CMS, a favorite subject

TL;DR -- We started with MicroSoft and were happy, but they pushed people off of OfficeLive in order to get Office 360 in place. So, we did the right thing and limped along with a hacked out static mode in order for not let publishing get in the way of acquiring knowledge (the old fashion way, not machine learning - heavens forbid). The next motive for change came with the decision that Google would require some semblance of mobile friendliness to play in their part of the universe. Okay. After that, we did a website for a group that got us looking at alternatives. Then, things were fairly low-level looking to require lots of plug-ins (with regular costs accumulations). So, we just hacked more functions using javascript. When we started our portal, we had another chance at change. So, we had intermittent opportunities to consider CMS over our time. Now, we're at it again. The difference? The mobile environment has matured enough to be really interesting. Technology choices and issues abound; truth engineering is even more imperative; and notions, such as what was old is new again, apply. We'll stay at this until we get a resolution which will found the future work. Too, stay tuned; there is no limit to the ways that someone can contribute technically. We might just be the perfect lab for spawning lots of ways and means for considering how to attain some type of sustainable future. 

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This post is technical in content, with enough of the 'meta' (proper usage) issues covered to cover the extent of the current dilemmas. For now, we will have a list which is unordered and which will be extended throughout this iteration. We have touched upon the subject a few times, even recently mentioning that it's time to open the Pandora's box, again. As well as having the technical focus which will include the posts from our Technology Blog (hosted via WordPress on our site (TGSoc.org) that is presented via webhostinghub), we will look at motivation and talk the huge issue of managing across the levels related to development and deployment. The top level? We call it content, so CMS, to us, means Content Management System. One might stress the top down aspect of this. That is, the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. has a focus of the Cape Ann start of the American experience where we look across 400 years in terms of history, family dynamics, genealogy, and cultural issues, such as science. The overarching view is called 'truth engineering' which will show that AIn't is the reality unless some serious changes to the assumptions occur, thereby telling us that we need to lift to public awareness just how the marvels come to be that are associated with computing. 

Some might use 'configuration' which emphasizes the technical aspect due to the decisions required at that set of levels which are many. At the basic level will be the hardware, but it is supported by science and engineering. Software? In the list below, look at the Periodic Table of WordPress plugins. That refers to one set of frameworks (which can be generalized) pertaining to one offering on the market, albeit a popular one. 

Aside, one national group of interest uses WordPress at level of one of the States involved, whereas the overarching scope is handled by Drupal. Of note? We looked at Drupal back in 2012 (see notes with regard to this) as well as WordPress and a few others. Our choice was to fall back to a custom approach which turns out to be useful with respect to steps to the future. As one lecturer noted, what's old is new again.  

For now, consider the uses of 'C' interchangeable since we are using TGSoc.org to demonstrate issues, as well, from the bottom up (Wikipedia - Content Management (notice web content management and knowledge management); Configuration Management (notice the use for software). 

Motivation (see Summary discussion): Provide modes for managing a nonprofit in a cost effective manner while supporting the operational needs that go along with such a focus. At the same time, provide a full suite of media approaches to presenting information that has been curated, manually. Albeit, types of machine learning may be applied but with any use being noted explicitly. Meaning, of course, no implicit uses that can confuse. ...

• CMS posts in our content blog 
• CMS posts in our technical blog 
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• Content management posts in our content blog
• Content management posts in our technical blog 
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• Static web page - our approach which basically hacked HTML and which was chosen to allow progress with presenting information while we came up to speed on the related domains (events, names, dates, ...), covered over 400 years of history, published on a regular basis, and extended our focus/scope as we proceeded. Efficacy was attained by using several editors (HTML, simple text, and publishing). 
• Dynamic web page - initial thrust of mobile support plus curated indexing accomplished, mainly via CSS and Javascript using only simple text editing with Chrome testing support. 
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• Model-view-controller - traditional approach for supporting the user via the web browser 
• Decoupled Architecture and WordPress - some history, pros and cons. There may be a better video put into place, however the basics are covered sufficiently. Suggestion, scan through this quickly without the sound on. 
• TodoMVC - examples, demonstrating some of the confusing notions that will be tamed
• Periodic Table of WordPress plugins - again, demonstrating the variety (most coming with an initial and a scheduled cost
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• Decisions - Pros and Cons of Decoupled Headless Websites;  The Pros and Cons of a Headless CMS; ...
• Deep Dive into Headless CMS Back-End Options - comparative look at what's available (Feb 2021)\=
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•  Initial WordPress - picked from Top 15+ tutorials 
•  Business manager - for WordPress 
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To us, content and configuration denote two heads or two hats for one head. The reality is that there are content issues that do not need to consider configuration issues. The inverse is true, too. Now, the overlap? It's more than semantics, though we will use CMS for both views because those playing the different roles may be on the same team (or the same person, such as yours truly). 

A better metaphor might be the floor where we have an above and a below where there is an almost impenetrable barrier. Sometimes, one uses silos which are monoliths that isolate. Many times, isolation is good (philosophical notion); actually, partitioning by classes is an example of many. 

You know, we haven't paid attention until this year, but RootsTech 2022 is coming up. This graphic shows the many approaches that have been developed. There has been some effort at establishing a commonality. To us, this means more content management than the other, except where standards might be under discussion. Don't know, yet, but will be paying attention. 

Remarks: Modified 02/25/2022

02/25/2022 -- 

Content and configuration

TL;DR -- Continuing theme that might become more major than not.  

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It has been encouraging of late to see several things happening, almost concurrently. Let us just list these with some comment. As a reminder, our portal (TGSoc.org) is where we support 'content' for things dealing with all aspects of the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. as well as our interest in All Things Gardner. 

With this listing, we have to take little side trips (with curating being done a little later). There have been several studies being done that were disparate for the most part but had overlap, too. That, folks, is how life is. And? The computer has messed things up. Why? It'll provide a nice, beautiful numeric overlay that almost looks real. We can talk two senses, for now: where simulation reigns and appears as if to mimic nature (not, folks, as even with a tightly bound, smart sensor/reactor scheme, there is residue from the operational mathematics underlying the computational - basically, a rephrase of what the academics (CompSci) talk about, but not); or, in robotics, where we have seen the evolution come to machine learning, there is still that reliance upon the numeric/compute dynamic which looks very smart with its quick, huge abacus collective - marvelous -  which by no means approaches intuition of the talented human. 

Now, that's a mouthful, but it's offered liked Halloween candy, yet not. Our problem is how to bring more than hermeneutics into the technical experiences of now. And, we can learn from the past. Need to. The issue, though, is that the past five decades have us now in a bind of unknown proportions and types. This is not a political observation. No, of course, human affairs are complex. And, people have to make decisions. That's the point; offloading our responsibilities to a computer (with origins in Silly Valley or China or elsewhere) does not wisdom make (think Emerson, for one - yes, we have 400 years to look at in terms of the U.S. experience). 

Now, those two studies? One was look at John Gardner's relationship with Giles Corey. That covered a decade where the changes through that time were in parallel with those in the technology world. But, too, we were learning. What lesson cropped up? Curating. We need to start to spend time with that; however, it will be done in the context of content and configuration. Right now, we'll say this: one person's content is another's configuration. There are plenty of computer examples to use. Later. 

Now, the other deals with an adage and breaking it. Namely, we blokes here (norte of the americanas) ought to handle our own stuff. Let us tell you, the frontier experience of the U.S. is even worse than that of the Great Migration for various reasons. Yes. England had no parallel with this. You might see it elsewhere; however our experiences (US) after the Revolution can be a huge wealth of data. So, we look at our stuff here and let the Brits do their thing on their side. But, the focus on Margaret is forcing us to look at the Fryer/Friar family which is not here. The context: Editing Margaret's past. When one looks at Sherborne, there are many Gardner families (Dorset region). Friar seems to be lesser in size of the data set. So that is one motivator. 

However, we are using technology to do this, in a manner that was not available a decade ago. The first notion of this area, beyond reading John's comments (about his talks with his father), was in 2014. There has been some indexing of a slew of images. But, people have warned of these. A lot of the work might just be stepping through images (not unlike scrolling the pages on the micrograph device), except that it's easier. 

How might we say this? Looking at some of the frontier records this past summer was just that. It's astounding that we can do this work and be so blasé about what's under the covers. That is one of the reasons for this type of discussion. We need awareness that is attuned. 

It's funny. we see people realizing that html/css/js is sufficient for a whole lot of stuff. In fact, there are some additions that drive a whole lot of work. Myself, we've gotten to where Julia looks good. It's Python'ish but with extensions that do serious stuff (Lisp'ish). And, it handles the front and back ends. Given the above, of course, we want to discuss the middle out. So much more to look at. 

So, we'll be back to this theme on a regular basis. Curating? It applies to both content management and configuration control. Mind you, both of those have lots of other characterizations. The one truth? Roles are; the needed hat differs by role; balancing hats is what capable people do; the computer comes in and screws up the thinking with its 'magical' chimera'ish nature; many get hurt, led astray, even almost maimed, or driven into slavery (debt, for one); solutions will come from stepping back; we have lots of lessons pending that have been ignored, way too long; independent people will the the key to the future where one needs to know for oneself - 'trust but verify' is part of the solution; knowing how to do this with technology versus people are not the same skill set.  

Remarks: Modified: 11/03/2020

11/03/2020 -- Added image for our portal (https://TGSoc.org). Also, More than fiddling is more on the subject. 

Content, again

TL;DR -- We left MS in 2012 having gotten started with them in 2010. We are now back to using them, only slightly for a while. We are reconfiguring with some final sense in mind now, after a decade long trek through the hoopla and confusing goings on that one sees with respect to computing. Silly valley is what comes to mind every time we look deeply. That needs to change.  

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When we started the TGS work on information conveyance, we were using Microsoft's Officelive which was quite capable and familiar to anyone who had worked through the era of Windows evolution. Of course, there were other OS options; too, Unix was very much part of the technical camp. Then, there was the decision to go to Office 365. 

Since we had been working pro bono for a decade, we opted out. Too, though there was the 'freebie' mode everywhere, we all know the consequences of that. We might have had blogger going, we did not use the Ad facility. Of course, we looked at it. 

John's forte has been advanced computing for decades and has watched the changes, many of which seem to be more immature than not. Again, look around. Messes everywhere. Now, need that have been? It's arguable, of course, but John will throw 'truth engineering' on the table and say let's discuss this. Well, rather than descend into an academically-oriented bit of discussion, we need to work these computer issues in ways other than what we see, at least in part. 

There has been a lot of discussion along these lines that we can pull together. For now, let's say that the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. has a goal to be a positive contributor in this area without defining things specifically enough to cause limits. After all, about anywhere one looks deeply, there are issues. These have gotten worse over the years. 

Think that this will abate? 

Of the whole ball of wax, "content vs configuration" is one thing to talk about. There are related themes that will come up. One might even say memes since this idea has spread across the internet. Okay, after MS's decision, we went looking and settled on Linux as a proper way to go. That is, for the server affairs to support what we wanted to do. You know, the cloud? Lots of problems. We'll discuss. After all, all of the decisions made were documented as we went along. There are lots of threads which can be used for various purposes, including analysis on several fronts. 

 

One set of choices was to find something that did as well as MS's tools. Well, we didn't find any that stood out. This is still true. But, we have watched what people have done, across the board. Opinions? Yes, they are there. We'll get to talking about the state of the computing world (have lots of these types of thing already) within the context of what we are doing here. That type of discussion goes along with the choice patterns and why they are as they are. 

Now, it was a decade ago that we went off of MS's planet and started our own thing. The first iteration was hard-coded HTML with a little CSS and loads of icons taken from the MS screens that we had. That worked for a bit. Why? It allowed the configuration aspects to be made steady in order to do content work. Mind you, this is always a dynamic. 

One can talk of floors in the sense that one person's configuration is another's content. Say, you're a user of some mobile device (say phone). Do you ever think of what happens as you push buttons in some context with a goal or goals to accomplish? We can look at that at any level. But, one good metaphor is that we walk on a stage under which is a very large collection of abilities taken for granted. To get into details, we have to open some door and enter. 

Or, stoop to conquer. One doesn't get anything done if the hands can't get dirty. 

John says, that the immaturity that we see can be discussed so as to talk ways and means to correct the issues. Is there a suggestion that this stuff is easy? Nope. Actually, it is. There are various viewpoints, many of which cannot even converse. You see, even technical modes and data driven thingees have their troubles. Many times these are settled by power or any other of an endless set of human talents. 

 We'll cover all of this in time. For now, we are going to use WordPress, for several reasons, to provide a platform (software and technique) with which to organize what we need to do. The underlying power will still come from our virtual machines running Linux. At the same time, we will pursue Android modes, using approaches that are general and which ought to work in any of the venues that covers the basic set that everyone agrees upon. 

But, higher-order content must have specifics that differ, unfortunately, amidst all of these things that look monolithic even if that's a mirage (as hackers will tell us). 

You know, that is part of the discussion. WP has Apple'ness on its plate. It is that universal situation that we are looking for. Of course, others do too. I know of one case where the national group uses one and some regionals use another, including WordPress. 

It's funny to consider what AIn't is bringing, or not, to the work. We'll look at that, deeply (in the true sense that the DL folks pirated) and broadly. After all, if one talks machine learning, it's quite legit and rational. 

So, our portal will be reconfigured. See TGSoc.org/site/. 

Expect this to be fun. 

Aside: Paying attention? Old guy off the wall? Well, no, here is a current discussion of Concrete CMS versus Wordpress. Of course, it is from Concrete CMS's viewpoint. You see, 'new infrastructure' points to changes that will be permanent. Users want more control. Developers want tools. Content creators and managers want ease of applying power. Finally, John can say, about time. Maturity? 

Remarks: Modified: 10/07/2022

10/07/2022 -- Need to organize the material on content management and updated the story of this versus configuration management (see Sept 2019 post on the new infrastructure and what it entails and a lot more - which was pre-COVID). If you look at the post from 2019, you will see a graphic that notes the advent of Elementor which uses the fleixability of WordPress in a mode that is 'drag and drop' development. Lots to discuss about the approaches and what is beneath the abilities and more through time (hence our reminders of what has been done so far and why).  

After looking at discussions about WordPress, ConcreteCMS and Drupal, we can add to the debate, from our WordPress-supported position. Of course, which of these will be better is an open issue. We have compared the 'stories' and the types of users. They all have a mix. Our view is technical, though we are doing the work for TGS, Inc. 

We will be redoing this page (at our portal to truth) so that it can be a trace for future analysis. Our words. 

• Note (10/07/2022): Final technical note, after looking at Concrete CMS and Drupal. These were considered earlier and have progressed as has WordPress. And, each of the three have solid use by well-known customers who have access to talent. As we work our configuration, we will be looking more than slightly as the issues which is best done with multiple parties to inspect. Say, like the infamous flyoff when new technology is being assessed. This type of thing is going to be even harder for computing. That is, bridging the cognitive gaps (or hats). Our put is called truth engineering. The ability to think of bare metal went away with the newer methods. Is there some equivalence? Too, the internet's evolution can now been seen more readily given the experiences of the last half decade. For instance, we can point to one paper discussing Concrete CMS versus WordPress, from the viewpoint of the former. Then, we have what we call AIn't coming forth. What we have here is mathematics and parameters mixing in an unlimited number of ways. WordPress, Concrete CMS, and Drupal represent parametric modes that are phenomenally complicated. This (the potential error) is covered over. We'll explain. And so, we have the situation where there is not human talent with the evolutionary wherewithal to handle the issues, except as a guider of the AIn't ways, if they are done correctly. ... It's almost like we've stood still the past decade and one-half with lots and lots of noise being added. Where is the value if only marketing is thought to be the major player? Tsk.

Content and its management

TL;DR -- It seems that it is time to do the periodic review of technology in terms of our use and of choices pending. Nothing urgent is at hand except to increase the ability to have more options as we go forward. In the background is the reserved use of technology that might raise the issues of security, effectiveness, privacy, and other topics. We expect a 'deeper' dive this time (where 'deep' is taken from the AI mania's seeming hold on the imagination of a whole lot of people. What would Thomas think?

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The explosion of techniques over the past decade and one-half is astounding. And, that techniques range from low-level coding and handling of data through all sorts of presentations on various types of platforms (real or virtual) and then the interpretation worlds coming in, especially with analysis as a driver and that the variety of methods are without end is quite a bit to chew on. For the individual as well as for the group. To now, it has been a daunting task to cope; going forward, it will be even more problematic. 

So, doing a relook is quite apropos now. Let's just start with a list, some of which is older than it may appear and have a new face; what is new will be pointed out, eventually. 

Context: Aug 2014, on Decisions; 2021/22 stop to relook; list of Content Management tools and approaches. 

We can think in terms of hats which are difficult to have on at the same time and, definitely, switching modes is no easy task.  

• Project Seven - responsive web design, as they tout, with a huge collection of capabilities which can be plug and play or even more. 
• Dreamweaver - early to the game and still going. 
• CSS-tricks - one of the demonstrators of the ability of this lowly tool that got my attention early on. 
• Joomla - it's open source and capable, but too much on the configuration side of things. 
• concrete5 - again, open source; found it useful but cumbersome. 
• WordPress - very popular; liked it, but, personally, didn't like the ad-hoc collection of fee-based entities seemingly waiting to pounce. 
• Drupal - thematic scheme that was interesting. 
• ...
• Top 10 best website builders - there are lots of these list where some analysis has already been done. 

Must comment about data bases and their issues (several of the above mention their database options).  As an aside, have done this for years. The concern is more general and relates to staying away from conditions that lead to abusive modes being successful. 

One thing that grated was that most of these approaches make heavy use of pieces that are pulled together out of a database. That is, this approach is highly fluid but lacks structure. Is that important? Yes and no. Many of the modern website whose adherence to the chaos (seeming) might dazzle, the performance can stink. Too, it is hard to multi-task in such an environment. If I see something, I don't want it to change while I am cogitating about related issues. Lots to discuss, perhaps. Going with HTML files forced a structure. At first, of course, there were tables, but this usage diminished over time. 

Slow grind

So, we might think of a split where there is structure in the look and its code. Then, data would be handled by a data base, albeit that sort of thing might really require cloud support for reasons of stability. Until now, we have avoided those decisions. So, it's time to go back and reassess. 

We always talked content versus configuration is a recursive manner. One's person content might very well be another's configuration. Better wording might come to fore, but we'll keep with this split for a while. 

Remarks: Modified: 07/23/2021

07/19/2021 -- Finally, we're on the summer tech trek: Techie world, again. No known destination or timeframe for when that unknown is defined sufficiently to consider having arrived there. 

07/23/2021 -- Add TL;DR and image for the portal (https://TGSoc.org). 

Technology and content

TL;DR -- Technology can mean several things, many of which are apropos to our work.  

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There were other posts on this theme: technology as search. For the most part, these followed our movement from the initial ASP world into the fray of webbing (2012) where we picked up the older technology, for several reasons. That is, HTML was the choice (we actually cut images from the pre-cloud setup - high end - and built our own menus, etc.). It worked. And, we were able to work content for two years. 

Content? Yes, the crux of the matter. As we look around all of the populace with those mobile devices (some amount greater than 5B altogether), we watch. Note, this is from the position of not going any more mobile than the laptop. Until now, where this is being written in a 1/2 mode. The work is being done on a small 2-in-one with weds the laptop with the tablet. And, the mix is a multi-core device, with large memory, fairly sophisticated graphics, and solid state support for that which was the file system. 

As an aside, using a light pen for more accuracy and falling back to former modes, it's almost like using high-end graphics from a few decades ago with the manual input mode so loved by those who code (say, vi and such) but in a manner that was only dreamt of before. 

Also, not for gaming. We're being serious here in the context (related to content) of the futures of the TGS where a focus toward research at the heart of artificial intelligence and truth engineering is being proposed. Hence, our little humorous use of 'portal to truth' which is not really tongue-in-cheek. 

We have used our technology blog to write on this. But, the transition was from HTML to HTML/CSS in order to be mobile friendly. Then, we brought in JS in order to be process efficient. There have been several iterations on this. For doubters, we saw a demo of high end computing using html/css/js (yes, almost like the new Lisp, some say, alluding to the era when those machines were top of the line). We have seen the descent to numeric spaces, where logic is pushed away from being nimble. That will change as we see discussed now. 

Many see genealogical modeling and DNA as the top of the line. We beg to differ. Heck, some of the techniques show a lack of appreciation for Bayes and his kind. The whole of the industry (tell us if we are wrong) has no clue about philosophical issues let alone anything about ethics. Thomas, being Tabula Raza, gives us a good basis: the whole of the American experience needs more looks other than those driven by the top-down thinkers. 

This is brief. Before, we used an emulator to match up (or attempt to) the mobile experience. Mind you all, apps is the thing there. Most (all, except for a few) are pure trash. Yes, indeed. We will discuss that. Quite frankly, the work of the TGS is being seen as an operational arm of the larger picture which deals with a sustainable economy in which we have mature computing. No small chore, to look at all of this. 

Now, we can do more than mere simulation and exercise things as they ought. A young person showed us a benchmark which has descended to a type of competition such that one of the players (a company offering a benchmarking tool) actually pulled a Volkswagen move (yes, tuned their app to meet and beat benchmarks). See what we mean? 

Of course, there will be the more normal activities dealing with TGS descendants and those of the whole of the Cape Ann part. But, there is a Gairdner (Gairdner, Gairdner Awards FB) group that started a few decades ago and took up a role in medical research. They have a yearly affair where the best of the papers are discussed and prizes awarded. We'll have a post on this. 

Diversity and Excellence
in Science

Think that computers, especially when you look at the total picture where embedded has become a whole industry in itself and where people are both the users and the used, offer many challenges where a perspective across a longer time frame just might be wanting now but necessary. 

Oh yes, content? Versus configuration? The latter is the focus on the computer which requires a whole lot of support. All the cloud did was push this behind a veil. Ourselves? We went with server which has lots of potential. We're doing a minimalistic approach by choice. It'll be discussed as needed. Content is that which is curated. And, it's the larger issues, notwithstanding AI (and the current hype - oh yes, let us weigh in on that) and its supposed wonders. The full of the content approach usually cares naught for configuration (hence the evolution of the cloud); the full of the configuration cannot understand the needs of content. Such is why there is a friction. The latest IEEE Spectrum had a wonderful article that can be used to discuss this: under the guise of discussing legacy (sheesh).  

Remarks: Modified: 04/16/2023

09/20/2020 -- Added links to the Gairdner Awards group, Scottish family in Canada. 

11/03/2020 -- We are about ready to commence work on further improvements that carry a message regarding the tradeoffs that we ought to face but mostly ignore. Some see fiddling as a right. Fine. But, there is always more work to be done than bodies (minds) to do it. Per usual, we'll be blogging on things encountered, especially issues.  

11/10/2020 -- This theme is still of interest. 

04/16/2023 -- Update image link for "Diversity and Excellence in Science" which had moved at the Gairdner site. 

New infrastructure

TL;DR -- A look at what we need to do and the various contexts involved including our content which covers several domains and our need for configuration management. The web's evolution will be on the table in terms of choices, both good and bad, by the developers of the mess. Updated graphic and comment about WordPress are later edits. This was a pre-COVID post. 

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We have all heard this over the past couple of decades. Well, we can finally say that things are at a crux, especially with the emergence of DL's facilities. They were always there; of late, people learned how to exploit.

Create or discover? Well, like the chicken and egg, which is first? I'm of both minds where 'discover' is given respect. So, Poisson's name is on stuff. He created this. Or, was he describing what he saw and we labelled it with his name as if the underlying ability came about with observation?

With the internet, we get to reason on these things, again, albeit with some practical focus as the intent is to use the thing properly, smartly, and to the best of our ability. I've put out a few posts about this. In July, it was Techie stuff. There were things before, say the technology blog. This started at WordPress[dot]com but, recently, moved to be under our 'portal to truth' (lots to discuss there). At that site, we have continued our blogging about decisions.

I have been working alone, for the most part, just following my intuition. 'Minimal' was one goal. Last fall, I mentioned some Google discussions that were right on (in this old guy's mind) and comforting, actually. Though, as an aside, they own this blog space. We're looking to pull it, too, under our portal.

In the meantime, AI is going bonkers. It's obvious, to me, that the black box can be tamed. It'll take us getting back to logic. What the hey? Minsky of MIT went to his grave arguing that the aNN (no matter the variations, thereof) as not the way. Not that I agree with him entirely, but he was not off the mark. Everywhere, we see AI this and AI that. Makes one wonder if some parts of the populace have lost their marbles.

As an aside, our portal thoughts make use of the fact that Thomas Gardner is almost a tabula rasa given that we know only a little but have the huge set of progeny to ponder. That means, in other words, the 'every man' is the theme or meme. We'll get back to that.

This blog has been going for 10 years. We started the WordPress one due to the details being handled with regard to choices. Of course, as we studied, we had to see where the crowd was going (below). And (yes, this is real), every time, we looked at what led to the current state (our's and the world of computing's) and tsk'd (want to know why? paying attention to the messes?). Sheesh. Do we ever get anything right? For anything of benefit, there are a slew of side-effects, costs (what have you) that are negatively imposing. This is without fail.

AI came on the scene, again, the past few years. Gaga time. This time, though, the older minds were saying, wait, let's talk: ACM, IEEE, etc. So, that's something else to discuss.

But, with regard to what the TGS needs, we have to develop. I have run across roll-your-own schemes. Guess what? The monied crowd does this to remove dependencies upon others. I'm stressing it due to issues of truth engineering. In any case, code will be to the fore. What? Yes, too many are being led down paths to perdition, it seems. We have been right so far in that assessment. I don't see glowing examples, yet.

As an aside, with regard to the below, we were doing Microsoft in the (mis-guided?) notion of going with ASPX and its way of the world. We'll mention this again.

But, the tools are there for us to do things better. Metrics, in other words, used wisely can be quite helpful. The benefits that have accrued properly to technology are examples. Lots of them. So, getting back to the theme of the post, here is an example.

This image comes from the source for a post that is worth reading: How WordPress Changed the Internet - 17 Facts about WordPress. I like it if only it shows that the old guy isn't off the wall. 

Aside: The source? W³Tech and their Web usage surveys where they are looking at content management. Look at the count! Babel building.  

In the 2012 time frame, as we were being kicked off of Microsoft's site, I looked at all three of these. In fact, I prototype'd a TGS site. At the time, I was up to my ears in new information having started to really get into the history and genealogy of the Cape Ann crew. So, there wasn't time to play with configuration when 'content' was the key thing. Notice the comparative growth of these three.

Aside, content and configuration? These differ (the media is not the message).

I looked at WordPress, again, in 2014. Those prototypes had been done under our own server. In the new mode, I went and built under WordPress' site (in the beginning, there were no ads; they came later; hence, we're moving). But, in 2012, I fell back to HTML, tables, icons, and mouse handling. It worked. On the 2014 go around, I brought in CSS and some javascript. The latter was, finally, made more central as it builds the page.

Now, what was one problem in 2012? The database. Too much of it (let's discuss). We can go into this, but the TGS site uses Linux and files. Guess what? Recently, after reading some UBerkeley stuff on AI, I went to GitHub, finally. Ah, the choices, related to text or graphics, etc., were all there for daily discussion while people were, at the same time, doing useful stuff within their chosen framework.

Talk diversity. This is one type that we need and can handle. Though, there are always forces pushing for homogeneity. Mathematicians love this.

BTW, on the latest look at WordPress, as I was bringing it into our portal, I looked at the 'biz' aspects of its use. Nickel and dime'ing was my reaction; like the menu that is ala carte. Nice, but, I want to see what's under the cover (or hood or ... - we used to say). Too, I want more than mere parametric influences. BTW, that is one issue with DL and AI, right now.

Yes, again, anyone interested in machine learning in the context of TGS, pipe up, please.

Closing this out, we have lots of things pending. See this blog that will move (https://jmswtlk.github.io/GitHub-ing/) which will cover the deeper technical issues as we go along. So, indeed, we're talking infrastructure in a new sense, actually senses.

Oh yes, ASPX. Recently, I have been helping in a situation where this is the framework. Not as a developer, but rather as a late tester of a new process. Interesting. Some things I liked, others not. How to get the proper balance will always be a key thing? And, whose balance?

Aside, again. The earlier post pointed to a project management scheme that has gotten a lot of attention. It reminds me of the old Apple package that was card-based. That is, one had cards that linked in a manner that was fairly powerful (we're talking 80s, folks). I see it referenced from time to time. Lift the covers, and you'll find old routines still supporting the computing world. Trouble is, though, that it's in the GUI world. Most stuff is. Developers? Many stay away from that. Actually, WikiTree is balanced and a joy to use. GitHub is more textual with add-ons for the GUI'ness.

How ought we to go? Decisions will be made. None will be in concrete.

When looking at Drupal and Joomla, I also looked at Concrete 5. It's still around. The Army picked it. Okay. How does one decide in all of this? Want to know. Computational sustainability. That'll be a future topic.

Aside: Paying attention? Old guy off the wall? Well, no, here is a current discussion of Concrete CMS versus Wordpress. Of course, it is from Concrete CMS's viewpoint. You see, 'new infrastructure' points to changes that will be permanent. Users want more control. Developers want tools. Content creators and managers want ease of applying power. Finally, John can say, about time. Maturity?  

Remarks: Modified: 10/07/2022

10/07/2022 -- Updated graphic on WordPress which had come from a survey. Put in pointers to survey. This week, decided to use WordPress to prototype our configuration. 

Questions and such

TL;DR -- Bridging across 400+ years will continue to be of importance. So, our quest will be an ongoing process. Technology? The next two years will provide more of a view to the issues. Right now, we can only intimate. In reality, hype abounds. AIn't adopters will be in for a reckoning. 

-- 

It was a year ago, when we found out about the new information about Thomas and Margaret that was available via digitization of records in Sherbourne, Dorset, UK from 400 years ago. WikiTree used the opportunity to split out their Profile of Thomas into two people: one was at Cape Ann who is unknown, essentially; the other is the one who married Margaret Frier. 

The work and discussion had been done while I was distracted by what became to be known at GenAI. There are several blogs on this. But, we're at the stage to move on and do it right. Not that what had been done before was done wrongly. So, tsk, guy, at WikiTree who passes judgment. We'll take it from here with respect to these two gentlemen or one (our choice - until we really know).

On the first (AIn't), look at the series here under my name: True State of AI Tools, 2024. We started this last year after assessing what OpenAI's toy/tool brought. The jury is still out: those who don't know, let's discuss rationally; those who are on the bandwagon, just be aware of the faults that shake the foundation (oh yes, let's to go Einstein's introduction of the mathematics of Relativity to do this, General, that is - and then come forward to the current nonsense).

On the second (Cape Ann, &c - btw, that's what was used in the time of Levi-Civita), how will the research and change proceed? Well, we got started in 2009 but formalized the effort in 2010. By 2012, it was obvious that there were all sorts of opinions, worthy of note (okay?, we'll discuss - we do not like the top-down dominance that seems to appear - more later). So, this happened. 

• What we know - notice, November of 2012. What took so long? Well, search in this blog on Content and Configuration. I was dealing with new content related to history and people. This was after transitioning my brain from technology, especially advanced computing. And, configuration? I used CMS; later, I pointed to GitHub (with Co-Pilot, is even better of a foild for discussion) as an example. Two hats? Okay. One person's content might be another's configuration. And, so forth. Science and engineering are full of examples. 

So, switching to the 1st, a monolith of knowledge? Nope. The whole framework is idiotic. We'll show this, eventually, if we live long enough. Too, GenAI? Purty pictures. Read about the difficulty of doing something real, as I show with the knowledge-based engineering work that actually bumpled up against the world successfully by meeting constraints intelligently. And, the word salad? Oh yes, perfect grammar, perhaps. But. meaningless. Anyone finding meaning is demonstrating what the Gesalt view was about. 

Going on. Later, we figured that we had enough and started the following using a different format at Google's Blogger. Posts are meant to be conversational through time. Pages (see our Page map) are static. We did this page. Both the post and the page have been annotated with respect to the current topic of needed changes. 

• Frequently asked questions - notice, later. We did not know a lot, even then. But, we thought that we ought to organize this into questions. These might be reworked to have a good set of questions. However, they'll each be updated. 

So, we have started the work. One thing was to add an opinion category, OpEd. One thing that we noticed over the past decade plus. When we started, the internet was still somewhat open which allowed satisfying queries to be made and tweaked to obtain some semblance of an answer. Now It's been trashed. So, that will slow things down. 

Before now, we also saw lots of site with reseach done earlier. Lots of that disappeared. We had collected lots of links over the years and need to prune these out. But, for some, trying to see what happened will be of use As, that was not work to be wasted. If the stuff is available elsewhere, we want to be cognizant of the work. 

Remarks: Modified: 03/15/2024

03/15/2024 --  

Geertruida de Haas-Lorentz

TL;DR -- Running through links on a topic can lead to interesting finds. By a circuitous route, we ran into a colleague of Einstein who lived in the Netherlands and several other finds. Their work showed that inexpensive experiments can do the job. A related post continues our discussion on content versus configuration. 

-- 

Technology is our interest, and it's without limit. Today, we were researching relativity as it applies to some of the modern turmoils. Mainly, this is to set a basis for future discussion and work. In his book on the Evolution of Physics which he wrote with Infeld, Einstein discussed the rise of the modern views, from the perspective of the 1930s. 

One thing stressed was the importance of knowledge and the means for obtaining and managiing such. That applies across the board and usually was a human endeavor. Now, we have other wrinkles coming into sight. These are not new which we will go into. 

But, on reading material, I ran into the old topic of content versus configuration. Or, vice versa, as it's a two-way street. In fact, the TGS work has been important in following the ins and outs of technology as the web and its use became more sophisticated. Mentioning acquisition of knowledge? Mostly, that seems to be associated with the artificial. But, no, people need to  learn to. 

So, there was a hit on a search for a algorithm that pointed to a website (HyperPhysics) managed at Georgia State. The site uses Java and Javascript to provide demonstrations of algorithms related to research in Physics. It has a goal of providing information of a technial nature to teachs of High School Physics. The Georgia site also links to HyperMath which of the same approach. Both of them are great. 

Another link goes to Physics World which is all modern and mostly reporting. However, the articles are a great collection. One of them motivated this post. 

Given that this is Women's History Month, we wanted to feature Geertruida de Haas-Lorentz who provided an experiment to a French museum. It had been done by her husband and Einstein in 1915 and showed a connection between magnetism and "angular-momentum of electrons" using a simple device. Geertruida herself did experiments that tested Einstein's proposals about Brownian motion. 

Her father was the Nobel Prize winner for his theoretical work that supported Einstein's relativity research. 

This was Einstein's only experiment as his work was theoretical (and cultural). 

Back to content and configuration: old (This week's finds ...); new (Azimuth). 

Remarks: Modified: 03/24/2024

03/24/2024 --  

Content can be configuration

 TL;DR -- Another look at options, alternatives, and, perhaps, better ways to do things. 

---

Given that we are going into the winter months, with the added pressures of COVID19, we will have more time to spend working on issues, such as futures, technology, presence, and such. To get a good start, let's consider the 'content versus configuration' theme which has appeared from time to time. Why do we have these posts? For one thing, they do provide for a nice periodic look that is based upon a timeline that we control. These posts are in a 'content' order with a date to allow a notion of when the what was being discussed. 

• thomasgardnersociety.org (15 Mar 2012) - Our first activity was to create a Thomas Gardner (Planter) page on WikiPedia in January of 2010. Later, after some research and editing, we started a website in April of 2010. This URL points to that site which was based Microsoft's OfficeLive (at the time, ASP world). Here is an old image of the first look (read about the conversion in 2012 here). This blog started on Blogger.com (bought by Google) and has been continuous since September of 2010. Our original (Welcome) post pointed to our site which, at the time, had a bio and the beginning of a list of the kids (2nd post) and their progeny that had been developed on WikiPedia (all edits can be traced). Microsoft decided to push Office 365 which is now their cloud offering for business. Lots of businesses had assumed that OfficeLive would be their and had integrated it into their processes. Needless to say, unexpected costs arose from this decision by Microsoft. Some of this, we paid attention to. Why was Microsoft picked? Well, one motivation was to get into the ASP world, again. It was fairly slick compared to the alternatives that we researched. Unfortunately, the attention was elsewhere so that the decisions at this point were considered mute issues. After all, it was merely an informational site.  
• New era (15 Mar 2012) - After getting the notice, the thing to do was to look at alternatives. In the initial work in 2010, Microsoft's approach didn't have a peer. Mobility as we see now was just starting to come around. There had been a decade of progress mostly related to commercial exploitation of the internet which continues. The basics of Content Management Systems? Lots of questions and little answer. This post (another blog) discusses the research and decisions. After a little effort, the choice was to drop back to HTML (with images snapped of the buttons that were on the OfficeLive pages). Then, once information flowed, improvement work would become incremental. In terms of requirements, there was providing curated information. However, there was the larger picture which resulted in two discussion. On the content side, of course, the focus would be related to the purposes of the Thomas Gardner Society. On the other, things were changing. If one looks at the state of the art, one sees lots of categories of web capability being proposed with many different ways for handling these, with issues like technology being important.  
• Web site - reconfigure (12 Jul 2014) -- That approached worked for a couple of years. While we went along, we still surveyed the status of web work so as to keep an alternative list up to date. Motivation for change came from Google who made the decision that all blogs had to consider mobile friendliness. Since we pointed to our site, we had to upgrade. This time, we paid more attention to the technical work by creating a blog with a technology focus (Friendly to the mobile crowd). We started this blog on the WordPress site and have started a move to our own server. Again, we looked at alternatives and decided to switch to a dynamic mode using HTML/CSS/JS. As for discussions about this, many are looking for minimal, curated sites. This will be looked at more fully later. Default modes, like FB, Instagram, Twitter, and the like? To be discussed. All along, we published Gardner's Beacon at the site. Our first issues was Vol I, No 1 (Spring of 2011). For a few issues, we collected material into an annals format. Too, with more experience under our research belt, we decided to write a correction to an article in the TEG which led to several articles being published. After 2010, digitization seemed to happen quicker. One finding was a record of a Thomas Gardner and a Margaret Friar being married in Sherborne, Dorset, UK in the right timeframe. That led to the TGS helping edit the Profiles for these two on WikiTree.  
• Thomas Gardner (abt. 1592 - 1674) - Besides the marriage there are other records that are of use, such as baptism records for the first three boys, a baptism for Margaret, and records related to her parents. This is ongoing work. With research notes and articles, we configured an area for the Annals for which we are working on TGA Vol. V, No. 1. But, there are many decisions to make with respect to our infrastructure going forward. For one thing, we need various timelines (example from mapped to associated content. That content must be curated and managed over timed. Now, given social media, there are many options for controlling the message, albeit one needs to keep disparate modes in sync. Wouldn't want differences of opinion arising due to mismanaged posts across several sites. We summarized what we had, to then, in January of this year (2020). But, we also need to integrate in support business affairs, in the longer run, including access and membership. There are various cloud options; we have liked our server approach, so far. Earlier, we mentioned mobile devices of which there are many types. Technology seems to have settled somewhat in terms of services but, mostly, that is temporary. For instance, everywhere, people have modified their sites to be flexible. This works somewhat but can be quite frustrating as one changes modes. People don't want to see a smartphone interface while using a laptop connected to sophisticated computing systems, just like the mobile crowd did not like the scrunched down laptop presentation. UX (user orientation) has as many open issues as anyone. BTW, this is future oriented? Yes, think DARPA (U.S. DOD) which have realized, finally, that they need to lead the way toward thinking about 100-year systems. 
• TGSoc (August of 2017) - After a little experience, we saw 'thomasgardnersociety.org' as too lengthy in the newer days of scaling down. When used in email, it was huge. So, on doing a survey, we decided that 'TGSoc.org' would be better. This was registered in 2017 and has been active since in terms of our portal (to truth). Or, one might use gateway. It's use will complement that of the main site which will be an information repository and server. Of course, there will be other components, through time. We have tried several packages and have some notes related to our analysis and decision. The fallback position is doing our own development as needed. Of late, Julia (a programming language) looks promising however there would be a tie into existing services. The architecture needs a little discussion. The image is an example of an icon related to information bits which are now mostly blog-based but will be of any appropriate media. 

TGSoc.org

We have an open list of tasks related to our infrastructure and process. Too, some things ought to be handled in an experimental mode given time and resources. So, there is no shortage of things to do. 

Remarks: Modified: 11/24/2020

11/24/2020 --

Bespoke software

TL;DR --We have slowly been working on our portal in a bespoke manner. Ten years ago, there was lots of attention on the web in understanding HTML/CSS/JavaScript with examples provided by those who had the time and interest. At the same time, development in machine learning lead to thoughts of autocode (as in the machine doing the coding). Now, we witness countless offers for robotic development of software. Something is wrong.We will look at this, over time, since it's not of prime concern. Yet. Besides we will see shakeouts of methods which is normal for progress. Too, we have lots of pending work to do. One that is high on the list is getting regular attention to the date of the death (29 Dec 1674) of Thomas Gardner (Salem planter). 

---

Want an example? Our Gardner's Gate or portal. We have used the phrase a few times but intend to use it more. Our first reference was this post in January of 2020: Gardner's Gate. In that post, we mentioned a few of the types of research that we were doing. At that time, we may have had some notion of the coming technology interest but did not mention the subject. 

Guess what? A month later, we were informed that a city that we had visited had cases of confirmed COVID. Life changed, then, for a while, as everyone adapted to the new regime brought by the pandemic. For us, we got into research that was more involved (the US interior). One particular problem took us almost two years to resolve; but, we stuck to it and accomplished the necessary feats. 

A little before, we had started the portal (https://TGSoc.org). That was in 2017. In doing so, we took advantage of some earlier work. But, we took a "bespoke" path and will continue. 

Why mention this? Well, algorithms, computing, and such has been John's work in advanced computational systems. The TGS main blog started in the Microsoft world due to the influence of ASP.NET. There were jumblings in that world in 2012 to which we adapted by leaving the Microsoft realm and going over to a Linux server. By the time of the portal, we had a strategy (somewhat). We needed resources and continual involvement, but there were other factors controlling time. 

For one thing, research came first. We have been doing issues of Gardner's Beacon and printed several releases of The Gardner Annals. There were meetings and research for other groups. But, as John worked the bespoke issues, he kept notes and published some of them (we intend to organize links to this material -- see Devlog). 

Too, some organzational work became more involved taking time and energy. But, we kept the TGS, Inc. fires going. Until COVID came along and changed things. Eventually, those constraints went away; people started to get their lives back. 

But, the underpinnings of technology were changing. We'll detail our views and experiences. But, GenAI/LLM appeared three years ago. Our first experience was with ChatGPT after which we settled with Bard/Gemini. It wasn't much later that we had looked at the problems with finding algebraic solutions (Technology and its influence).

Sometime later, interest in what's known as "vibing" to some came to be; too, using LLM  as a tag, people began to develop methods that allowed the facilities to assist in development (co-pilot in some cases; in others, there is more autonomy). We will discuss this from the framework of maturity and dependable/stable computing. 

So, bespoke will be spoken in our world. 

---

Again, research? Thomas Gardner died 29 Dec 1674 (post written 3 Jan 2019). One of our research topics was, where is he and his remains? That topic will be mentioned yearly henceforth. We will put a page on this at our portal in the coming months. 

Notice in the ChatGPT session (link above), we brought in information about Thomas that had been thought right for a couple centuries now. Not long afterwards, we learned that during our absence from WikiTree, they had been analyzing newly-digitized documents from Sherborne, Dorset, UK. Adjusting to that new information is on our plate - Gardner Research. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/13/2025

12/10/2025 -- Some edits of typos and adding new information such as a graphic. 

12/13/2025 -- We started with Microsoft's Office on-line and its developer's tools. The intent was to carry on with the ASP.NET approach (I liked C#), even though my early web work was in Unix, for the most part. Office 365 came along; that was our first instance of seeing companies falter as they learned that their processes no long worked. What did we do? Surveyed the alternatives. Picked a Linux server. And, fell back to HTML where buttons were captured by image and the behaviour was coded using CSS. That worked. The next step was to covert to Javascript. That continues. The issue was content versus configuration and continues (AIn't notwithstanding - map/territory issues will be discussed) Our focus was content and still is except the AIn't emergence changes things. So, bespoke? We're putting out a new issue of Gardner's Beacon (Vol. XV, No. 1) and will be starting to redo our analysis. We'll report regularly as we go along. As we will stop and discuss choices in the vein of engineering tradeoff analysis. 

Memory - present, past

TL;DR -- The cloud and such? What's the use? Science was an early motivation for the research and engineering. We're at a crossroad, somewhat. So, posts on technology themes will be a regular occurrence. 

---

Technology is the theme as it has given us a universal memory machine, somewhat. That is, computing and its cloud and the related trackers provide a seemingly endless memory. That digital ocean was one of the things used to train GenAI (ChatGPT, &c). Back in 2015, we had a post (Web/cloud presence) that brought up the choice for us all, ought what we do be forgotten? 

At that time, the cloud was 10 years old (we date it from GSA's decision that the US Government could use the emerging resource). We found out the other day, that Microsoft's cloud is used in the work of 85% of the US Departments. What comes to mind? Single point of failure, for one thing. 

Technology brings changes to which we have to adapt. That neverending affair can be a little offsetting. We do have choices in the matter which will be discussed on a regular basis. 

Today, let's look at keeping something that has value. 

The context is Physics and its rewards. The technology is a blog that quit adding new material a few years ago: Lady Science. There were two contributors from 2014 (see Archive - of their Monthly Issue). The first of these was titled "Delivery Room Drama" (17 Oct 2014). The last issue of a post was 8 Oct 2021. On browsing the site, we thought that it's good that this material is still around dealing with the topics of women, history and science. Some of the earlier posts were oriented toward art. One of the writers went back to school to learn the history of science. 

And, the blog got attention. Fortunately, it's archived at the Library of Congress. After a pause to look at our interest, we will discuss how we found this blog. 

---

So, our technology focus will make use of this material. Too, we like to do some comparisons related to time. In 2014 (see posts from that year), we were working in this blog plus our website which was hosted by a site using Linux as the OS. We started with blogger in 2010 which was picked up by Google. Having started our site with Microsoft, we moved when they went to Office365. After researching content vs configuration, we went with custom development. We have blogged about the technical aspects on the necessary choices and will organize a better summary review at some point. As, right now,we're looking at the future of software from several angles. We can all see the edges fraying. How did this happen? Can we recover without too much pain? Lots off questions. 

--- 

Also, we have paid attention to women and science in posts. See post on the daughter (Geertruida de Haas-Lorentz) of Hendrik Lorentz. We discovered her through the experiment of Einstein that she gave to a museum which represented the facility of small experiments. 

Today, in LinkedIn, we saw a post of The Nobel Prize group about the 1912 marriage of (Margrethe Nørland Bohr) of Neils Bohr. She was actively involved in his research and writing, but that work is not mentioned by the group. A comment provided this post: Crafting Quantum Theory: Margrethe Bohr and the Labor of Theoretical Physics. Their son got a Nobel Prize for his work on the nucleus. 

This blog represents several things. It's content will be apropos to the continuing discussions of STEM and its uses. Too, though, the structure of the content and the approach to the subjects are remarkable. As well, we like how it was designed for several reasons. Which of the various subjects to be addressed will be first is unknown. We're bringing the blog to awareness, in general. 

---

Our new project deals with a redux on AI along several fronts which deals with the timely problems that will emerge soon enough. 

Remarks: Modified: 08/05/2024

08/05/2024 --    

KATY - western railroad

TL;DR -- We have spent a lot of time during the COVID period researching the western expansion with respect to New England involvement. It was post the Revolution and the 1812 ordeal that things got going. Jumping to the latter part of the frontier century, we look at a town in KS that had one of the largest railroad yards in the country. There we consider the times and the people with a focus on one family whose origins were New England and England before that. As well, lots of research is pending with a growing stack of requests. 

---

We have been looking at the west of the U.S. which is quite huge and complex. When we mention 'west' we are talking the interior which on the east was bounded by the original colonies' western border (which was a dream, many times, going out to the Rockies or further) and the States of the West Coast. Top to bottom is the view, which would mean the Texas Gulf shore up to the border with Canada. Over the past two years, we have many posts related to this theme dealing with areas all over the place. 

So, as the work continues, we will need to have a map that pinpoints the area with which the content of post deals. Also, the next post will be on technology. The west and technology are two of our recurring themes. In the technology sense, details of configuration, many times, can outweigh content. In the internet age, there is a waffle. Of late? Lots and lots of content is copied. 

Another theme would be generations. We have pointed out that the Revolution (the focus of SAR/DAR) was of the fifth generation with the fourth and sixth there. Or the sixth was born in the latter stages of the long war which was shortly followed by the turmoil of 1812. In any case, things settled so that subsequent generations covered the interior with a seemingly unlimited amount of newcomers came on the scene. 

Parsons, KS 1909
photo of postcard
courtesy of Chris Cruz via
You know you are from Parsons when ...
(private FB group)

Anything different than now?

So, a couple of days ago, we saw a photo that was from 1909 and showed a town in southeastern Kansas. A few things stood out. There were a few horseless carriages, but there were lots of carriages. The road was not paved. The town looked western. We will look at one building in the foreground, but the horizon shows a large building and the railroad track sign (cross). This is the photo which is a bird's eye view of old.  

Let's look at the large building first. It was the train station for KATY Railroad (Missouri-Kansas-Texas). Not long after this photo, the building burned down to be superseded by building that lasted until the 1980s. At this time, Parsons was one of the three largest railroad facilities in the U.S. The other two were Los Angeles, CA and Kansas City, which is a Bi-State affair. In the area where we see the railroad crossing on Main Street, the city put in an underpass. A little later, this street had an electric tram running on rails. 

Of interest, too, is that Parsons had a huge rail yard with facilities for repair. Tools for the railroad are huge affairs. Yet, this work was being done prior to the assists by hydraulics. So, technology? Yes, we do have that as a theme from an integrative sense with looks at historical aspects with respect to demands, or causes, for change as well as the issues related to research, development and maintenance, as well as use. 

As an aside, from Wichita, KS which is west of this area, plane builder, Boeing, shipped fuselages by rail to the west coast. The lonely train out in the huge west is almost an iconic scene. As well as the robberies which are one of the features of a lot of westerns. Some fuselage shipping, later, had to be flown in converted planes due to size. So, we do have a hardware focus; expect to hear about and discuss software, too, especially that which now gets lot of attention.  

We mentioned the size of the railroad building. This little town was a major point of transfer. That is, both of goods and passengers. There was a roundabout which was needed back in those days. One sees such with SFO's trolley system. People used to get off and help turn the little thing. 

KATY lines

Another context? Another part of the theme is people and material movement across this wide expanse. We looked at the (stage) coach traffic from St. Louis, MO to San Francisco, CA and provided details about the trip which dipped down into Texas, went across the southern border, and then back up north from LAX to SFO (using the modern parlance). You see, this little post is a continuing look at technology which we can do using the historical modes of the U.S. Before switching gears, let's look at a map of the KATY which is the heavy line. It carried goods and people from the Gulf coast of TX to St. Louis, MO and Omaha, NB and places in-between. 

This is only one example of rail traffic out west. A couple of years ago, while looking at a family history, we saw that one of Ann's uncles was involved in getting a rail line established between Boston and Salem as well as having a similar focus in FL. This was about the same time as the development of the KATY. BTW, John's family was railroad focused, to boot. 

So, let's look at people a little. In this photo, there is a building that has the name, Holcomb. That caught our eye since it is a collateral family. Was this kin? As we have made a point of marking further research needed to identify individuals, many of whom turn out to be kin (examples below). Turns out that the initials are D. H. Before looking at D. H., let's look at technology's future. 

We see this already with apps and such. But, there will be more structure, at some point, so that we have persistence, consistently, through time. On Wikipedia, most locations will have a section that is titled "Notable people" or "From there" or something or other. In the case of Parsons, several names stood out, as well as Holcomb who is not mentioned. Here are a few.  

• William Coffin Coleman - We called him the American tinkerer earlier. We knew that his family had been in southeast Kansas after being in the South. But, his parents were of NY and were on the border with MA. The name Coffin and Coleman? Brings New England to mind, so we have this on our research stack. 
• George Pepperdine - The University? Yes. But, he also started Western Auto. 
• T. Claude Ryan - Aviation enthusiast and entrepreneur. Built the Spirit of St. Louis. 

Based upon our research, we could do this type of thing for any of the locales in the West of the U.S. We already have started with some (say, Grizzly Adams). Technology will help make this more interesting. How many types of media will we have? 

To lift things, we will use Harvard's 400 years to tell stories of the U.S., to boot. 

Now, back to D. H. Holcomb. He is the ninth generation from an immigrant who was an early settler of Windsor, CT. This family put their book (Our Banyan Tree) on the web. David Holcombe (#23766) was born in Ohio in 1850. The family moved further west to IL. The KS Census of 1925 shows that David and his wife had been born in IL. Also, it has his interests to be Real Estate and Insurance which might indicate that he owned the building that had a grocery. David and his wife are in KS according to the 1900, 1910, and 1920 U.S. Census records. 

His great-grandfather, Dr. Jonathan Holcombe, was a Patriot, a young fifer (WikiTree, SAR which points to DAR). And, his daughter, Jesse Holcomb, grew up in Kansas, went to KU, and more (see her bio at Genealogy Trails). She said that his name was David Hartley Holcomb. 

This is cursory as lots more can be researched and written. It is remarkable that we can rely on advances over the past decade to tell fully aspects of stories. Who needs paper? However, having said that, structure is important. We do not live in chaos, ever. For the TGS, Inc., we want to engage in the full coverage related to us and the U.S. and history and more. At the same time, technology requires continual attention. Various aspects of the need are more recognized than others. 'That work is necessary' is a given. 'What work?' is part of the discussions to be had. 

Detailed map
at KU

Remarks: Modified: 01/05/2023

10/28/2021 -- Added a few links. 

12/18/2021 -- 1884 map of Labette County showing the railroads going through Parsons, KS. Besides the KATY, these were the following; 

• Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railway - predecessor of the next one.  
• St. Louis - San Francisco Railway (FRISCO) - now part of the Burlington Northern Railroad. 
• Parsons and Pacific Railroad. 

04/20/2022 -- Added link to the image at KU. 

04/22/2022 -- Added attribution to the 1909 Postcard: courtesy of Chris Cruz via You know you are from Parsons when ... private FB group 

01/05/2023 -- Added link to KDOT map (PDF) that provides historical notes (see 19th Century details). 

Click for detailed 
map from KDOT

In the building owned by Holcomb, there is a sign for Hubbard & Lott. We can research this further, but they did get a mention in The Publisher's Weekly on 23 Sept 1905. 

12/05/2025 -- Parsons was selected to be the site of a prototype reactor: Nuclear Company Deep Fission Announces Site for Department of Energy Pilot at Great Plains Industrial Park in Kansas.