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Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Comments on Comments

I got the following comments about FamilySearch.org's Family Tree: (I have not edited the comments). This is the first one:
my solution was to not have a tree there. Works.
Now, this is another very interesting comment.
I downloaded Heritage 7 and saw where they promised not
to steal peoples genealogy but they are putting the files on individual programs like new.familysearch.org files. The Mormons stole all 4 million of these files to form family Tree. needless to say I deleted every file that even had the word Heritage on it. Four million devoted Mormon members including myself were burned by trusting our own Church.
And here is yet another insightful comment:
Is there any company where genealogy is not pirated and is safe from being stolen? Is Ancestral Quest's use of Collaboration another word for theft?
Once again I voyage off into the land of make believe. The land where you and only you own your ancestors and none of their other thousands of descendants can interfere with your precious property in any way. It seems that the evil force of this magical world is the "Mormons." Apparently, the crime is moving those precious ancestral files (4 million of them more or less) from the safe haven of new.familysearch.org to the desolate wasteland of Family Tree where the trusting faithful have been "burned." I am not quite sure what part "Heritage 7" plays in this apocalyptic drama, in fact, I am not quire sure of the identity of "Heritage 7." I also have no idea how Heritage 7 put the files on new.familysearch.org. This leaves me in a quandary as to how this whole horrible problem can be rectified.

In addition, I am glad that the first commentator is not going to put his or her tree there (probably Family Tree). I would hate to have to inform him or her that it was not his or her tree and there is no way he or she could have put a tree (I assume some kind of list or pedigree) on Family Tree in the first place unless they voluntarily did so. I am sure that this person will be surprised to learn that all of his or her ancestral information is likely on Family Tree already with or without his or her cooperation. I am not sure we will all collectively rue the loss of his or her tree anyway. I don't think my comments on his or her comments make much sense either.

The last comment is the most puzzling of the three (if that is possible after the second one). I am totally mystified at the reference to Ancestral Quest in this context. Ancestral Quest does allow its users to create an online website containing their genealogical information stored in the desktop program. But that website is entirely private, unless made public by the user or by inviting family members to participate. I am not quite sure how one goes about stealing genealogy. Apparently none of these three commentators have any relatives and I am not sure they have any ancestors either.

Well, they do make my life a bit more interesting than it already is.

4 comments:

  1. This made my day! Quite amusing if not so completely wrong. James, you are a patient guy and I enjoy your sense of humor in it all. Your work is outstanding and you are beyond tireless and I appreciate you immensely! This post is a classic! Thank you!

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  2. Thank you Mr. Tanner for reminding us once again that we do not "own" our family genealogy. I am grateful for all those who have contributed over many years to the knowledge of our ancestors. I can only hope that one day I might find something that may be of value or interest to someone else.

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  3. I think you misunderstand what those people were saying. When I read their comments I didn’t see that any of them used the word ‘own’. Only you used that word. I don’t think they think they “own” their family trees. I think what they meant was that there are so many unsourced “facts” on the familysearch.org family trees that it’s frustrating for them when they see all the misinformation related to their personal family trees and the research they’ve done. I don’t think it has anything to do with a sense of ownership. I think it has more to do with accuracy.

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    Replies
    1. The comments were made to an older post about owning data. Some of them are serial comments made over a period of time. They talk of stealing which, of course, implies ownership.

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