From Elsewhere

Word has been received from Google (Alphabet, I guess is the parent company's proper name) that Google+ will be "going away on April 2, 2019" (quoting the subject line of their email). I'm sure that if you have a Google+ account you have also received this notice. And apparently they have already started removing things like +1 buttons and badges from blog websites. The roll of Google+ followers has been removed from the pages of this blog. In the past I used the Brouwer Genealogy Google+ page to pass on genealogy related articles and the like that I found online that interested me and that I thought might interest others. Without the Google+ page that option is lost, so perhaps I'll on occasion just throw out a post, like this one, with some links. So here goes.

• Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) has been in the news lately and the topic is controversial to many. I don't believe that anyone at FTDNA is labeling it as "good news" anyway. On January 31, 2019, BuzzFeed broke the news that FTDNA has been allowing law enforcement agencies to upload DNA data to their website for the purpose of finding matches. The story was then picked up by many other news outlets from the NYTimes to Rolling Stone. The Legal Genealogist posted on this on February 1st, and followed up on February 3rd, again on February 3rd (with "A Letter from Bennett Greenspan") and on February 4th. I recommend reading The Legal Genealogist's posts on this issue, and there is more to consider in the comments section to those posts. Here is a direct link to the response from FTDNA. The Brewer DNA Project is hosted by FTDNA and this is an issue that every current member of the Project, every customer of FTDNA and every potential customer of FTDNA should be aware of. Everyone is going to have their own opinion and position on this. My overall concern is that what was once a fun hobby is now turning a bit darker, or certainly one that has some issues that are not so enjoyable but do have to be addressed. Whatever your opinion is, please just take the time to inform yourself on this very complicated issue which involves much more than just "catching bad guys." The fact that existing customers were not notified of changes to Terms of Service, with this new policy (which is claimed to have contradicted past statements by Bennett Greenspan) and issues of privacy including the violation of certain legal and Constitutional rights are also issues here. The possibility that all of this may well just slow down otherwise well intended genetic genealogical research is a concern.
• "Why You Should Dig Up Your Family's History - and How to Do It," was published by the New York Times on February 3rd. Written by Jaya Saxena, it's a nice take, and a plug for the overwhelming importance and enjoyment of traditional genealogical research (the way this was done before DNA tests). Some specific advice here too that will serve every genealogist well. I would single out in particular the paragraph on name variations, something Brouwers, Browers, Brewers, Bruers, etc., should be well aware of and familiar with. A terrific article for newbies and a nice refresher for the experienced.
• On January 31, the radio program On Point aired "Inheritance": When DNA Genealogy Shakes Our Identity, Foundation to the Core. This is the story of author Dani Shapiro and her experience with a DNA test that told her that her father wasn't her biological father. A very interesting twist to this story on just how that came to be, that I won't give away. It's about a 46 minute listen.
• And finally, this has nothing to do with genealogy, but it hits home for me nonetheless so I'm passing it on. I grew up on Long Island, and after school, sometimes during school, we went down to the Pizza shop and ordered "a slice." It was wedge shaped, thin crust, nothing but tomato sauce and cheese, pepperoni or sausage was an option. You could FOLD it. That's how you ate it. Today, I live in western New York, and all the pizza places make a pizza that is too thick to fold (although thinner than Sicilian pizza which is something else that you could also get at the Pizza shop) and they cut it in squares! There are pieces in the center that don't even have crust! You can't fold it, it's too thick (I know I already said that, but that's the essence of pizza). And there are all kinds of strange things you can put on it (even ham and pineapple). Apparently there is even something called a "breakfast pizza." They should not be allowed to call this stuff pizza. It isn't pizza. So, here's an article from the New York Times from January 16th on REAL pizza. This is pizza! Glad I got that off my chest.

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