Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.
Ottawa Temperatures
If official verification confirms it, 2024 will be the first year in Ottawa records for which the coldest night failed to break the -20C mark. 2024’s coldest was -19.5C, recorded on 22 December. Overall, 2024 tied with 1998 as Ottawa’s warmest year on record.
Eight Intriguing British New Year’s Resolutions from the Past
1921 census
Ancestry is expected to publish its version of the 1921 census of England and Wales on Tuesday or Wednesday. If you don’t have a subscription, rush to your local public library for access.
Ancestry Discount for New Members
Until the end of the day on 12 January, Ancestry.ca is offering 50% off new memberships, which is particularly useful if you want to dig into their newly available 1921 census.
Strong Use Cases for AI in Genealogy
From Steve Little’s blog:
Summarization is condensing information into more useful forms.
Extraction is plucking facts from texts.
Generation is making texts bigger, turning facts into stories.
Translation is rendering a text from one language to another and converting language for different times, purposes, and audiences.
Some of his weaker use cases are getting stronger!
Thanks to Ann Burns, Anonymous, Barbara May Di Mambro, Basil Adam, Brenda Turner, Gail B, Glenn Wright, Kim Barnsdale, Lesley Anderson, Lois Logan, Nancy Cutway, Patti Mordasewicz, Teresa, and Unknown for this week’s contributions.
