Genealogy

 Let the comparison of Claude with Chatgpt begin. This was a new account. Had to verify email and phone for 2 phase commit. No password. transcribe exactly showed were the generations changed, and the page numbers. There were no tables, but when I copied and pasted the output the layout had columns that were lost in the claud display. recognize spacing is important to determine tables low lighted the text above the tables The headers of the table are specified : Haucks Born Died Spouses Born Died The headers became larger and bold analyze mentioned locations noticed a month with too many days noticed last date mentioned in document reunification and spanish flu I can explore several fascinating aspects in more detail. Which of these interests you most? Marriage and Relocation Patterns: There's an interesting story about how this German immigrant family established roots in specific parts of New Jersey. The clustering in Lyndhurst and Newark suggests possible community formation. ...

 Recently watched  a familytree webinar with a panel on the topic of Genealogy meets AI . I had rather dismissed chatGPT after a short talk at the Princeton Public Library and some experimentation.  The demos  have me trying to understand prompts and GPTs and see if I can get solutions to some tedious comparison tasks on my genealogy list. (Ironically a recent upgrade to MacOS Sequoia involved setting up Apple Intelligence, Siri, and chatGPT.) In chrome on my Windows 11 box, I signed into chatgpt (4 not the previously used plus with has the paperclip grayed out). Apparently share is broken - or payfor. So I am trying to copy and paste the more interesting bits. I used the paperclip icon to upload page 7 of a certain well known family document, and " transcribe exactly ". (I really need to rename my files.) It started transcribing the page and asked how it was doing. Things I told it included "The table format should be used for each set of children" and "the ...

 A family member stumbled across a file of correspondance with my grandfather and knew that I would be interested in reading them and sharing them with others in the family. :)  I am still wondering what happened to grandpa's archives, which I have found referenced (not just in my head). "Last week, when filing away the past year's Tattlers... We have accumulated six great volumes of our letters and thier replies" -- JCP April 2, 1984 Here it is a nice summer day and I am home in my office. defensively citing rumors of jellies. sigh. Did actually go to bed at a recent hour. Reading about grief and estates seemed like a good stopping point.  (To be fair there were bits that made me smile too.) Besides I was reading ahead. Trying to use my curiosity as a goad to scan the files. Besides part of the fun may be reminiscing with others over things like preserving food, celebrations, ... So how to best take advantage of the short term loan? I do not have a good process in p...