2021, time of the pandemic, II

TL;DR -- Continuation of the pandemic theme from before. We look at posts from the remainder of 2021 and at the themes covered which are of a wide variety. 

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Part 2 of 2 (Part 1). 

In 2020, restrictions changed our activity. Like most, we did computer work over the time of the pandemic but had been doing such work anyway. What was different was the focus. 

We looked more at local issues. But, we had anyway (to wit, our post of Flyover country). By 2021, we were rolling along and did more posts. Part 1 looks at those from Jan through Jun. Now, we'll pick up with posts from Jul through Dec.

The 250th came more into focus. We also spent a little time looking at S.A.R. which is the sons version of what the daughters did with D.A.R. But, AI started to come into focus after almost a decade of making headway (according to some views - the jury is still out) and claiming attention: Jeopardy win; Go win; modeling complicated lab work (Google had several of these); ... 

But, we had a post (Carving the land) which was motivated by our study of the activities out of St. Louis which was a hub for land management of the U.S and its west.  At the same time, Gloucester was approaching its 400th. We had an interest in that as the Dorchester crew came into that area in 1623. But, the great northwest? Michigan was approaching its 200th. 

Another twist was diving into the history of Harvard starting with an introduction to James Bryan Conant. He was a chemist and professor. He had wanted the Rumford chair. But, ended up in Europe and came back to become a Head of Harvard. At the same time, we decided that the long reach of New England was a theme of interest, as we had settled on All Things Gardner (22 Aug 1485) with respect to the many families with the name. 

Oh yes, AI was proposed for genealogy work. Again, that is an ongoing bit of study. But, we started to look at the genealogy of Harvard Heads. Many were of old New England families. D.A.R. found an interest in the 400th as well by starting work on identifying Patriot to Passenger (in this case, Mayflower) families. We took on Cape Ann to Patriot. 

Houses? While looking at the Dudley family, we got into houses of note. There were two in New Hampshire of interest. Both were built by relatives of descendants of Thomas and Margaret. One is now associated with the Society of Cincinatti. That brings up the other side of a coin. We honor the Loyalists of the family. Count Rumford mentioned above was a Loyalist who found success in Europe and left money to Harvard. 

The technology focus became more prominent. IEEE had an article: How dumb is AI? A few years later, we saw a general amount of interest. One observaton? Humans degradate themselves to make technology look good. Yes. Expect to see that theme periodically. 

A photo of the grandmother Dr. Frank (and 2nd great of Ann and her siblings) was found. We got that published. Generations? An eternal topic. Looking at this, we can say that the Revolution (250th now in progress) was done by the 5th generation. More on these. 

We picked up Dr. Frank's series on the Siege of Boston that were published in The Massachusetts Magazine, with issues four times a year for a decade. He started the series with Col. John Glover of Marble head. One of his vessels was the first vessel of the U.S. Navy. 

We continued our interest in rivers, as we mentioned in Part 1. The trails and railroads are always of interest, as well. But, jumping to technology now, we looked at John's favorite site dealing with the mathematics of physics. It was of the old style until a few years ago. The old stuff is still there and serves as the basis for the new. 

Aside, we are seeing lots of websites being done using new methods. Our prediction is that this method is not as stable as claimed and so have failures that are hugely visible and that will have negative repercussions. But, other than be aware, we have to wait and see. 

Why? If one looks at the whole campus of techies, there is no solution yet. Experiments have become a mainstay of life. But, take a plane, experiment types of these are not used to carry passengers. 

Remarks: Modified: 06/01/2025

06/01/2025 -