Picnik closes it doors today! And 3 alternative online photo-editors ...

Excuse me for a moment while I mourn a great loss ...

Oh Picnik how I have loved you so! You made photo-editing oh so easy, you made me look pro. You helped me make my "amateur-wanna be-wish I could" pictures look professional better. When Google purchased your site a few months back, I was hopeful that this meant BIG things. Then came the news. Google plans to shut down Picnik. Oh the horrow, say it ain't so!! I have stayed faithful to your beautiful site, but the day has come that I need to move on. Please forgive me for exploring other sites. You'll always be my first love!!

If you never had a chance to explore the many features of Picnik, count yourself lucky. What you don't know won't hurt you, right?? You see I have Photoshop (becoming Photoshop-able is on my bucket list) and I've used PaintShopPro for years (comparable to Photoshop Elements, though less known). I discovered Picnik a couple years back and it has been my go to for doing quick and easy edits to my photos. Here are some examples of edits:

Each of these edits only took a matter of 5-10 minutes because of Picnik's easy to use interface. Can you see why I loved it so much??

Okay, moving on. I've looked around for for sites to step up and fill the gap. After lots of disappointment, I found a few promising sites that I'll be trying out and watching closely to see how they evolve. Here's my top 3 picks:

1. iPiccy.com - Ummm, where did this site come from?? I think I might quickly fall in love with it. Not only is it easy to use but includes most of Picnik's features including some new effects. The set-up of this site is very similar to Picnik, making it easy for people to transition. At first look it seems that I will be able to apply all of my fav edits. I did a quick edit on that first picture with my sweet niece, Hannah. Take a look:

2. PicMonkey - Oh happy day! Between this and iPiccy, I might quickly forget about the wonders of Picnik. Here's an excerpt from PicMonkey on their about page:

A couple of former Picnik engineers, a rabbi, and a monkey meet in a bar.

The rabbi realizes he's not in the middle of a corny joke so he leaves. But the monkey. The monkey starts raving wildly. He's slapping the Picnik engineers on the back, congratulating them for pioneering the online photo editing space 6 years ago, and for enabling a whole new class of photographers to create beautiful images and hang out together. And the monkey has more ideas about time travel, connecting people, light speed, and making Brussels sprouts taste better. The engineers, they're listening, but they're onto something new. They scribble furiously on the backs of napkins and the edges of sleeve cuffs.

Several months later, here we are. A dynamic duo became a small dynamic team. And the world's friendliest photo editor got a chance to start again. If you loved Picnik, PicMonkey is back in town and better than ever. It's faster, more powerful, and easier to use. It's the real deal you already know, plus 78% more monkey.

What's this? Some of the former Picnik engineers created this site. Sweet! Played around with that same picture and here's what I came up with after about 3 minutes:

3. Google+ Creative Kit - If you go into your Google+ account and pull up a photo, you'll notice "Creative Kit". At first click, it look exactly like our beloved Picnik (I don't think I've ever used on word so many times in a blog before!!) For a moment, I almost forgave Google for taking away my fav toy. Upon further investigation, it is a striped down version of what was available from Picnik. For instance, it has several of the effects, but you don't have control to change levels and use a brush. It is missing several of the best edits (teeth whitening for one). And then there's the fact you're forces to put your picture on Google+.

I was working on an edit, but got frustrated and decided to not complete it. The only reason I mention it here, is because I will be keeping an eye on it to see if it will evolve into something I find useful. In the meantime, I will be busily playing with my first two finds!

I'm feeling inspired to take some new pix ... time to get off the computer!

Carrie Keele
(a.k.a. DearMYRTLE's daughter)
www.NotYourMothersGenealogy.com

i before e except after c

One of the hurdles I've run into while indexing the 1940 Census, is what to do when the document has a clear misspelling. Do you put the correct spelling or do you put what is actually on the document? (Yes, put the proper spelling of locations if it's obvious.)

Anyone who has ever done much research, understands the importance of the correct spelling. Finding that infamous great-great-grandfather's birth certificate could very well be caused because of a misspelled word years ago.

Most people even have trouble spelling the word "genealogy" (how many times have you seen geneOlogy?) I've always prided myself on having a decent grasp on the English language. I was quickly humbled this week when I received this comment on my blog:

Okay, I finally have to ask something. Is that a typo in your banner, or is the extra L in the word "Genealolgy" intentional - like for LOL? I only ask because the URL uses the proper spelling of the word "genealogy." I thought, well if the LOL was intentional, why was it left out of the URL? Or is it because it's easier to have it spelled properly? Sorry if I'm being dense! No one has mentioned it and I wondered if it was just me who was obtuse. :-) - KJNGenealogy

 At first I was scratching my head, because I (unlike a good many people out there) know how to spell genealogy. I do, really! I took a look at my banner and this is what I saw:

Wait, what?? Where did that extra "L" come from? Surely I didn't do that. Oh dear.

Don't worry, I've fixed it. And I'm not stressing. In fact, I find it quite amusing. You see, KJN, you were the first person to notice. Or at least the first person to say so. And I can't tell you how many times I looked at that banner, closely, before uploading it!!

Lesson learned. It's always good to proofread and have others check out work. Thanks for letting me know, KJN, so I didn't have to parade around with that banner for too much longer!

Carrie Keele
(a.k.a. DearMYRTLE's daughter)
www.NotYourMothersGenealogy.com

1940 Census WHAT to do with it? - Oh what fun!!

There are perks to being DearMYRTLE's daughter, one of which is being invited to participate in webinars with people who have years of experience under their belts. In other words, color me intimidated! But my mom taught me well, and though I was shaking the whole time, my first official genealogy webinar presentation went off without a hitch.

Monday night, was baptism by fire. I joined Myrt and Russ Worthington in a follow up to the 1940 Census release. For the first part of the night I had fun chatting with people on twitter using #DearMYRTLE. I was grateful for the friendly banter to help calm my nerves as I prepared to share on using custom Google Maps to share your genealogy. It wasn't perfect, I made mistakes ... but I had a BLAST!!

As promised, here's the recording, enjoy! 
(click here for DearMYRTLE's description of the webinar)

1940 Census: Now that I've Got it, WHAT Do I Do With It?

To VIEW, click  HTML Version  (requires Adobe Flash.)

To DOWNLOAD, right click on .mp4 Version and select "Save as..." to save it to your computer's hard drive. 

This webinar is in .mp4 format and can be viewed by Windows Media Player, iTunes and most other media players. Tech support has advised me of this free program that will also play the downloaded webinars.

Here's just one of the pictures I shared on my custom Google Map. This is my Grandpa, Glen Shirl Player ... I love this picture! So young & handsome.

Carrie Keele
(a.k.a. DearMYRTLE's daughter)
www.NotYourMothersGenealogy.com