Topical Writing

Writing Artificial IntelligenceTechnosociology

¡AI Caramba!: A Milestone Passed: Brief Thoughts On AI’s Increasingly Convincing Simulation of Humanness

Oct. 11, 2024

Those who've spoken to me about it know that I, through much firsthand experience, call myself "a huge AI enthusiast and skeptic". Generative AI is an amazing technology that has personally benefitted me in ways that were strictly science fiction just a few years ago—but, lot of unmerited claims are made, and a lot of trust put in it that isn't really justified by the technology.

But then there's yesterday's article in Ars Technica.

As a technologist, there are times I remember seeing news articles that seemed to me to really show we've passed a technological benchmark, just things I noticed were the first time I saw things take a new step. This article was that.

The background is this: Google has a new AI called NotebookLM that, when fed material, generates a simulated audio podcast of two very stereotypical podcasters discussing it. I…

By Mike Kupietz First published December 13, 2025Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=32093 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Mikesplaining (Answers to Infrequently Asked Questions)

Writing LanguageMikesplaining

Infrequently Asked Questions: Can the statement ‘I literally died laughing’ be true?

"'Literally' is one of the most misused words in the English language. Literally means: exactly as stated. 'I literally rode a horse to get here.' means you saddled a horse and rode it to your destination in real life. 'I literally died laughing' is untrue, because you're still alive." —Siana W., via internet

That's not a question, but I'm going to do my best to answer it anyway.

You're a couple of years behind the times. Dictionaries reflect common language, not the other way around—that's how the meanings of words change over time.

Otherwise "nice" would still have its original English meaning of "foolish or ignorant" (from Latin "Nescire", to be ignorant, also the root of the current but uncommon English word nescience, "ignorance or unknowingness".)

You're in good company, though—Jane Austen mocked the widespread incorrect use of 'nice' to describe things as pleasant in "Northanger…

By Mike Kupietz First published July 28, 2025Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=30158 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing CybersecurityITMikesplaining

Security Through Obscurity: Using Per-Website Emails & Passwords to Protect Against Data Breaches

I got into a conversation today with some web developers, talking about recent articles about a major password breach.

This got me to thinking—with some prompting from shadowy web standards advocate and staunch info-sharing supporter Tantek Çelik—that this would be useful to document.

Unique email addresses and passwords for every website

The basic idea is this: every single website signup gets a unique email address and unique password. This way, if a website is breached and the passwords are leaked, no other accounts are compromised, just that website's.

The trick is to do it in a way that I can remember, or easily derive the usernames and passwords per site, so I don't have to rely on a pain-in-the-posterior password manager, and can log in from anywhere easily.

Obviously I'm not going to give away details of how I specifically do things, but I can…

By Mike Kupietz First published July 2, 2025Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=29863 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing MikesplainingCurrent EventsEconomics

Opinion: How the Section 174 Tax Code Changes Caused a White-Collar Job Crash

Note, Sep. 2024: I want to point something out: I’ve given few references here besides a couple of Google search results I happen to like. This page gives my current understanding. I’m still researching it, and you should research it yourself, don’t take my word as gospel truth. But this is how I understand it right now.

Googling section 174 layoffs will point you to a lot of information.

I’m also going to add some links at the bottom to interesting references to the issue, as I come across them. —Mike

IMPORTANT UPDATE, July 3, 2025: Pending signing of the new tax bill tomorrow, it appears the below information may finally be obsolete. The tax bill passed by Congress today quietly included a provision permanently repealing the below-discussed Section 174 changes. See https://abgi-usa.com/section174/latest-and-greatest

UPDATE 2, July 16, 2025: If…

By Mike Kupietz First published December 30, 2024Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=10189 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Reviews & Criticism

Writing Music Reviews

You Are Hear: Music Reviews

As of this writing (March 2024) this is pretty sparse, I only just had the idea. Generally I've never written much about music—I don't need to, because music is just one of those things I retain like a steel trap; it's all carved in stone upstairs, so I don't have to spend time putting it down on paper.

But, I was thinking, I do like a lot of obscure and unjustly overlooked albums, as well as having some unpopular (and therefore inescapably superior) opinions on popular music, so I thought it would be fun to make a list. This will certainly grow over time.

By Mike Kupietz First published March 16, 2024Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=8650 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Mikesplaining (Answers to Infrequently Asked Questions)

Writing MikesplainingWork

Infrequently Asked Questions: What’s the best day of the week to take off if you work a four day, 10-hours-a-day work week?

What’s the best day of the week to take off if you work a four day, 10-hours-a-day work week? -Jeannie F, Marin County, CA

Thursday. Trust me, being self-employed I’ve done a lot of experimenting.

The ideal 3-day workweek is easy: that’s MWTh — Monday, Wednesday, Thursday. It makes Monday easier, because you know you have the next day off. You arrive Wednesday feeling like it’s Monday, except tomorrow is Thursday, which is Friday for you! Then, every week, you get a three day weekend to cap it off! It’s ideal, and I recommend the MWTh work schedule for everybody.

Working a 4-day workweek, especially 4 10-hour days, is more complicated. The entire dynamic changes. The ideal 4-day workweek is MTWF. The best day to take off is Thursday.

You have to think in terms of psychology: three 10 hour workdays in a row is easy to handle, it just…

By Mike Kupietz First published January 7, 2024Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=7041 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Mikesplaining (Answers to Infrequently Asked Questions)

Writing Comedy & SocietyMikesplaining

Infrequently Asked Questions: Why do people respect George Carlin?

I have a serious question, and, dead serious, I’m not deliberately trying to provoke.  Why do people respect George Carlin? -Brett F., Alberta

Carlin was the observational comic who set the mold for so many of today’s comics. Like this: “Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy. ” or “In America, anyone can become president. That’s the problem.” Not the absolutely most brilliant observations ever, nor the funniest. But enough of each for people to really appreciate it. His funny cynical twist was pretty ingenious at times.

“Don Ho can sign autographs 3.4 times faster than Efrem Zimbalist Jr.” In a post-Seinfeld world, this kind of off-kilter observation, which you have to think about for a second to get, doesn’t seem as hilarious as it did when nobody had heard anything like it before. And he summed…

By Mike Kupietz First published January 7, 2024Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=7038 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Mikesplaining (Answers to Infrequently Asked Questions)

Writing MikesplainingMusic Theory

Infrequently Asked Questions: Why are musical notes an octave apart considered to be the same note?

Q. Why are musical notes an octave apart considered to be the same note? -Charlotte V., Seattle, WA

Notes an octave apart are the same note because of the mechanics of vibration. Consider a piano string that is hit by a hammer and vibrates 1000 vibrations per second. So in 1/1000th of a second, it does this: Starts at center, then is hit by hammer. Snaps upwards. Hits the upper limit of its vibration, when the tension pulls it back towards the center. Crosses the center but keeps moving because of the momentum. Hits the downward limit of its vibration. Snaps back towards the center. Crosses the center on its way upward again, completing one cycle.

The precise timing of this motion is:
0 Seconds - position center - hit by hammer
1/4000 of a second: hits upper limit of motion
2/4000 of a second: crosses center…

By Mike Kupietz First published January 7, 2024Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=7024 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Mikesplaining (Answers to Infrequently Asked Questions)

Do the odds of winning the lottery change if more people play? Is flipping tails more likely after four heads in a row?

Writing MikesplainingProbability & Statistics

Infrequently Asked Questions: Do the odds of winning the lottery change if more people play? Is flipping tails more likely after four heads in a row?

A.) Do the odds of winning the lottery change if more people play?

B.) What if 5 people each flipped a coin. If the first four all land on heads, the odds of the fifth coming up heads also is much lower, isn't it?

Answers:

A.) Do the odds of winning the lottery change if more people play?

OK. For starters, let's call the lottery what it is: it's a gamble.

For purposes of illustration, we'll consider another gamble: a coin toss.

Before we look at the question of more people betting changing the odds of winning, think about this: if you flip a coin a certain number of times, there's only a certain number of possible outcomes. For instance, if you have three flips, they can come out 8 different ways:

1.) Heads, Heads, Heads
2.) Heads, Heads, Tails
3.) Heads,…

By Mike Kupietz First published January 7, 2024Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=7013 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Reviews & Criticism

Writing Music Review

I Like To Listen: “Peaks Island Ferry” by Dan Sonenberg — album review

Finally giving a listen to the prerelease of old friend Dan Sonenberg’s return to solo singer-songwriting, "Peaks Island Ferry". Rather than set down & give him feedback after it’s over, I’m gonna liveblog it here.

(For those who wade through all the below and/or are curious to hear the album, it's at https://dansonenberg.bandcamp.com/releases.)

Track 1: "Turn it over" Given that the baseline quality of even the bottom rung of Dan’s songs is somewhere north of "totally listenable", I’d say this is middle of the road for him, a solid B or B+. Not particularly adventurous in terms of songwriting, and slightly familiar to anyone who knows his influences, but literate and full of enough unique and vivid imagery to stand out from the pack. It also continues Dan's lifelong trajectory of finding ways to sneak weirder and weirder musical flourishes into conventional-on-the-surface songs in ways that…

By Mike Kupietz First published November 1, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=9294 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing Artificial IntelligenceTechnosociology

Hey, You Got Your Social Awareness In My AI!: About Sexism In The AI Images On This Site

A number of the AI-generated images on this site contain artistic depictions of nudity, presented in a way that might seem to reasonably suggest some confusion between real artistic or aesthetic value, and what gives some people, perhaps including myself, some level of simple va-va-va-voom visual jollies.

Put simply: there's a lot of images of naked, topless, or scantily-dressed women in some of the image galleries here, but not so many men. Almost none, in fact.

Although it's in several galleries, this is most evident in, say, "Previsions of Johanna", where the many female figures, and only the female figures, all came out either nude, topless, or wearing a low-cut dress, while the male figures are always fully clothed from neck to wrists and ankles. In fact, the lone arguably male figure in that entire set that is wearing a loose tank top, rather than some kind…

By Mike Kupietz First published October 20, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=6322 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing MediaPropagandaManipulationPersuasion

Watch Your Intelligence: Critical Reading of a Flawed Information Source

Oct. 7, 2023

I had an interesting talk with my father yesterday. He had a 2-for-1 subscription offer to Mother Jones, and we got into a discussion when I told him I didn't like that magazine. Since then, I've been doing some thinking about how I pick my news sources, something I do very carefully, but have never thought about trying to explain. What I told him was, essentially, that Mother Jones is too biased, I don't feel like I can trust them to give the sides of a story that may not agree with their basic worldview, and I wind up feeling like have to do my own research into anything they say to verify I'm getting something like an accurate picture, and it takes a lot of time that I could be spending just reading better commentary.

Unlike a lot of people, I'm not terribly partisan about my…

By Mike Kupietz First published October 20, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=6198 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing Health & WelfareLife In A Mikeycosm

Health & Lifestyle: How I Deal With Insomnia

I'm going to flesh this out at some point, but it was lost in a pile of old notes and I wanted it up on the site as a reminder, because it's a conversation I've had a number of times in my life.

I've always been an insomniac. When I was younger, I'd often get to bed at a reasonable hour, only to very frequently wake up three hours later and not be able to get back to sleep. In college I'd often get up in the not-so-small hours and go for walks in the woods and watch the sun come up, then grab a few more hours of sleep.

As an adult, it's been more an issue of never getting to sleep... the brain just never slows down, and suddenly, the sun is up. (See "Day Nights".) The problem then becomes, either I sleep through the…

By Mike Kupietz First published September 24, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=5709 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing MikesplainingMusic Theory

Infrequently Asked Questions: A Young Person’s Guide To Common Time Signatures, and what they mean in real life

I have some time to kill so I thought I would write a brief overview of the concept of time signature in response to some questions that arose recently from non-musicians.

Just a word, this post was originally submitted to a long-ago fan club email list for an older musician, hence many uses of music from the '60s and '70s as examples, most especially The Beatles, who often kept things both simple enough to be clear, but interesting enough to be useful and well-known examples. That's just how it is.

PART 1: A Young Person's Guide To Common Time Signatures, and what they mean in real life

Ok. When you listen to a song, it has a beat. This is what you tap your feet to, or maybe drum your fingers on a desk.

The most common beat in rock and roll might be written something like this. "boom-boom-BOMP-bum, boom-boom-BOMP-bum,…

By Mike Kupietz First published September 24, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=5704 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Mikesplaining (Answers to Infrequently Asked Questions)

Writing Mikesplaining

Knowledg Is Poweh: IAQs—More Answers to Infrequently Asked Questions

1. What's the difference between a sauce and a condiment? - Susan W., Tallahassee, FL

A condiment enhances the flavor of food and is used sparingly. A sauce adds an additional flavor or richness of its own to the dish, and may be used generously.

2. Is there a name for that special credit where at the end of a bunch of TV or movie credits you get one that's like "and WILLIAM P. DINWIDDIE as LORD HALFANDHALF?" - Jim S., San Francisco, CA

I'm glad you asked that, Jim. Frequently as part of the negotiations involved in taking a part in a TV show or movie, an agent will include a stipulation that the actor gets a certain special credit in the opening credits or, in the case of a movie, on the poster. They may strike a deal for a…

By Mike Kupietz First published September 24, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=5689 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing Misc. Thoughts & Brainspill

Marginal Thinking Dept.: You Can Quote Me On That (Other Assorted Short Topical Writings)

function toggleAll() {document.body.querySelectorAll('details').forEach((e) => {(e.hasAttribute('open'))?e.removeAttribute('open'):e.setAttribute('open' ,true);});}Toggle all open/closed

By Mike Kupietz First published September 13, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=4348 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing OpinionsPop Culture Iconoclasm

Whom Rods Destroy: Speak To Me Not Of Picard, Nor Janeway — An Irascible Screed On Star Trek Fandom Fundamentals

Look; I'm a Star Trek fan. Don't talk to me about "Picard" or "Janeway" or "Archer" or whoever. Even the movies barely qualify as "Star Trek", and they have the original cast. I'm not talking about some chick flick where they spend more time talking about feelings than getting into swashbuckling adventures with fearsome aliens on what was supposed to be a routine planetary survey of Gamma Hydra II***. I saw an entire episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" where Picard lives a whole secondary life in which he did nothing but drink cosmopolitans and gossip with Charlotte and Miranda. I bet he's never even once been trapped in a cavern lit by creepy red and purple klieg lights and cloned against his will by a scientist who sacrificed his essential humanity when he transferred his mind into an eternal, physically perfect android body. So why would I want…

By Mike Kupietz First published September 11, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=4155 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Reviews & Criticism

Writing ReviewsOpinions

Review Compendium: Fragrance Reviews

Unbeknownst to anybody except Dan Sonenberg—in fact, practically unbeknownst to even myself—I occasionally write fragrance reviews. These are those. Some people enjoy them.

Those of you with the nose can find me on Fragrantica.

function toggleAll() {document.body.querySelectorAll('details').forEach((e) => {(e.hasAttribute('open'))?e.removeAttribute('open'):e.setAttribute('open',true);});}

Toggle all reviews open/closed

By Mike Kupietz First published August 31, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=3528 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing » Reviews & Criticism

Literally <strike>Hundreds of</strike> Like A Thousand Capsule Movie Reviews

Writing Movie Reviews

Review Compendium: Literally Hundreds of Like A Thousand Capsule Movie Reviews

If you don't want to read the introduction you can skip straight down to the reviews.

Introduction

A number of years ago I started jotting down summaries of movies I've watched, just to keep track of what I'd seen. As the years went by, the list grew, and occasionally (but not often) I was moved to write more, until finally I wound up with hundreds of them, mostly very short summaries but occasionally a little more in-depth for movies I particularly liked or loathed. There's a brief section of favorites and honorable mentions, then below that they're indexed by movie title, click a letter to see the titles starting with that letter.

By the way: this list is extremely heavy, although not exclusive, with horror and science fiction films, because that's what I watch most.

A word about my terminology

As I wrote these reviews just for myself, I…

By Mike Kupietz First published August 12, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=1956 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

Writing » Topical Writing

Writing PoliticsAxe-Grinding

Ideology In Brief: “Are you free?”, and Other Ideological Musings

Let's talk about sex! No, wait, let's talk about something even more taboo!

These are some samples of political, ideological, or economic thoughts I've jotted down. I don't consider myself an authority on these things, for sure, I just like to think things through, and as I like to say, for me these kinds of writings are intended to open a conversation, not to be the final word.

By Mike Kupietz First published August 4, 2023Writing| Permanent URL: https://michaelkupietz.com?p=769 | Share this | Embed link | Webmentions are: on

MICHAEL KUPIETZ| ARTS+CODE

Creative Productions, Arrangements, and Operations • Art, Technology, and Amusements

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Latest "Topical Writing" files

¡AI Caramba!: A Milestone Passed: Brief Thoughts On AI’s Increasingly Convincing Simulation of Humanness

Infrequently Asked Questions: Can the statement ‘I literally died laughing’ be true?

Security Through Obscurity: Using Per-Website Emails & Passwords to Protect Against Data Breaches

Opinion: How the Section 174 Tax Code Changes Caused a White-Collar Job Crash

You Are Hear: Music Reviews

Infrequently Asked Questions: What’s the best day of the week to take off if you work a four day, 10-hours-a-day work week?

Infrequently Asked Questions: Why do people respect George Carlin?

Infrequently Asked Questions: Why are musical notes an octave apart considered to be the same note?

Infrequently Asked Questions: Do the odds of winning the lottery change if more people play? Is flipping tails more likely after four heads in a row?

I Like To Listen: “Peaks Island Ferry” by Dan Sonenberg — album review

Hey, You Got Your Social Awareness In My AI!: About Sexism In The AI Images On This Site

Watch Your Intelligence: Critical Reading of a Flawed Information Source

Health & Lifestyle: How I Deal With Insomnia

Infrequently Asked Questions: A Young Person’s Guide To Common Time Signatures, and what they mean in real life

Knowledg Is Poweh: IAQs—More Answers to Infrequently Asked Questions

Marginal Thinking Dept.: You Can Quote Me On That (Other Assorted Short Topical Writings)

Whom Rods Destroy: Speak To Me Not Of Picard, Nor Janeway — An Irascible Screed On Star Trek Fandom Fundamentals

Review Compendium: Fragrance Reviews

Review Compendium: Literally Hundreds of Like A Thousand Capsule Movie Reviews

Ideology In Brief: “Are you free?”, and Other Ideological Musings

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