George and Drew, the Genealogy Guys, would like to wish all our friends, family, and every genealogist a wonderful new year filled with great research successes!
Saturday, December 31, 2022
Thursday, December 29, 2022
MyHeritage Announces New Global Name Translation™ for DNA Matches
Just Received from MyHeritage
MyHeritage has long made a name for itself as the go-to destination for international genealogy. This strength comes from the fact that MyHeritage is translated into 42 languages, and is the most popular genealogy platform in most non-English speaking countries, in addition to its widespread popularity in the English-speaking world. Users around the world have built millions of family trees on MyHeritage, and when combined with diverse historical record collections and unique technology for overcoming language barriers, it’s clear why MyHeritage is the leading family history service in Europe and many other countries.
Our commitment to innovation means that we’re constantly adding new technologies, while improving those that are already on MyHeritage even further. Today, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve taken our Global Name Translation Technology™ to the next level, and applied it to DNA Matches!
Language can often serve as an obstacle when exploring your origins in a different country. Back in 2015, MyHeritage pioneered Global Name Translation™, a unique technology to help users overcome language barriers as they conduct their family history research. Global Name Translation™ automatically translates names in family trees and historical records from one language to another, enabling users to connect with relatives and locate historical records in different and sometimes unexpected languages. We first applied this technology to search results in our historical record search engine and integrated it into our matching technologies for new information added to family trees. In 2020, we extended Global Name Translation™ to enable cross-language Record Matches.
This newest application of Global Name Translation™ is great news for users who receive DNA Matches in Greek, Hebrew, Ukrainian, and Russian, or whose display language on MyHeritage is one of those languages. Both will now find the names of their DNA Matches transliterated, either from non-Latin characters to Latin letters (English), or from Latin letters to the selected language on their family site.
How it works
Global Name Translation™ uses advanced algorithms that were developed based on MyHeritage’s vast international database of 18.8 billion historical records. The technology automatically translates names found in family trees, historical records, and now, DNA Matches, with very high accuracy and generates all plausible versions of the name to facilitate matches in different languages. English serves as the common ground behind the scenes. Without modifying data that is entered into MyHeritage and stored in its original language, this technology matches similar names written in different languages with each other. It also utilizes extensive dictionaries built by MyHeritage to cover synonyms and nicknames.
Let’s say you’re a Greek MyHeritage user who isn’t aware of any family connections in Israel. Suddenly, a DNA Match tells you otherwise, but you can’t read the name of the match because it’s in Hebrew. Until now, not knowing a person’s name or how to address them may have even prevented some users from contacting their matches in the first place. Thanks to this new extension of Global Name Translation™, you’ll be able to read the name of your DNA Match from Israel and contact them using their given name.
Accessing DNA Matches
To view DNA Matches for any DNA kit that you manage, hover over the DNA tab on the navigation bar and select “DNA Matches”.
As you scroll through your DNA Matches, you’ll notice that for names of matches written in non-Latin letters, a set of square brackets with the transliterated name now appears directly after the original name. In the example below, the name of the match is originally written in Ukrainian, and an English transliteration appears in the brackets that follow. Further down the card, the link to contact this match also shows the transliterated name, making it easier for users to contact DNA Matches whose names they would not otherwise have known due the language barrier.
For users whose MyHeritage site language is set to Hebrew or Greek, DNA Match names that are in English will likewise appear in brackets in the user’s language. In the example below, Jacob Glick’s name appears in English, with the Hebrew transliteration directly next to it.
The same is true for users who work with MyHeritage in Russian or Ukrainian and receive DNA Matches to individuals with names that use the Latin alphabet. In the example below, the MyHeritage site language is Ukrainian, and the name of the DNA Match, Larry Movchan, appears in English with the Ukrainian transliteration displayed in brackets.
For users whose DNA kit is managed by someone other than themselves, the transliteration of the kit manager’s name will appear in brackets alongside the names in their language. If the match in question appears in a family tree that is managed by another MyHeritage user, the tree manager’s name is also transliterated.
When clicking on the “Contact” drop down below the name of the DNA kit manager, the names of both the DNA Match and the kit manager also include transliterations.
Transliterated names are also displayed on the Review DNA Match page.
This functionality is currently not available when reviewing Shared DNA Matches, and we plan to add it in the near future. It’s also important to note that DNA Matches who have set their names to private will not have their names transliterated.
Our DNA Matching algorithms automatically calculate new matches for you, and MyHeritage DNA users receive weekly emails notifying them when we’ve found new DNA Matches. Transliterated names are now displayed in those emails, making it easier to understand the match at a glance and see if perhaps you share a common surname, or if something about their name sparks your curiosity.
Conclusion
Global Name Translation™ is a powerful technology that has opened new frontiers for MyHeritage users researching their family history around the world. This technology is unique to MyHeritage, and we hope this new extension of it will facilitate more communication among DNA Matches. Anyone who has DNA results on MyHeritage can now view the transliterated names of their DNA Matches.
Language is one obstacle that shouldn’t hinder family history research. We are proud to continue our tradition of innovation as our technologies help overcome language barriers and foster a more seamless path to discovery.
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Gifts that Help Alzheimer's Families Capture Memories from Vivid-Vix
Gifts that Help Alzheimer's Families Capture Memories
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, USA, December 15, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Photo software company Vivid-Pix is helping millions of families use Photo Reminiscence Therapy and software solutions to connect with their loved ones with cognitive decline this holiday season.
Over 8.8 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Their families strive to spend time with them and include them in activities during the holidays. Vivid-Pix worked with experts to create education and solutions to capture their memories, creating multi-generational conversation, and have included gift ideas with this philosophy in mind in their first annual holiday gift guide.
Vivid-Pix participated in proprietary research with the National Institute for Dementia Education (NIDE) that concluded that Photo Reminiscence Therapy (pRT) can minimize social isolation, improve medication compliance, and general cognitive performance. The complete pRT study is available at: https://nid.education/nide-publications.html. Videos about the study are available at: https://www.vivid-pix.com/reminisce/.
About Vivid-Pix
Vivid-Pix helps people relive photos and documents by connecting individuals, families, and friends with their most treasured memories, restored through Vivid-Pix technology. The U.S. Patent Office has awarded two patents to Vivid-Pix for its image processing techniques used to automatically correct faded images. Vivid-Pix founders brought Kodak’s “You Press the Button, We Do the Rest” philosophy to the design of Vivid-Pix RESTORE software and other Vivid-Pix solutions.
Media contact:
Name: Rick Voight
Phone: 404-664-9897
Email: Rick.Voight@Vivid-Pix.com
Website: www.vivid-pix.com
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Happy Holidays!
The Genealogy Guys wish you, your family, and your loved ones a fabulous Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
MyHeritage Updates Germany, North Rhine Westphalia, Death Index 1874–1938 with 9 Million Records
We are pleased to announce an update to the Germany, North Rhine Westphalia, Death Index 1874–1938 collection in collaboration with the Landesarchiv Nordrhein Westfalen, the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia. In this update, we have added 9 million death records from the districts of Düsseldorf and Köln, bringing the total number of records in this collection to 20 million. The collection of civil registration death records includes scanned images of the original records. MyHeritage is the first to index these images with the full support of the Landesarchiv, the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia — making the information in the images more accessible and readily searchable than ever before.
Search Germany, North Rhine Westphalia, Deaths 1874–1938
Civil death registration records in Germany, called Personenstandsregister, are an excellent source of genealogical information. Kept by the German Civil Registrar, they cover 98% of the population and became mandatory in all German states by 1876. This collection now includes all of the death records from the districts of Arnsberg, Detmold, Münster, and more than half of the death records from Düsseldorf and Köln.
Unlike previous releases that were by district or Regierungsbezirke, the death records of Düsseldorf and Köln were archived into one single record group organized in alphabetical order based on the names of the registry offices or Standesämter within Düsseldorf and Köln. This release covers records from registry offices from A–R, beginning with the “Aachen” office and concluding with the “Rheydt” office. This collection will be updated once more in the future to complete the collection with the remaining death records from Düsseldorf and Köln.
The records contain the deceased person’s first and last name, maiden name, gender, religion, date, and place at the time of death, age at death, and date and place of birth, as well as the names of spouses, parents, and descendants.
In addition, the records include administrative information such as the certificate number, date of registration, and the signature of the person reporting the death as well as the signature of the registrar.
Summary
The Germany, North-Rhine Westphalia Deaths 1874–1938 collection makes it easier than ever before to research your German roots and discover invaluable treasures.
Searching this collection is free. To view these records or to save records to your family tree, you’ll need a Data or Complete subscription.
If you have a family tree on MyHeritage, our Record Matching technology will notify you automatically if records from this collection match your relatives. You’ll then be able to review the record and decide if you’d like to add the new information to your tree.
Enjoy the collection!
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