from the National Institute of Standards and Technology:

You can toot your New Year's horn an extra second this year, say physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Along with the rest of the world's atomic timekeepers, NIST's time and frequency experts will insert a second (known as a leap second) into their time scale on Dec. 31 for the first time in seven years.

Read complete story.

In the Fall 2005 issue of the online scholarly journal, The BYU Family Historian, Marlo E. Schuldt wrote a fascinating article entitled "Communicating, Organizing, and Sharing Family History: Problems, Solutions, and Philosophy."

Schuldt explains the difficulties of communication and our desire to preserve and share our family history for future generations. He provides insight on how to organize digital collections. He is also a developer of the add-on Photo Collector & ProMedia Manager Suite.

The BYU Family Historian is published annually. This issue's articles include:

• Documenting Victims of the Holocaust: The Mokotowskis of Otwock, Poland
• Communicating, Organizing, and Sharing Family History: Problems, Solution, and Philosophy
• New Zealand Research: Maori
• Identifying Ancestral Haunts: Family History, GIS, and Information Needs

View the journal by clicking here.

I find it easier to check my e-mail than to check my voicemail. Now a company has just the solution that I need: my voicemail messages get sent to my e-mail address with attached MP3 audio files of the voice messages. It even will check multiple voicemail accounts and send all the messages to your one e-mail address. Cool!

Read complete article here.

The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2005 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

As reported yesterday in various genealogy newsgroups and blogs, the Godfrey Memorial Library in Middletown, Connecticut is in the process of dropping HeritageQuest Online from its portfolio of offerings. The information floating around online is confusing and a few comments that I read contradicted other online comments. I was confused. Today I talked with Godfrey Library Director Richard E. Black and received the "inside story."

The Bureau of Land Management-Eastern States announced that its General Land Office (GLO) Records Web site is now back online at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov. Title companies, historians, genealogists, and other interested people can now once again obtain millions of historic land title records from the thirty Public Land States (those States not included in the original 13 Colonies), East and West, dating back to the 1780s. These fascinating and valuable records include homesteads, patents, military warrants, and railroad grants. To date more than 4.2 million records have been scanned and imaged since the project began in 1989. This Web site provides a wealth of historical data and literally tells the story of the settlement of the West.

"The GLO Records Web site is one of the most popular Web sites at the Department of the Interior. The Web site offers customers the ability to easily research and query the GLO database by name, land description, and county, and view and print these historic documents from their homes or offices, saving them time and money," said BLM-Eastern States Director Mike Nedd.

As the BLM completes its first round of Web site reconnections of State-specific information sites, the following other BLM State Office Web sites are also once again available on the Internet: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. In addition, the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Information site is also now available. The Bureau originally disconnected these sites so that site security could be improved.

"We at BLM recognize the impact that this disconnection has had on our customers, and we thank them for their patience and understanding during this period. The last six months have posed challenges, but making sure that all constituents receive timely information about the agency's actions has been a priority for the entire agency," said Mike Nedd.

The BLM is now concentrating on reconnecting sites that provide interactive non-Indian Trust data and services. Unfortunately, sites of this kind are more complex and time consuming to reconnect. Additional announcements will be made as other sites are reconnected.

If you haven't set your New Year's resolutions yet, you could get some humorous ideas for genealogists from The Genealogue.

Click here for their "Top Ten New Year's Resolutions for Genealogists."

Relationship problems can creep into your family file in a number of ways: data entry errors, entering duplicate records by mistake, importing GEDCOM files that already have problems, accidentally merging the wrong people, and so forth.  Relationship problems are apparent when you examine a family in Family View, open the Spouse List, Child List or Parent List for an Individual. Relationship problems can also result in looping errors when creating reports, or they become apparent when you run a Potential Problems Report, or you discover them when reading a chart or book report.

Inexperienced Legacy users often makes things worse trying to fix the problem by deleting records when they should unlink, or creating duplicate records when they should link to an existing record.

Here are 11 common relationship problems and how to fix them. Work from the Family View when carrying out these solutions. Click here for the complete article.

All of us at Millennia would like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. By the way - take the day off and give someone who is actually alive a little attention today. :)

'Twas the night before Christmas
When all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even my spouse.

The dining room table with clutter was spread
With pedigree charts and with letters which said...
"Too bad about the data for which you wrote;
Sank in a storm on an ill-fated boat."

Stacks of old copies of wills and such
Were proof that my work had become too much.
Our children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.

And I at my table was ready to drop
From work on my album with photos to crop.
Christmas was here, and such was my lot
That presents and goodies and toys I'd forgot.

Had I not been busy with grandparents' wills,
I'd not have forgotten to shop for such thrills,
While others bought gifts to bring Christmas cheers,
I'd spent time researching those birth dates and years.

While I was thus musing about my sad plight,
A strange noise on the lawn gave me such a great fright.
Away to the window I flew in a flash,
Tore open the drapes and yanked up the sash.

When what with my wondering eyes should appear,
But an overstuffed sleigh and eight small reindeer.
Up to the house top the reindeer they flew,
With a sleigh full of toys and 'ole Santa Claus, too.

And then in a twinkle, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of thirty-two hoofs.
As I drew in my head, and bumped it on the sash,
Down the cold chimney fell Santa--KER-RASH!

"Dear" Santa had come from the roof in a wreck,
And tracked soot on the carpet, (I could wring his short neck!)
Spotting my face, good 'ole Santa could see
I had no Christmas spirit you'd have to agree.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work
And filled all the stockings, (I felt like a jerk).
Here was Santa, who'd brought us such gladness and joy:
When I'd been too busy for even one toy.

He spied my research on the table all spread
"A genealogist!" He cried!  (My face was all red!)
"Tonight I've met many like you," Santa grinned,
As he pulled from his sack a large book he had penned.

I gazed with amusement--the cover it read
Genealogy Lines for Which You Have Plead.
"I know what it's like as a genealogy bug."
He said as he gave me a great Santa hug.

"While the elves make the sleighful of toys I now carry,
I do some research in the North Pole Library!
A special treat I am thus able to bring,
To genealogy folk who can't find a thing."

"Now off you go to your bed for a rest,
I'll clean up the house from this genealogy mess."
As I climbed up the stairs full of gladness and glee,
I looked back at Santa who'd brought much to me.

While settling in bed, I heard Santa's clear whistle,
To his team, which then rose like the down of a thistle.
And I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight,
"Family history is Fun!  Merry Christmas!  Goodnight!"

--Author Unknown

Internet Genealogy is a new magazine from the publishers of Family Chronicle and History Magazine. Download a preview issue.

The first issue will carry a cover date of April/May 2006 and will be on newsstands across North America at the end of February. A “preview issue”, tentatively set at 24-pages, will be carried in the January/February 2006 issue of Family Chronicle. This preview issue will feature sample pages from the first issue of Internet Genealogy to give the reader and advertiser a good taste of the new magazine.

Internet Genealogy will be published six times a year and be available by subscription, on newsstands and as an online magazine on the web. The cover price is tentatively set at $5.95 (US) and the subscription rate of the printed magazine at $28 (US). However, there will be an introductory subscription rate for a limited time of $20 (US).

To learn more, visit http://www.internet-genealogy.com/.