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In this episode, a special expert joins us to talk about digitizing and storing your old movies, videos, and pictures\u2014even further updating those old movies you\u2019ve already put on CD. You\u2019ll hear a juicy clip from our exclusive Genealogy Gems Book Club interview with the editor of the new Laura Ingalls Wilder biography, Pioneer Girl. And Your DNA Guide is here with a story of DNA and the President.\n\nNEWS: AncestryDNA Common Matches\nGenealogists are losing sleep lately because of a new DNA tool, but in a good way! I\u2019m talking about AncestryDNA\u2019s release of its Common Matches tool. Diahan Southard, our resident DNA expert, shared the breaking news on our website recently, within hours of when the new tool when live.\nShe loves it so much she\u2019s already spent hours using Common Matches, which she says is blowing her genealogy mysteries wide open. This tool pulls out shared matches between two people who match at 4th cousins or closer. The tool is on AncestryDNA\u2019s main match page, between the \u201cPedigrees and Surnames\u201d filter and the \u201cMap and Locations\u201d filter. This will take you to a blog post on our site with Diahan\u2019s great visuals and explanation of how to use this new tool.\nWe heard from Alana on Facebook after she read Diahan\u2019s post. She said, \u201cI stayed up for hours past my bedtime last night resolving hundreds of mystery matches. Everything makes so much more sense now. I\u2019ve been mentally begging them to come up with a way to search for two surnames: this does an even better job than that. I did think it was funny how they broke the news by trying to sell me more tests. Oh well. I am SO thankful for this extremely useful new tool!\u201d\nHave you tried it? Let us know how it works for you. We\u2019d love to hear your success stories and how you\u2019re making the most of DNA testing for genealogy.\xa0\n\xa0\nDOUBLE YOUR CLOUD BACKUP SECURITY\nRecently\xa0, a sponsor of this podcast, let us know that we can now activate an extra layer of security to better protect the data we have stored with them. \n\xa0\nThe feature is called two-factor verification. It\xa0requires that we present both our account credentials and a verification code from a\xa0second device\xa0to gain access to our Backblaze account. That means someone who was trying to steal our data would have to have both our account information and access to the phone that's tied to the account. The option to require both these security steps can make Backblaze\u2019s solid security even more powerful. It\u2019s like you\u2019re giving Backblaze permission to lock the doors to your data with two different keys instead of a single one, because you\u2019re willing to take the time to use that second key whenever YOU need access.\n\xa0\nThis is just one more reason I\u2019m glad I\u2019ve chosen Backblaze as the official cloud-based computer backup service of Genealogy Gems! I sleep more easily knowing Backblaze is backing me up, 24/7, without me having to do anything but live my life, create and edit the many files that bring you this show, and keep my Backblaze subscription current!\n\xa0\n\xa0\nNEWS: RootsMagic Update for FamilySearch Family Tree\nIf you\u2019re a RootsMagic user, did you install the required update recently so it will continue to work with FamilySearch? On July 30, last month, FamilySearch made some changes to its own site, which required RootsMagic to tweak things on their end to keep up.\n\xa0\nIf you\u2019re running , look for the \u201cUpdate Available\u201d indicator in the lower right corner of your RootsMagic 7\xa0program screen, and click on it.\xa0You will then be able to continue working with FamilySearch Family Tree as if nothing has changed. If you\u2019re running Rootmagic 6, you can either upgrade to version 7 for around $20 or you can download the free RootsMagic 7 Essentials version and switch back and forth between them with the same database. Thanks for helping us spread the word to other RootsMagic users who are now scratching their heads when trying to work with FamilySearch FamilyTree!\n\xa0\nMAILBOX: Keeping Track of Your Master Family Tree\n\nWe recently heard from a new RootsMagic user, who bought the software to keep track of his family tree. He was still finding it difficult to corral all his data in one place. He wrote, \u201cI have my family tree splattered everywhere: FamilySearch, MyHeritage and Ancestry. I\u2019m afraid of losing control of my tree and would like some advice on keeping things straight. Each of the sites I go on seem to offer different information, so I started posting information on different sites. Can you offer any suggestions that I can use to centralize my data\xa0across different sites?\u201d\nThis is NOT just a problem Louis is having! In fact, I venture a guess that most people with online trees in more than one place have this problem and some may not even realize it.\nI look at my RootsMagic database on my computer as my MASTER database and tree. I may post things online, but only copies. Websites come and go and I want to keep ownership of my own master file on my own computer. With this kind of thinking, I can post my tree online but not lose control of it!\nWhen I post tree data online, I\u2019m going fishing for family, so to speak. I\u2019m trying to connect with cousins and gain research leads. With that in mind, I upload only the portion of the tree for which I want to generate those connections and leads. I don\u2019t put my entire tree on each site because I don\u2019t want to get bogged down with requests and alerts for far flung branches that I\u2019m not focused on researching right now.\nTo do this I make a copy of my database, edit it to fit my research, and then upload it. As I find documents and data on genealogy websites, I may \u201cattach\u201d them to the tree on that site, but I always download a copy and retain that on my computer and make note of it in RootsMagic. That way I retain control of my tree and my sources.\n\xa0\nV and start boosting your genealogy research\n\xa0\n\xa0\n\xa0\n\xa0\n\xa0\n\xa0\n\xa0\n\xa0\nGEM: Digital Preservation\n \nIf you\u2019re lucky enough to have old home movies, then you are probably really concerned about how to preserve them and how to get them into some kind of format that you can share with your family and use in your own family history projects. And what about digitizing and preserving our old photos? We all have those. It can all seem like a pretty daunting task, and that\u2019s why I\u2019ve invited Digital Film Conversion expert Kristin Harding from \xa0in for a chat.\nHere at Genealogy Gems we\u2019ve been talking lately about the importance of backing up all your computer files, particularly since our experience with our new sponsor Backblaze has shown us how easy and inexpensive it is to have a first-rate cloud back-up service. But there\u2019s an important step that has to happen before you can back something up: you have to digitize it in the first place!\n\nBonus!\xa0Here's a coupon code for\xa0:\xa0\nGengem10\xa0gets Genealogy Gems listeners\xa010% off!\xa0\nCall with any questions at\n\xa0\n1-800-776-8357\xa0or send an email to\xa0.\n\xa0\nTips for digitizing still images\n\nPrioritize items that are the oldest, most special or rare, fragile or deteriorating (capture that image before it crumbles or fades).\nResolve to scan at a higher resolution: Scan old family pictures at 600dpi for 4 x 6 photos. Very small photos (and images you want to enlarge from a small portion, like a group photo) should be 1200 dpi. That way, when you enlarge them, you\u2019ll get the sharpest, most clear image possible.\nConsider the benefits of a professional scanning service like Larsen Digital: Professional scanners are faster and you get better color quality and contrast in your digital image. When customers bring in their photos, they all say \u201cI just don\u2019t have the time to do this myself!\u201d Also, once a photo is scanned, it then usually needs to be cropped and digitally color corrected. Navigating your way through Photoshop if you are a novice can be time consuming & frustrating, and a pro can do this post-scanning editing.\xa0 Customers usually have slides and negatives, which are much more complicated to scan than photos. They often turn these over to a professional scanning company to ensure that they preserving their family memories at the highest quality.\n\n\nLearn more about how to organize the filenames of all your old images in a two-episode series on the free Family History Made Easy podcast: episodes and can also access my 2-part instructional video series, \u201c\u201d (where you can WATCH how to organize your computer files).\n\xa0\nWhat about moving images? So many of us have old home movies. And we have them in lots of different forms like Super 8, and VHS. You are pretty adamant that we should preserve our old home movies as MP4 digital video files, not just on DVDs and CDs as many of us have done over the past several years.\n\nDVD\u2019s don\u2019t last forever! The ability to read DVDs from our devices is already fading. Digital video files also offer the convenience to edit your footage and upload files online to easily share with friends & family. But it is convenient to have these on CD and DVD, also, to easily share with relatives and pop into a DVD player (for those whose televisions aren\u2019t hooked into their computers). These \u201chard copies\u201d can be kept in a safety deposit box for safe-keeping.\n\n\nWhen MP4s are saved on our hard drives, then they\u2019re easier for our cloud back-up service to keep backed up.\n\nA final tip: save multiple copies of all these to multiple locations. Kristin advises that all media should be stored in at least two places, preferably 3.\xa0\u201cFor example, your home computer would be one location; I think an external hard drive is always a smart bet because computers crash all the time. I personally believe that storing it with a cloud provider is critical to ensure that your media never gets lost or erased.\xa0If you have your files backed up into different locations, no matter what disaster strikes, (computer crash, floods, fire, moving) you will always have a copy safe somewhere.\u201d\n \nBonus! Here's a coupon code for\xa0:\xa0\nGengem10\xa0gets Genealogy Gems listeners 10% off!\xa0\nCall with any questions at \n1-800-776-8357\xa0or send an email to\xa0.\n\xa0\xa0\n\xa0\n\xa0\nGENEALOGY GEMS BOOK CLUB: Pioneer Girl\xa0- an interview with editor Pamela Smith Hill\n \nListen to\xa0\xa0an excerpt from our interview with Pamela Smith Hill, editor of , edited by Pamela Smith Hill, is the never-before-published autobiography Laura wrote in the 1930s. The stories and memories she shares in it are the basis for her popular Little House children\u2019s series. \n\xa0\nGet the Full Interview:\xa0 have exclusive access to the full interview in the upcoming Genealogy Gems Premium podcast episode 127, to be published later this month. Your membership\u2014just one low annual fee--gives you access for a full year to all the monthly Premium podcasts as well as past ones, so you can hear our interviews with other fantastic authors on books we\u2019ve loved. You\u2019ll also have access to our full series of Premium how-to videos, which include the Ultimate Evernote Education series, Google and Google Earth, and my other hottest topics.\n\xa0\nDNA GEM: William Harding DNA test\n \nNew evidence in a 90 year old paternity case came to light recently in the form of a DNA test.\xa0 While most cases of unknown paternity include an unwed woman and a child, this one had the unique distinction of also involving the president of the United States.\n recently named former president Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) as the father of Elizabeth Ann Blaesing after her son, James Blaesing, and two individuals related to the Hardings, were found to have shared DNA.\nJust to be clear, the DNA test results don\u2019t and can\u2019t name a specific relative as the shared source of any two individual\u2019s DNA. Though we would like it to be, it is not DNA in, ancestors name and birth certificate out. The actual report from the testing company was that James Blaesing and Peter and Abigail Harding were second cousins.\xa0 This means that the shared ancestral couple for these three has to be among their 4 sets of great grandparents. The DNA alone cannot tell us which set. It was a combination of the DNA and the known genealogy that provided such a high level of confidence in this case.\nWhile there are certainly mixed feelings among members of the Harding family about this new evidence, this is clearly a win for DNA. A man who was thought to have never had children did in fact have one child, and now a grandchild. This preserves a genetic legacy for his family line that might have otherwise been lost.\nThis is also a clear win for the power of curious descendants and the healing balm of time.\xa0 It was actually Harding\u2019s grand niece and grand nephew who instigated the testing out of a pure desire to know the truth.\xa0 Time has allowed them this curiosity without threat of scandal and technology has provided the necessary tools to once and for all more fully understand their ancestor and the life he lived.\nAncestryDNA declared after this story broke that DNA testing can rewrite history, which may be true.\xa0 However, I prefer to think of DNA testing not as white out that can erase false accusations, but rather as a filter that allows you to separate fact from fiction so that history can reflect lives rather than lies. Here\u2019s a that also comments on the lack of African DNA in Harding\u2019s descendants.\nGet Diahan's DNA \xa0to help you easily navigate your own genetic genealogy journey.\nDiahan Southard offers DNA consultations to help you with your results.