I’ve been playing around in video sites lately.  One thing I’ve noticed is that there’s a dearth of good genealogy videos.  YouTube has the most but they also have the worst quality.

So, I challenge you all to start making your own.  If you upload them then I can download them again, post them on my site perhaps (if I can figure out where to put them) and contribute to making you famous.

There’s a site called Revver that actually pays for video sharing.  I don’t think this will make you rich overnight but there’s a percentage deal for the creator (40%), the sharer (20%) and Revver (20%).  Percentage of what is the question.  So far I’ve made 1 cent for something or other.

Anyway, think about it.  If you download Picasa 3, they have a no-brainer method for making .wmv files.  You can use photos you already have, or make ’slides’ using a graphics program.  Then click the Movie button at the bottom of the screen, make a few simple choices and you’re done.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas!

OK, so admittedly this is not rocket science but, honest, I’ve just never taken a serious interest in bookmarks. I only twigged onto this 2 days ago.

I said sometime back that I use EverNote for gathering websites because my bookmarks get into too much of a mess. Well, that’s only partly true.  First of all, it suggests that my EverNote database is less of a mess and that just isn’t true.  And second, I still bookmark pages sometimes for reasons unknown although I then forget about most of them because a week into it I can’t find anything.

continued …

In my younger years, I was a stamp collector.  Heady stuff for an 8-year old, down at the local library every Saturday buying 1 cent stamps of kings, queens and presidents. My, how we’ve grown.

It might be too late for mailing your Christmas cards this year, but it’s never too late to put your favorite ancestors on postage stamps. Or your favorite turtle. Or your favorite view. Or, quick for the holidays, you can make a gift of someone else’s favorite pet, person or landscape. Lots of denominations available and only 5-7 days shipping in the U. S.

Turn your photos into real U. S. postage with PhotoStamps. They’re perfect for every occasion! Nothing much required. Just upload a jpg, choose a frame and the stamps are on their way. Coupon code: CJSAVE5 on orders over $50. Gift cards also available.

About 1930, my Grandaunt Nellie decided to become a door-to-door saleswoman in her spare time. Apparently she was learning, concurrently, how to drive a car. She was in an accident and it scared her so bad she went back to the farm and never left again. Being put on a postage stamp and flown around the country wouldn’t likely appeal to Nellie. On the other hand, I have a couple of great-great granduncles who would love it!

We also have this in Canada. It’s called Picture Postage.

If you do a lot of mailing, you can print your own U. S. stamps at home. Nothing but a pc and a printer required. With Stamps.com you can print postage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Coupon code: COUPON1

After Christmas there’s New Year’s, birthdays, weddings, baby showers …

First of all – 40% off Ancestry.com DNA testing and 25% off Family Tree Maker 2009 through December 31st.

Ancestry has launched a new mapping feature.  If you have a family tree there, all event locations are now linked to a map. If you want to know what else is new at Ancestry.com, they have a page called What’s New?

Sorry about yesterday’s post that disappeared.  The feed readers pick up new postings pretty quick so if I delete one it’s too late to pull it out of circulation. Some of you missed it altogether, but some of you went to a blank 404 page.  If you subscribe by email you got the drift.  I was tearing my hair out over the spam problem, both here and at the Forum.  But I think I found a fix.  I have now been 24 hours spam free.  It’s a miracle!  Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No, it’s Captcha.  If you leave a comment here, or at the Forum, you will be required to type some letters into a box to prove that you’re a human being.  I thought that was already happening but this is better.  It seems to be working.

World Vital Records has been revitalizing itself and send us this message:

Please visit WorldVitalRecords.com to enjoy dramatically improved search and browsing experiences and a more intuitive site design.

Here are a few of the changes you will find:

• Simple drill-down capability from the “View All Databases” tab to explore the entire collection
• New search interface on search results pages for databases and collections, so you can conduct new searches within a specific database without backing out of your current search
• quick access to the records you want
• More intuitive design that provides you with easier access to the tools that help you accomplish your research

We have also permanently discounted our annual subscriptions to $39.95 for the U.S. Collection and $119.95 for the World Collection to help our customers and potential customers afford to continue with their genealogy research during more difficult economic times.

Go see for yourself.