The Genealogy Road Show is now casting for Season Two.
If you live in/near St. Louis, Missouri, (filming August 22-23); New Orleans, Louisiana, (filming September 5-6); or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (filming September 12-13); and you have a mystery you want experts to solve submit your story to the casting company.
Good luck everyone. For us here in Michigan, we'll be waiting for the season to begin.
See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Another Update on the status of Ancestry.com's websites
Around 7:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, June 17, 2014, Ancestry.com posted another update on its Facebook page regarding the status of its websites. The message reads:
UPDATE (4:15pm PST): The Ancestry websites are coming back online. Please clear your cache and your cookies, then try logging in.
A couple items to note: (1) You may experience intermittent issues with Search and Trees. Please be patient, we are working to restore the website(s) fully and this will take time, (2) Images are loading slowly so we recommend you save them to your Shoebox for now, (3) If you are using Family Tree Maker, please switch to 'manual sync' so it does not try to sync your online tree for now. Give this a little time.
Thank you once again for your patience and support during this DDoS attack on Ancestry.
The first few times I tried to go to Ancestry.com after they announced the site was back up, the website did not load. But later this afternoon I was able to get the website to load and I was able to log onto the site. I didn't stay long, I just wanted to see if I could do so. Again, I advise patience while Ancestry continues to resolve the situation.
See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE
UPDATE (4:15pm PST): The Ancestry websites are coming back online. Please clear your cache and your cookies, then try logging in.
A couple items to note: (1) You may experience intermittent issues with Search and Trees. Please be patient, we are working to restore the website(s) fully and this will take time, (2) Images are loading slowly so we recommend you save them to your Shoebox for now, (3) If you are using Family Tree Maker, please switch to 'manual sync' so it does not try to sync your online tree for now. Give this a little time.
Thank you once again for your patience and support during this DDoS attack on Ancestry.
The first few times I tried to go to Ancestry.com after they announced the site was back up, the website did not load. But later this afternoon I was able to get the website to load and I was able to log onto the site. I didn't stay long, I just wanted to see if I could do so. Again, I advise patience while Ancestry continues to resolve the situation.
See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Further Update on Ancestry.com Disrupted Services
Earlier this afternoon Ancestry.com issued a statement on its Facebook page explaining the lack of service situation that began around 1:30 p.m. MT (3:30 p.m. ET) on Monday. Besides stating that there may still be intermittent service outages as they bring all the servers backup, the statement contained a link to their official statement on their blog page (which is on their website).
About 2:30 p.m. EDT, Ancestry.com released that blog post statement on its Facebook page after realizing if the website goes down their statement can not be accessed either.
For those who do not want to go to the Ancestry Facebook page, here is the company's statement:
Ancestry.com is back online. Please know you should now be able to access all Ancestry and Find A Grave websites, though you may experience issues intermittently as we continue to work through bringing the sites back up to full capacity.
---------
AN UPDATE FROM OUR CTO, SCOTT SORENSEN
Around 1:30 p.m. MT on Monday, June 16, 2014, attackers targeted Ancestry with a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS). During the attack, Ancestry websites along with the Find A Grave website were clogged with massive amounts of bogus traffic that took the sites down.
We want to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and also thank you for your amazing support, as this may have interrupted some of your family history research. We understand how frustrating this can be for our customers, and please know that it was just as frustrating for us too. We appreciate your patience and support as we dealt with this unfortunate incident against Ancestry.
We have since neutralized the DDoS attack and our services have been up since 11:00 a.m. MT today. You should now be able to access all Ancestry and Find A Grave websites, though you may experience issues intermittently as we continue to work through bringing the sites back up to full capacity.
Your data was not compromised by this attack. This attack overloaded our servers with massive amounts of traffic but did not impact or access the data within those servers. No data was impacted in any way.
I would like to thank the Ancestry Web Operations team for working really hard throughout the night to restore the Ancestry and Find A Grave services and build the defenses necessary to mitigate future attacks of this sort. Our Web Operations team is closely monitoring the situation in case the attacks resume and we’re doing everything in our power to protect our websites from situations like this in the future.
Thank you.
Scott Sorensen
Chief Technology Officer
At the time I wrote this post, Ancestry's website and its blog were down again. I advise patience as they work to completely resolve the situation.
See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE
About 2:30 p.m. EDT, Ancestry.com released that blog post statement on its Facebook page after realizing if the website goes down their statement can not be accessed either.
For those who do not want to go to the Ancestry Facebook page, here is the company's statement:
Ancestry.com is back online. Please know you should now be able to access all Ancestry and Find A Grave websites, though you may experience issues intermittently as we continue to work through bringing the sites back up to full capacity.
---------
AN UPDATE FROM OUR CTO, SCOTT SORENSEN
Around 1:30 p.m. MT on Monday, June 16, 2014, attackers targeted Ancestry with a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS). During the attack, Ancestry websites along with the Find A Grave website were clogged with massive amounts of bogus traffic that took the sites down.
We want to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and also thank you for your amazing support, as this may have interrupted some of your family history research. We understand how frustrating this can be for our customers, and please know that it was just as frustrating for us too. We appreciate your patience and support as we dealt with this unfortunate incident against Ancestry.
We have since neutralized the DDoS attack and our services have been up since 11:00 a.m. MT today. You should now be able to access all Ancestry and Find A Grave websites, though you may experience issues intermittently as we continue to work through bringing the sites back up to full capacity.
Your data was not compromised by this attack. This attack overloaded our servers with massive amounts of traffic but did not impact or access the data within those servers. No data was impacted in any way.
I would like to thank the Ancestry Web Operations team for working really hard throughout the night to restore the Ancestry and Find A Grave services and build the defenses necessary to mitigate future attacks of this sort. Our Web Operations team is closely monitoring the situation in case the attacks resume and we’re doing everything in our power to protect our websites from situations like this in the future.
Thank you.
Scott Sorensen
Chief Technology Officer
At the time I wrote this post, Ancestry's website and its blog were down again. I advise patience as they work to completely resolve the situation.
See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE
Update on Ancestry.com Outage as of June 17, 2014
As of today, June 17, 2014, Ancestry.com is still experiencing outages on its various websites. It is likely at times today, you will find the websites operating and at other times not operating.
Another blogger, who knows some people inside Ancestry.com, suspects that the problem is that there is a Denial of Service (DOS or DDOS) attack taking place on Ancestry.com's servers. This has NOT been confirmed by Ancestry.com itself as of this post.
Note: I've included a link to Wikipedia's explanation of a Denial of Service attack. Essentially, this is being done, for whatever reason, to make the service unavailable to it intended users.
Continue to check Ancestry's Facebook page for the website's status, or check on the site using Is it down right now. When the crisis is over I'll let you all know.
In the meantime, if you want to do genealogy (instead of using this opportunity to do some house or yard work) try another website or do one of those "not so fun" genealogy tasks we keep avoiding like organize our papers. Take this time to scan some pictures or documents (that are not digitized out there on the internet). Or, visit your local library.
See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE
Another blogger, who knows some people inside Ancestry.com, suspects that the problem is that there is a Denial of Service (DOS or DDOS) attack taking place on Ancestry.com's servers. This has NOT been confirmed by Ancestry.com itself as of this post.
Note: I've included a link to Wikipedia's explanation of a Denial of Service attack. Essentially, this is being done, for whatever reason, to make the service unavailable to it intended users.
Continue to check Ancestry's Facebook page for the website's status, or check on the site using Is it down right now. When the crisis is over I'll let you all know.
In the meantime, if you want to do genealogy (instead of using this opportunity to do some house or yard work) try another website or do one of those "not so fun" genealogy tasks we keep avoiding like organize our papers. Take this time to scan some pictures or documents (that are not digitized out there on the internet). Or, visit your local library.
See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE
Monday, June 16, 2014
Ancestry.com and many of its websites went down sometime around 4 p.m., Monday, June 16, 2014
No, it is not your computer or your internet connection. Nor anything you clicked.
Ancestry.com and many of the websites it owns and operates have had a technical problem today and went down sometime before 4 p.m. EDST, Monday, June 16, 2014.
Ancestry.com is working on the problem but has not stated when the sites will be back up.
Keep an eye on the situation by checking Ancestry.com's FaceBook page for the latest information. (No, you don't have to be a Facebook member to see this part of the main page and the comments.) You can also check the site at the Is it down right now website.
When Ancestry.com gets back up and running, I'll let you all know.
LE
Ancestry.com and many of the websites it owns and operates have had a technical problem today and went down sometime before 4 p.m. EDST, Monday, June 16, 2014.
Ancestry.com is working on the problem but has not stated when the sites will be back up.
Keep an eye on the situation by checking Ancestry.com's FaceBook page for the latest information. (No, you don't have to be a Facebook member to see this part of the main page and the comments.) You can also check the site at the Is it down right now website.
When Ancestry.com gets back up and running, I'll let you all know.
LE
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
FamilyTree DNA announces its Father's Day Sale for 2014
On Monday, FamilyTree DNA announced a Father's Day Sale. The sale runs from Monday, June 9 through Tuesday, June 17, 2014.
No coupon code is need to save $20 off the FamilyFinder (Autosomal DNA) test. So instead of costing $99 the test is on sale for $79.
In addition, the "Big Y" DNA test has been reduced by $100. So instead of costing $695 the test is on sale for $595. The Big Y-DNA test is not listed on FamilyTree DNA's product listing page. It is apparently an advanced Y-DNA test that tests both known branch markers and unknown branch markers. The product is intended for expert users with an interest in advancing science.
The vast majority of people wanting to test Y-DNA will use either the 37-, 67- or 111-marker Y-DNA tests rather than this "Big Y-DNA" test.
So if you have been thinking about taking an autosomal DNA test, now might be the time with FamilyTree DNA's FamilyFinder (autosomal) test.
LE
No coupon code is need to save $20 off the FamilyFinder (Autosomal DNA) test. So instead of costing $99 the test is on sale for $79.
In addition, the "Big Y" DNA test has been reduced by $100. So instead of costing $695 the test is on sale for $595. The Big Y-DNA test is not listed on FamilyTree DNA's product listing page. It is apparently an advanced Y-DNA test that tests both known branch markers and unknown branch markers. The product is intended for expert users with an interest in advancing science.
The vast majority of people wanting to test Y-DNA will use either the 37-, 67- or 111-marker Y-DNA tests rather than this "Big Y-DNA" test.
So if you have been thinking about taking an autosomal DNA test, now might be the time with FamilyTree DNA's FamilyFinder (autosomal) test.
LE
Last Week Ancestry.com Announced it is Immediately Retiring its Y-DNA and mtDNA Tests
Last week, Ancestry.com announced some big changes.
In addition to retiring/closing down some of the other websites it operates (MyFamily, MyCanvas, Mundia-English) and changing another of its other websites (Genealogy.com), Ancestry.com announced it was immediately stopping the sales and processing of its Y-DNA and mtDNA tests.
It is continuing to sell and process AncestryDNA (autosomal) tests.
At the bottom of the post on the Ancestry.com blog site (see link above), click on the links to learn how each website/product is affected.
According to the link for the LegacyDNA (aka Y-DNA and mtDNA tests), Ancestry is no longer selling and no longer processing these tests. There is a phone number to contact Ancestry.com regarding this. (Hopefully Ancestry.com is being a "good company" and refunding the money paid for these tests if they have not been processed yet regardless of when the Y-DNA or mtDNA test was purchased.)
Members/Users have until September 5, 2014 to download any results/work from these affected websites/products. After that the data will not be available.
LE
In addition to retiring/closing down some of the other websites it operates (MyFamily, MyCanvas, Mundia-English) and changing another of its other websites (Genealogy.com), Ancestry.com announced it was immediately stopping the sales and processing of its Y-DNA and mtDNA tests.
It is continuing to sell and process AncestryDNA (autosomal) tests.
At the bottom of the post on the Ancestry.com blog site (see link above), click on the links to learn how each website/product is affected.
According to the link for the LegacyDNA (aka Y-DNA and mtDNA tests), Ancestry is no longer selling and no longer processing these tests. There is a phone number to contact Ancestry.com regarding this. (Hopefully Ancestry.com is being a "good company" and refunding the money paid for these tests if they have not been processed yet regardless of when the Y-DNA or mtDNA test was purchased.)
Members/Users have until September 5, 2014 to download any results/work from these affected websites/products. After that the data will not be available.
LE
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