Friday, August 08, 2014

LDSTech Newsletter, August 2014

The following is from the LDSTech Newsletter. There are several genealogy specific items.

LDSTech Newsletter

Conference Registration Now Open!

Written by G.C. Duerden

The LDSTech Conference registration site is now open for the conference this October 16-17. If you will be joining us in person, you are invited to sign up at tech.lds.org/conf. If you are unable to attend, you can watch streaming videos of many sessions online during or after the event.

To register:

Go to the Conference Registration page
Fill out your personal information
Click Register

Read more>>

FamilySearch Announces Partnership

Written by G.C. Duerden
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
At the end of April 2014, FamilySearch.org announced a unique partnership with three genealogical database companies:*Ancestry.com, findmypast* and *MyHeritage. As a result of a year’s worth of cooperation and negotiations with these new partner organizations, it was announced that members of the Church with an LDS.org account will receive access to these family history websites at no cost by the end of 2014. . Read more>>*.

LDSTech Partners with BYU IT Students

Written by Elder G C Duerden
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
Several BYU Information Technology students, under the direction of Associate Professor Derek Hansen, recently wrote test scripts for software used for mission finances and administration. “They roll out a new version of the software regularly,” Hansen explained. “Each new version needs to be checked for code-breaks. Students helped by writing test scripts to simulate using the software to make sure everything works properly.” Read more>>

Church Expands Use of Digital Devices for Missionary Work

Written by G.C. Duerden
Friday, 11 June 2014
An article in the Mormon Newsroom recently noted changes in missionary work as digital media becomes more common throughout the world. After going through a pilot program of 30 missions and 6500 missionaries – primarily in the US and Japan – the mobile device program will be expanded to 162 missions (and 35,000 missionaries by the end of 2015) all using iPad minis, cell phones, and online chat in their work. Read more >>

Spanish Full-time Senior Technology Missionaries Needed

Written by G.C. Duerden
Monday, 07 July 2014
Many members dream of someday serving a full-time mission after they retire. Many members don't know, however, that there is a new opportunity to serve as full-time technology missionaries. We currently have these opportunities for Spanish-speakers. Area technology specialists (ATS) are needed in various locations around the world, but especially in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. These Spanish-speakingATS missionaries will be providing training and technical support to stake technology specialists (STS) in the areas. Applicants need to be fluent in both Spanish and English. Read more >>

July Broadcast - FamilySearch Mobile Apps

Written by Elder G C Duerden
Friday, 20 June 2014
The topic for the July broadcast was the two new FamilySearch mobile apps for phones and tablets: Family Tree Viewer (in both iOS and Android), and Memories (iOS only for the first release). Jesh Barlow, a UX Designer in Family History, demonstrated the new FamilySearch.org companion mobile apps (currently in beta), explaining target audiences, best-case user intents, and how each app serves to compliment the work that can be done on FamilySearch.org. Both apps are free. They will sync with FamilySearch.org, so information can be accessible from any device. Read more>>.

Watch Previous 2014 LDSTech Broadcasts

Date	Stream	Presenter & Topic
2014—JUL –11 2014 – JUN – 06		Jesh Barlow – FamilySearch Mobile Apps Mike Madsen – Youth Activity Pages on LDS.org
2014 – MAY – 02		Michael Colemere – Four Elements of Successful Communication Strategies
2014 – MAR – 14		Mel Broberg – Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders (CDOL)
2014 – FEB – 07		Jim Byer – Windows 8 Gospel Library
2014 – JAN – 10		Hal Rushton – Gospel Content on the Feature Phone