Sunday, March 08, 2009

News from Ancestry

Ancestry Magazine
Did you know you can access a preview edition of the March/April 2009 issue of Ancestry Magazine? This includes articles about Jesse James and facial recognition, handwriting analysis, and how to make a custom family history timeline. Or check out the current issue and archive at www.ancestrymagazine.com for links to articles on a variety of family history topics.

MyCanvas Publishing Service
MyCanvas has recently added some great new features to their publishing software, including checkmarks that help you keep track of which photos you've already used in a project; the ability to start a calendar with any month of the year; and a color picker, which lets you create a border or background that exactly matches a color in a photo. To learn more, visit their blog.

Genetic Genealogy Testing is Now Only $79
At $79 a DNA test, many more people can afford to take the basic paternal lineage test (Y33), so they can connect with genetic cousins and build family trees. Ancestry's growing database automatically compares results, letting some users connect instantly. And they notify all users of potential new matches as the Ancestry.com DNA database grows.

Also, it is now possible to attach DNA to Ancestry.com family trees. The attached results instantly populate up the tree, showing implied meaning for all relevant family tree members. This feature increases the chances for meaningful family contacts and connections. For example, if a man attaches test results to his tree, the profile for his paternal uncle born in 1845 will now display the fact that genetic data relevant to that uncle exists. If another user comes across the uncle (using any research method), they'll now be able to trace the test back to the man who took the test and contact him. Otherwise, that user may never have followed the thread past the uncle.

The $79 test also lets users know which Ancient Ancestral group they belong to, like the Stonemasons, the Artisans or the Reindeer Herders. Users learn their likely story of origin and explore Fun Facts for their modern-day group. A great visual pie chart reveals things like 20% of all Stonemasons drive hybrids, 10% eat chocolate ice cream and 55% watch Saturday Night Live!

Leaf

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