Introduction

The main aim of Good Connexions is to aid my Family History research, by publishing my interests in order to contact others with similar interests.

I am not a genealogy expert by any means - and this web site was set-up to publish my own research interests - but at the same time provide the sort of general UK info that I had to dig hard for when I first started out. My primary surname interests each have their own page herein - and if your UK interests coincide with any having uncommon names - then there is good chance I can help.

I have tried to provide a collation of brief but useful general key UK orientated facts. If you have any suggestions, submissions or constructive criticism they all will be welcome.

When I first set up this web site - all local UK telephone calls were charged by the minute - and consequently Internet so were dial-up connections. It was therefore desirable to spend a minimum of time on-line. Consequently my aim was to provide a quick reference guide in one place. We have moved on and it is now possible (in theory) to make unlimited Internet calls for a fixed monthly charge. However the increased web traffic has slowed things down a lot and our own available time has become the issue - so one stop shopping is still the need.

I am involved with the Computer Group of West Surrey FHS and I have noticed there are a few reoccurring questions.  I have therefore added a Computer Corner - aimed at giving Windows 9x tips&tricks so that you can get more from your computer. Also I have added support notes (generally as stand alone tutorials) - for the various talks I give.

Another interest of mine is Graphics Design & Animation and pages relating to this are planned for the future - but with an emphasis on use for genealogy.  

From the Graphics point-of-view it is recommended that your Computer is set for at least 16 bit colour (NOT 16 colours) for viewing these pages - and additionally your browser should have Javascript and Style Sheets enabled before some of the navigation buttons will work. These pages have been optimised for a screen area setting of 800 by 600 pixels - or 1024 by 768 pixels.

So that you dont end up going around in circles - this site uses a tree structure (what else would you expect for a genealogy site!)   All backward links are marked return to .....  Although it's tempting - I have deliberately avoided placing links that go every which way - apart from the Map of this Web-site button which allow you to go directly to any main page.  And don't forget - your browser's Back button - is a powerful aid - should you get lost. 

This Update:
has become more like an editorial / semi-personal News Letter and it now has its own page titled - This Last Month .  

 

Enjoy your Visit - James Montague

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 Good Connexions  - Table of Contents 

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Good Connexions presently has 36 main pages and 21 sub-pages - plus 63 pages relating to my   talks and tutorials.

If your web-browser has Javascript enabled - you can jump directly to any main page by clicking the Map of this Web-site navigation button at the top or bottom of most pages.

NOTE:  If you are a new visitor to this site and want to tour the whole site then click 
Circular Tour One for the genealogy pages and 
Circular Tour Two for the rest. 

To continue a tour - click 'Continue Tour' button on the navigation bars at the head or foot of the current page. 

Surname Interests Names we are presently researching. If any match with yours - we would like to hear from you. Primary names:
ALCOCK, BRACKPOOL, BROWN, CAMBELL, CALLAGHAN, CLARK, CLIFFE, COOPER, COWING, DENT, HALL, HOLDER, JANION, KERFOOT, MAJOR, MARSH, McGUINESS, MARSHALL, MONTAGUE, NICHOLSON, PARFITT, PERFECT, PERFITT, ROWARD, ROWE, SALVIDGE, TAYLOR, THOMPSON, TREVITT, WELSH, WARD. - (revised 6th Sep 2005) 

Useful Information
Chapman Codes - Standard County & Country abbreviations
- (revised rev 17th Mar 2000) 
England & Wales Census dates
- (revised 08th Oct 2005) 
Estimating birth dates
- (revised 12th Mar 2000) 
Day-Of-Week Calculator
find out on what day were you born - or on what day your grandparents married - or on what day will will that special anniversary fall in two years time? - (new 25th Jan 2004 totally re-designed 14th Feb 2004 - and now includes future dates and is easier to use).
Kinship
working out relationships of - grand aunts and uncles - cousins twice removed etc - (rev 9th Oct 2005) 
London & the home counties 
- (revised 19th Aug 2005) 
Naming Conventions. 
can this help identifying your true relations?  ` - (rev 10th Oct 2005) 
Time travel
messing about with dates and times - BST - (rev 17th Nov 2007) 
Do You Remember.... A little bit of nostalgia and something to stir up old memories rather than genealogy - and a pointer to the way we lived. - (new 17th Nov 2007)   

Snippets
  • Garden of England - The County of Kent - divided into East and West Centings. - (rev 4th Sep 1999)   
  • Norsemen's Kingdom - Yorkshire together with the counties Northumberland and Durham.  
 
Scanned Images
& Editing 		Considerations for scanning - maintaining image quality and storage size. 
- (revised 26th Feb 2000) . 

Computer Corner
  • 1881 census on CD - installing problems - advanced search - (rev 17th Mar 2004)   
  • Fooling Windows "New Machine" CD - this CD will not let you install to a drive with a different system already installed. Overcoming this - (new 4th Sep 2003)   
  • Windows 95 & 98 tips and tricks that enable you to get more from your computer. 
  • Printing Directories and Folders - how to get round this Microsoft omission - (rev 3rd Feb 2000)   
A Digital Camera for Genealogy Considerations when making a choice. My research leading to the purchase of a Canon Powershot A40 in October 2002 - and its performance over the following year  (Includes sample images). Whilst the A40 is no longer available - the principals in making a choice remain the same.
- (new  2nd Jan  2004) 

Internet Corner
  • Is your computer being put to criminal use without your knowledge? - its a very real possibility and you could take the blame - but it can be avoided.
    - (rev  11th Nov  2005) 
     
  • Re-occuring Problems - unanswered emails - help spreading virus - composing webmail offline - ousting Badtran - 404 messages
    - (rev  11th Nov  2005) 
     
  • Badtrans virus - this insideous little monster appears to be doing the rounds again
    - (new  24th Feb  2002) 
     
  • Addressing - Having trouble getting to that internet site or page?  Are you getting   404 Not found or 404 Page not found message after diligently entering a long address? Or even not being able to find the expected data having reached a site. 
    -(rev 24th Feb 2002) 
Trivia   You'll be surprised! - (revised 9th Mar 2002) 
My links
& Exit 		Links that I have found invaluable during my FH research and the development of this site.   A good way of leaving this site once you have done browsing. 
- (rev 7th Feb 2005) 
Security Issues ADVANCE NOTICE:-
Set of pages being prepared for publication at this site. Some of the draft pages are now available 

Things you should consider before putting personal data on your computer.

I was hit by a couple of persistent worms early last year - and talking around it has become apparent that with the evolving methods of attack - and the explosion of identity theft - good computer security is becoming ever more necessary.

 
- (rev 25th Apr 2004) 
My Talks and
Tutorials 		Talk support notes (some with narrative added to form stand alone tutorials):
  • Support notes and tutorial "Web Site Design" (22 pages) 
    - (rev 8th Feb 2005) 
     
  • Support notes and introduction "Graphics for Genealogists" (4 pages). 
    - (rev 11th May 2003) 
     
  • Support notes and tutorial "Home Computer Networks" (37 pages). 
    - (rev 10th Jun 2005) 
     
WSFHS Computer
Group 		Current programme for West Surrey FHS Computer Group which generally meets the first Wednesday of each month
- (revised monthly)
SERIOUS SECURITY ALERT - (updated 21st January 2005)

This exploit is currently billed as the worst security hole in Windows history - affecting versions of Windows later than 9x and NT4. As access for this exploit is via legitimate traffic - firewalls do not intervene.

If you use Windows regardless of what Internet browser you are using - then your computer is very vunerable - if your browser can display pictures.

This exploit takes advantage of the Windows Media Format (WMF). It's not limited to WMF files, e.g., it can occur under any graphical extension (jpg, gif, etc.). You only have to visit a rouge web-site and your computer will be infected - without clicking any links! This also applies to "pictures" embedded within or attached to emails and presumably the same applies to newsgroups.

Download GRC's "MouseTrap" a Windows WMF Metafile image code execution (MICE) a free vulnerability checker - to make sure your system is safe.

For more details see http://grc.com/wmf/wmf.htm.

A fix for this vulnerability is available from Microsoft. For more details and patches for later Windows versions see - Microsoft Security Bulletin MS06-001 - Published: January 5, 2006

 

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