07/06/2025 -
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Toward the 250th
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Rev. John Wise
TL;DR -- Everyone talks of the 250th. Wait a moment. That's a year away. And so, let's use the coming days to look at the Revolution in new ways that represent the marvels of the modern times.While, at the same time, look to the idiciocies that potentially loom and recognize them for what they are. We suggests a focal of the human variety. Aside: in 2026, we have the 400th of what became Salem.
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Now, we are a few days prior to the commeration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Lots has been written and said about that event. Some people have been mentioned (too many to list). Many (most) were not. Even Dr. Frank's look at the Siege of Boston only mentions the officers.
And, at the same time, we are approaching one year to the 1776 event's celebration. Meanwhile, we can use this year to dig in. Sometimes, we'll dive deeply. Mostly, we expect to mention pending research items that would keep us busy for a very long time.
So, this week's look back is from the timeframe of 249 years having elapsed. The 250th, then, is next year. What else is associated with 2026? Well, 100 years ago, Salem celebrated its 300th. You see, the country was too new to do the 200th. Besides, the War of 1812 had just ended. "Manifest destiny" was beginning to bloom. All of that is already on the list. The next year, we will specifically deal with the Revolution and the 365 days leading up to the big split on paper.
Given the times, Salem MA sponsored a pageant which was a play about the early days leading up to the establishment of the Naumkeag settlement. Cape Ann has been mentioned a lot here; since last year, we are in a new era there as digital records indicate that some of the information might have been other than correct. Typical.
Anyway, the Pageant of Salem was performed in the towns of Essex County and elsewhere. Of note, most of the characters were played by descendants. We can look at that closer. Too, many of those of the time of the 300th were descendants, too, of participants in the Revolution (both sides - warning, we also look at Loyalists - say, Count Rumford who gave money to Harvard so that that provincial institute could modernize - needless to say, Rumford and later Gibbs will again get time in the spotlight this year).
Recently, we looked at a Roxbury (muddy waters, whatever, Suffolk County) family who married into a family at Ipswich (Essex County) or was it the other way: Gardner married Wise. In this case, Abigail Gardner was the sister of Mary Gardner Boylston. They were both grand aunts of a causalty (Col. Thomas Gardner) of Bunker Hill which we just looked at.
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Abigail married Rev. John Wise. Who is this guy? Well, large male. Harvard graduate. As we see, Reverend. Was in an area of what was/is known as Ipswich. That little place on the waters even produced seagoing vessels. The American spirit, so to speak.
But, this is about John. He has lots of tales about him. One dealt with his early years when he was out with a hunting party. They ran into some Native Americans so as the potential for violence rose. But, John's party negotiated a wrestling match with John being chosen. The tale notes that the Reverend-to-be won and did so by throwing his opponent several feet in a remarkable feat of strength.
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Ipswich MA |
We need more types like Rev. Wise, especially in the age with the digital illusions grasp people psychologically and wreck havocs on lives that way. And, let's count the other ways of mischief. Don't doubt that we can do this. Well, that needs to be our technology focus which will go forward with our arguing the importance of psychology and other studies that deal with humans.
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Aside: We have waited a whole for this: in 2026, we have the 400th of Conant's moving from Cape Ann to Naumkeag which became Salem: Massey's Cove.
07/01/2025 -
Monday, June 30, 2025
The 249th, finally
TL;DR -- It's time for a GB issue (XV, 1) as we're 15 years into this work. Then, technology as a focus has grown in the past few years. That in itself would have been captivating. However, lots has changed in the world in the past year or so.
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We're at the sixth month's end. The Holiday is four days away. And, we're in the prepartory phase. That is, we're at 249 of 250 years that we will be facing next July 4th. This day has been awaited for a while; let's review those types of things as we go along.
There are many topics to discuss, but we will take two.
- Gardner's Beacon, XV, 1 - we will be doing this shortly, hopefully before the 249th which occurs on Friday of this week.
- Technology - lately, lots and lots of people have been declaring there knowledge that GenAI/LLM is a vaccous mess. How did this come about? Well, at the same time, CEOs have decided this year to remove people and put this chimera in a prominent role in their company. Reports are coming out that this step has had negative results of an inordinate quantity. That will have to be watched closely. But, the things to pay attention to is huge. We'll venture down that path though.
With this post, we're at 41 posts for the year. That's a prime number. Our posts have usually come from topics of interest as we followed trends in technology and genealogical/historical areas.
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How great? |
Remarks: Modified: 06/01/2025
06/30/2025 -
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Bunker Hill
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Printed Aug 1775, London |
06/22/2025 -
Saturday, June 21, 2025
Harvard, technology
TL;DR -- Harvard goes back 400 as does our focus. Of late, they have free courses that are pertinent to current technological events. We appreciate that. But, we also call attention to the 250th and remind of Rev. John Wise who was the inspiration of the Declaration of Independence.
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I wonder how many students at Harvard know that the money to move the institution from a clergy-focused mode to work in the emerging senses of science and engineering came from a Loyalist who went over to the older realms and used his talents: thermodynamics; system engineering; ... Count Rumford (our blog post) will be in focus from time to time. Of course, Harvard did the legal side of things early, as well.
And, early? We're involved since the beginning: The Hebraist. But, lots and lots of the family went to Harvard over the years; lots and lots did not. So, we will provide a balanced view of 400 years that led to that which we will be commemorating: The 250th.
Now, technology will be a huge focus. The GenAI/LLM mischief of late is an example of things that could have been (were) forseen. How was it missed? We have a good story to tell there. Meanwhile, to change subject somewhat, Harvard is providing free access to courses dealing with AI and related.
Now switching gears, of the 250th, we have not even reached the point of the real split, yet. That will happen next year where July 4th is one known day every year celebrated. That we have eight years to look at the turmoil and rhetoric and activities and more in a new vein, brought by the internet, is daunting to think about.
We will look at parallel events, such as the 200th and 300th of New England (which was huge in impact on the culture) of the U.S. Here's an example, dealing with Rev. John Wise. His pamphlet was republished when the fever of independence was starting to grow after the French, Indian affair.
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Ipswich: John Wise |
Disclosure: All kinfolk, directly. But, we will honor everyone of New England who was not given proper attention by history in the sense before technology. And, the sense means sources with known provenance as well as discussions about issues. And, technology? Can be tamed.
06/21/2025 -
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Lord Fairfax
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Braddock's route from Alexandria, VA to Braddock, PA |
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Braddock's route from Cumberland, MD to Braddock, PA |
- In Our Backyard: Preserve the Vanishing Vestal’s Gap Road - property of Lord Fairfax, originally, almost 400 acres are preserved surrounded now by heavy residential and commercial development including Dulles International (and recently, the heavy foot of data centers trample the countryside). Pieces of the trail still exist (with an interest not unlike those remnants that we can see of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails in the middle of the country.
- Leesburg, Virginia - county seat of Loudoun County. Town of the Carters, Lees, and Masons. was in an area that was good for farms and plantations. In the War of 1812, federal documents were brought from DC for safety.
06/12/2025 -
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
250th, U.S. Army
- The first entry is from 24 Mar 1774 which was the Boston Port Act. Our post: Boston Tea Party.
- The next entry from 20 May 1774 is for the Massachusetts Government Act.
- Then, there is an entry from 19 Apr 1775 for the Lexington & Concord incident. Our post: Where was Salem?
Other 250th sites:
We have been in the 250th mindset for a long while, from before this post on Real daughters who were children of Patriots and members of D.A.R. Also, D.A.R. had an initiative related to tracking lineage from a Patriot back to the Mayflower whose 400th was in 2020. We took that and adapted it to Cape Ann to Patriot.
Remarks: Modified: 06/10/2025
06/10/2025 -
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Arkansas River
TL;DR -- The Arkansas River ought to get some attention. Hernando de Soto saw the river. The French saw it back in the 1500s on their journey out of the northern regions through the Great Lakes and then the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Cattle drivers saw the river on their way from Texas to the railroad yards of Kansas for shipment of their product to the eastern markets.
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The Arkansas River has been mentioned a few times so we need to look at it specifically. Hence, this post will spawn many others. One early mention was about the French crew who came down from the Great Lakes but turned around when they got close enough to the Gulf to see the Natives having goods from Spain. Then, we looked at Zebulon Pike's journey and work in the early 1800s with respect to him passing through the area of the Osage Mission of southeast Kansas. Jedediah Strong Smith was killed in the Arkansas River basin in southwest Kansas.
As an aside, Hernando de Soto saw the river in his exploration of the area.
Since we have more than 250 years to cover, we thought that we would look at cattle and its influence. The drives from Texas up to the rails had to cross the Arkansas River. Let's let the FB group, Be Texas Proud, be our source for material about things cattle, ranch, and more.
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Chisholm Trail (brown) bifurcates, twice courtesty of Be Texas Proud |
They had recent posts on the Chisholm Trail that passed through Wichita, KS.
On This Day in Texas History – May 27, 1870The Kansas Daily Commonwealth made the earliest known printed reference to the Chisholm Trail, the now-legendary cattle route that helped shape Texas and the American West.
Named after trader Jesse Chisholm, who originally blazed parts of the route for wagons and trade—not cattle—the trail became the backbone of a booming cattle drive era. Between 1867 and the early 1880s, millions of Texas longhorns were herded up this trail to railheads in Abilene, Ellsworth, and Dodge City, where they were loaded onto trains bound for eastern cities.
There were several "ford" areas for the Arkansas River in or near Wichita, KS. Depending upon the weather, the water was low enough for easy crossing. However, storms could raise the water level very quickly.
Quoting the The Chisholm Trail – Herding the Cattle:
The long trips up the trail from Texas were hazardous for the cattle and the cowboys. The trip took two to three months as the drives crossed significant rivers, including the Arkansas and Red Rivers, and traveled through canyons and low mountain ranges. In addition, the drovers also had to be concerned about Indian attacks, outlaw cattle rustlers, and cattle stampedes.
06/03/2025 -
Sunday, June 1, 2025
2021, time of the pandemic, II
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.
06/01/2025 -
Saturday, May 31, 2025
2021, time of the pandemic, I
TL;DR -- The pandemic started. Life was restricted. We did local things. And, worked on the web/cloud in various modes. 2021 culminated in the most posts that we had since our start with topics that cover a very wide range. Knowing the U.S. and its history is one motivation.
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Part 1 of 2 (Part 2).
In 2020, we found out about the coming restrictions after being in one of the cities where the disease was reported and said to be related to someone returning from overseas. Then, we endured the restrictive period with access to the outdoors as well keeping busy with "web/cloud" activity along several lines of research.
Our focus on technology was one line of study for the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. The next year, 2021, had the most, 105, posts published since the start of our work. Below, we provide a list by month of the titles of the posts. As can be noted, the topics varied greatly which we will comment on below.
First, here is a list of the topics for the first six months.
A subject of lots of focus was the travel of folks from the east to the west through the middle. Of course, looking further at the west coast got our attention to New Spain. The rivers of the interior were of particular interest as the Missouri River starts out in the far western mountains, closer to the Pacific than to the Mississippi River which it joins at St. Louis. Not far from there, the Ohio River comes in from the distant east having started in Pennsylvania. But, there is more. The Arkansas is a little south of that area and had eastern visitors from (what became) Canada early on. That exploratory group from New France headed back up north when they started to see evidence of New Spain.In work related to family history and genealogies, we decided that there was a frontier century which is observant now with respect to missing documents. St. Louis was a hub of movement. The U.S.Government was early there with land management. Think of the time of Daniel Boone who was out, with his family, to western Missouri (Kansas City area) as a settler. But, he also ventured further out past the Rockies. Other federal activity was military: Fort Larned, KS.
Speaking of which, there was a stage line that ran from St. Louis to San Francisco. Not across the middle of the country. No, this one went south and joined regular movement from Texas to Los Angeles through Tucson in Arizona. In Los Angeles, the activity was in the Bunker Hill West area which has a long history that we have written about (Mirror building). Of course, then we had to look at mail and freight. Too, newspapers were delivered.
We didn't forget the sea as the California cities were largely populated by ship in the beginning. Once the internal trails were established there was a huge flow across the middle. The Pony Express carried mail and small material. Several stage lines carried people and freight. We looked closely at the Butterfield Express.
Why? All of this activity was seriously associated with, or driven by, New England influences. In fact, Kansas was a Massachusetts project with its University being founded by a group that included women who came to set up a free State. We have a lot more to write of that.
Everywhere in the unmapped territory, we had trappers. Some were even venturing down from New France and Canada. Then, the next phase was trader as folks moved across the country, many of them stopping at locations that exist today having been started by the pioneers.
Along came the railroads which have a special interest due to family involvement. That facilitated one of the major memes of the west, driving cattle to the markets. So, rancher/farmer would be the next phase continuing today, in the flyover country (had to menton that - it's from an earlier post).
Next up, we'll look at the second half of 2021 in terms of posts. These posts cover the U.S. and its history. Interspersed are posts on technology, which increased with the release of OpenAI's GenAI/LLM.
06/03/2025 - Clarify that the journey on the Fox to the Mississippi starts at the Great Lakes and runs upstream in IL to a point where the Fox is close enough to the Wisconsin for a reasonable portage. The Wisconsin then runs down, and connects, to the Mississippi. In the reverse, the journey goes up the Wisconsin to the portage and down the Fox to the Great Lakes. Modern technology has improved that route with locks allowing the height changes to be managed.
Monday, May 26, 2025
Regimental Series
TL;DR -- Bunker Hill is around the corner. The 250th starts eight years of rememberance and learning.
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The Battle of Bunker Hill is a well-known historical event which started with the turmoil at Lexington and Concord. This time around, we are at the 250th. Even the Memorial Day program by PBS last night emphasized that anniversary, with regard to the Army, Navy and Marines.
Earlier we wrote that Dr. Frank had included a part of his series in each of the issues of The Massachusetts Magazine which published from 1908 to 1918.
- The Patriot Army at the Siege of Boston -- in this introductory issue, he provided an overview of the regiments that were to be covered.
- Massachusetts Magazine
Vols I and II see Vol I for Col. John Glover's regiment
Vols III and IV
Vols V and VI
Vols VII and VIII
Vols IX and X/XI
05/26/2025 -
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Memorial Day, 2025

Memorial Day, 2019 -- as we were researching Ann's genealogy, we gathered information about her grandparents who were three generations back. One finding was that a "findagrave" record about a burial at the G.A.R. cemetery at Saugus, MA held a veteran with no ties. After documenting the links, we updated his findagrave record: Walter A. Ingalls. If you pick his spouse, you will find information about his in-laws as we requested that links be updated. Too, we tied records in WikiTree with the ones at findagrave.Memorial Day, 2020 -- in the Covid times we were researching families in the middle of the country where they had stopped. Others had flowed on west. We mentioned the absence of graves. Or, as we see out here, there are unmarked graves. findagrave is full of these. We mentioned the record that we did for Dr. Frank. We can honor people through virtual memorials.Memorial Day, 2021 -- a brief recap of the two prior years and then a look at the many conflicts which produced veterans to honor.Memorial Day, 2022 -- we looked at a cemetery in the west as a photo from the area could have been taken in New England. It is at the site of an early mission to support Native tribes, some of whom had been in the area for centuries as well as newcomers from replacement efforts. We looked at William Whites Graves who was honored by the Natives for his support of the Osage Mission.Memorial Day, 2023 -- we looked at a few posts from May since our beginning in 2010. We asked the question which is still being researched: was Thomas at Cape Ann? See the post, Restart somewhat. We say, yes; but, the story will need to be altered with new information which will result from structured research. Stay tuned.Memorial Day, 2024 -- we looked at Nantucket and heard from Diana Davidson. She descends from the Gardners of Nantucket and lives in England, near Dorset.
Over the rest of the month, we will work to find pertinent information with regard to the theme of this post. As we write on that, we will come back and update this post.
05/21/2025 -
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Bunker Hill
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Siege of Boston |
05/18/2025 -
Friday, May 9, 2025
Eric W. Gardner
TL;DR -- Eric Wright Gardner, descendant of two sons, George and Samuel, of Thomas and Margaret, died recently. We offer condolences to the parents, family and friends of Eric and provide some information about Eric. His father wrote of the Magna Carta for The Gardner Annals in 2016. In that regard, we find ourselves at another milestone for that memorable document.
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We have covered a sampling of descendants through the generations since time of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Fryer. Our brief look at each of the children and their descendants can be considered a start.
As an example, the following link is to information about the 5th son and his descendants over the four centuries.
Samuel Gardner -- Dr. Frank, the author, whose work led to the 1907 and 1933 books is of this line. As well, Dr. Frank was an editor, and a major force behind the publication, of The Massachusetts Magazine.
Today, we commemorate Eric W. Gardner (1965-2025) who is a descendant of both George and Samuel, through his mother and father, respectively. In terms of the book, the 1933 edition was of the family of George while the 1907 book principally covered known descendants of Samuel.
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Obituary |
05/21/2025 - Visitation/Memorial, today. Guestbook.
Thursday, May 1, 2025
May Day, 2025
- May Day
- International Worker Day
- Lei Day (Hawaii)
- ...
05/01/2025 --
Saturday, April 26, 2025
Bunker Hill of early LA
- St Louis MO to San Francisco CA - this was pre-Civil War. Our post showed the schedule and the route. From that research, we looked at several things including the people involved, early LA, the route itself, and more.
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Taken from Poundcake Hill On the right, we see part of Bunker hill 1868 - colorized |
The following photo is of the same area, but it is from a position on Bunker Hill West. From Poundcake, one would have gone to the right to Bunker Hill and then taken a few steps along the hill. Again, there is a legend.
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High school (with the tower) on Poundcake Hill 1878 |
In our next posts, we will look at the end of the Mexican era which corresponds with the arrival of Jedediah Strong Smith. New Spain was in the region long before this time. The earliest involvment of New England can be associated with the Bella Union Hotel. An adobe structure was built in 1832 and was the residence of the New Englander. The building was also an office for the Mexican government. By the time of the Overland Stage, it had built up to be used for office work.
Remarks: Modified: 04/27/2025
04/26/2025 --
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Taming GenAI/LLM
TL;DR -- After watching the reactions, responses, choices and ramifications of choices over the past two years, we will step up to what we had determined when we first saw GenAI/LLM.
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We have had a lot of posts on GenAI/LMM over the past two years. Looking at papers, comments and such, in the environment of discussions across the board, there seems to be several patterns emerging depicting the evolution and adaptation in response to the phenomena.
Looking at this huge variety of opinion can be fun and sometimes interesting, but it also is a huge time waster. After all, GenAI/LLM are known wasters of energy (the real stuff that comes with a cost of using up natural resources). We need more than that.
Okay, let's start to look at the issues needing attention. Immediately, that puts us on an imperative search as several are pending. Fortunately, we can use a modern book for a basis, from 1986, as it looked at the issues of mathematics and its child, computing, with a thorough sweep across time.But, Kant was left out but can be reintroduced while we expand our series related to these themes. Earlier, we looked at one translator, Paul Carus, who came to the U.S. (a common theme for us in all endeavors, as New England has (and has had) a long reach.
Follow our series as we expand concurrently along the themes of meaning in the senses of man/machine and of being: Taming GenAI/LLM.
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Addendum: Rather than add in via "Remarks", here are three posts from today that represent changes in the general knowledge plus decisions related to the future.
- ADVANCING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EDUCATION FOR AMERICAN YOUTH
- How SAM’s Conceptual Layer Can End Hallucinations
- Here’s How Big the AI Revolution Really Is, in Four Charts
Remarks: Modified: 04/24/2025
04/24/2025 --
Thursday, April 17, 2025
King Slayer's Court, redux
TL;DR -- Bosworth and Gardner came up after we had looked at a Welsh family who had purportedly been involved in the battle. We assisted getting the information published in a blog, Gardner's Beacon, and The Gardner Annals. Recently, new information is available which is potentially remarkable in both its content and in its history. In other words, King Slayer's Court has been updated.
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Back in the prior decade, we looked at All Things Gardner as we heard from many families and tried to make sense of all of the data. As we worked, we tried to lay down data to serve as milestones and even guideposts, eventually.
David T. Gardner contacted us about his research on Bosworth. We helped him get organized (31 Dec 2017) for posting to his blog:
- King Slayer's Court (Top 10 Finds) (05/10/2025 - missing URLs removed - search at King Slayer's Court) -- This site has been updated recently to catch up with information flow from research, see "Top 10 Finds To Date: April 15th 2025". The stories about Wyllyam Gardynyr have been within David's family for generations. He took advantage of the emerging technology to dive deeper. The find of Richard III"s body was a boon since it brought attention to the importance of Bosworth as well introduced data that science could help interpret. Richard III was re-interned with ceremony fitting a King. In the meantime, there have been publications about Gardiners and the Tudors. For instance, Douglas Richardson had ventured into the area. I talked to him briefly about the work with David. He was interested. ...
Remarks: Modified: 05/27/2025
05/10/2025 -- URLs disappeared; removed pointers.
05/11/2025 -- New work starting; created a Bosworth label.
05/27/2025 -- David T Gardner discovered that GenAI/LLM led him astray. We will let him tell the tale. Essentially, David's work over the decades has resulted in several documents that suggest more work needs to be done. But, the notions related to his theme of Gardynyr killing Richard III have some merit. That work will continue. The confabulations from technology are another matter that have our interest.
Awareness month -- Mathematics, Statistics
TL;DR -- April is Math/Stat awareness month; we will recognize that effort in April and throughout the year.
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Did you know it's Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month?
Our emphasis on technology includes the applied fields of mathematics and its offshoot, statistics. We have even suggested that STEM become MSET+ which would put mathematics into its position as the basis, in a sense. "a basis" would be more appropriate, as we are talking about a human-based activity despite some claims of proponents of GenAI/LLM.
So we are aware. However, that April is the awareness month for Math/Stat goes back to the time of President Reagan (1986) and has been honored since then. In 2017, the American Statistical Association merged their effort with that of the American Mathematical Society to create the MSAM which is a "program of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM)—a collaborative effort of the American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics."We will support that effort every April as well as during the year with respect to the technical aspect of our work.
Remarks: Modified: 04/17/2025
04/17/2025