefly describes the series: “Seven celebrities embark on the journeys of their lives–the quest to discover the genealogical roots of who they are.”
There’s sure to be some surprises when individuals explore their ancestry.
PBS Series, Faces of America
Tonight I will tune into a new PBS series “Faces of America”. Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. who also hosted the PBS series, “African American Lives”, this latest series again uses the “tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 renowned Americans”.
In case you missed the “African American Lives”, the episode are online.
Genealogy Bug
Genealogy has been a hobby of mine for quite a number of years. The skills I have learned from this hobby have helped in my practice. In fact, when I teach people-locating classes, I suggest that the students study genealogy and apply some of those same techniques used when researching family history.
I recently attended a genealogy conference and was glad I did, but almost talked myself out of going. It had been raining for most of the week and while that’s not unusual for some places, here in the desert, it can make a real mess. There were road closures, snarled traffic and generally crabby drivers on the roads. Desert dwellers miss their sunshine.
Allowing myself plenty of time to negotiate the traffic, I arrived early enough to visit the exhibit hall. I made a couple of purchases, but more interesting was the people-watching opportunity. In a crowded exhibit hall, one cannot help but overhear conversations and the common interest provides plenty of opportunities to talk with strangers.
There is the “need to know” one’s place in family history, but what is it that compels people to sit in front of microfilm readers until their eyes are red and squinty? What makes people congregate in a crowded exhibit hall and stand in long lines to purchase a magnabrite® ? As my mom says, “You tell me and we’ll both know.”
Too Bad There Will Be No More Yahoo!
Details of the deal announced earlier this summer have been finalized.
“Under the no-cash deal, Yahoo! will use Microsoft’s new Bing search engine on its own sites while Yahoo! will provide the exclusive global sales force for premium search advertisers.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091205/tc_afp/usitcompanyinternetyahoomicrosoftgoogle
As one of my friends said, “This can’t be good.”
Adoption "Reality" Show
The New York Times reports, “Two Reality Shows Stir Publicity and Anger” . Coverage of “Find My Family” begins at the bottom of the page.