The Elvidge Family

Here's how you can still use Outlook - but have all the benefits of Google Calendars

Using Remote Calendars tool in Outlook:-

• 1. Close all instances of Outlook.
• 2. Visit the Remote Calendars download section and download the latest copy of the Remote Calendars zip file.
• 3. Extract and run setup.exe from the downloaded zip file.
• 4. If you get an error message saying "The Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office Runtime is not installed.", you'll have to download and install VSTO 2005 from Microsoft's Downloads Center then run the Remote Calendars setup again.
• 5. If you get an error message saying "The Office 2003 Primary Interop Assemblies have not been installed.", take a trip back to Microsoft's Download Center; This time to download and install the Redistributable Primary Interop Assemblies. Don't let the technical jargon scare you. It's just a simple download and install.
• 6. Once you have Remote Calendars installed, open Microsoft Outlook. It may take a while to load the first time you run it after installing Remote Calendars.
• 7. When Outlook opens, you'll be presented with the Options Screen. You can tweak these as you like, or leave them as the defaults.
• 8. You'll notice a new toolbar that looks like this:
• 9. Click on the "Subscribe a remote calendar" button (the +.)
• 10. The dialog prompts you for your Remote calendar's url. In a separate browser, go to calendar.google.com or click here. Click on the down arrow next to the name of the first (or perhaps only) calendar you want synced with Outlook and select Calendar Settings. Right-click on the icon next to Private Address and select Copy Shortcut (or Copy Link Location in Firefox.)
• 11. Go back to Outlook and paste that url into the "Remote calendar's url" field.
• 12. Enter whatever you want for a name for this calendar, and adjust any other settings you like then hit Ok.
• 13. If you have more calendars on Google Calendars that you'd like synced with Outlook, complete steps 10-12 for each additional calendar.
• 14. Click on the "Reload all iCalendars" button in the plug-in's toolbar (second from the left) and all your Google Calendars will be imported into Outlook! Click this button whenever you make changes to your Google Calendar that you want imported.

Now all your Google Calendar items will work with your Outlook alerts, and you can sync them with your phone or PDA. Here's a few extra tips for tweaking your Remote Calendars:

• -If you imported your Outlook calendar into Google Calendars, using Remote Calendar will put duplicates of each item into your Outlook calendar. I haven't found a good way to do this, but here's what I did:
• .....Once you're comfortable with Remote Calendar, delete all your Remote Calendars using the "delete remote calendars" button. o Manually delete all the entries from your Outlook calendar that would conflict. Your Outlook calendar at this point should be basically bare. o Re-enter your entries into Remote Calendar. You'll then have just the entries imported from Google Calendar.
• -If you have multiple calendars on Google Calendar, you can make entries from your separate Google Calendar appear in different colors in Outlook much like they do in Google Calendar. Here's an example of how to do this:
• .....Let's say on Google Calendar you have two main calendars, Business and Personal colored blue and green, respectively.

1. When adding your Business calendar to Remote Calendar, click on the "Add categories to this calendar" button and select Business. Select whatever other options you prefer, then click Ok.
2. When viewing your calendar in Outlook, go to Edit>Automatic Formatting in this toolbar.
3. Click the Add button. Type in Business for the name, and select Business for the label.
4. Click the Condition button. Select the More Choices tab. Type Business in the Category field and click Ok, and Ok.
5. Do the same for Personal, substituting Personal for Business. Now your personal items in Outlook will appear in green, and your business items in blue. You can do the same thing for any type of category with any of the available label colors.

Any items you add directly to your Outlook calendar will not show up on your Google Calendar. * If you have synchronization software for your cell phone or PDA that works with Outlook, it will now be synchronised with your Google Calendar as well!

To have your Outlook sync with your Google Calendars whenever Outlook is loaded, go to the Options in Remote Calendar (rightmost button on the toolbar) and check the Automatic Update check box. Be careful! If you have a lot of items in your Google Calendar and this option selected, Outlook could take a long time to load.

Thank you to Grinn's Blogg for this information

Installing Ubuntu Lite on an old PC

Update - since writing this guide UBuntu have released a new version install specifically for netbooks - I have not used this version yet - but it should be an easier install. (see here)

Ubuntu is great as a 2nd OS on any system either just for back-ups or as an alternative system for browsing and office, plus a lot more. There are plenty of 'lite' distributions to choose from. I've used Mepis-lite in the past with success. Here is how I installed Ubuntu-lite on an old Pentium 3 PC and added some extra functionality. I found I had to do a few work-arounds different from other install guides - (these are the sources main & blog) To prepare your PC - if you plan to have Windows aswell on the PC - install that first and leave some spare unformatted disk space for the linux partition (>3 GB).

1. Download the Ubuntu “mini” iso image from Ubuntu’s archive site and burn a CD.

2. Boot the CD and type “cli” (followed by Enter) at the initial prompt.

3. Respond appropriately to the installer’s half-dozen-or-so prompts. (If you have opted for the windows mult-boot option, here select the installer to use your unallocated disk space).

4. After the installer’s process completes, remove the CD and hit Enter at the prompt to reboot the system, and then login with your user name. (Note: At this point, 693MB of the system’s hard drive was occupied by the core Ubuntu OS.)

5. At the resulting command-line prompt, download the UbuntuLite installer script using the following command: (ps. this didn't work for me and when I rebooted it only went to the command prompt and not the GUI)

• wget http://download.tuxfamily.org/ubuntulite/nouveau/install_ubuntulite_nouveau

NB: At this point, it did not work for me and so I did the following at the command prompt:

• sudo wget http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntulite/ubuntu/pool/main/u/ubuntulite-repository/ubuntulite-repository_0.1-0ubuntulite1_all.deb

now type the command:

• sudo dpkg -i ubuntulite-repository_0.1-0ubuntulite1_all.deb

this should install the .deb file. After this type at the command line:

• sudo bash install_ubuntulite_nouveau

This may take a while - then return OK

• sudo shutdown -r 0

You should now be able to boot in the Graphical Interface of Ubuntu-Lite If you wish to add more functionality, use the 'Synaptic Package Manager' to find and select more programs like: Firefox Open Office programs Samba (windows network shares)

For those getting to grips with adding their existing family history to the new.familysearch I thought I would review the current options for adding and synching your genealogy research. There are certainly better ways of managing you data - so here are the options for using New.Familysearch.

Option 1: Export your data to Gedcom file and import it MANUALLY
Option 2: Synchronise PAF and New.familysearch using Family-Insight
Option 3: Use Ancestral Quest to manage your data on your PC and also online
Option 4: Use Roots Magic to manage your data on your PC and also online

Option 1 - Manually uploading files

This has to be the least tidy method if you have anything more than say 30 names where it becomes impossible to manually check each name to make sure you are not uploading a duplicate onto the new.familysearch. Unfortunately, this method is creating large numbers of duplicate files in the on-line repository that need merging. I agreed to help my dad merge some of our family names and it was a very long and laborious task, which takes about 3 hours for 20-30 names (depending on how many matches there are). It also showed me how difficult new.familysearch is to navigation around your family tree so I feel a local copy is needed on your PC.

Option 2 - Use PAF on your desktop and sychronise using Family Insight ($25)

I have come to appreciate the work of Ohana Software and used PAF Insight before to do a number of automated data cleaning tasks so I naturally tried a test version of the new family insight version which opens your PAF file for you and then sychronises data online. Changes are written to your PAF file and you still use PAF to review your data on your PC. This is perhaps the problem with this method; PAF is not user friendly and is old to navigate around. It does not utilise the large resolution possibilities of even quite old PCs.
Navigation:Opening the program and starting is very easy, but the Family Insight screen takes some getting used to. Matching and searching is based on individuals with the possibility to view families and trees.
Synching: Logging in was easy and the program quickly checks the internet for matches. The latest version has speeded up the process with 'simple' or 'full' synch methods. You can also upload your PAF Temple ready list. Searching: There is no facility to search for new individuals online.
Prepare LDS Ordinances: You still use your PAF program and then upload details using family insight.
Back-up/Transfer: As this maintains your PAF file, you can easily copy and share this file with friends and family and they can view the file for free using PAF 5.
Bugs/Errors: Family Insight is well supported with updates and improvements coming through and works well. One annoying feature is it does not update an individual when a relative is updated and you need to re-search and update that individual again to remove a 'broken link' symbol.
Summary: Family Insight is a great tool kit that I have used in many ways to tidy my genealogy. You can merge and correct place-names and search for duplicates in your PAF file. The synching ability is good, but a little fiddly as you scroll through names. The main problem does not lie with Family Insight but the outdated program it is keeping us using - namely PAF - which has very limited functionality. PAF users have to add additional programs to print, merge, produce decent web pages, etc.. If you say 'long live PAF' this could be for you.

Option 3 - Use Ancestral Quest to do everything for you ($29.95)

Ancestral Quest is one of two approved commercial programs that fully manage your PC genealogy as well as manage new.familysearch. The neat little trick Ancestral Quest have done is allowing you to still keep your PAF file but no longer need to use PAF 5 as Ancestral Quest does everything and more. This means you can start using it immediately and go back to PAF 5 (in the unlikely event!)
Navigation: You might be mistaken to thinking you're using PAF. The layout is nearly exactly the same, with a few modifications and improvements. PAF users will feel right at home.
Synching: Do not let the simple view fool you to thinking this is not a powerful program. Synching with familysearch is very comprehensive, so you can either synchronise individually and at the same time view relatives, as well as batch synchronising (I was a bit nervous of this feature) Searching: You can search Ancestry.com directly (opens in new browser window)
Prepare LDS Ordinances: This feature is not yet available in the program and the website states it will come soon in a future release. Until then you will need to log-onto New.Familysearch.
Back-up/Transfer: You have the option to keep using the PAF file so you are always able to share this. There is also a collaboration feature so you can have an online version that family can access with their version of Ancestral Quest (separate license required).
Bugs/Errors: No issues when using. You currently cannot upload your 'source' data to new.familysearch.
Summary: If you are a long-time PAF user, you will feel very at-home. Plus additional tools such as the ability to view Mapquest maps of places and a better to-do list. This is a PRACTICAL alternative that will make synching much easier than any of the above options. The interface is tired and PAF like - but that will suit a lot of old PAF users.

Option 4 - Use Roots Magic to do everything for you ($29.95)

The other alternative is to use another dedicated program. Roots Magic can import your PAF file in seconds to create a new tree, but you will be leaving PAF behind....are you brave enough? It's interface is much more 'windows' like with colours and icons.
Navigation: You immediately feel the advantage of a new program, getting around your family tree is very easy. It feels more modern and more is fitted on the page for higher resolution screens.
Synching: As the interface is so 'new' it is best to view the tutorial video first - then it all seems to make sense. Very clever screen usage that allows you to manage your local AND online data. you can also merge family data at the same time. I could not see a way of 'bulk' synching, but I would advise against that anyway. Searching: From inside the program, there is a tab for searching a number of different repositories (including Ancestry.com). The program also auto-checks for duplicates as you enter them.
Prepare LDS Ordinances: This is another area where this program stands out (at the moment) as you can reserve ordinances and these are uploaded for you. It also has a great summary screen for new.familysearch data.
Back-up/Transfer: Here is the small drawback (in my view) that Roots-Magic uses its own database file and if you want to re-enter data into PAF you need to export a Gedcom file. However, this is unlikely to happen as you have everything and more in one proigram. When you close the program, you are prompted to create a backup file. A great feature it has is that you can create CDs or USB pen drive versions of the data that you can share with family/friends. This gives them a read-only version of the program & data. The program can also produce some good web pages.
Bugs/Errors: When I enter the synchronisation mode, I get a system error, but then after this all seems to work just fine. I checked to make sure things were still working - and they were. It was just a bit off-putting!
Summary: With a modern interface and a number of powerful tools, this could be a move into the 20th century (maybe not the 21st yet!). I liked the 'problem search' tool that looks for gaps in data and possible errors. It also has the ability to merge duplicates and work with place-names like Family Insight does. It has an integrated to-do list and a number of printing/ reports options. For PAF users, the learning curve might be steeper, but the benefits might be worth it.

Conclusion

I would recommend that you review the basic tutorial videos from both Ancestral Quest (link) and Roots Magic (link) and make your own decision as to which will best suit you. Both are very powerful and will make working with New.Familysearch much faster and more productive. For now, Roots Magic 4 has additional tools such as submitting ordinances from the program that help to tip the scales and I think I will be giving it a go.

There are a number of tools that will convert genealogical data in GEDCOM file into web pages that can be shared in a website. Why would this still be needed with all the many online repositories such as www.Ancestry.com ? Having an independent website can mean that search engines index your site and other researchers will be able to find information you post.
I have used UncleGed 9 software that is easy to download and use straight away. Here is how it works:
1. Use your current genealogy software to create a GEDCOM file, you should choose to hide 'Personal Data' if your program gives you this option when exporting to GEDCOM. I also removed my notes as it contained some sensitive data
2. Download and install UncleGed - then run the program.
3. Enter your details into the fields in the 'Project' & 'Author' tab. These are fairly self-explanitory;
-point the program to the GEDCOM file you created
-specify the folder where all the website files will be placed (empty folder).
4. Under the 'General' tab make sure you have chosen to exclude either all living individuals or those born less than 100 years ago.
Note: I found the 2nd option of specifying a number of years did not work - so I used the first option to exclude living individuals.
5. When you are ready - go back to the project tab and press 'Build Pages' and 'start build'. You can then check out how it looks in your browser.
6. Now created, these files need to be uploaded to your website. Here's an example of my recently created pages Letheren Genealogy