DNA Painter is a popular website for genealogists who want to explore their autosomal DNA test results. Join site creator Jonny Perl for this update on new features for tree visualizations and chromosome mapping, as well as other recent releases and tools.

We all want our writing to be clear and concise and agonise over getting it just right. Is that the correct word? Have I put the comma in the right place? Should that be an em-dash or an en-dash? Sometimes we just need a tool to help us identify the typos and grammatical inconsistencies or highlight the punctuation errors. This session will demonstrate free tools to improve our writing and help us become better writers.

Ransomware is a form of malware (malicious software) that encrypts a victim’s files so they cannot be accessed. The attacker then demands that the victim pay a ransom in order to have access to their files restored. Maybe, you’ve heard about ransomware in the news and thought it was a business problem, but in truth over 75% of ransomware attacks are aimed at individuals and small businesses. Why, because you are easy targets. Learn more about ransomware and what you can do about before it strikes, and if you are attacked how you can recover.

Based on resources collected for the Net Notes Column of Internet Genealogy which I have authored since 2016. These will be not-yet-published resources from the US, Canada, UK, and from countries around the world. A real smorgasbord of topics, time periods, etc. A little bit of something for everyone.

Everywhere we turn we hear from someone recommending the latest and greatest apps and tools to use in our research. But should we try to use all of them? Some of them? None of them? How do you choose what is best for you? We will go over the research process and help you decide which of your own activities need special tools and which work well with the standard tools we all should use.

Canva is a freemium model cloud-based graphic design app that allows even the most design-challenged genealogist to create attractive digital and print products. Colleen uses it frequently to create visuals for my blogs, social media posts, videos and reports, and for family celebrations. We will walk through navigating around the browser interface and features, review the various design libraries, and demonstrate some of her regular design use cases. We will also discuss free personal Canva, premium Canva Pro, and Canva’s Nonprofits program for your society.

Locating and using former slave owners’ bible records can reveal slave families as well as their birth, ages and deaths. These records are valuable and can predate statewide vital statistic records. In addition, these records can show enslaved persons were listed with their enslaved families.

If you have already worked out that ‘Mc’ and ‘Mac’ surnames are the most complicated British surnames, you must listen to this webinar. And if you haven’t already worked this out, you must absolutely listen to this webinar. ‘Mc’ surnames are double the trouble because they can suffer distortions at the beginning, middle and end of the ‘Mc’ prefix as well as at the beginning, middle and end of the rest of the surname, the root word. Sound glides are a particular problem, in which the ‘k’ sound at the end of the ‘Mc’ prefix distorts the first letter of the root word (e.g. McCue/McKew/McHugh, McLachlan/McGloughlan). Transcription errors can also produce a non-‘Mc’ surname (e.g. Mackever/Markever) which can prove a trap for the unwary. This seminar will help you keep you sane when you encounter the complexities of these mad Scottish-origin surnames.

The MyHeritage DNA test offers the most detailed ethnicity report on the market, pinpointing your origins across thousands of genetic and geographic regions. Learn how to explore, analyze, and interpret your results to gain insights about where you come from.