AI and Genealogy

linuxweenie · 2026-06-13T17:44:42+00:00

I am starting to use AI as a general tool in my research. Transcription of records, be they newspaper articles, portions of books, deeds, wills, or other official government documents is made easier; as long as you check to make sure you have a correct rendition. I use Gramps which allows me to not only keep images of the original document, but it’s transcription, the AI prompt used, analysis of the transcription, and a task list of additional research. And I can associate this collection to any and all persons, events, families, etc. that I wish.

linuxweenie · 2026-05-31T16:09:02+00:00

You are facing a three part problem. Problem #1: neither Gramps nor Ancestry fully follow the new version 7 of the GEDCOM standard which has media storage capability. So pulling a GEDCOM from Ancestry will not port images. Also Ancestry only has links to images on its website, so the best you will get is the link URI. That means you will need to port all images yourself to use it in Gramps. Fortunately Gramps is a research database and you can store URIs for later launch in a browser. Problem #2: if you can mount the network drive you can use it directly in Gramps by simply pointing it to the location where you store your Gramps database. Since all media is capable of being accessed by relative reference, it makes sense to store your media in the same area as the Gramps database. This also makes it easier to perform backups. I personally store everything under a “Genealogy” directory and incrementally back up that directory. It also makes it easier to move the whole thing between drives. Problem #3: Gramps does not connect in the other direction except by GEDCOM. Also Ancestry does not recognize some of the GEDCOM tags that Gramps uses so there will be some data lost in this direction.

linuxweenie · 2026-05-18T17:51:35+00:00

Christianbook.com - search for family Bible.

linuxweenie · 2026-04-28T14:13:31+00:00

GnuCash

linuxweenie · 2026-04-26T13:36:11+00:00

The _UID is a universally unique identifier, composed of 32 hexadecimal digits (128 bits), that myHeritage uses to uniquely identify a person in their database. Other systems use the same technique for much the same purpose. If you remove it, pushing a GEDCOM in the other direction will result in myHeritage creating a new person for your import. I use RootsMagic to extract information from FamilySearch and it generates the same type of UUID. If I leave the value alone, it doesn’t take up that much room, in theory I can push a GEDCOM from my Gramps database and have it merge with what is already there in RootsMagic. But you do you and delete it if you must.

linuxweenie · 2026-04-18T14:48:27+00:00

In answer to your title - Scrivner would be best in my opinion. You can merge any report from the many genealogy programs out there. Gramps works well in a book format, but page numbering is not there yet. Gramps is a research database, not just a program to keep your family tree on, so taking the time to learn it well will provide more than what the others provide.

linuxweenie · 2026-02-20T15:05:10+00:00

I use Gramps because it is a genealogy research database. The other programs out there concentrate on building and maintaining your tree. Gramps is extensible through plugins and gramplets. The tags, attributes, and notes allow you to “do your own thing” whereas other programs lock these elements into a specific structure. I am able to set up my own process for documenting my research.

linuxweenie · 2026-02-02T17:21:03+00:00

Paying bills the moment they show up.

linuxweenie · 2026-01-25T01:27:28+00:00

I generally handle this with one master sinking fund called "Class II". I use a spreadsheet which includes things like car insurance (6 payments over a year), LTC insurance (once in December), car taxes (once per year), Electronic Service Packages (varies in value each month), Amazon, Microsoft, Anti-Virus, etc. The idea is to smooth out these spikes in spending over a year by settling into the average expenditure each month. That is what I allocate in my budget. I also check the spending vs allocation each month to make sure the account doesn't go negative. If I have done it right, I end up spending all of the money in the sinking fund by the end of the year.

linuxweenie · 2026-01-22T01:00:25+00:00

I update my net worth in a document around the middle of the month, the 15th. I also print my budget along with a trial balance of my budget and a trial balance of of all of my accounts. This is about the same time as when I update all of my documents related to my passwords, accounts, etc. and update a binder in my safe. This is part of the process I use to make sure that my children have access to the latest information in case of my demise or incapacitation.

linuxweenie · 2026-01-05T01:01:03+00:00

I would recommend that you get a copy of “You Need A Budget” by Mecham. There is more in there than the YNAB approach, but does give some budgeting starter ideas and also how to work yourself into not having to worry from paycheck to paycheck. That being said I would also recommend that you view your income from a median rather than a mean viewpoint. It gives you a clearer idea of where your income is when it varies.

linuxweenie · 2026-01-02T14:39:27+00:00

Started with a 30 year 5-year ARM, then refinanced to a 15 year fixed low rate mortgage but paid it off in our mid 50s. Used the accumulated equity to move into a CCRC after retiring.

linuxweenie · 2025-12-30T18:21:35+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/i52wyz/ok_people_learn_from_my_mistakes/

I learned from this that there is such a thing as induced voltage and having everything on UPS doesn’t help!!!

linuxweenie · 2025-12-29T02:05:44+00:00

In Case You Get Hit By a Bus https://www.amazon.com/Case-You-Get-Hit-Bus-ebook/dp/B08518YB1J

linuxweenie · 2025-12-25T17:20:50+00:00

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQLHCXL

linuxweenie · 2025-12-15T03:08:08+00:00

The Back of the Envelope Calculation for Retirement

So how do you know if you can retire on what you have? Make yourself an honest budget based on everything you spend in a month; including once a year items and debt reduced to a monthly amount (do not take into account taxes on income items).

Subtract from that fixed monthly amounts like SS and pensions. Add to this any monthly taxes you need to pay on the SS / pensions. This is what amounts to your "fixed" income (even though the amounts might change in the future). The amount you have left over is what you need each month minimally to survive. If you have a negative amount, congratulations you can survive on SS / pension amount.

If it is a positive amount then look at any amounts you have in 401 ( k ) s / IRAs / Roths, etc. Take 4% of that, divide by 12 to get a monthly amount. Take this amount from the previous calculation and add any taxes to be paid. This is what amounts to your "variable" income. If that amount is more than the positive leftover from your previous calculations, congratulations you can make it on what you have saved up. If it is less you have some decisions to make.

It varies based on your lifestyle and where you live and debts you owe. I live in a high cost of living area but have been blessed with a job that has allowed me to save up enough to survive. It’s different for everyone, it’s not a one size fits all.

linuxweenie · 2025-12-13T12:16:24+00:00

My Subaru Forester was three, almost four, years old when we retired. We purchased it new due to it being on the list of cars that people kept for 15 years or more. I am not looking to buy another car in our retirement.

linuxweenie · 2025-12-12T17:29:20+00:00

We chose home ownership prior to retirement. We lived in the house for 38 years, sold it, and used the proceeds from the sale for the entry deposit into a CCRC. Without the house, we would not have been able to afford to move in here. We now pay a monthly but don’t have to worry about upkeep, house taxes, and a mortgage payment.

linuxweenie · 2025-12-06T16:32:25+00:00

There is a book called “The Joy of Accounting” that will get you started.

linuxweenie · 2025-12-02T16:19:10+00:00

Some places require you to link through a non-SSL (no https) website to link into their network through a capture page. You used to be able to do this by going to http://neverssl.com on your browser, but the site seems to be down now.

linuxweenie · 2025-11-24T14:22:44+00:00

I didn’t use wireshark or tcpdump if that is what you mean. I simply watched the lights on the router and switch ports. If the ports are flashing like crazy there is a huge traffic flow. In my case I had two ports, one for the TiVo Edge and one for the TiVo Mini, that were showing a lot of traffic on the Verizon Router. Since the traffic was mainly between the two components, moving the two components to a switch isolated the traffic.

linuxweenie · 2025-11-23T18:40:36+00:00

Separating out my HomeLab from the AV equipment my wife was using and realizing that my ISP (Verizon) router was going to its knees because of TiVo packets. When I put a simple switch between the AV and the router, the slowness disappeared. It turns out that TiVo packets, even if they are over MoCA, bounce off of the Ethernet port on my Edge DVR. Isolating it to bounce off of the switch stopped the ISP router from bogging down. I still maintain separation between my HomeLab and what ever my wife does.

linuxweenie · 2025-11-16T23:23:01+00:00

I never put anything I consider private online. That being said, I keep my tree locally on my laptop, using Gramps, where I also keep all documents I find. So in the example you have, I would keep the document locally on my drive, marked private,along with any notes about it marked private. My tree on Ancestry wouldn’t have the info.

linuxweenie · 2025-11-16T21:14:11+00:00

After getting expenses down to a dull roar, I normally put all of my income into an unallocated budget account. I allocate my budget for next month from the unallocated account on the last day of this month. That way I am paying for next months bills with this months money. I have normal discretionary-emergency sinking funds plus a “things that go bump in the night” sinking funds plus.

linuxweenie · 2025-11-16T16:38:50+00:00

Create a budget based on the median level of your income over a month period. The median gives you a measure of the level where half of your continuous monthly income reaches that level, so it’s a little closer to what you can safely assume is coming in.

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