Off topic: chat

pinkypinky wrote: »

So I contacted a DNA match for my Dad's cousin yesterday - there's a shared surname in his list and I gave a bit of info about my people with that name. He replied with the same. But swiftly followed a second email saying he'd googled me, knew I was a genealogist and said it would have been better if I'd been upfront about it and my motives!

I suppose he thinks I'm somehow profiting from his info?

I’ve had similar experiences to you and Hermy (following post to above) ; it’s not infrequent. I long ago realised that some of those who write bitchy responses are sad people who spend too much time on their own and as a result can be over-protective of what they perceive as ‘their’ family. I would respond to that rather obnoxious person stating that yes, I am a professional, that the shared information is about my own family, it’s about research that I have done myself, not for a client and provided to him/her to further common understanding. They might 'climb down'.

But I can understand some people being wary of professionals– I’ve been ‘done’ by a professional and many many years later it still rankles. Years of work presented to him on a plate on the promise of his sharing results and then dead silence, a total void and eventually a plaintive ‘the client would not let me share’, an excuse that is about as factual as unicorns.

Earnest wrote: »

The purpose of the captcha is presumably to repel web-crawlers. There might be an argument as to why people might be misled if the results appeared on google or were put on a subscription service. However, a more definite reason is that a web-crawler might monopolise the server on which the database operates and produce unacceptably long waits for real users.

I cannot see any coherent argument on why 'they' have that design. With an efficient algorithm and a bit of machine learning any web crawler would easily overcome the captcha on the Irishgeno site; if anyone wanted the data a simple hack would get it for them.(Look for e.g. what the Israelis are doing to Google/Facebook and cloud storage! - and add to that the Russians and the Chinese). Also, common sense would suggest that the Section 61 compliance box should not need to be repeated for continuous searches.

The simple fact is the Irishgenealogy site has a crap design because the Irish Civil Service has an absolutely deplorable record with managing IT. Just look at the shambles of voting machines, the HSE 'systems', the flawed Garda PULSE system, the isolated Companies Registration Office, Financial Regulation sites, etc. Most Govt. Departmental systems cannot even communicate with each other. If they cannot manage their own internal communications how can they be expected to be customer focused?

It is sickening to hear politicos waffle on the importance of information and communication technology (ICT), about Ireland Inc. being a leader in ICT economies, particularly when most of what has been designed by them is not not fit for purpose, is not integrated and is not machine readable. And users, like me, can do nothing about it because if you open your mouth and complain there will be retribution.

Rant over.