From: 
To: 
Subject: Important - Added Features
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 13:38:20 -0600

To Couch group manager,

Dear Group Administrators,

I am writing you to inform you about two changes we are about to make to
the results page as well as to make some comments regarding the
public/private "switch".

Changes:
a) In the REO database, we have added the total number of entries for each
country, so that you can see the correct proportion between the number of
matches and the total number of entries, and therefore establish a more
valid significance to your results;

b) We have received numerous requests to expand the results of the "High
Resolution Matches (24 or 25 out of 25 markers)" to 23 out of 25. To date
what we in fact offered was either an exact match (25/25) or a one
mutation variation on a 24/25 match. We will now expand to matches with
two mutations. Please note that this can happen by either having a single
2-step mutation, or by 2 - one step mutations each for a 23/25 match.
Simply expanding the results to any number of mutations on a 23 and 24
match would lead to too many unqualified results. With this being
said, we would also like to tell you that we are studying ways to deliver
you results that include qualified matches with more than 2 mutations.

Public/Private "Switch":

Although this was the subject of our newsletter dated 1/31/03, I would
like to address this issue again, since it may have gone unnoticed to
several Group administrators:

A Surname Project sets all its members to Private by default. A member can
override this setting, by going to his/her personal page.

When a member is set as Private, the Find Y DNA Matches command only
searches in the Surname Project for matches. The member is also invisible
when others outside the Surname Project search for Y DNA Matches.

The Public setting allows for matches outside the Surname Project.

The Public/Private setting also affects whether you get email notification
of new matches. If you are set as Private, you will only receive email
notification of matches within your Surname Project. A member with a Publi
c setting will receive notice of all matches to those
participants set as Public.

To check or change your Public/Private setting:

- go to Update Contact Information on your Personal Page.
- Look below the email address at the line that reads "Private" (box)
"Restrict Match notifications to your surname Project"

If there is a check mark in the box, you are set as Private. If there is
no check mark, you are set as Public. If the box if checked and you want
to make it Public, uncheck it. Then click on the "Update" button at the
bottom of the page. After this is done, one can look at the Y-DNA matches
which will now include individuals outside their surname group.
In general our population geneticist feels that matches within a surname
are much more significant then random matches of individuals without a
'prior' piece of evidence connecting the two individuals.

Please forward this information to all your group members so that they can
make the decision about the Public/Private setting.

Thank you




Max Blankfeld
Director of Marketing
http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com
max@familytreedna.com
"History Unearthed Daily"