Texas Ranch House – PBS (US), May 1st

Texas Ranch House (1867) is about to premier in the US on PBS on May 1st. It’s similar to several very popular series that have come out from the BBC and PBS over the past several years, where people (non-actors) are selected to live like our ancestors did at certain places and time periods (or at least pretend to like them) – Colonial House, Victorian House, 1940s House, etc.

Most have a lot of potential, but the problem is people let their modern attitudes creep into everything and sometimes overwhelm the shows or settings. It’s hard to put your modern attitudes aside, but at the same time some of the series seemed like they had one or two or three people cast deliberately to generate controversy or problems.

This one does look interesting, and on the surface, except for maybe one or two people, all who were selected seem like they will fit into it a bit better than in past series.

Do You (Canadians) Care Who Knows Your Secrets in 2098?

Do you care who knows your secrets in 2098? is another article about the Candian Census, and this time around being able to opt out of having the information revealed in 2098. It’s by Peter Van Harten,writing for the The Hamilton Spectator, and it gets into some of the issues faced by Canadians over just how much information they want revealed for people in the future to see (whether genealogists or family members). With so much of this information coming online and being easily accessed, and with the questions expanding quite a bit, it’s fast becoming a hot topic.