I was going to write another post about artificial intelligence this week, but there was too much news that I decided to postpone the AI post until next week. (If you want to read my previous posts, you can find part one HERE and part two HERE.
- Today, I woke up to the news that Ancestry had posted another paywall for their users. When I say another, that’s because they put their Sideview Technology behind a paywall in September, and in December (I think it was), they introduced ProTools. Today’s new paywall is about shared matches. Without the new Ancestry DNA Plus subscription, you will no longer be able to view the matches you have in common with your DNA match. You’ll still see your DNA matches, but to go further, you’ll need to subscribe to go further. The price is $29.95 for six months. Why is this happening? I don’t have any information from Ancestry, but I’ve been thinking that this was going to happen for a while. Think about all those DNA kits that they’ve sold.. going lower and lower in price. Once you paid for the kit, you didn’t have to pay anything more. But the DNA data from that kit takes up space on a server, so it makes sense that Ancestry would implement something like this. So far, this new change to DNA kits hasn’t affected those who have Discover, Explorer, or All Access subscriptions.
- MyHeritage announced yesterday (February 1, 2024) that they had a new update to their Theory of Family Relativity for their DNA kits. To find out if you have a new Theory of Family Relativity, go to your DNA match tab, which is under the DNA tab, and you should see a message like this.
This is just one of the tools that you receive at MyHeritage. They also have cM Explainer, Chromosome Browser, Auto Cluster, and Ethnicities Map. You get these when you either DNA test at MyHeritage or upload your DNA raw data (from another DNA testing company) to MyHeritage. There is a one-time fee of $29 US to upload, but that is all you pay. Learn more about uploading HERE.
3. RootsTech has now published the schedule for the RootsTech event being held February 29-March 2, 2024. You can download the app to your smartphone and then click the event, and you’ll find the schedule of the event, and you can choose whether you’re attending live or in-person.
4. Need more family history events? Then sign up for FOREVER’s Family History Virtual event being held on February 24th. You’ll learn how you can use FOREVER to preserve, store, and share your family history. You can sign up HERE.
5. The 4th edition of Evidence Explained is now available. Written by one of my genealogy heroes, Elizabeth Shown Mills. You can find it and other genealogy books at Genealogical.com or learn more about it on the author’s website.
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