Manasota PAF News Nov 2003

"ZIPPED" Files - What are they? Do I need them? submitted by Pat Richley, myrt@dearmyrtle.com From time to time one of my computer tutoring clients mentions a question about not being able to read a file that ends with ".zip". Perhaps its good to talk about this in case you have this problem, or have a friend who needs help with these compressed files.

Q. WHAT ARE THEY?
A. Zipped files are compressed using a file utility program such as WINZIP, PKZIP or ZIPWHACK. Although the file or files could have been text, graphic, music or other data files, the result of the compression will rename the file to end in .zip. If there are multiple files, they are compressed into a folder. When uncompressed they go in a new folder created by the "unzipping"
process. The new folder is recognized because it has the same name as the .zip file.

Q. HOW TO THINGS GET ZIPPED in the first place?
A. There are two specific ways we can end up with a "zipped file", namely:
1 - We purposefully compress one or more files using some soft of ZIPPING program, usually to make it faster to send a file to someone else through the internet.
2 - If we send or receive a large file through AOL's e-mail, it may unbenonced to us, be converted to a ".zip" file by AOL to facilitate a faster send/receive of the e-mail.

Q. HOW DO WE READ A ZIPPED FILE?
A. You must first "unzip" the file, to uncompress it, then you can read the file if you have the appropriate text, graphic, music or genealogy software.

Q. WHERE CAN I OBTAIN ZIPPING/UNZIPPING SOFTWARE?
A. Here are the links:

AOL versions 6 and higher do this for you automatically on download.
WinZip - download the evaluation version, and try it. This is the one I have used lately. http://www.winzip.com/
PKZIP Standard Edition - (also unzips) download the evaluation version. This is the "original" father of zipped files. Very easy to use. http://www.pkware.com/products/free_eval.html
ZipWhacker - http://www.qsystems.com/zipwhack.html This site wasn't working when I went to get the info, but it is one of the main players in the zip/unzip arena of computers.

BLUE MOUNTAIN CARDS - A COMMUNICATION METHOD FOR GENEALOGISTS submitted by Pat Richley, myrt@dearmyrtle.com Received an e-mail question about this service, that now charges only a minimal annual fee, so thought we could discuss this as well. Seems we are the "keepers" of the family stories, the "tellers" of tales. We're also the "one" who encourages family reunions, the labeling of old photographs and the documentation of personal recollections by interviewing other members of the extended family. To do this sort of work, we need every tool in our virtual "thoughtfulness albums" including an extensive e-mail address book. I postulate that sending online cards such as those provided at BlueMountain.com can go along way towards improving communication between family members. BlueMountain provides in two categories of subscriptions:

ADDRESS BOOK: You can create a Blue Mountain Address Book. It can be filled in manually if you have lots of time to copy/paste from your existing e-mail address book. Also you can have BlueMountain remember the e-mail addresses as you send out cards.

SAVE FAVORITE CARDS: If you have a particularly favorite card or two, you can click to have BlueMountain remember it for future sending.

MANY CARDS MAKE LIGHT WORK: You may search for a card category by topic (Halloween, Father's Day, get well, etc.) or you may browse through a lengthy list of categories on the main page.

ADJUST THE TIMING OF THE CARD'S ARRIVAL: You may specify the card be sent to the addressee on a later date within the month. This means at the beginning of the month, you could choose a card for every member of your family, church group and bowling team celebrating a birthday that month. Then before clicking SEND change the specified date to for each one.

OTHER OPTIONS: Its possible on some cards to add a photo or sound clip (perhaps a recording of your voice.) Other cards are interactive, meaning that in addition to the colorful design and musical background theme, the person receiving the card can click to play a game with the card. The one I sent to my grandchildren for Halloween involved "catching" falling candy in a paper bag (using the computer's mouse) before it hit the ground on the virtual card.

Clean Up & Fix Up Your PAF Database From www.svpafug.or's PAFinder newesletter, Sept 2003. We took the software suggestions, and located comments from the web sites describing the software.

RESEARCHING US COLONIAL RECORDS From www.svpafug.or's PAFinder Newesletter, Sept 2003. We plan to discuss Lesly Klippel's article for ideas for researchers. We will do this as a "chalk" talk... though I don't it to call it if one uses these new fangled marker boards.

The Manasota PAF Users Group is a non-profit educational organization in the State of Florida. Copyright 1994-2003. All Rights Reserved. dearmyrtle@aol.com Webmaster. Personal Ancestral File is the registered trademark of the Corporation of the President, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Master Genealogist and FamilyTree SuperTools are the registered trademarks of Wholly Genes, Inc. Family Tree Maker is the registered trademark of Mattel. RootsMagic is the registered Trademark of Formal Soft. The ideas expressed in this the Manasota PAFNews are merely the opinions of the contributors. The writers, editors, publishers, and the Users Group are in no way responsible or liable for any damages resulting from articles, opinions, statements, advertising, representations or warranties expressed or implied in this publication nor do we endorse or recommend any products or services mentioned or illustrated herein.
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