Jenna and Henry's wedding pictures have hit the Web, allowing us a controlled (can you blame them?) look into the first daughter's Saturday wedding on the Bush family's 1600-acre ranch near Crawford, TX. About 200 guest were invited to the ceremony, which President Bush said was "all that we could hope for." Jenna's twin sister, Barbara was maid of honor. I think it's classy, they didn't do something totally over-the-top, especially since -- apparently -- historically it's good for Presidential approval ratings. They seemed to have taken an admirable high road.

As discussed on WSJ Radio today .... This may be one of my all-time favorite viral videos ... It's called "Facebook in Reality." It starts with a guy knocking on an old friend's door & from there it essentially mirrors and -- for lack of a better word -- "pokes" fun at the virtual Facebook experience. It is a total riot with lots of "Confirm" or "ignore" interruptions. The ever-controversial "Relationship Status" is especially clever. Am told changing your status is the way young people let other people know they're "available." If you're an adult & you change your status, you get condolence notices! Enjoy the video ... It really is a "must see" (disclaimer: some racy language).

Wedding season is fast-approaching and brides- and grooms-to-be are working feverishly to button up details on everything from flower arrangements and honeymoon plans, to bachelor parties and bridesmaid dresses. For those feeling a little lost in the fray, there's help online from people who've been there, done that. #1 piece of personal advice: Enjoy every second.

The writers at Wedding blog AisleDash, serve up daily doses of advice, helpful info. and picture galleries to help ease the stress of planning for the big day. The site covers weddings from just about every angle – etiquette (never under-estimate), gifts & registries, cakes & catering, invites, rings, fashion, bridal bloopers and more.


With today's average wedding costing nearly $30,000 (that's not including the honeymoon!), you'll want to check out AisleDash's regular posts on "budget advice," like these tips for buying bridesmaids dresses online: Shopping Online for Bridesmaids Gowns: 4 Rules to Follow. And there's no shortage of DIY wedding advice, including: Virtual Scrapbooking, DIY Wedding Program Fans, An Eco-friendly Wedding without Breaking the Bank.

The Web is a vast resource for genealogy information and tracing one's roots online is on of the Internet's fastest-growing categories. But because there is so much information out there, you not only have to know where to search, but how to search. Here are some tips to help get the ball rolling ... Starting could be a neat Mother's Day project. I really admire people who take this on ...

Start your search offline.
Databases on the major genealogy websites are enormous - we're talking millions of records - so just plugging in a first and last name isn't going to cut it. By first gathering all the information you can offline, you'll be better equipped to take advantage of online resources. Once you know the basics - first and last names, approximate birth/death and birth place, marriages, plus any knowledge of military service - you're online search will be much easier.

Interview relatives.
Interview living family members for full names, birth dates, birth towns, marriages and occupations. Ask about military service (75% of Americans have ancestors who served in the Armed Forces and a lot of those records are searchable online). Also, take a trip into the attic and collect as many family records as you can. Family Bibles often have births, deaths and marriages recorded in them. Old photographs, letters and obituaries also reveal clues about previous generations.

Go local.
A trip to your local library, courthouse or historical society can yield for more background information. Look up your ancestors and check for deeds, probate, voting and marriage records, etc.

Time to hit the Web
The desire to dig up genealogy information has spawned more than 250,000 genealogy websites. Start with a site that offers access to Census records. Census records can give you a wealth of information such as birth places, military service, education, professions, property/personal property owned, etc.

Ancestry.com is the big player in the space. If you're looking for one-stop-shopping, this is it. The site has been around for 10 years and has over 23,000 searchable databases, with information on 5 billion names. It's relatively user friendly. The site recently completed the digitizing of U.S. Census records from 1790 - 1930. Copying the material took a team of experts and workers a combined 6.6 million hours of labor. (A census of the population has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. Personal information is kept sealed for 72 years after each census, which will explain why Ancestry.com's database ends at 1930).

Start your search by going from known to unknown.
Always start with yourself and work backward, generation by generation. That helps to ensure accurate results. If you search for an ancestor but can't find direction connections between generations (birth certificates, census documents, etc.) you can't be sure you have the right person.

Tracing your roots takes time.
You might go twenty or thirty minutes and all you find are a couple death certificates. Be patient. Time is by far the biggest investment in researching your family tree. It can be a big undertaking, so don't expect to have your family tree over and done with in an afternoon. Really what it ends up being for many is a hobby; something you do in your spare time.

Things get harder if you have a common last name.
If you have a name like "Smith," "Johnson" or "Lewis" :) ... You're going to have to do a lot of cross-checking to make sure the information you're uncovering is relevant. There's two kinds of information, government source information (Social Security Death Index, military records, census, etc.) and there's the community information (things people have posted, stories that have been passed down). You want to cross-check that with something you know to be true. So if someone tells a story about a great-aunt in Ohio , you have a Social Security number that says they were born in Ohio , maybe that's a match.

Float your family tree (connect with distant relatives).

The real value of sites like Ancestry.com is in the networking you can do with people who have similar profiles. Sharing can be critical when you hit roadblocks or sticking points. Ancestry.com has feature to automatically connect a user's family tree to others worldwide if it finds common relatives with another subscriber. This brings about a social-networking component to genealogy. You're connecting online with close and distant relatives, you're sharing your family tree, maybe old photos and documents you've scanned in, etc.

Factoring in cost.
It can start to add up, but again, time is the biggest investment. Community content, like message boards are usually free – these are usually postings that say things like, "I know this person was related to this person, but I'm trying to figure out where he fits in here, can anyone help." But when you start getting into specific records that have been posted and digitized online (Census, marriage, death records), there are fees involved.

Most pay sites offer a free trial and then subscription fees start at about $15 a month. You get a break if you pay annually. You may also run into some up-selling. Ancestry.com offers upgraded services like the Family Tree Maker Software or a higher-level membership that lets you search databases overseas.

Free options online.

RootsWeb.com is free and good place to learn or get your feet wet. It offers hints and tips on how to research family history ... what you can expect to find in particular documents, how to search old newspapers, etc. It can help you get more mileage out of the pay sites.

Explore immigration history for free.
For most people, your ancestors had to arrive in the at some point. EllisIsland.org provides free information for more than 25 million passengers that entered the United States through Ellis Island and the Port of New York from 1892-1924.

If you're stuck, ask Cyndi.

CyndisList is a free portal with approx. 260,000 genealogy links, the bulk of which are cross-indexed and categorized. The site is also big with those who are stuck and looking for new avenues of research. And yes there really is a Cyndi. It was created by Cyndi Howell, of Washington state, who started the ongoing project during a maternity leave from work in 1996.

This kind of DNA testing is also being used to confirm ethnic heritage, though the degree to which your geographic roots can be specified is a matter of debate.

The test kits are priced starting at about $100 and sell for as much as $800. The more you spend the more detailed results you get. Be sure to read the fine print on these sites, so you know exactly what you're getting and you have your expectations in check.

Facial recognition tools.
www.myheritage.com

The site is called MyHeritage.com and while the site enables users to search across hundreds of genealogy databases at once, the feature that gets the most attention is its ability to research family history through face-recognition technology.

The idea is to upload old family photos of people you can't identify. Then, let MyHeritage.com try to recognize these people. If another MyHeritage user also contributed a photo with one of your mystery people, it will make the facial connection and you can get in contact with each other.

It clusters faces based on attributes like bone structure and the unique characteristics of the person's eyes.

Don't delete your own history.
Don't delete your own history. Oral history makes up such a big part of how we track our history. And these days, everything is by e-mail. So all of those e-mails that talk about what your family is doing this year, consider saving those. Maybe start a digital diary, put them on a disk. Or, at a minimum, print them and keep them in the attic, because, you know, our grandchildren aren't going to be able to go upstairs to the attic and read deleted e-mails. So make a point of saving them.

Genealogy gifts for the budding genealogist.
Family Tree Maker Software and books from Ancestry.com can help you build and manage your family tree on the computer. Prices range between $40-100.

RedEnvelope.com – niche for family tree-themed gifts on the web, like the Couples Ginko Genealogy Tree Frames pictured below.

redenvelope.com

We played ALL-things Wii ALL weekend at my sister's house. From tennis, to bowling to Guitar Hero it was NON-Stop action with an audience (we're a big family).

Looking ahead, here's what we'll all probably be playing when the holidays come around ... Can almost see my sister mastering her center of gravity with the new Wii Fit available now in Europe and on the ground here in the U.S. on May 19.

Soon you'll be able to start doing muscle workouts, yoga poses and balance games, like ski racing and jumps. Check out this downhill run & blocked shots on soccer goal. Total Score! The winner: Nintendo!

There's some talk on message boards re: what mats you do & don't need + what is & isn't included bundled Wii offers. Those can be tricky. Sometimes significantly cheaper, but only if you need/want everything included. If you're a gamer, you might actually find some of the things listed in this article remotely doable: 10 EASY WAYS TO GET MORE FROM YOUR WII

Having seen the demand in my sister's living room & remembering the trouble Santa went to for Guitar Hero this year, am getting in on this early & pre-order. The trick will be resisting breaking them out on a rainy day ...

RELATED: This parody is kind of a riot. And, of course, the Internet wouldn't be complete without a baby laughing video. This little guy's giggle is contagious!:)

We don't always call it right, but -- as discussed on radio this morning -- we saw this one coming when behind-the-scenes Miley webcam videos featured easily misconstrued child-play. See: HANNAH MONTANA JUMPING ON THE BED.

Miley et al seem to be getting herself in deeper & deeper water. FULL STORY HERE. As famous as Billy Ray is, the Annie Leibovitz's of the world have been around the block & it's their job to push the envelope. So, whether your daughter got "pushed" or not, you should have known. Maybe that's why the premise of the headline: "Miley Knows Best" just doesn't feel right.

I think TODAY SHOW & MSNBC's Courtney Hazlett in particular, have done a terrific job of covering this appropriately & raising the larger -- broader -- question of how parents should best address this with their children. Am open to any/all ideas!

If you saw the last few acts of the recent Hannah Montana concert (we did), you could see she was trying to go hard-rocker-girl at the end. Not to box the poor child in, but it just didn't work. Nor do the photos. In current AOL poll, a whopping 86% of respondents say it's just not how a 15 year old should be posing. Worse yet, nearly 50% of people say the photos have changed their opinion of Cyrus. Maybe the question needs to be more specific re: which Cyrus.

Am longtime subscriber to the print version of the magazine & am looking forward to reading the Bruce Handy story & seeing the photos. Right now, they're -- mysteriously -- unavailable on the magazine website.

To be fair, Miley may just be trying to navigate the celeb transition from child- to teen-stardom (think Hilary Duff), but there's one number people are just going to have a tough time with at this juncture: 15. As in 15 years old.

Donny Deutch thinks he's got it all figured out & everybody wins. Agree it "Is what it is. But, not sure "Everybody wins." If she's that great a singer, prove it now & over time. If you're not, you'll be done by then anyway.

Here's my PR Suggestion: Pace yourself. Consider Delay of Game. Don't let them make you panic. You'll Still be Famous in 18-24 months.

And for the rest of us parents with non-celeb kids, there's a reason sites like ReputationDefender.com offer services to monitor your child's DIGITAL DIRT.

SEGMENT TWO: IS YOUR CHILD A CYBER-BULLY? OR BEING CYBER-BULLIED?

But, man, would love to say I did & really want to commend all of you who did ... Including colleagues & neighbors;) In the old days, you got a photo. Now, there's streaming video. Check it out, HERE.

Got this email from MapMyFitness.com. Am really grateful someone brought this site to my attention as the Spring fitness season gets underway ... Start selecting events, HERE. Note to self: If you don't run, you have nothing to map!

MapMyFitness would like to offer its congratulations to all of our members who competed in the Boston Marathon (view course map) yesterday!

MapMyFitness wants to encourage Boston Marathon runners and runners of any races to post their race stories in our new MapMyFitness Stories Page. The stories page allows MapMyFitness members to submit stories of their favorite routes, fitness achievements, training experiences, inspirational moments, etc. to share with other members. MapMyFitness will award the authors of its favorite stories $100 for the rights to re-use their submissions in its future online and print publications.

Submit Your Story to MapMyFitness today!

Thanks for being loyal members and congratulations, again, to all of our runners in the Boston and all the other races this past weekend!

Sincerely,
The MapMyFitness Team

Going green is a huge trend & can't watch TV, listen to the radio or get through an interview on either without it coming up. Not to date self, but remember when Nickelodeon launched ground-breaking Earth Day efforts. To their credit, seems they were ahead of their time. Now, everyone & everything is well represented online.

See: Earth Day 2008.


Browse over to GreenDaily.com for tips like: Five ways to start going green if you already haven't: Bring your own bag to the grocery store, unplug appliances when you're not using them and lots more.

There are also a regular features on Celebrity "ecoists" like Ted Danson:

We've covered this angle on the radio this week & are delving into it further in upcoming TV segments ... Not since the 1850's have American consumers considered prices in retail stores anything other than fixed (set in stone). In face, most research indicates we like it that way. Hence, "no haggle" price advertisements. Well ... maybe not so fast. They're calling it "entrepeneurial" (why ise the word 'desperate' if you don't need to?). Whatever the driver, math is math and consumers are watching their wallets just as retailers are realizing some margins are better than none. What does it all mean & how does the Internet factor in? Read on ....

NY Times: Even at Megastores, Hagglers Find No Price Is Set in Stone

• Consumers accustomed to haggling online are heading to brick & mortar stores for more deals.

Haggling is a never-ending process:

• PriceProtectr.com: They watch prices so you don't have to; if an item drops in price after you purchase it, they'll let you know so that you can get a refund of the difference.
  • All you need to do is enter the URL for the item you purchased. If the price drops within the item's price protection period, they'll send you an email with detailed information on how to get your money back.
  • Also works for in-store purchases – check the site for a complete list of stores
    • Abercrombie & Fitch

    • Ann Taylor

    • Anthropologie

    • The Apple Store

    • Best Buy

    • Bed Bath & Beyond

    • Nordstrom

    • Target

    • Walmart

HowToHaggle.com: Know the mistakes

• Getting angry: Do not let your emotions get the best of you. Remember, you approached him with a price that is different than what he is advertising.

• Don't Dress to Impress

• Don't be unreasonable: the vendor needs to make money too; he cannot give you the item for free.

More Tips:

• WalletPop's daily deal – new bargain-basement deals posted daily

• Go to a comparison shopping site, print the bargain, and take it to the store as evidence to support your haggle!

As discussing on CNN Headline News & stations across the country this morning, Delta Airlines has a new In-flight safety video and it's .... well, ..... different. Different enough to turn a safety video into a marketing vehicle. Same script, different treatment & it took off after being posted on the airline's corporate blog.

The airline employed the "American Idol" strategy winnowing down 1,000 potential candidates to front the video to one flight-attendant -- a 33-year-old Atlanta woman named Katherine Lee. She's now going by "Deltalina," a combination of the airline's name and Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie. She's a real Delta employee and reportedly flattered by the comparison & loving the spotlight.

The video is slated to air on approximately 400 Delta flights & is already a hit online prompting tons of media coverage & at least one marriage proposal.

FOXNews.com - Delta's Red-Headed Flight Attendant a Hit on YouTube in Airline's Safety Video - Local News | News Articles | N..

Even with the very best health insurance, any kind of self-help tends to -- at a minimum -- require a co-pay. In these hi-tech & price-sensitive times, logging on before you head to the maybe-, maybe-not covered mental health office, might be your brain's best move ... Have come to think you can pull just about any self-help book off the shelf & relate to it on some level. Having said that, in my humble opinion, who doesn't need a little guidance? And, if you've got some to give, go for it ... There's no shortage of places online to get FREE exeprt advice & weigh in with your own constructive comments.

1). Dr. Laura

Have bought & read almost every one of her books -- for better or worse. Could argue it either way. Mostly, just wish had read them earlier in life. She is certainly well spoken & quick on her feet. Only catch her on the radio every once in awhile. Now, can listen to podcasts ... Who knew she could fill a cruise ship!

2) Dr. Drew Pinsky - www.videojug.com
Loveline's Dr. Drew dispenses video advice via his own channel on VideoJug.com – the tagline for VidoeJug – life explained on film." Dr. Drew is a board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist and assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry at USC. We worked together -- Heaven help us both -- Even Wikipedia noticed: ) More on the first season of BIG BROTHER experience later ... Brace yourself;)

Topics topics Dr. Drew addresses on the site include:

- Addiction advice
- Dating advice

- Sex advice for teens

He also fields the occasional question from Loveline listeners on his MySpace page.
3) Dr. Phil – www.drphil.com
Browse over to DrPhil.com and you'll find a full archive of advice on life strategies, relationships/sex, weight, money etc. Everything he covers on his daily show is available on the site and information is easily searchable.

Dr. Phil's wife Robin is also a resource ... Do you have a question for Robin McGraw? Do you want to hear her perspective as a woman who feels better than ever in her 50s? Or do you want to know her secrets for making her marriage to Dr. Phil last nearly 30 years? She's often posting on the message boards on topics like beauty, menopause and her experience as a parent, or you can ask your question here.

4) Emily Post - www.emilypost.com
47 years after her death, the woman whose name is still synonymous with proper etiquette, lives on in cyberspace. The Emily Post Institute, run these days by her various descendants and in-laws, has no shortage of everyday etiquette advice.


There's also advice for weddings, for conducting business, plus tips for parents and teens. There's an archive of podcasts by Peter Post and a host of regularly updated blogs ...

Anna Post's What Would Emily Post Do?

Lizzie Post's Not Gonna Lie...

Lizzie Post's blog entries on Powells.com

And here's one that might come in handy right about now ... Read Anna Post's advice on talking politics on The Huffington Post.

We continue to expand into more & more local networks ... including CH. 13 KLBK CBS Lubbock, TX. Feel free to get in on our ever-growing TV & Radio roster ... We'll fit it as many/much as we can ... THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST:) Really appreciate & am open to any/all story ideas. Comment! R