Mike Tarpey
@tarpey.dev
software engineer. former capital vampire. UConn + UPenn. citizen of Earth. ars longa, vita brevis.
Pinned
Mike Tarpey
@tarpey.dev
· Jun 5
tarpey's blog / This Is Your Brain on Generative AI
The effects of popular generative AI are starting to show via cracks in the fabric of society. Don't let your brain turn to mush.
blog.tarpey.dev
this is your brain on generative AI. i'm out until the industry or government take more responsibility. not holding my breath for either.
blog.tarpey.dev/stop-cooking...
blog.tarpey.dev/stop-cooking...
might be my cue to stop paying for Medium
December 26, 2025 at 9:42 PM
might be my cue to stop paying for Medium
“They sold us connection through screens while eroding face-to-face community, and now they're selling AI companions as the solution to the isolation they helped create.”
www.wired.com/story/expire...
www.wired.com/story/expire...
Tech Disrupted Friendship. It’s Time to Bring It Back
Two decades ago social media promised to connect people with pals far and wide. Twenty years online has left us turning to AI for kinship. IRL companionship is the future.
www.wired.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:58 AM
“They sold us connection through screens while eroding face-to-face community, and now they're selling AI companions as the solution to the isolation they helped create.”
www.wired.com/story/expire...
www.wired.com/story/expire...
tick tock.
December 21, 2025 at 2:27 PM
tick tock.
"Judge suspects this is why engineers often overestimate productivity gains. 'You remember the jackpots. You don’t remember sitting there plugging tokens into the slot machine for two hours,' he says."
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...
AI coding is now everywhere. But not everyone is convinced.
Developers are navigating confusing gaps between expectation and reality. So are the rest of us.
www.technologyreview.com
December 21, 2025 at 3:29 AM
"Judge suspects this is why engineers often overestimate productivity gains. 'You remember the jackpots. You don’t remember sitting there plugging tokens into the slot machine for two hours,' he says."
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...
fortunate enough to have been able to install solar panels this year. couldn't be happier with them. we should be pulling every policy lever we can to get them installed on every solar-viable house in the country.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year: The unstoppable rise of renewable energy
Clean energy infrastructure is being deployed with unmatched scale and speed—and China is leading the way
www.science.org
December 21, 2025 at 12:20 AM
fortunate enough to have been able to install solar panels this year. couldn't be happier with them. we should be pulling every policy lever we can to get them installed on every solar-viable house in the country.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
The atomic ensemble time scale at the NIST Boulder campus has failed.
December 20, 2025 at 10:53 PM
The atomic ensemble time scale at the NIST Boulder campus has failed.
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
On earth 2 a small cadre of academics are using AI in obscure fields like replacing physics-based models of weather with lighter weight and more effective transformer-based ones but, unfortunately, we live on earth 1 where AI hype is coming for the most vulnerable workers + polluting the internet
December 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
On earth 2 a small cadre of academics are using AI in obscure fields like replacing physics-based models of weather with lighter weight and more effective transformer-based ones but, unfortunately, we live on earth 1 where AI hype is coming for the most vulnerable workers + polluting the internet
exactly — this is the part I’ve been stuck on. a huge reason why I’m a dev is to design and write the damn thing. if a bunch of AI-first execs wanna take that away then I’ll just go elsewhere. (again.)
also designing and writing code is the fun part. make an AI that goes chasing down half a dozen stakeholders and gets them to agree on requirements or something.
December 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
exactly — this is the part I’ve been stuck on. a huge reason why I’m a dev is to design and write the damn thing. if a bunch of AI-first execs wanna take that away then I’ll just go elsewhere. (again.)
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
But ultimately, I think this is all because we ignored the lessons of 2008. That shock still rattles through our economy and politics to this day, and we never addressed the core problems that revealed, and instead we fired a decade of cheap debt at the problem. www.jezebel.com/consumer-sen...
Economic Sentiment Collapses to All-Time Lows, Why?
Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.
www.jezebel.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:52 PM
But ultimately, I think this is all because we ignored the lessons of 2008. That shock still rattles through our economy and politics to this day, and we never addressed the core problems that revealed, and instead we fired a decade of cheap debt at the problem. www.jezebel.com/consumer-sen...
“When every conventional path narrows, people start to look for alternatives. And in practice, that has meant turning toward the few places where a real upside still appears possible, even if the risks are high.”
December 19, 2025 at 9:48 PM
“When every conventional path narrows, people start to look for alternatives. And in practice, that has meant turning toward the few places where a real upside still appears possible, even if the risks are high.”
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
I think the fundamental gap here is that non-creative people think that creative people make things for the end product, when in fact it’s the act of creation and not the end point that makes it worthwhile.
I have grown to believe that excessive wealth does something to your brain that is analogous to a serious head injury
December 15, 2025 at 6:26 AM
I think the fundamental gap here is that non-creative people think that creative people make things for the end product, when in fact it’s the act of creation and not the end point that makes it worthwhile.
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
On the one hand, AI will destroy what we have left of nature. On the other hand, it will also destroy what we have left of culture.
December 17, 2025 at 4:41 PM
On the one hand, AI will destroy what we have left of nature. On the other hand, it will also destroy what we have left of culture.
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
PSA: Our roadmap for 2026:
December 16, 2025 at 10:22 AM
PSA: Our roadmap for 2026:
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
Trump Announces 5,000% Increase In All Numbers
Trump Announces 5,000% Increase In All Numbers
WASHINGTON—Touting his latest executive order as a historic win for the U.S. economy, President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was mandating a 5,000% increase in all numbers nationwide. “Effect...
theonion.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Trump Announces 5,000% Increase In All Numbers
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
AI has actively made life worse for literally everyone
- tech is now more expensive
- you cannot trust most media of reality anymore
- programs barely function
- energy prices
- literal psychosis
- your voice can be literally stolen for evil
- more spyware
but hey, you can avoid paying an artist.
- tech is now more expensive
- you cannot trust most media of reality anymore
- programs barely function
- energy prices
- literal psychosis
- your voice can be literally stolen for evil
- more spyware
but hey, you can avoid paying an artist.
December 14, 2025 at 4:19 AM
AI has actively made life worse for literally everyone
- tech is now more expensive
- you cannot trust most media of reality anymore
- programs barely function
- energy prices
- literal psychosis
- your voice can be literally stolen for evil
- more spyware
but hey, you can avoid paying an artist.
- tech is now more expensive
- you cannot trust most media of reality anymore
- programs barely function
- energy prices
- literal psychosis
- your voice can be literally stolen for evil
- more spyware
but hey, you can avoid paying an artist.
my personal favorite part of the game. i still remember me and Dad trying out Dragon NaturallySpeaking on his PC back in the late 90s. a quarter century later, Siri still makes an inexcusable number of mistakes in voice texts with friends. not sure what we're doing anymore.
December 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
my personal favorite part of the game. i still remember me and Dad trying out Dragon NaturallySpeaking on his PC back in the late 90s. a quarter century later, Siri still makes an inexcusable number of mistakes in voice texts with friends. not sure what we're doing anymore.
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
the people of this great republic yearn for locomotive transport
Amtrak reports Mardi Gras service among most successful ever https://mynbc15.com/news/local/amtrak-provides-boost-to-mobile-businesses
Amtrak's Mardi Gras service boosts Mobile tourism with higher than expected ridership
Amtrak says the new Mardi Gras service that connects Mobile to New Orleans is one of the most successful services ever launched and it's on track to double the
mynbc15.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:44 PM
the people of this great republic yearn for locomotive transport
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
Hear. Feel. Think. Cope. Seethe. Mald.
December 12, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Hear. Feel. Think. Cope. Seethe. Mald.
muppets humor until I die. pure wit.
December 12, 2025 at 3:43 AM
muppets humor until I die. pure wit.
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
Duke, which lost to UConn (like every team that reached a result with UConn in 60 minutes did) won the ACC.
PUT UCONN IN THE PLAYOFF
PUT UCONN IN THE PLAYOFF
December 7, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Duke, which lost to UConn (like every team that reached a result with UConn in 60 minutes did) won the ACC.
PUT UCONN IN THE PLAYOFF
PUT UCONN IN THE PLAYOFF
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"
December 2, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"
Reposted by Mike Tarpey
What if technology didn’t feel so… hollow?
Some friends and I just released a manifesto about a world where tech leaves us feeling nourished (along with an evolving list of theses about how we can build it)
resonantcomputing.org
Some friends and I just released a manifesto about a world where tech leaves us feeling nourished (along with an evolving list of theses about how we can build it)
resonantcomputing.org
The Resonant Computing Manifesto
Technology should bring out the best in humanity, not the worst—a manifesto for resonant computing built on five principles that reject hyper-scale extraction for human flourishing.
resonantcomputing.org
December 5, 2025 at 4:03 PM
What if technology didn’t feel so… hollow?
Some friends and I just released a manifesto about a world where tech leaves us feeling nourished (along with an evolving list of theses about how we can build it)
resonantcomputing.org
Some friends and I just released a manifesto about a world where tech leaves us feeling nourished (along with an evolving list of theses about how we can build it)
resonantcomputing.org