CUT AND PASTE (October 2010)
When I decided to do my October newsletter on our Wiggenhorn grandmother, in order to check on what I had written in years past, I went all the way back to the first Kuhnert newsletter in 1996. It was a road down memory lane when I realized what progress I had made in the years since that time. I laughed as I reminisced about how I had to cut and paste all the material, but before I could even get to that stage all I had to do in order to get the material ready.
Writing everything was no problem. I had Word in my trusty Macintosh so that I could change everything as I wrote. To me, this was real progress from all the changing I had to do on a typewriter. I had been a computer user since my last days at the University but I still only used it once in a while. Since I decided to share all my genealogy work, I really had to get serious about it.
So, not having a printer, that was my next purchase and you know, I really can’t remember what kind of a printer I bought or how I got it hooked up. All I know is, I could now print out what I had written but before I did the printing, I had to make other decisions. How was I going to prepare a newsletter and how was I going to tell everyone I was going to do it, and most of all, would anyone be interested?
While I was pondering all this, I contacted my sisters, my children, and some family members and asked if they would be interested in receiving a newsletter about their heritage. Yes, I did get positive responses so I was off and running and then had to figure out the technical end. Not only where would I start with the information but also how would I do it technically?
I decided to begin with my grandparents. Okay. One question answered, but this message is not about the content but about the method. I experimented with a myriad of headings and a thousand titles and what I decided on is what I used for nine years.
There was much leg work involved. My original printer wasn’t satisfactory, so after preparing the issue, I had to cut and paste the articles on sheets of paper, and then take them to be copied. I’m not sure I’m making myself clear but all I remember are the countless visits to the copy store after I had the issue together. Then there were all the trips to the post office to weigh the issue and finally to send it. Those first issues took me countless hours to prepare, but I must add I was most happy to have family interested in their history, and finally with progress and a new printer there was no more cut and paste.
Through nine years, and several new Macintosh computers and new printers, I was weary and took a hiatus of four years. In those four years, technology changed and the internet emerged. To begin again I was fearful of learning all the new technology. Now I prepare my newsletter on a new IMAC having a system called Snow Leopard and then send it to my “webmaster” (my most competent nephew) to be published on the internet, for all the world to see. Forget the printer, forget the post office, it all goes through the airwaves! From Cut and Paste in 1996 to this.
Writing everything was no problem. I had Word in my trusty Macintosh so that I could change everything as I wrote. To me, this was real progress from all the changing I had to do on a typewriter. I had been a computer user since my last days at the University but I still only used it once in a while. Since I decided to share all my genealogy work, I really had to get serious about it.
So, not having a printer, that was my next purchase and you know, I really can’t remember what kind of a printer I bought or how I got it hooked up. All I know is, I could now print out what I had written but before I did the printing, I had to make other decisions. How was I going to prepare a newsletter and how was I going to tell everyone I was going to do it, and most of all, would anyone be interested?
While I was pondering all this, I contacted my sisters, my children, and some family members and asked if they would be interested in receiving a newsletter about their heritage. Yes, I did get positive responses so I was off and running and then had to figure out the technical end. Not only where would I start with the information but also how would I do it technically?
I decided to begin with my grandparents. Okay. One question answered, but this message is not about the content but about the method. I experimented with a myriad of headings and a thousand titles and what I decided on is what I used for nine years.
There was much leg work involved. My original printer wasn’t satisfactory, so after preparing the issue, I had to cut and paste the articles on sheets of paper, and then take them to be copied. I’m not sure I’m making myself clear but all I remember are the countless visits to the copy store after I had the issue together. Then there were all the trips to the post office to weigh the issue and finally to send it. Those first issues took me countless hours to prepare, but I must add I was most happy to have family interested in their history, and finally with progress and a new printer there was no more cut and paste.
Through nine years, and several new Macintosh computers and new printers, I was weary and took a hiatus of four years. In those four years, technology changed and the internet emerged. To begin again I was fearful of learning all the new technology. Now I prepare my newsletter on a new IMAC having a system called Snow Leopard and then send it to my “webmaster” (my most competent nephew) to be published on the internet, for all the world to see. Forget the printer, forget the post office, it all goes through the airwaves! From Cut and Paste in 1996 to this.