[MASSBIRD] Fwd: AviSys and Jerry Blinn update

[red...@comcast.net]

For all you Avisys users, I'm afraid it's bad news.

David Larson

Newburyport, MA

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Lamont Brown" <lam...@whn.org>
Date: November 17, 2015 at 3:57:33 PM EST
To: <lam...@gvii.cc>
Subject: AviSys and Jerry Blinn update

Each of you requested the Edit Master or other AviSys software related information from me subsequent to Jerry Blinn’s Summer announcement.

 

About an hour ago I got an email from a SEAZ birder telling me Jerry Blinn died November 8.  While I have not talked to anyone within the family, this came from a very reliable source. RIP!

 

About 30 minutes after this notice a good BC birder sent me the 16 November announcement from Shawneen Finnegan, a copy of which is below my signature block.  Thankfully the 2015 range data and [I assume] state/province updates appear to be available from Shawneen.

 

As a long-time Nations add on subscriber and Tony White State/Province subscriber I found out from Shawneen in early November that she would not produce the lists ongoing and that the proprietor of Santa Barbara Software had retired a second time at age 89.

 

For those of you who need assistance reading the older .hlp [help] file in Edit Master, Microsoft has a fix.  It is: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/917607.  I have downloaded and used this work-around fix.

 

For those of us who were hopeful that we could somehow continue the use of AviSys, it seems our journey may be a bit more challenging.  For one, I would like to continue using it if at all possible.  I will welcome comments from others who feel the same or who have any other AviSys updates.  The same BC birder sent me an email with a potential AviSys forum or group that was being discussed.  I will follow up on that to see if there is some coordinated effort that might possibly serve us all.

 

Prayers for Jerry Blinn’s family and friends.

 

Lamont Brown

Denton, Texas

 

CC: Shawneen Finnegan

==== copy of Shawneen’s email ===

 

To: Shawneen Finnegan

Sent: Monday, November 16, 2015 2:25 PM

Subject: Nations Update is Available

 

Greetings:

 

I am writing because you contacted me after the closing of both Santa Barbara Software Products and AviSys. You were interested in purchasing a 2015 updated ranges file for use with AviSys and BirdArea. Thanks for your patience. It has been a very busy fall with lots of travel. I was hoping to send this out before I attended the Rio Grande Birding Festival but I realized there were a few undone items that I wanted to finish before sending this out.

 

It is now available. I have updated the taxonomy sequence, updated the ranges, and made corrections and additions. I have a few minor tweaks but it should be ready tomorrow.

 

The cost is $20 if you mail me a check and $21 if you want to charge it. I am happy to take your Credit Card info over the phone but there is an additional fee I have to pay to do this and I am already way in the hole timewise producing this update. As a result this will be my last update. Not enough folks have reached out to me to justify the amount of time it takes to update the database in its current format and frankly, after almost 25 years I am looking forward to a life without thinking about checklists other than my own!

 

As for Jerry Blinn I wish I had some news for you on his health, but I haven’t heard from him since early October. He had just finished his first round of chemo.

 

If you haven’t and are still looking for an alternative, an interesting one I suggest you look at is iGoTerra (www.igoterra.com).

 

iGoTerra is a global software provider working with cloud-based solutions, which makes updates much simpler. You can access all your data from any internet connected device, professional back-up is done every day and you can do your personal backup whenever you like. There are import functions and excellent customer support to help you transfer all your BirdBase, AviSys or eBird records. You can also export your records to eBird on a continuous basis if you are an eBird user.

 

The key differences with eBird is that you will have several unique tools to help you manage your observations, e.g. finding extralimital records, assign your observations to subspecies level, and update splits and lumps. There is a choice of IOC or Clements, which is updated immediately on their release dates. You can also record your sightings without having geographical coordinates. All your observations are automatically building all the lists you may ever need.

 

iGoTerra is also built for traveling birders, with a set of tools to help you manage your trips. Everything from pulling out country checklists with your personal data included, to trip report creation and observation diaries to share. Observations can be entered via different web interfaces or through the mobile app iGoTerra Pocket.

 

Last, but not least, iGoTerra is not only about birds, but has all the same functions also for every other species groups like mammals, plants, dragonflies, butterflies, coral fishes, etc.

 

If you decide to join iGoTerra please use the promo code SHA so they know how you heard about it.

 

Shawneen Finnegan

6555 SW Old Scholls Ferry Road #8

Portland, Oregon 97223

503-729-1769