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Comparison of Genealogy Programs

Genealogy programs help the genealogist organize information since genealogical records require data be put together a certain way. Clusters of data are what the genealogist relies on to stay organized. Genealogy studies alleviate extreme curiosity about what your family tree is like. Genealogy is all about maintaining and organizing data which needs to be structured a certain way in order for it to be read properly. With any of these programs, you can input a lot of data.

The first program, Gramps is useful for doing searches by location, using software, which involves typing in an address or place name. Genealogy searches take place by typing in the name of a person, relationship, family and location. Most searches must start with the names of immediate family. Genealogists have to search through census records, or immigration records. They also need access to military records, naturalization records, and land records. Software types such as Gramps allows a searcher to search by date in addition to names. Gramps can chart adoptions as well as same-sex marriages and the program even prints reports on big sheets. Gramps is about the details in a person’s life. You can create ancestry graphs using pictures and births/deaths. You can also write an events list with descriptions.

Legacy Family Tree is the second type of genealogy program. Legacy has the ability to search billions of available records on websites across the Internet. You can write the stories of your ancestors on this program. You can categorize information in the family, index, or pedigree formats. Legacy allows a user to search through generations clicking on a specific person. You can put photos into the software along with links to entries. You can put people and families in Focus Groups as categories. These groups can be exported and you can choose to make a report a story. Legacy offers a Find-a-Grave feature, which can help you locate dead family members.

Ancestry.com is not downloadable like the Gramps program, but rather based online. There is a fee involved with using this website. Ancestry gives you free access to making your own family tree, but the fee is for accessing existing online records. The 14-day trial is free to start. Ancestry helps do research using DNA with their Genetic Communities section. They seem to feel that your DNA makes up your ethnic background using the AncestryDNA feature. You can research the many generations that make up your family history.

RootsMagic Essentials can take data from other genealogy programs, and GEDCOM files. It has a copy-paste function which allows the ability to build complex reports that look good, save the fact that RootsMagic demands that same-sex marriages be kept out of genealogy records. RootsMagic has a family tree view or a pedigree view. The program states it has unlimited capacity where you can enter factual data, notes, sources, and multi-media. It also provides for a section that can keep track of adoptions or foster parents. You can find people in your family tree fast. This program allows you to print reports easily. It also wants you to cite your sources. RootsMagic can work in synch with Family Tree Maker, PAF, Legacy, The Master Genealogist, and Family Origins as well as Family Search Family Tree website.

Many genealogy programs such as MyHeritage Family Tree builder allow the user to view three generations. Navigation displays a list, and duplicates are merged or erased. You can produce reports in PDF format. Some programs support same-sex marriages while others do not. Quite a few programs offer a connection to a website to take place where it can help you search the database. Many programs support finding data from whatever source you can locate it. It can mesh with website databases quite well. Reports generated can list various types of relationships between people or ancestors. Some software might even allow the user to entertain themselves with specific types of quizzes. Using your own software is better than hiring a genealogist. There are many genealogy software packages to choose from as well as free standing websites.

Genealogy Search:

http://www.genealogy.com
https://www.familysearch.org

5 Easy Printer Maintenance Tips

Printers are vital in today’s wave of technology. In order for printers to function properly, they need maintenance to avoid jams, clogging, black lining and more. It is recommended that users should turn off their printer, and cover it up, to protect from dust or other developing issues. Printers are known to give users issues, and must have regular maintenance, to help keep them running smoothly. Listed below are five tips for printer maintenance to keep your printer running smoothly:

Remove Debris and Dust

When your printer accumulate debris and dust, it can cause black lining, jams, or unwanted streaks. It is recommended to use a small vacuum to remove dust or particles from your printer machine. You can also use purified water with the use of a cotton swab to clean, hard to reach spots. Be sure to read your manual, before cleaning certain parts of the printer, which cannot be cleaned.

Use Genuine Parts Only and Safety

Whenever you need to clean your printer or check for maintenance upgrades, it is recommended to turn off the power. If you need to replace a part, it is suggested to use genuine ones, in order for the printer to work properly. Remember, a printer get’s very hot, so keep your hands clear of hot fuses inside for safety reasons.

Resolve Mechanical Errors

To avoid mechanical errors, you should keep your printer lean, so that you will not experience jamming paper in your printer. When the paper jams, use both hands and slowly remove the paper, to avoid damages. When you load the paper, make sure each sheet is straight and not stuck together.

Invest in a Maintenance Kit

To avoid purchasing a new printer, invest in a maintenance kit which includes- cleaning supplies, changeable parts, and more in order for your printer to work more smoothly and last longer. Having a maintenance kit handy, can help prevent smudges, jams, and other errors which may cause your printer to stop working. Keeping your printer clean is one of the most important decisions, to avoid printer errors or failures.

Clean Printer Heads

All printers have technical heads, which must be cleaned regularly. Some printers self-clean the heads, so you must check your manual to see if you will need to have this maintenance conducted. During this process, ink will be used, so it is recommended that you should not clean the heads more than necessary.

Most printers manuals provide tips for cleaning methods. Some of the scheduled cleaning is required daily, monthly, or sometimes yearly for preventative problems. If you don’t have a manual, you can gather information from the social media or visit a library. You should avoid using ammonia-based products to clean your printer, but instead use ethyl alcohol, with the use of a damp cloth. You also want your printer to sit in a humidity level, for ideal functioning. The quality of your printer is important, and you want to express a great flow for all your printer needs.

Top of the List

Build Your First Alexa Skill

Amazon has been growing it’s voice-command home office greatly by adding Alexa and much more flexible features onto her skills. Alexa is basically a virtual assistant powered by Amazon Echo. She responds to the sound of your voice and she can do multiple abilities such as powering products throughout your home, playing music, entertainment, ordering products from online websites and much more all powered by voice-commands. This is truly smart technology for you, and anyone can use it!

Since Amazon’s Alexa has been greatly used in homes; it is now making its way into the business world. Many companies are starting to use Alexa and its full powered voice office. Its making things more easier in an office/business environment by using it’s voice controls. With a few voice commands, Alexa can fetch you simple computer documents faster than it would take you to log in on a computer. It’s super easy and companies are loving it!

Not to mention, you can earn real cash! For top-performing developers working on games, voice apps, music and audio apps, productivity apps, lifestyle apps, health and fitness apps, and food and drink apps can be compensated. Amazon will pay you and you can earn anywhere from $100 to $5,000 for your work based on the performance level and if it involves ‘voice-control’.

If your interested in creating an Alexa for business then keep on reading!

Getting started on making an Alexa would be easier for those with experience, but there are several great tutorials out there to take you step by step through the process. A helpful step would be to look at the Alexa developer site and use the Alexa Skills Set. This has everything you need to get started in creating your Alexa, such as the API’s, different code tools, documents to help you and different resources. Another helpful source would be AWS Lambda. It is an alternative server thats very affordable and lets you run code effortlessly without managing too much at once. You then would have to determine if your Alexa Skills would be for home use or office/business use. After that, the next step would be to perform a beta test.

Plenty of developers who are experienced in this type of work can be up and running in a very little amount of time. On the other hand, people who are relatively new to creating skills can take much longer to familiarize themselves with the process. Brian Donahue is an excellent developer who can help others throughout the new development.

Since there is so much you can do with Alexa, there are additional apps to help you easily navigate through technology. Some helpful apps are Quick Events and Complete Tasks that helps you organize your events and get stuff done without any complications. Alexa can be used for your business as well as your home. It can keep you organized along with other apps and easily assist you all by using voice-commands. There is not yet any visual confirmations that Echo offers, so everything with be heard back to you by audio. You will be able to simply control your workflow by turning simple tasks into voice-actions.

Technology is growing rapidly everyday, so things you weren’t able to do back then are increasingly starting to arise. The power Amazon has to create Alexa and add lots of features to voice-control it is amazing! There are numerous steps you are able to take to create your own Alexa for business and guides to show you everything that you need!