Announcement from Our Podcast Hosting Service Means Huge Expansion of Reach

Good Morning!

Libsyn (https://www.libsyn.com/) has been the hosting service for The Genealogy Guys podcast since we began in September 2005, and they have proved to be impeccably reliable and professional. (Never an outage or technical glitch!) 

Libsyn announced yesterday that they are "teaming up with radio company Entercom to distribute Libsyn podcasts on Radio.com. Through the agreement, Radio.com users will now have direct access to the 62,000 active podcasts, totaling over 4.9 million episodes, hosted on Libsyn. The Libsyn network reaches over 111 million monthly unique audience members." (Read the announcement in Podcast Business Journal at https://podcastbusinessjournal.com/libsyn-partners-with-entercom/.)

What does this mean for you? We already know that podcast listenership in general is accelerating at breakneck speed. Libsyn has verified from our statistics that The Genealogy Guys Podcast and the Genealogy Connection podcast are downloaded more than 93% of all their podcasts. That places us in the very upper echelon of podcast communications around the world. With the partnership between Libsyn and Entercom, however, our episodes and your advertisements and exposure will have the potential of reaching an unprecedented number of listeners around the globe. This is great news for everyone!

You already know that The Genealogy Guys Podcast has recently added both Blaine T. Bettinger, Ph.D, J.D., and Cyndi Ingle (Cyndi's List) as regulars for GGP episodes. Listenership has increased with these new segments. We also communicate with listeners and others in the community using our podcast Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/genealogyguys/), The Genealogy Guys Podcast Blog (http://blog.genealogyguys.com/), and via Twitter (@genealogyguys).

Our latest genealogical endeavor is the launch of a new Facebook group called The Genealogy Squad (https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogysquad/) with principals and administrators Blaine T. Bettinger, Cyndi Ingle, and Drew and I from The Genealogy Guys. Since its launch on 6 May 2019, we have added 12,181 members to the group as of this writing. Interest in the podcast is growing through that exposure with group members around the globe.

Drew and I truly appreciate the wonderful support of the sponsors of our podcasts. We're always looking for new ways to expand our listenership and therefore promotion of their products and services. I think you will agree that this partnership announcement offers us all the potential for greater exposure for us all.

Libsyn Logo (https://www.libsyn.com/))

Radio.com Logo (https://www.radio.com/)

6 previous episodes re-released with improved audio

After some of our listeners let us know that some of our most recent episodes were suffering from some high-pitched sound problems, we figured that the cause was most likely our new audio mixer.  We've sent the mixer back to the factory for repair or replacement, but in the meanwhile, we're back to using our older mixer, which doesn't seem to have the same sound problems.

We sent the problematic episode files to a local professional audio editor, who very quickly returned to us cleaned audio files. (Thanks again, Jimmy!) 

We have now uploaded those cleaned files to our podcast feed.  You may want to delete the following episodes from your podcast feed (or from wherever you may have downloaded them) and download fresh copies:

The Genealogy Guys Podcast #359, #360, and #361
Genealogy Connection #052, #053, and #054

Let us know if you are still hearing any audio problems with those episodes or with any later ones.  (The Guys are of a "certain age" and cannot hear very high frequencies that our younger listeners can hear, so we depend upon all our listeners.)

Memorial Day is a Time for Memories

This is a guest blog post from our podcast sponsor, Vivid-Pix, 

and we wanted to share it with you.

For many Americans, Memorial Day is the start of summer vacations, barbecues and outings. It’s the capstone of a three-day holiday weekend. Memorial Day, however, is much more than that for millions of Americans who remember those who died in service to the country. 

Memorial Day is not just a great time to get the family together for a barbecue, but also to share stories and remembrances of those who have served. This is especially important for younger family members who may not have met their warrior ancestors. These stories can bring to context to historical events and conflicts. 

Photography is important to remembering these events. Sharing and preserving family moments with pictures is exactly what photography is about.

There’s lots of ways to use photos to remember service members; here are some ideas: 

• Build a scrapbook dedicated to service members tours, including bootcamp graduation photos, graduation photos in uniform and snapshots sent from base postings. Add medals, ribbons and other tokens to the scrapbook.
• Capture the stories of the fallen hero. Talk to the parents, siblings and friends of the service member to add another dimension to their sacrifice. Record them on audio or video to preserve the emotion. 
• Don’t forget certificates, letters and other documents. In a scanning or digitizing project - even if the primary ingredient is photos - there are probably letters, certificates, documents, news clippings and other items that help tell the story. These can fade or are on paper more fragile than photos, so take care when scanning them. 

Click on the arrow below to view the video about photo preservation and enlarge it to full screen. 

For more information about the Flip-Pal / Vivid-Pix RESTORE solution, CLICK HERE.

As you look through the family photos and you come across faded photos and documents, use Vivid-Pix RESTORE to bring back the color and contrast. This easy-to-use Windows and Mac software has received rave reviews from everyday users looking to bring life back into their photo memories. CLICK HERE for the free trial.

USING CITY (AND OTHER HISTORICAL) DIRECTORIES IN YOUR RESEARCH

Here is a guest post from our friend Miriam J. Robbins that we'd like to share with you.

Unsung Heroes Awards Are Coming to JAMBOREE!

The Unsung Heroes Awards 

Are Coming to JAMBOREE!

Will you be attending JAMBOREE in Burbank next week? If so, we want you to join us, The Genealogy Guys Podcast and Vivid-Pix , maker of RESTORE software, to acknowledge and celebrate the efforts of some amazing people and organizations that have digitized, indexed, and/or transcribed records for the rest of us in the genealogy community. We will be announcing the winners of the Unsung Heroes Award winners!

And we are so excited!

JAMBOREE is hosted by the Southern California Genealogical Society at the Marriott Convention Center in Burbank, California, on May 30 to June 2, 2019. This is a very special year because it represents fifty years of JAMBOREE! Walk in registrations are welcome each day.

We will be announcing the Unsung Heroes Awards for the second quarter of 2019 at the conference and you do not want to miss these announcements! Join us on Saturday afternoon, June 2nd, in the grand foyer of the convention center at 1:30 PM where SCGS will have a birthday party with a huge cake to celebrate its anniversary. In addition, Drew Smith of The Genealogy Guys Podcast and Rick Voight, CEO of Vivid-Pix, will be making a tremendously special award for a landmark project. That will be followed in the Exhibit Hall with the announcement of the Unsung Heroes Award winners in each of the Individual, Society, and Library and Archive categories, taking place at the Flip-Pal/Vivid-Pix booth.

We won't announce the winners just yet, of course, but we promise that you will be excited and inspired with the award winners' work. We can't wait to share the announcements and we want YOU to be there!

Learn more about attending JAMBOREE 2019 by visitong http://genealogyjamboree.com/.


For complete details about the Unsung Heroes Awards and to nominate yourself or someone else for future awards, please visit the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website at https://ahaseminars.com/cpage.php?pt=24.

(c) Copyright Aha! Seminars, Inc. TM

Planning Cemetery Trips with RootsMagic

The following was received as part of the "RootsMagic News".

It’s Memorial Day weekend in the United States which means that many of you will be visiting gravesites of friends and family to honor and remember them. Did you know that RootsMagic can help you plan your visits and make sure that you don’t miss any ancestral resting spots? Listing Everyone Buried in a Location Would you like to have a list of everyone who was buried in a given location? The Individual List in RootsMagic does just what you need.  To create the report: 1. Choose Reports > Print a Report from the Main Menu. 2. Select Individual List from the report types and click Create Report. The Report Settings screen will appear. 3. In the People to print option, choose Selected people 4. In the People to include box, choose Select from list. The Select People screen will appear.  5. Click on the Mark group button, then choose Select people by data fields. The Search for information screen will appear. 6. In the first row, set the options to Burial, place, contains, and the name of the location you wish to search. 7. Click OK three times until you return to the Report Settings screen. 8. Check/Uncheck any options from the Information to include section to you wish to show or hide. 9. Click Generate Report to see the list. Voila! You now have a list of all individuals in your file that are buried in a given location. You can also experiment with different options to include precisely the people and information you need for your trip. And while you’re there, don’t forget to take pictures of the gravesites and record GPS coordinates to record in RootsMagic for later. But that’s the subject of another tip for another day. Happy Memorial Day!

All of MyHeritage's Military Records Are Searchable for Free May 22-29, 2019

I wanted to let you know that ALL of our 47 million military records from around the world are searchable for FREE on MyHeritage from May 22 to 28, 2019, to commemorate Memorial Day. Military records are valuable resources that provide insight into the lives of those who have served in the armed forces, as well as their families. With these records, users can learn about their ancestors and honor their memory and service to their country. You can read about this in our blog. Please feel free to let your acquaintances know and share the link to the free records, and the image on your social media channels. Daniel HorowitzGenealogy Expert

The Genealogy Squad Passes the 10,000 Member Mark!

The Genealogy Squad on Facebook just passed the 10,000 mark this morning. Since its launch on May 6, 2019, people from around the world have joined the group to take advantage of this new genealogy resource.

Blaine T. Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D, Cyndi Ingle, Drew Smith, and George G. Morgan are the principals behind this new Facebook group and its administrators. Visit the site at https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogysquad/ to join and to become part of this remarkable new facility!

MyHeritage Expands to Health; Launches New DNA Test Offering Powerful and Personalized Health Insights for Consumers

Click to enlarge and read this image.

MyHeritage Expands to Health; Launches New DNA Test Offering Powerful and Personalized Health Insights for Consumers

The new MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test provides comprehensive health reports for conditions affected by genetics including heart disease, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease

Tel Aviv, Israel & Lehi, Utah — MyHeritage, the leading global service for family history and DNA testing, announced today a major expansion of its DNA product line with the launch of the MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test. The test provides a new dimension of genetic insight with comprehensive health reports that can empower future health and lifestyle choices. It is a superset of the current MyHeritage DNA Ancestry-Only test, and includes its pillar features: a percentage breakdown of ethnic origins and matching to relatives through shared DNA. MyHeritage is now the only global consumer DNA company to offer an extensive health and ancestry product in over 40 languages.

The launch of the Health + Ancestry product distinguishes MyHeritage as the only major service that bridges consumers’ past, present, and future: MyHeritage’s integrated suite of products enable users to discover their family history and ethnic origins, find new relatives, and receive valuable insights to help manage choices regarding their health that may impact their future well-being.

“Our Health + Ancestry test is the next step in the evolution of MyHeritage. After 16 years of changing lives for the better through family history research and genetic genealogy, we are excited to expand our mission and try to improve and save lives as well. Our vision is to integrate our successful family history technologies with the new health product in innovative ways that bridge heritage and heredity to deliver deeper insights for our users,” said Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “We are proud to be part of a movement to democratize healthcare globally and make genetic testing accessible to millions of people, and allow them to discover what makes them unique.”

The MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test provides health reports that show users their risk of developing or carrying genetic conditions. Reports include conditions where specific genes contribute to the risk, such as hereditary breast cancer, late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and late-onset Parkinson’s disease; conditions associated with multiple genes, such as heart disease, and type 2 diabetes; and carrier status reports on conditions that can be passed down from a couple to their children, such as Tay-Sachs disease and cystic fibrosis.

In total, MyHeritage’s Health + Ancestry test covers one of the most extensive ranges of conditions offered by an at-home DNA test: 11 Genetic Risk Reports, including a hereditary breast cancer (BRCA) report that tests 10 pathogenic variants; 3 Polygenic Risk Reports; and 15 Carrier Status Reports. 

The World Health Organization identifies cardiovascular disease as the number one cause of death globally. This makes MyHeritage’s unique report for heart disease risk particularly beneficial. This report is based on a cutting-edge method called Polygenic Risk Score that examines hundreds, and in some cases thousands of variants across the entire genome.
In addition to heart disease, the Health + Ancestry product also includes a Polygenic Risk Score for type 2 diabetes, a condition that has significantly increased in prevalence in recent decades and now affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and 40% of Americans within their lifetime. MyHeritage is also unique in providing a third Polygenic Risk Score for breast cancer, which delivers a risk assessment for breast cancer when none of the BRCA variants that MyHeritage tests for are found. MyHeritage is currently the only major home DNA testing company to offer Polygenic Risk Reports for multiple conditions, and more Polygenic Risk Reports will be added shortly after the product’s initial release. The three initial Polygenic Risk Reports support only populations with European ancestry, but the company has begun conducting research to allow the polygenic reports to cover a broader spectrum of populations in the future.

The new product is based on robust scientific research conducted by the MyHeritage science team led by MyHeritage’s Chief Science Officer, Dr. Yaniv Erlich. It has been in development for two years and leverages the company’s growing expertise in genomics. MyHeritage’s prowess in the field of consumer genetics has led to the growth of its DNA database to 3 million people in under two and a half years. To balance the needs of genetic genealogy and health testing, MyHeritage has custom-designed a new DNA chip using Illumina’s Global Screening Array (GSA). The new chip provides MyHeritage with the flexibility to add reports for more conditions, without the need for users to retest their DNA. Several new health reports are already in the pipeline for release over the coming months following the company’s rigorous validation processes.

MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry is a Laboratory Developed Test, processed in a CLIA certified and CAP accredited DNA lab in Texas. The at-home DNA test is an easy and painless cheek swab, and does not require spitting as some other tests do, which makes it more suitable and convenient for all populations, including older people.

Health reports only determine users’ genetic risk for the supported conditions. However, all users are required to complete a personal and family health history questionnaire, to ensure that each user receives the reports appropriate for them. MyHeritage works with PWNHealth, an independent physician network and genetic counseling service, to provide end-to-end physician oversight of the MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test for all U.S. customers, which includes genetic counseling, if appropriate. PWNHealth’s physician oversight and genetic counseling fee is included in the total price.

Privacy is strictly enforced. All health data is protected by state-of-the-art encryption. Health report data is secured using additional password protection and is so secure that even MyHeritage employees cannot access it. MyHeritage has never licensed or sold user data, and has committed to never do so without obtaining explicit user consent. MyHeritage is the only consumer DNA company that has pledged to never sell data to insurance companies. It also applies a strict policy to prohibit use of its DNA services by law enforcement agencies.

The MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry kit is available at the price of $199 + shipping. Users who have already purchased a MyHeritage DNA test for ethnicity and genealogy matching can upgrade to receive health reports for $120. To order, visit the MyHeritage DNA website. An annual Health subscription is available as an optional add-on to the new DNA kit, which grants users access to new health reports as they are released. As a special benefit for the launch, the Health subscription is currently offered for free for the first twelve months and users can cancel it anytime.

The new health product is not intended to independently diagnose, prevent, or treat any disease or condition or tell users anything about their current state of health in the absence of medical and clinical information. The product is also not intended for making medical decisions, including prescription or dosing of medications. Users may need to obtain further services from their physician, a genetic counselor, or other healthcare provider, in order to obtain diagnostic results regarding the conditions or diseases indicated within the MyHeritage DNA health reports. The health reports provide genetic risk information based on assessment of specific genetic variants but do not report on users’ entire genetic profile. The health reports do not detect all genetic variants related to a given disease, and the absence of a variant tested does not rule out the presence of other genetic variants that may be related to the disease. For most diseases, currently known genes are only responsible for a portion of the overall risk. Other factors such as environment and lifestyle may affect the risk of developing a given disease and, depending on the condition, may be more relevant predictors. If a user’s data indicate that the user is not at elevated genetic risk for a disease or condition, this should not be interpreted as meaning that the user is safe from developing the disease or condition. The opposite is also true; if a user’s data indicates that the user is at an elevated genetic risk for a disease or condition, it does not mean that the user will definitively develop the disease or condition. Any findings within the health reports should be confirmed and supplemented by additional medical and clinical testing as recommended by the user’s healthcare provider.

MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry is available globally except in a few countries that do not allow health-related consumer genetic testing. In the USA, it is available in all states except New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, where separate laboratory certifications are required and are currently being pursued. Altogether, MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry is now the genetic test for health available in the greatest number of languages and with the widest global reach.

MyHeritage Ltd.,
P.O.Box 50, 3 Ariel Sharon St.,
Or Yehuda, Israel

Ohio Genealogical Society SQL Volunteer Needed

We received this from the Ohio Genealogical Society and are pleased to share it with you.

The Genealogy Guys Receive Award from Ohio Genealogical Society

The Genealogy Guys were honored with an award at the Ohio Genealogical Society's 2019 Conference in Mason, Ohio.

President Margaret Cheney bestowed a custom-crafted metal sculpture of the OGS logo at the society's business luncheon on Saturday, May 4, 2019. The award recognizes George G. Morgan and Drew Smith for their strong support of the society and its annual conference.

We are honored and humbled by the award. Thank you, OGS!

Vivid-Pix 20% Off Sale through Genealogy Guys

You've been hearing and seeing a lot about Vivid-Pix Restore, the dynamic software that works with all types of images - photographs, documents, newspaper clippings, downloaded images from commercial genealogy databases, and more - to produce more brighter and more legible images.

Vivid-Pix just released a new version of the software that includes support for metadata and the use of Artificial Intelligence image improvement capabilities.

You can now buy your own copy of the software at a 20% discount as a Genealogy Guys podcast fan. Instead of $49.95, the price is $39.95, and this deal is good through June 17, 2019. Go to

https://vivid-pix.com/RESTORE?pop_code=3GenealogyGuysSAVEBT and purchase the Windows or Mac version. The license allows you to use RESTORE on two computers with the same email address. (You can also use the free trial before you buy.)

Vivid-Pix is not just a sponsor of the podcast, they are friends and partners who want everyone to succeed by using RESTORE.