disaster at Ancestry.com - Message Boards

seen on a message board:-

Ancestry.com - Message Boards: "I was sent an e-mail from Ancestry ..there had been a response to my post of yesterday at the Slocum board. I tried the link in the e-mail...got an error msg.
Then I waded through my Favorites to find the board. I found my post which showed 0 responses. I clicked on my post & got another error msg.
Of what use are the boards? I get errors over & over when trying to post. I have to copy each post I make into an e-mail to myself now because I know the 1st one won't go through & will be lost.

I wrote to them yesterday, using their Send Feedback link. They acted as if they hadn't a clue I was writing about the message boards. DUH!
The lack of curtesy has me wondering about the mentality of some of those employed by Ancestry who are supposed to be helping but instead act as if I'm not at all important enough to be given an answer or solution to the problem."

You are here:Message Boards > Topics > Ancestry.com > Ancestry Improvements >

read more of the thread rootsweb.com - Message Boards
same data just another branding

RootsWeb disaster day 3

from my email:-

But I am forbidden to quote it
there was a confidential but very limited beta test August to November
but only of an empty data base and of data entry and not for example cleaning boards and moving messages.

The very experienced users were ignored except in the request for "no smiley faces" and threatened with excommunication, or even the law, if they had gone public.

It sounds as if MyFamily Inc are as naive as the politicians world wide who think they can control whistle blowers

It is time to contact key people about this damage to their investment

Private company but with public data:-
Founded 1983
Headquarters Provo, Utah, USA

Key people

Tim Sullivan, President and CEO [PRESS RELEASE]
David H. Rinn, CFO
Daren Thayne, CTO
Andrew Wait, Senior VP, Marketing[2]
Michael Graff, Senior VP, Product
Katherine R. Lofft, General Counsel[3]
Mary-Kay Evans, Director, PR



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyFamily.com,_Inc.

Web site:  http://www.myfamily.com

Mary-Kay Evans, Director, PR - Google Search

CONTACT: Mary-Kay Evans, Director of PR of MyFamily.com, Inc.,
+1-801-705-7378, or mkevans@myfamilyinc.com; or Paul
Nauta,
Manager, Public Relations of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints Family and Church History Department,
+1-801-240-6498, or nautapg@ldschurch.org

or  Salt Lake Tribune - Help & Contact:

Tribune Newsroom News tips, general information

(801) 257-8742 Fax: (801) 257-8525 90 S. 400 West, Suite 700 Salt Lake City, UT 84101

note (801) is an area code not  a freebie number

Legacy software and

Legacy News: Santa Claus in the 1930 census: "Santa Claus and his family lived in Marshall, Saline County, Missouri, USA in April 1930. "

"Yes, Santa Claus did live in Marshall and was my Great, Great Uncle. He died in 1957 and is buried under a tombstone that says beloved father in Bluelick, Missouri, just outside of Marshall. - Steven Clause, of Marshall, Missouri

Santa Clause was my Great Great Grandfather and I am proud that people remember him. I am William Clauses Great Grand son . . . "

Rootsweb CENSORSHIP

from:-
Ancestry.com - Message Boards: "I posted a similar posting on several boards complaining of the new rootsweb 'new and improved' system. BUT, they ALL disappeared. What do you know. The AMERICAN right of Free Speech does not include ROOTSWEB.

I'll say it again, your new Bulletin Board system needs to come down and the old one returned. CENSOR THAT.

Ron Bestrom"

when I replied I got a slow response and clicked again like a newbie
only about 8.53 am in New York and the system was noticably slowing down preview button did not work

Rootsweb CENSORSHIP	RBestrom7380	8 Dec 2006 4:24AM GMT
Re: Rootsweb CENSORSHIP	HughW36	8 Dec 2006 1:53PM GMT
Re: Rootsweb CENSORSHIP	HughW36	8 Dec 2006 1:53PM GMT

RootsWeb disaster day 2

Ancestry.com - Request Validation Error

Invalid or Unauthorized Input Has Been Detected

There is a problem servicing your request—it contains invalid or unauthorized data. The details of the problem have been automatically logged to our servers.

If you feel that you have reached this page in error, use your browser's Back button to identify the page and data that caused the problem. Then re-enter the information.

all the old hands and ADMINs are furious about
that "improvement

I have over 3000 posts so I used it to find my own stuff too

and if a measage gets moved (the old system used to say deleted)
you could click on your own name to find the new location of the thread


<------------ previous <> next ----------------->

seems to be some missing buttons too



<------------ previous <> next ----------------->

now that is a really dumb design error in designing the navigation system of any paged web site

4 buttons

Hugh W

000000oooooooooooh but i was only replying to :-

Ancestry.com - Message Boards: "Did you notice that you can no longer click on a person's name and see what other boards they have posted on?"

Technorati bug means that GENEALOGE has variable update dates on their site

Technorati Weblog:

"We've been alerted to a bug
Posted by Dave SifryDave Sifry on December 7, 2006.

Technorati News

We've recently found a strange bug that is causing some legitimate blogs to not be indexed, you can see an example of this here. We've verified that this is indeed a bug in the Technorati service, and our engineers are actively working on the issue. As soon as we have more information, including a resolution, we'll keep you informed.

If you've been affected by this bug, my deepest apologies. And if you are ever having a problem reaching someone at Technorati, you can always contact me: dsifry AT technorati DOT com. My cell phone number is 415 846-0232."

and Dave, this is the style of GENEALOGE - what librarians call abstracts - taken from other web pages with a link for my readers to follow if they find the stuff interesting or useful.

Danish libraries' union catalogue

Search danish public libraries:
with a link to "Ask a librarian

You may contact a librarian online, if you need personal service.

Links to Net libraries
Net libraries are a number of useful services when searching information on the Internet
"
Søgning på dansk - bibliotek.dk


and my own effort to help danish genealogists especially those familes who don't speak danish anymore because their ancestors migrated:-

Virtual Reference Library

Virtual Reference Library http://www.rootsweb.com/~dnkcen/library/index.html

MAPROOM http://www.rootsweb.com/~dnkcen/library/maps/index.html

Hübertz listing Aarhus historie http://www.rootsweb.com/~dnkcen/hhj/aarhus.html

Vort sogns historie - Indholdsfortegnelse created by Henning H. Jacobsen  Risskov, Danmark

British-Genealogy Forums

B-G Forums - powered by vBulletin

good active boards about UK and Ireland

RootsWeb Newsroom

RootsWeb Newsroom » Blog Archive » What is the RootsWeb Newsroom?: "The RootsWeb Newsroom is a place for the RootsWeb staff to tell you about new and upcoming tools, features, fixes and changes on RootsWeb. Check the Newsroom often- we’ll post as often as we have improvements to share. We will continue to post maintenance announcements to the HelpDesk.

This “blog” or online journal also lets you comment on each article to tell us what you think of new features or changes. Comments must be on-topic and adhere to the Community Guidelines or they will be deleted.

The RootsWeb Newsroom blog is brand new way to inform you of improvements and changes to the RootsWeb.com site. We’ve never done anything like this before, so please be patient as we tweak and improve it."

RootsWeb disaster

RootsWeb Newsroom » Blog Archive » Message Boards Have Been Updated: "The RootsWeb message boards were updated today. While these updates did not include all of the features advertised last summer, you will notice significant improvements to the look of the boards.

Improvements have also been made to the underlying board technology that will help us keep the boards running smoothly."

BUT GUI and useability are reduced

DISASTER STRIKES ROOTSWEB

BETTER TECHNOLOGY
MEANT
WORSE USER INTERFACE

HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEER ADMINISTRATORS GIVE UP BECAUSE THEIR TASK HAS BEEN MADE MORE DIFFICULT

PROGRAMMERS WERE TOO CLEVER , EVEN ARROGANT AND DID NOT TEST THE NEW LAYOUT WITH A PANEL OF USERS IN BETA

I AM ALREADY LOOKING FOR ALTERNATIVE BOARDS


yes i know i am shouting

January 2007 Courses at the Society of Genealogists, London

Bookings are now being taken for the January events listed below. You can
find more information about these by visiting: http://www.sog.org.uk
where you can also book online through our secure website.
To book by telephone, please contact the Events Co-ordinator at 020 7553
3290 or email: events@sog.org.uk

Lori Weinstein, Events Co-ordinator


Careers in Genealogy: Publishing and Writing
Saturday 6 January 10:30am-1pm

Examples of how writers have made their interest in history and genealogy a
full or part-time career
A half-day course with Garrick Webster. (15/12 GBP)


BT27 and Other Online Passenger Lists
Saturday 6 January 2pm-5pm

This course will be looking at the BT27 digitisation project (outward bound
passengers lists 1890-1960), content and usefulness of the records, plus a
look at other passenger lists available.
A half-day course with Stephen Rigden. (15/12 GBP)


Debts, Debtors, Bankrupts (and Bigamists)
Wednesday 10 January 2pm-3pm

We will be looking at the wealth of family history information contained
within the records generated by those who fell into debt in the 18th & 19th
centuries. Causes and remedies will be examined as well as why bigamy was
sometimes a result.
A lecture with Ian Waller. (5/4 GBP)


Maps for Genealogy
Saturday 13 January 10:30am-1pm

This illustrated talk will look at the wide variety of maps (both digital
and paper) and how they might help us in our family history researches.
Topics as diverse as surname, railway and ordinance survey maps will be
included.
A half-day course with Liz Carter and John Hanson. (15/12 GBP)


Guidelines and Standards- How to avoid mistakes in Genealogy
Wednesday 17 January 2pm-3pm

A lecture with Peter Bailey. (5/4 GBP)


Fanfare for the Common Man: Records of the Poor
Saturday 20 January 10:30am-5pm

We will look closely at the poor laws, provision of welfare, settlement and
removal and life of the rural poor, the evolution of the workhouse from the
16th to the 20th centuries and what life was like for the inmates, and
attitudes towards child labour in the late19th-early 20th centuries.
A full-day lecture with Dr. Pamela Horn, Peter Higginbottom and Peter Park.
(£25/£20)


Writing up your Family History
Wednesday 24 January 2pm-5pm

Why and how to write up your family history: how to plan, organise and
write your once-in-a-lifetime master work.,and the challenges and pitfalls
to be expected.
A half-day course with John Titford.. (15/12 GBP)


State Papers, Not for You? Think Again
Thursday 25 January 2pm-3pm

State papers domestic series contain the names of thousands of people who
needed to correspond with government - not just the wealthy and elite. We
will cover details of our ancestor's lives as described in the printed
calendars & original documents, concentrating on the period of James
I-George III (1603-1782).
A lecture with Helen Osborn. (5/4 GBP)


Beginner's Course
Saturday 27 January (2 days, concludes Saturday 3 February). 10:30am-5pm

This is an intensive two-day course aimed at beginners to genealogy or
those who wish to refresh their skills. It looks at the world of family
history, civil registration records and other nineteenth-century sources,
along with wills and church registers. The use of computers and the
Internet is discussed as appropriate.
(Two) full-day courses with Geoff Swinfield and Audrey Collins. (50/40 GBP)


Using Custodian Software
Wednesday 31 January 2pm-4pm

A tutorial for using the latest version of Custodian genealogy software.
With Alec Tritton. (10/8 GBP)


Lori Weinstein, Events Co-ordinator
events@sog.org.uk

census substitutes

Bitton Rate 1836 - page 5 - Upton Side:
"Highway rates 1836
(FHL BRITISH Film 1749471 - Parish chest records, 1836, 1848, Hanham )
Transcribed by Lindsay Olds.

The Rate, or Assessment, is divided into Bitton Side, and Upton Side of Bitton Parish. Each side is listed alphabetically. Bitton Side is pages 1, 2, 3, and 4, and Upton Side is page 5 of the document."

Warwickshire tithe apportionments web site home page - Warwickshire Web: "This is a database of the information contained in the Warwickshire tithe apportionments, produced after the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836. Currently the database covers all parishes with apportionments in the modern diocese of Birmingham and our volunteers are working on transcribing those in the Coventry diocese."

Topics: Ireland-Australia transportation database

Topics: Ireland-Australia transportation database: "The National Archives of Ireland holds a wide range of records relating to transportation of convicts from Ireland to Australia covering the period 1788 to 1868. In some cases these include records of members of convicts' families transported as free settlers.

To mark the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, the Taoiseach presented microfilms of the most important of these records to the Government and People of Australia as a gift from the Government and People of Ireland. A computerised index to the records was prepared with the help of IBM and is available for use at various locations in Australia."

Technorati Search

Technorati Search: hughw36.blogspot.com

I sort of fell over this from my email in an newsletter about webpage design from Jakob Nielsen linking to Progressive Disclosure (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)

Don Norman's jnd.org / user advocacy and human-centered design: "I live two lives: theory and applications. As a cognitive scientist, I study, teach, and write about the relationship between technology and people. In my applied life with the Nielsen Norman group, I help companies with products and services that appeal to the emotions as well as to reason. I serve on company advisory boards and, of course, give many keynote addresses to conferences and company meetings.

Intelligent devices are entering our everyday lives, especially in the home and automobile. These systems raise many serious design issues, most especially when the automation and intelligence are imperfect and incomplete. This reopens the questions of autonomous agents, of how one establishes trust with technology, and the complex interactions between machines and machines, machines and people. Alas, the same mistakes made in the introduction of automation in aviation and industrial processes look as if they are being repeated in the home and automobile. My next book will be on this topic: How to design systems that people can use and understand, so that the benefits of technology are not accompanied by frustration, anger, accident, and disaster.

Too many companies believe that all they must do is provide a “neat” technology, or some “cool” product, or sometimes, just good, solid engineering. Nope. All of those are desirable (and solid"

an interesting link on his page Technorati: Home
and his old web page Don Norman -- Human Centered Design: "I'm based in Silicon Valley, California: my goal is to humanize technology, in part by making it disappear from sight, replaced by a human-centered, task-based family of information-appliances. Easy to learn, easy to use. Easy to understand. But with all the power of enhanced communication, computational systems. Information appliances, where the computer disappears into the tool and becomes invisible."

and now I am creating my own Technorati Profile

broad band speed test

at 5:35 am GMT in UK om a Monday morning or thirty five minutes after midnight in New York

Speed Test Results
Date 04/12/06 05:34:19

Speed Up 237.69 aSpeed Down 1853.53 Kbps ( 1.8 Mbps )

which is OK for the price I pay £20 a month including telephone

thinkbroadband: The UK's largest independent ADSL review site - Your guide to UK broadband Internet.: "Broadband Speed Test
Welcome to our broadband speed testing page. To use our tester, you must have Java installed and enabled. If you are experiencing difficulties, please read our troubleshooting section below.

If you want to know what your IP address is, why not take a look at our 'What's My IP?' page.
Test Information
Please allow 2 to 3 minutes for the test to complete. In reality, users may find that the test only lasts around 30 seconds - this is usual. Results are logged for statistical purposes and are an indication of your connection speed only. There are issues with some Java implementations which may lead to inconsistent test results such as with some Linux systems. "