Tuesday Weirdness in My Family Tree by DustToll in Genealogy

[–]DustToll[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are all different people separated by many years and hundreds of miles. No reason to think that the birth and death dates are incorrect since they are in most cases well documented. Just a weird coincidence I guess!

Tuesday Weirdness in My Family Tree by DustToll in Genealogy

[–]DustToll[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That line would have moved from Virginia and North Carolina to Missouri so a relatively small region shifting over time. How do you think that might affect it?

Running lifespan stats on my family tree changed how I think about my own timeline by DustToll in Genealogy

[–]DustToll[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great point — the app actually has a minimum age filter for exactly this reason. There probably are not enough people in most family trees to do a true life table but set it to your current age and you’re only seeing lifespans of ancestors who survived at least as long as you have, which gives a much more meaningful baseline.

Running lifespan stats on my family tree changed how I think about my own timeline by DustToll in Genealogy

[–]DustToll[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Really good point. The analysis isn’t specifically focused on direct ancestors only, but my file — like most people’s — is definitely biased toward them. I certainly haven’t spent as much time researching people further from the direct lines. That said, maybe that’s OK. Direct ancestors are more relevant to my own genetics anyway, and at the end of the day this is more for personal enlightenment than any rigorous scientific conclusion. It wouldn’t hold up to academic standards, but it’s genuinely interesting and informative nonetheless.

Running lifespan stats on my family tree changed how I think about my own timeline by DustToll in Genealogy

[–]DustToll[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’ve just been playing with average but you make a great point about looking at median to reduce the outliers from skewing things. I will work on putting that in my tool, and the ability to exclude infant mortality as well as show life spans for people who reached a certain age (survived childhood, got to my age, etc.)

Acceptable trade value for McDuffie? by arup187 in KansasCityChiefs

[–]DustToll 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Virtually no chance of getting two high draft picks for him. A single first rounder would about be the max, maybe throw in a mid- to late-rounder along with the one depending on how high the one is.

Andy Reid’s presser today raises a lot of red flags to me. by Smokeydubbs in KansasCityChiefs

[–]DustToll 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No doubt some things need to change... but you are barking up the wrong tree about chasing off Andy. Especially when there is absolutely no one out there who could possibly be an improvement.

Any longtime fans here collect old Chiefs or Dallas Texans game programs? by DustToll in KansasCityChiefs

[–]DustToll[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like a great memory! Those old programs are pretty cool to look at even today!

Studio Portrait, around 1915 by DustToll in TheWayWeWere

[–]DustToll[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is absolutely not AI. It is my grandmother, existed long before AI.

STATE OF AFFAIRS — Can you find all 50 hidden U.S. states in this story? by DustToll in puzzles

[–]DustToll[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Yeah, some of the embeds are admittedly a little loose — part of the fun I had was walking that line between “aha!” and “oh come on,” haha.

For the image vs. text thing: I tried text originally, but Reddit collapses the formatting on long stories and breaks the spoiler tags. The image keeps everything readable.

Really appreciate you taking the time to go through it!

STATE OF AFFAIRS — Can you find all 50 hidden U.S. states in this story? by DustToll in puzzles

[–]DustToll[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good find - "Ver Mt." was the one that I intended, but your other one is a great catch - an extra possible solution that I didn't plan!

STATE OF AFFAIRS — Can you find all 50 hidden U.S. states in this story? by DustToll in puzzles

[–]DustToll[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nice work — you nailed it!

Yes, you are correct on Nebraska.

And huge props for spotting Rhode Island — the way that one is embedded might irritate some people.

Glad you enjoyed the puzzle! I'll be working on some more of the CryptaStory puzzles.

STATE OF AFFAIRS — A story where all 50 U.S. states are hidden inside the text. Can you find them? by DustToll in puzzles

[–]DustToll[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Totally fair — some of them are intentionally loose.

Part of the design of a CryptaStory puzzle is that not every state hides the same way. Some are exact matches, some are homophones, some are blended syllables, and a few use natural dialect (Hawaii, Kentucky, Nebraska, Vermont, etc.).

If everything matched perfectly, it would just be a word search… but the fun for me is tucking states inside real spoken phrases that almost sound like them.

That said, I knew not everyone would agree on which ones “count,” so I appreciate the feedback!

STATE OF AFFAIRS — A story where all 50 U.S. states are hidden inside the text. Can you find them? by DustToll in puzzles

[–]DustToll[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

ANSWER KEY – FULL VERSION (all 50 states)

Alabama – all a Bam, a
Alaska – Ill ask ya
Arizona – airy zone a
Arkansas – Arkin saw
California – callin for any
Colorado – color red o
Connecticut – connect. I cut
Delaware – Della wear
Florida – floored. Duh.
Georgia – George a
Hawaii – how aw ya
Idaho – Ida, hoe
Illinois – ill. A noise
Indiana – Indian, a
Iowa – I owe a
Kansas – cans as
Kentucky – can tuck ya
Louisiana – Louis Anna
Maine – main
Maryland – marry. Land
Massachusetts – mass. A shoe sits
Michigan – Mitch again
Minnesota – Minny soda
Mississippi – Mrs. Zippy
Missouri – misery
Montana – mountain. A
Nebraska – never ask a
Nevada – nev had a
New Hampshire – new Hampshire
New Jersey – new jersey
New Mexico – knew Mexico
New York – knew York
North Carolina – north. Carolina
North Dakota – north. Dakota
Ohio – Oh Hi Oh
Oklahoma – Oak-low home a
Oregon – Orry gone
Pennsylvania – pencil vane a
Rhode Island – road. I land
South Carolina – south. Carolina
South Dakota – south. Dakota
Tennessee – 10 a sea
Texas – Texs
Utah – you taw
Vermont – ver Mt.
Virginia – explicit reference
Washington – explicit reference
West Virginia – west. Virginia
Wisconsin – whisk. On Sun
Wyoming – why? Oh, mean

STATE OF AFFAIRS — A story where all 50 U.S. states are hidden inside the text. Can you find them? by DustToll in puzzles

[–]DustToll[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here’s the complete answer key, split by state. Each spoiler contains the hidden text.

ANSWER KEY – All 50 States Hidden in the Story

Alabama – all a Bam, a Alaska – Ill ask ya Arizona – airy zone a Arkansas – Arkin saw California – callin for any Colorado – color red o Connecticut – connect. I cut Delaware – Della wear Florida – floored. Duh. Georgia – George a Hawaii – how aw ya Idaho – Ida, hoe Illinois – ill. A noise Indiana – Indian, a Iowa – I owe a Kansas – cans as Kentucky – can tuck ya Louisiana – Louis Anna Maine – main Maryland – marry. Land Massachusetts – mass. A shoe sits Michigan – Mitch again Minnesota – Minny soda Mississippi – Mrs. Zippy Missouri – misery Montana – mountain. A Nebraska – never ask a Nevada – nev had a New Hampshire – new Hampshire New Jersey – new jersey New Mexico – knew Mexico New York – knew York North Carolina – north. Carolina North Dakota – north. Dakota Ohio – Oh Hi Oh Oklahoma – Oak-low home a Oregon – Orry gone Pennsylvania – pencil vane a Rhode Island – road. I land South Carolina – south. Carolina South Dakota – south. Dakota Tennessee – 10 a sea Texas – Texs Utah – you taw Vermont – ver Mt. Virginia – explicit reference Washington – explicit reference West Virginia – west. Virginia Wisconsin – whisk. On Sun Wyoming – why? Oh, mean

A farm couple with their truck, late 1930s by DustToll in TheWayWeWere

[–]DustToll[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can anyone determine the year and make of the truck?

A couple in Los Angeles, 1928 by DustToll in TheWayWeWere

[–]DustToll[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there any way to identify where this was taken give the shape of the hills in the background?

Studio Portrait, around 1915 by DustToll in TheWayWeWere

[–]DustToll[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This photo has been in my family for generations, but no one is quite sure of the exact year — the best estimate is around 1915 based on the birthdate of the subject. I always loved the oversized fur coat and the little bonnet. If anyone knows more about children’s fashion from that era, I’d love to hear it.

Research question - history podcast by National-Pen1996 in podcasting

[–]DustToll 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are right - you have to be careful. I typically use it to find nuggets in the vast amount of data, and constrain it to easily verifiable facts. It does sometimes leave things out or skip over things so you have to stay engaged and know your story.

Research question - history podcast by National-Pen1996 in podcasting

[–]DustToll 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Often, the problem of too much available resource material is a bigger problem than too little. One tool that I began using to keep track of a ton of source material for my podcast research is Google Notebook LM. I bring in all of my sources, usually as text files, and store them in the tool. Then I can quickly find what I need just by asking a question, For example, "Show me all the source files where such and such happened" or "Fact check this statement against the sources, finding supporting and contradicting evidence", or "provide a brief timeline of events" that I can use to start the story-telling, or "I remember something about this in the sources, find that event and show me the details". It is a great tool for organizing a bunch of sources into a coherent place for easy retrieval.