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    ║   HEAR YE, HEAR YE!                                          ║
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    ║   PROCLAMATIONS FROM THE REALM OF DECODINGUS                 ║
    ║   This Tenth Day of December, Year of Our Lord 2025          ║
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The Town Crier adjusts his feathered cap, unfurls the royal scroll, and bellows forth…

OYEZ! OYEZ! OYEZ!

Good citizens of the DecodingUs realm! Gather ‘round, for I bring tidings most excellent from the Guild of Ancestral Discovery!

THE GREAT YBROWSE ALLIANCE

Let it be known throughout the land that our scribes have forged a mighty partnership with the YBrowse Scrollkeepers! The ancient Y-DNA variant records, long kept in distant archives, now flow freely into our halls. Thy paternal lineage shall be enriched with knowledge from this venerable source!

Translation for the common folk: We can now pull in variant data from YBrowse to give you better Y-DNA information.

THE GDPR DECREE OF PRIVACY

In accordance with the Laws of the European Realm, we have erected a Cookie Consent Banner at the gates of our kingdom. Fear not, good traveler! ‘Tis merely a scroll asking thy permission before we remember thy preferences. Thy privacy remaineth sacred within these walls.

Your data, your choice. Simple as that.

THE SUPPORT RAVEN ROOST

Henceforth, should any citizen require assistance, they may dispatch a message to our Support Ravens! Our learned counselors shall receive thy queries and respond with haste. No longer must ye shout into the void and hope the wind carries thy words!

We built a proper contact and support system. Your messages will actually reach us now.

THE ATMOSPHERE CHRONICLES EXPAND

The mystical Atmosphere Protocol now accepteth three new types of sacred records:

  • Genotype Scrolls - Thy genetic markers, preserved for posterity
  • Population Breakdown Tapestries - Whence thy ancestors didst roam
  • Haplogroup Reconciliation Ledgers - When the ancient trees disagree, we shall mediate!

Your Personal Data Server can now store more types of genetic information.

THE PUBLICATION DISCOVERY GUILD

Our scholars have established a Publication Discovery Chamber where learned papers from the academic realm are reviewed for inclusion in our great library. Ancient DNA studies from distant universities shall be catalogued and their biosamples added to our records!

We can now find and review scientific publications to add their genetic data to our database.

THE GREAT TREE REORGANIZATION

Behind the castle walls, our architects have reorganized the Haplogroup Tree Vaults into a new chamber called the “Tree Schema.” Fear not - thy lineage remaineth unchanged! ‘Tis merely a tidier arrangement of the scrolls for our scribes.

Backend improvements. You won’t notice, but everything runs smoother.

THE CURATOR’S WORKSHOP OPENS ITS DOORS

Hark! The Curator’s Workshop hath been completed! Our learned tree-keepers now possess a magnificent array of tools to tend the great Haplogroup Trees:

  • The Haplogroup Ledger - Search, create, and edit branches upon the ancient trees
  • The Variant Scriptorium - Manage genetic markers with automatic translation across reference tomes (GRCh37, GRCh38, and the mysterious T2T-CHM13)
  • The Branch Splitter - Cleave a branch to create new subclades when discoveries warrant
  • The Merger’s Mallet - Combine branches when the scholars decree two are truly one
  • The Audit Chronicle - Every change recorded for posterity, that none may question what was done and by whom

Our curators can now properly manage the haplogroup trees - adding new branches, linking variants, splitting and merging as science evolves.

TIDINGS OF YULETIDE AND THE NEW YEAR

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              MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

As the Yuletide season approacheth and the year draweth to a close, the Guild of Ancestral Discovery doth wish all citizens:

A Most Merry Christmas and A Prosperous New Year!

Our scribes shall take brief respite to feast upon figgy pudding and wassail with their kin. Development shall resume with renewed vigor in the New Year, when we shall embark upon the Great Discovery System - a wondrous mechanism to detect new branches upon the ancient trees!

WHAT COMETH NEXT?

In the coming moons, look ye for:

  • The Haplogroup Discovery Engine - Automatically finding new branches on thy family tree when multiple citizens share the same novel variants
  • Branch Age Estimation - Calculating when thy ancestors’ lineages first diverged, using the wisdom of the ancients (and modern algorithms)
  • Enhanced Reporting - Better scrolls showing thy place in the grand tapestry of humanity

The Town Crier rolls up his scroll, takes a deep bow, and retreats to the tavern for a well-earned mead.

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║   END OF PROCLAMATION                                             ║
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║   Questions? Send a raven to the Support Roost!                  ║
║   May thy ancestors smile upon thee.                             ║
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DecodingUs - Decoding the Past, One Ancestor at a Time

Version: Yuletide 2025 Release Release Date: December 10, 2025