Refreshing the 23andMe Tree

23andMe builds a nice tree using DNA matches which can be augmented yourself with people who have not tested. The tree is usually small, and, except for your additions and the recently deceased, only has living people. The tree is fun, since it is DNA driven! There are issues with it which we have discussed in our DNA SIG meetings, but most people like it.

Kitty Cooper writes a great blog about “genealogy, genetics and gardening”. Kitty Cooper is an American bridge player and genetic genealogist from New York City. I enjoy her posts and her blog has a permanent place in my Feedly sites. See her blog CLICK HERE .

She just wrote another posting about the 23andMe tree! Most of the post is interesting personal views, but the thing that caught my eye was the part about recalculating the tree. 23andMe doesn’t include a simple push-button method of refreshing the tree, Kitty shows how to do it!

See the whole posting here: CLICK HERE.

Be sure to save a picture of the tree with your additions before you try this! 😊

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“It’ll all work out in the end; if it isn’t worked out, it ain’t the end.” – Betsy Johnson

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Y-DNA

My last DNA test at FTDNA was the Big-Y test in 2018. At that time, the Big-Y was the Big-Y500. Now they have the Big-Y700. The 500 vs 700 has to do with how many STR markers are included. This Y-DNA test is the most expensive genetic test you can get except for a full genome test. I figured I was done doing Y-DNA tests after my Big-Y500. The test pulled me out to haplogroup I-A13294 !

I sent my BAM file to YFULL, got positioned in their tree and have been simply waiting for more paternal line cousins to take a test to make my Private Variants useful, that is, to form another extension in my tree.

Along comes Roberta Estes again. She wrote another post BIG Y ANALYSIS last week, this time about Big-Y DNA analysis.

She makes it sound really useful for me to upgrade my Big-Y500 to the Big-Y700. I’m worried that I might be a sucker, aka addicted, to DNA tests. I really need someone to help me decide. Here we go again, waiting for sales, perhaps on Father’s Day or the 4th of July. Perhaps someone can come to the next DNA Discussion video conference and give us all a bit of guidance!

Charlie… read the above post and then tell me what to do! 😊

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“DNA has shown that the ancestors you think you have aren’t necessarily the ancestors you actually have.” – young wives tale

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Ancestry.com is blocking Genetic Affairs

I finally opened my Genetic Affairs account last week, ran a few Pedigree charts and reported here about it! And then, Ancestry.com told Genetic Affairs to STOP.  My timing is terrible. Seriously, see these excerpts from the email they sent to me.

As some of you may have already heard, last Friday I (Evert-Jan Blom, founder of Genetic Affairs) obtained a cease and desist letter from ZwillGen, the legal representatives from Ancestry. In short, Ancestry wants me to stop offering the AutoCluster analyses that employ Ancestry data.

I was able to get one Auto Cluster run at Ancestry completed before the plug was pulled! I also ran two at FTDNA, but preferred the results from Ancestry.

Presumably Ancestry is unhappy with the things Genetic Affairs provides. Or they are developing something similar themselves.

So, what will happen tomorrow? Or next week. Tune in for more news. If you know more answers, please let us all know.

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World Wind Map

Life isn’t all about genealogy. Here is a bit of a diversion that is real life and not scary! 

Showing surface winds for the Earth at earth.nullschool.net

The link below is a highly visual and zoomable dynamic wind map from Cameron Beccario at nullschool.net.

Click here to see the default Earth map.

Click anywhere in the page, use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out, and click’n’drag to move the display around, similar to Google Earth. It will show full global data. By default it will be showing surface wind speeds and directions for northern Europe and the eastern Atlantic. The data is updated every three hours. Click the ‘earth’ text in lower left corner for more options.

Click here for credits and more information.

(We are not displaying the page in-line because the iframe code is not allowed in WordPress.com sites for safety/security reasons.)

Click here to see the Natural Earth Data site.

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Genetic Affairs has AutoPedigree

Why is it that the virus makes it harder to get things done? Again, I find myself just sitting around, trying to catch up with the next Netflix series….

MyHeritage gave me another suggestion to fix my issues with Theory of Relativity after uploading a new gedcom tree that did not work. Arghh, I get tired telling them that didn’t work either. It is too bad they are so shorthanded that they can’t actually test a suggestion before they feed it to customers. I’m reaching the point that I will stop recommending MyHeritage to newbies.

Roberta Estes wrote a post last week about a new Genetic Affairs product called AutoPedigree that sounded so interesting that I finally tried it.

I’ve always been nervous about the way Genetic Affairs saves your Ancestry or FTDNA account log-on passwords. And there is a fee that requires a credit card. Barbara Ray-Venter recommended it two years ago, but I was just squeamish about it. It took Roberta to push me over the edge (and the fact that I finally had a real unknown in my family). If you have unknown parentage issues in your family, this could be a great tool for you. Be sure to read the post. I will talk a little about it during the next DNA Discussions group. It is really quite slick!

Roberta’s post on the blog DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy can be found here:
CLICK for DNAeXplained

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“God forbid we should be 20 years without a rebellion … What country can preserve its liberties if the rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?.” – Thomas Jefferson

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Monthly Meeting – June 4, 2020 – “Genealogy and Local History at the Library” by Jennifer Smith via Zoom

Your local public library is a treasure-trove of resources for the genealogist, especially if you have family roots in Monterey County. Jennifer will describe Monterey County Free Libraries’ databases and services for the genealogist, and focus on less familiar resources for local history and biography. MCFL’s archives and local history collections include a wide variety of documents, letters, images, maps, and secondary sources that document communities, families, schools, homes and histories throughout the County. Finding aids include biographical and subject indexes, lists and inventories. The Library partners with other libraries, historical societies, museums, parks, and archives to maintain a Monterey County Local History Directory to help you find similar resources in more than forty local institutions.

Jennifer Smith is Local History and Special Projects Librarian at the Monterey County Free Libraries. She holds a BA in International Development from UC Berkeley and a Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. In 1997, Jennifer completed the Society of California Archivists’ Western Archives Institute training. She has over 24 years’ experience in libraries and archives including the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University, Stockton-San Joaquin County Library, and Santa Cruz Public Libraries. In 2010, Jennifer began developing Monterey County Free Libraries’ Local History Digital Archive while serving as Branch Manager at Carmel Valley Branch Library. She enjoys doing historical research and works to preserve, provide access to, and promote MCFL’s archival and local history collections

The Zoom meeting will start at 7:00 pm sharp. For security reasons, the meeting will be by invitation only.  If you are not a member and wish to attend, send an email with your email address to our Membership VP, Marilyn Ruccello .

If you are not familiar with Zoom, click here.

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”It continues to be true that Flat-Earthers have supporters all around the globe.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson

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Download Your AncestryDNA Matches in 10 Minutes!

The following is a link to Jim Bartletts blog ‘segment-ology’ where he describes how we can download all your DNA matches at Ancestry.com.

This link is here for the folks in the DNA Discussion group to connect to after this morning’s meeting.

Download Your AncestryDNA Matches in 10 Minutes!

Genetic Genealogist CeCe Moore Stars in New ABC Series, ‘The Genetic Detective’

Starting Tuesday, May 19, the renowned investigative genetic genealogist will show viewers exactly how she solves decades-old murder cases on ABC News’ new primetime series, The Genetic Detective.

Airing on Tuesdays from 10 to 11 p.m. ET, the series follows Moore, the Chief Genetic Genealogist at Parabon NanoLabs in Virginia, and her team, who’ve helped solve more than 100 cold cases using crime scene DNA, state-of-the-art technology and Moore’s genealogy tracking skills.

Her passion began as a hobby when she started researching her own family tree. She honed her skills over the years by helping adoptees find their birth families. Sound like anyone you know? I know my DVR will be recording this one!

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“People should read every day, because knowledge builds up, like compound interest.” – Warren Buffet

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Triangulating Your DNA Matches with Roberta Estes – FREE – MyHeritage Facebook LIVE

Roberta Estes of the blog DNAeXplained just announced that she will be giving a free presentation, with Q&A, about triangulating your DNA matches at MyHeritage on Facebook Live tomorrow April 27 at 11 am PDT.  This presentation should make some of the principles surrounding triangulation easier to understand.  (See previous post here).

• What is triangulation?
• Why do I need to triangulate?
• Why does triangulation work?
• How do I triangulate?
• How do I find matches to triangulate?
• How does triangulation confirm ancestors?
• How can I use triangulation in my genealogy?
• Am I using all the tools to find triangulated matches?

If you’d like to learn more about any of those questions,  join her tomorrow at 11 AM PDT on the MyHeritage Facebook page.

https://dna-explained.com/2020/04/26/top-tips-for-triangulating-your-dna-matches-with-roberta-estes-free-myheritage-facebook-live-april-27th/

 

Great post at DNAeXplained

Just sittin’ around, trying to add more cousins to the family trees of my wife and self. The easy fruit was picked last year, now it is slow and well, the truth is, you see, I sometimes try to prepare things to talk about in the next DNA Discussions group using my own searching as the backdrop. Trying to explain it to someone else somehow makes it easier. I said “somehow”, it really isn’t easier.

Now then, I don’t really believe in esp nor mind reading nor any of that sort. I did pay money to see Uri Geller bend spoons once, but those days are over. But today perhaps I will revisit the idea that clairvoyance or premonitions actually do exist. For you see, Roberta Estes just wrote a wonderful blog post about the very things I was trying to teach myself these past few weeks! She did a much better job than I could ever do. In fact, I might print her current posting and study it hard! I might be able to actually find that missing father in our family!

The latest post on the blog DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy is all about Chromosome Browsers, Triangulation, and the like with real examples and comparisons of the different companies and links to almost all kinds of genetic sleuthing.

CLICK HERE for DNAeXplained

If you are serious about using your DNA test results to find out more about your relatives, then you really need to visit the above linked post. We might even have a quiz about it at the next DNA Discussions group! 🙂

We (DNA Discussions) are looking for volunteers to present about things you recently discovered.  If interested, send an email to jim.mocogenso@gmail.com.

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“Find the job you would want if you didn’t have to work. Don’t sleepwalk through life. You really want to be doing what you love. And you can’t necessarily find it on your first job, but don’t give up until you find it.” – Warren Buffett

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