Enabling the Distributed Family Tree

This is the official research blog for the Distributed Family Tree, an open network of genealogical data and metadata.  In a nutshell, the big idea is that we can combine all available genealogical information on the Internet into a single distributed network.  The foundation for this network is the substance of the Master's Thesis that I am currently working on.

The Verdict

by Hilton on Monday, November 13, 2006 | 462 Views

The thesis proposal went over pretty well last Friday.  Even though I was quite nervous, I am pleased to report that taking a public speaking class this semester has definitely paid off.

The verdict is a green light conditional on a few minor modifications:

  • An indication at the end of the Abstract that this is an Industry-oriented thesis (as opposed to the more traditional Research-oriented thesis).
  • In the introduction to the Related Work section, I wrote that the “following subsections will consider what others have done to make this happen and why it is not sufficient.” The committee would like me to be clearer on why the solutions I mention are not sufficient.
  • A paragraph or two in the Validation section on how I will push adoption of my solution. For example, I will be giving a presentation at the Family History Technology Workshop in March.

For anyone who’s interested, I’ve posted the PowerPoint Presentation slides used in my presentation. There isn’t much to them that wasn’t in the proposal paper, though I do like the organization a little better.

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  1. Permalink to this comment Jocelyn on November 13th, 2006 at 8:47 pm

    Don’t be so modest—the proposal went more than “pretty well”–it was excellent! You did a wonderful job at explaining the DFT and gave your audience a tantalizing taste of what it is capable of. To everyone who was not there- I recommend looking at the slides.

  2. Permalink to this comment Jocelyn on November 13th, 2006 at 8:51 pm

    One thing you did forget to mention in this post though is the comment on the nucleartoiletpaper in the URL by one of the committee members.

  3. Permalink to this comment Hilton on November 14th, 2006 at 9:23 am

    Heheheh… you mean the part where Dr. Martinez read the last slide, exclaimed, “Nuclear toilet paper!?,” and ‘recommended’ that I move this blog elsewhere? :)

    I’ll admit the name is unfortunate. Blame it on the excesses of youth. As soon as I can find a decent available domain name I’ll move the blog and forward the old links.

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