Monday Madness -- Jamboree and my "Brick Walls"

Many years ago, at least 13, I prepared the below flyer to be posted to a wall at a Jamboree.  I mailed it, assumed it was posted and never heard from anybody.  No problem with that.  However, I am wondering if this was for the same Jamboree coming up soon.  When I located this gray sheet recently, I began to wonder, and with all my senior moments, I thought somebody could remember for me.

After all these years, only 5 walls have come down.  Those being: ANDERSON, DUMONT, LAY, ROSENBERGER AND SCHRAMBLIN / SCHRAMBLING.

Madness Monday -- Asking For Help #3

How much space and how much time? Only two questions. Recently, I have been wondering how much can we write per blog, in other words, how much space can we use? Some of my pieces are rather long and while they may not interest most people, I am always hoping somebody will find one of my surnames through Google. I think we all want that, why else are we posting so many surnames. This is my first question. 

My second question has to do with posting something accidentally, because it wasn't for the right date or time. I have been trying to train myself to use the Post Options link first, but every once in a while, I forget, as I did on Sunday. Within minutes I noticed an unedited post was up and I quickly went to edit and changed the date. I thought all was well, until I saw it in the reader. Of course I was embarrassed, and I wanted it and my feelings to fade away. Once somebody hits Publish Post, is there a time frame that I can retrieve it or does it go to the web immediately? Thanks for any help.

Madness Monday -- Asking for Help #2

If you live in certain areas of the East Coast, you know that it has been a very rainy, windy and cold weekend. A perfect time to spend the day or days writing your blog, reading others, using new templates to create a new face for your blog, or if you are like me (and I doubt you were), just trying to fix up the old format. What a huge time waster, and I mean hours and hours. I couldn't even get the colors to match. I did, in fact, try the beta format for the new, templates and then in a second it was wiped out. Truth be told, I don't think I saved it. So with the frustration intact, I went back to the old. It is just madness, but there aren't any questions as yet on this topic. Read all about the new version from Blogger Buzz, also, Tom MacEntee wrote about it.  However, even with my failure, I enjoyed seeing some of the newly created designs during the weekend, such as Apple's at Apple's Tree, Midge's at Granite in my Blood, and Heather's at Nutfield Genealogy.

I hope you all like my same, old blog. One quick question, how in the heck do I make my photo go all the way across? Before this new version, it went to within 1" on the right, then I removed it to try again, and I get this small photo.

Les Larrabee of  Bits and Pieces wrote the following to me, as he was trying to leave a comment on my Foote blog, "I can't always post a comment to the type of comment field in your blog and others using that style. I use firefox for a browser but Explorer doesn't work either. Do you ever have that problem?" Later, he provided more information, "I just tried it using Explorer and got the same results but this time it gave a message that the comment would not process. And again it's not just your blog, its any with your style comment field. The google blogger style and the one that asks for and email address both work OK. It does drive me crazy so it fits Monday madness" And, he is asking me? Is there anybody who can answer his question?  Thanks Les.  I seem to receive quite a few comments, so I'm not sure what is going on.  Can anybody help Les? And, thanks Les, great question.

Happy follow up.  Thank you to Apple at Apple's Tree.  She was able to resize my blog photo, and I'm very happy.  It is almost like having a "Brick Wall" come down, the blog looks normal!

Madness Monday -- Asking For Help#1

An update to my question regarding converting a PDF to a Jpeg brought many responses and many different methods.  See post of March 1.

I just called Smart Computing magazine's technical support office and presented my question to them. As a subscriber, the support is one of their benefits. I was told there wasn't a way, other than getting an application downloaded to your PC.  Some applications may be free, free for a while or you pay immediately.

However, as I learned yesterday, a Mac will do it.  Kathryn Doyle at CaliforniaAncestors emailed, and had me send her my DAR certificate image to her, and within minutes I had the image back in a jpeg format!  Publically, I want to thank Kathryn. In addition, Kathleen Brandt at a3genealogy had offered to do it for me as well.

I am thinking this might be an idea for the Monday posts.  And, I am hoping others have questions about blogging and technology. Perhaps you could send me your question or questions, and I can post here. I would love to hear your suggestions about this idea.

Monday Madness -- Asking for Help#1

I have so many difficulties when it comes to computer related issues. Nothing has been easy. The computer is ok, it is doing the little fun things pertaining to blogs. For example, it took an hour to try to get the March birthdays report posted, but it still isn't right. I did it with a version of FTM and then RM4. After all that time, I've decided to beg for help. This isn't my first attempt with the below project, I tried it last month too. The report is now saved in pdf format on the desktop and in my documents folder. But there was no way to get it on to the blog.

So, what you are seeing is a printed copy which I scanned. There must be an easier way.

I am hoping somebody takes pity on a much older person, and offers help. I hate to warn you, but if I get help, I may use this tactic again in the future! Like really soon. I've already made a new label for Instructions.

In the past, one person offered help without me asking.  So I would like to publically  thank Apple.  There are others that I asked; they are Dru, Gini and Cheryl. Last thing, I plan on doing this report every month, and possibly for deaths...you will be so tired of seeing it.  Thank you for any help.

Monday Madness - Blogging and Google Alerts - A Great Combination?

Can't have it both ways.  That is what I am finding out.  I love blogging and Google Alerts, but on some days I just don't.

I use Google Alerts for several surnames, with the word obituary, as well as certain town names.  In addition, I use my name + blog.  As a result, just about every day there is a listing of alerts with my name.  Often it is for my blog, but sometimes for another blog owned by another Barbara Poole.  So far, I have determined there are three other Barbara Pooles with blogs.  I decided to list them below, and maybe some day down the road, I will write each of them to see if they are interested in the Poole genealogy, as in my genealogy.  Quite possibly they are using their husband's surname, but maybe they are like me, in that I don't use my husband's name.  Barbara Poole blogs I've discovered are:

http://employaidblog.com/

http://barbarapoole.blogspot.com/ (Boston artist who lives in my area.)

http://www.bfelt.com/ Lots about felt...it is her business.

Readers have also contacted me, perhaps because of Google Alerts. In my Can't Get to a Conference? blog, I received a very nice comment from a well-known Certified Genealogist, actually the one mentioned in the article (I am not mentioning her name again, because I don't want this to show up in Google Alerts on her computer).  If you go to the link, you will see her comment.  Another instance, my blog showed up because of their Google Alert when I posted 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy Challenge #1 a blog about my local library, the reference librarian wrote me.

Now the madness.  It isn't that I don't like Google Alerts, I do, as a matter of fact I love them.  What I don't like are the fact that often my comments show up.  I am still a little naive in that I think a comment to so and so, is pretty much private, except other bloggers can view them.  But the whole world, that I don't want.  I've been pretty careful about what I write recently.  When I first discovered this happens was about four years ago, when I was commenting a lot on Steve Danko's site.  I had him remove my last name.  Later I changed my mind, now I am rethinking that again.

An example is what I replied to Earline Hines Bradt of Ancestral Notes on November 16, 2009, my comment to her showed up in a Google search with my name + blog.  "Earline, Congratulations, I read your blog every time you write, and you deserve the award. Also, .............."

Nope, I don't like that, that the world can see my comments.

Monday Madness -- My madness about The Westford Knight

Update: I finally saw The Westford Knight last year, and my photos are below.

Now why haven't I seen The Westford Knight?  Dick Eastman posted an article about it yesterday (Nov. 2009) in his Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, full article for Plus subscribers, see: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/11/-the-westford-knight-1.html  There have been many newspaper articles and blog postings about it.

On April 11, 2014, Dick Eastman wrote another piece about the Westford Knight. See: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2014/04/knights-in-shining-armor-in-the-1300s-in-massachusetts.html

Per The Westford Museum, "According to one account the first Europeans to reach Westford were part of an expedition led by Prince Henry Sinclair, of Scotland. This voyage would have reached the New World in about 1400 A.D. The "Westford Knight" would then be a grave marker for one of the expedition who died near-by. The carvings can be seen as a picture of the Knight, complete with sword."

Photo from Wikipedia.

My husband has seen the stone, but I haven't.  Here is the thing, it is so close to where I live, maybe 4-5 miles away.  I wonder if it has to do with the fact, that I am not related?  I am getting mad right now, and if I didn't have to leave in a few hours, I would drive over right now.  But maybe he is my ancestor, and I've ignored him all these years!

When I do go, I am taking my map with me...hope I don't get lost.