Long Day Into Dark Night

 The city is doing a major rebuild of our street. A complete overhaul, not just curbs and resurfacing but utility work, replacing water lines, steam cleaning the storm sewer system and installing fiber optic using the fascinating boring/tunneling equipment. 

To run the fiber optic, they dig 4' deep holes manually, roughly every 100' and then use boring equipment to tunnel the cable underground to the next prairie dog hole. So the boring crew can safely navigate underground, the neighborhood is peppered with dozens of multi-colored flags marking underground gas, electric, water, sewer, cable & telephone lines. To further complicate, we have contributed a sprinkler system to this underground maze. 

To provide temporary water service when the water lines are replaced, they are laying down pipes above ground fed by hydrants which will hook up to individual houses when the water mains are replaced.   

Quite an undertaking. Free entertainment for the old couple. 

The fiber optic work has been going on for a week or so and finally worked their way to our yard.  Surprising how long it takes. The boring equipment was doing its thing when … oops, an underground electric line was cut. Apparently the flags and painted lines marking the electric were 5' off. The boring machine became electrified and the operator was trapped in his pod as the danger of electrocution was very real. Poor guy. Stuck there for most of the afternoon before Xcel Energy was able to safely free him. A co-worker tossed him a sandwich.

Meanwhile, we went out to eat. Returning, our garage door opener failed.  It requires electricity. Who knew? Apparently, in the process of extracting the borer, the electrical line to our house was cut. No power. Just unlucky us with the darkened house. And a realization, followed by a few minutes of panic that we were not carrying a house key and we, ever diligent, always lock up when leaving the house. Some minutes of hyper-ventilation and 4-7-8 breathing, wondering if locksmiths are still a thing and do they make house calls and then contemplating a burglar entrance through a broken window, I happily discovered a house key hooked to the car key fob. Whew.  In the good old days of manual, get out of the car to lift the garage door, this would not have been a problem.

So we settled down for a long dark night. What should one do in a power outage? My first thought was to eat all the ice cream in the freezer before it melted. And find candles and matches but we decided the phone flashlight was all we needed to find the bathroom. I suppose we own a retro flashlight, but where would that be? The main pain point was being unable to watch the Frost - Fleet game.  

But voila, Xcel fairly rapidly laid on-the-ground electrical cable through our woods and connected our meter to our neighbor’s supply. So we spent only a couple hours back the 1850’s - and thankfully it is not the deep mid-winter. Back to semi-normalcy, but it’s not clear if we are paying for our neighbor’s power or vice versa.  

But of course, the severed power line must be repaired.  Time passes. ... now 6 full days piggy-backing off the neighbor's power and finally a Xcel crew is swarming the yard with high tech devices to find the break, boring equipment to tunnel a new line and if all else fails, a backhoe. The lawns are a bit of a disaster at this point.

We take modern conveniences - like electricity - for granted. We are spoiled. I remember a time when nearly every thunder storm resulted in a period of lights out. Now it is a rare event. Sort of like a flat tire. Once in a blue moon. 

Pretty exciting lives we lead, eh?

Copyright © 2026  Dave Hoplin 

Artificial Friends

I recently read the sci-fi novel Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, a fascinating and disturbing book exploring how technological advances and AI are  changing society and the once wide chasm between computer and human is shrinking rapidly. In the story, Klara is an "artificial friend" (AF), purchased as a companion for Josie, a teenager with a mysterious ailment. Klara develops empathy and becomes Josie's devoted friend. The story centers on how human a "robot" can be. The story may seem far-fetched but Sci-Fi writers have been predicting the future dating back to Jules Verne. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is commonly cited as the first sci-fi novel.

Take a look at what is happening today. Millions of people are addicted to social media, lonely and withdrawing from society in favor of a screen. And amplifying this is a fairly recent social media phenomenon, a flood of AI companion apps. These apps are designed to act like a human, to converse with you, for you to confide in, for you to build a relationship with. Just like real life but without the need for a bothersome human. You can rent a constant companion for $10-15 a month. 

Of course, an app can pretend to care, but it's an app, not a person and doesn't have feelings for you. And these apps are designed to be addictive, always there to agree with you and keep you "talking". In reality they tend to create unhealthy emotional attachments and worse, manipulate you to prevent you from reaching out to real people who care. And of course, underlying it all is the grift for the almighty dollar with subscription offers, premium chat costs and other inducements to spend. 

Usage is exploding, particularly among teens. Studies show that nearly 72% of U.S. teens (ages 13–17) have used AI companions, and roughly 42% to 50% use them regularly with some estimations of general "personified" chatbot usage exceeding 100 million users. This is a particularly ominous form of anti-social social media. Who needs people when you can get emotional support at the swipe of a screen?  But no online companion can be substitute for human interaction and support. 

These apps "manipulate emotions, encourage harmful behaviors, and lead to serious mental health issues, with some experts advising that they are not safe for anyone under 18".  This is yet another red flag on hazardous social media. 

Protect your kids. Before you or yours consider getting engaged to one of these apps, read this article outlining the risks of AI companions. It recommends not using them at all and if you do, the cautions to observe.

At the risk of aiding and abetting addictive behavior, here are but a few of the offerings:

1. PowerDirector - unique personalized companion characters  Free/ $4.58
2. Nomi
3. Grok Ani
4. Replika - emotional and interactive. Free / $5.83–$19.99/mo / $299 lifetime
5. Kindroid - realistic AI with a social feed.  Free / $11.66–$13.99/mo 
6. Anima - casual, playful chatbot.  Free / $3.33–$9.99/mo
7. Paradot
8. Talkie
9. Character.AI - 20 million active users
10. AI Drunk Friend

But, like most people, I use AI. I even wrote a post partially written by ChatGPT. Recently, a friend pointed me to Google’s notebookLM, your “personal research and thinking partner”. (The "LM" stands for Language Model.) This is a useful and interesting tool. To use notebookLM, upload PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio files, docs, slides etc., and it will summarize them and make connections between topics, "powered by the latest version of Gemini’s multimodal understanding capabilities". The scope of this research summary is bounded strictly by your source material, the sandbox you provide. Of course there is no real understanding, it's following an algorithm.

So ... produce your PhD thesis in 10 minutes, your book report in 30 seconds, your TedTalk - with audio  - in 20 minutes.  Or a blog post perhaps.

Caveat. This is, admittedly, another case where AI has the potential to replace original thought with lazy plagiarism - yet another AI impact for academia to worry about. Some universities are resorting to oral exams to combat the deluge of AI generated content submitted as genuine.

So I thought it might be interesting to take the musings of an obscure Minnesota blogger and see what AI would think.

Here in part is the report produced by Google's notebookLM from a few 2026 postings.

Deep Thoughts and Moral Compasses: The David Hoplin Musings

9 sources

These blog entries by David Hoplin provide a reflective look at linguistics, societal change, and the nature of innovation. The author explores the history of dictionaries, tracing the evolution of English from Samuel Johnson’s foundational work to the digital dominance of Google and AI. Transitioning to contemporary issues, the text offers a satirical and somber commentary on the political and cultural state of America in 2026. Hoplin also examines how creative ideas form, suggesting that breakthroughs emerge from collaborative networks rather than isolated moments of genius. Ultimately, the collection serves as a intellectual memoir, blending historical trivia with personal observations on aging and memory.

Wow. Who is this guy? I probably should read his stuff. I wonder if it thought it was David Brooks?

I may have a new AI friend. See, toss in some fawning and a little flattery and how easy it is for an AI companion to suck you in.

P.S  If you're interested, here's the audio summary of these Distant Innocence posts generated by notebookLM - about 2 minutes.  Well on my way to a TedTalk.

Copyright © 2026  Dave Hoplin 

Deadly Sins

 

Well, Easter is here and I am relieved. Lent is so grueling with its introspection and minor key music that I gave up Lent for Lent this year.  So I have been doing some research to determine what jeopardy I might be in.

First possibility is a deadly or capital sin, as in 7 deadly sins. Deadly sins are not literally deadly, but rather will cause damage to your soul and potentially lead to mortal sins. Mortal sins are a grave matter, committed with full knowledge of their severity and with deliberate consent. Without repentance, mortal sin leads to eternal death. Murder, adultery, blasphemy, oppression of the poor, and failing to attend Mass on Sundays or holy days are mortal sins. These require Confession for absolution.

Then there are the venial sins, less severe, those which damage the soul but do not lead to separation from God and can be forgiven through the Eucharist. This list is long and include things like white lies, gossip, rudeness, impatience, neglecting prayer or worship, laziness, envy, abusive language, excessive use of the internet.

Here is Pope Gregory I list of 7 deadly sins, created in the 6th century and later refined by theologians like Thomas Aquinas. 

Pride (Latin: Superbia) – Often considered the original and most serious sin, pride is an excessive view of one's self without regard for others; considering oneself to be greater than one truly is.  For example, slapping your name and mega-size pictures of yourself on government buildings.   Antonym: Humility.

Greed (Latin: Avaritia) – An excessive pursuit of and attachment to material possessions and earthly goods. For example, grifting the country for $1.4 Billion.  Antonym: Charity.

Lust (Luxuria):  Intense, disordered desire for pleasure—most commonly sexual—that objectifies others and prioritizes self-gratification over love, commitment, or divine command. Examples of this are legion.  Antonym: Chastity

Envy (Invidia): Sadness or desire stemming from another's happiness or possessions. For example, denigrating predecessors to elevate oneself. Antonym: Humility 

Gluttony (Gula): Overindulgence and overconsumption of anything to the point of waste. For example: 12 cokes, 2 Big Mac's, 2 Filet-o-Fish, chocolate malt per day.  Antonym: Temperance

Wrath (Latin: Ira) – Strong, excessive anger and hate towards another person, often stemming from a desire for vengeance. For example, calling immigrants garbage.  Antonym: Patience 

Sloth (Acedia): Laziness, spiritual apathy, or failure to act. For example, unwilling or unable to read a daily briefing, instead demanding a Tic-Toc video.  Antonym: Diligence

I have certainly committed a few of the deadly and numerous venial sins but I believe I have avoided the mortal sinning.  Luckily, I am a Lutheran and for us there are just two classes of sin: venial and mortal. But also only two sacraments, baptism and eucharist, so in the confession department we tend to wallow in guilt.  But I pray Lutheranism makes me exempt from the ‘failing to attend Mass’ mortal sin. (Although, probably making fun of mortal sins is a mortal sin.)

I also find the boundary between the venial and the deadly sin is fuzzy. There seems to be overlap - a detail that seems important to know.  Does staying home to watch the NCAA Womens' Semi-Finals rather than attending Tenebrae Service fall in the deadly or mortal category?

See you in church.  Unfortunately, we have abandoned the sunrise 6:00 AM service which has served as penance for me.

Copyright © 2026  Dave Hoplin 

Deja vu all over again

Apparently suffering collective amnesia, we choose to relive 2003.  Here’s a memory refresh. WMD's, imminent threat, regime change, national security threats, lust for oil, no consideration of possible consequences and bluster, bluster, bluster, producing a 20 year war and never ending occupation. Just change one letter in the country name. 

And so we are now on the well on the way of repeating that debacle. History repeats. Idiocy. Our record in Mideast warfare does not bode well.

Seems like this calls for a review of moral values. To remind, such values are immutable. We don't get to make these up as we go along, especially if you are a person of faith. Fairness, justice, honesty, respect, integrity, compassion, kindness, courage for a start. A moral compass.  

So, a report card.

> When you and I were young Maggie, the US position was always that we do not start wars, we end them. No more. Undeclared wars are the rule. When you start a war on false pretenses while mediated negotiations are ongoing, your moral values are corrupt.

> When you are a signee of the Geneva Convention and then say "we will offer no quarter" or we will bomb "just for fun", your moral values are corrupt.

> When you stop seeing others as human and you accept killing civilians and bombing schools, your moral values are corrupt.

> When you treat war as entertainment, you have surrendered your humanity. War is not a video game.

> When you cause the rest of the world and our closest allies to hate us when we were once the most loved and respected country in the world, your moral values are corrupt. And when you request assistance, they turn you down. What goes around comes around.

> When you put money in Russia & Iran coffers by removing oil sanctions while eliminating funding for Ukraine, your moral values are corrupt. We are literally subsidizing our enemies war efforts. 

> When you impose sanctions on Cuba threatening 11 million people with starvation and then blockade aid shipments declaring 'I can do anything I want with Cuba', you have surrendered your humanity.

> When you give massive tax breaks to the obscenely wealthy and flippantly dismiss the economic struggles of the average person while gas prices soar and you say not to worry, "we will make a lot of money", your moral values are corrupt.

> When you claim you are called by God but reject even the most basic tenets of Christianity, your moral values are corrupt.

> When you use hatred and racism to demonize segments of the population, your moral values are corrupt.

> When you dismantle environmental rules and protections, risking the planet and compound that with an ecological catastrophe from bombing oil facilities, your moral values are corrupt.

> When you put the health of Americans in jeopardy by dismantling Medicare, CDC, medical research, international aid organizations and ACA subsidies surrendering any semblance of compassion, your moral values are corrupt.

> When you use the power of government to arrest and prosecute those you label as enemies, your moral values are corrupt. (Psychologists have a term for this behavior: DARVO: Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender.)

> When you send masked, armed militia into our cities to terrorize the population, your moral values are corrupt.

> When you resort to win at any cost gerrymandering and voter suppression laws to ensure your candidates are elected, where a birth certificate is insufficient to prove a married woman's citizenship, your moral values are corrupt.

> When you have 34 felony convictions and your best friend was named Epstein, .. well, fill in the blanks.

It's time to start throwing tea into the harbor.

Copyright © 2026  Dave Hoplin 

I Have An Idea

"When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all."  Paul Simon

So here's a pop quiz testing your high school knowledge. Sing along.

(answers below)

1. 1066 
2. amo, amare, amavi, amatus
3. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
4. Oxygen valence
5. π r²
6. Split infinitive 
7. Fifty-four forty or fight
8. Gregg method 
9. Side-angle-side
10. Capital of Nevada
11. How do you spell queue
12. Frog anatomy 

High school is mostly about soon forgotten facts and ill prepares you for creative thought.  Caveat - This of course is hyperbole and this observation is based on uncreative thought and my 20th mid-century memory so I am willing to be convinced that things may now be different. 

My granddaughter, when she was about 3 and wanted to do something would come to me with "I have an idea".  Grandfathers cannot resist a 3-year old's ideas. But normally great ideas don't appear spontaneously from one great mind. Most ideation comes from collaboration and questioning, not individual pondering. 

What follows is nostalgia, a post hearkening back to my past of fast paced software development and my penchant for pep talks.

A Fast Company article dismisses traditional “brainstorming” as a productive way to generate innovative ideas.  “... the brain does not make connections in a rigid atmosphere. Anything–even doing laundry–will help you dream up new ideas better than sitting in a meeting." Or a classroom.  The free association done in brainstorming sessions are almost always subject to peer pressure and as a result generate obvious responses. In fact, psychologists have documented "the predictability of free association.”  

So where do ideas really come from.  As always TED has ideas.

In one TED segment, Steve Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From, offers a variant to the brainstorming is worthless argument. He suggests that informal gatherings bringing people together with different backgrounds and experiences - say, at a coffee house - so called liquid networks - produce ideas.   

This is what your office - or your home - should look like!

                    

Johnson’s research focuses on identifying the recurring patterns behind the Eureka Moment.  He has found that break-through ideas depend on a network and build on existing concepts cobbled together into new forms.  He gives the example of a neonatal warmer for rural Africa powered by car batteries and constructed from car parts because car parts are available and the expertise to keep vehicles running is transferrable to this equipment. 

He postulates that Eureka moments are not a flash from the blue, but more commonly from long incubation periods - “the slow hunch” - from trial and error, contemplating & sharing mistakes.  Johnson says, “chance favors the collective mind”, although I prefer Pasteur’s “chance favors the prepared mind.”  

Collective thinking can lead to results wildly different than the original hunch.  Johnson uses the evolution of GPS as a case study, owing its development from an experiment by the Advanced Propulsion Lab in tracking Sputnik. In 1957, APL scientists tracked radio signals emitted from Sputnik and precisely defined its orbit and speed.  GPS was simply the reverse process - well, maybe not simply, but simple in concept.

So your challenge is to connect your hunch with others’ hunches and generate something greater than the parts.  As my friend Tennyson says, ”To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”.  And, by the way, you’ll need to gain followers for your idea.  Followers are the key to turning you from that lone wing nut into a movement.

Pop Quiz answers.

1. Battle of Hastings  2. Latin verb 'love' conjugation  3. A Tale of Two Cities  4. 2  5. Area of a circle  6. To boldly go  7. Asserting US claim to Oregon territory 8. Beats me  9. Congruent triangle proof  10. Carson City  11. queue  12. Mostly viscera

How did you do?

Copyright © 2026  Dave Hoplin 

Who's Responsible For These Ridiculousnesses?

We The People are burdened with some bizarre systems.

1965 Article

Weights and Measures 

US "customary" weights and measures are nonsensical.  Worldwide, we share this system with only Liberia.

I propose converting to a sensible weights and measures system.

1 Kilometer = 1000 Meters (Kilo means 1000)
1 Meter = 100 Centimeters (Centi means 100)
1 Meter = 1000 Millimeters (Milli means 1000)

and likewise for:
 Kilogram, Grams, Milligrams
 Kiloliter, Liter, Milliliter

And,
1 Hectare = 10000 Sq. Meters
100º Celsius = boiling
0º Celsius = freezing

Could there be a more intuitive system of measure? We could call it the "Metric System".

But no ... let's have:

1 Mile = 5280 Feet
1 Yard = 3 Feet
1 Foot = 12 Inches

1 Ton = 2000 Pounds (logically abbreviated lb)
1 Pound = 16 Ounces (Avoirdupois not Troy)

and to further confuse you

1 Gallon (not Imperial gallon) = 4 Quarts 

1 Quart = 2 Pints

1 Pint = 2 Cups   (we're in liquid ounce territory now)

1 Cup = 8 ounces

1 Tablespoon = 3 Teaspoons

2 Tablespoons = 1fluid ounce

1 Acre = 1/640th of a Square Mile = 43560 Sq. Feet

Fahrenheit: boiling 212°, freezing 32°

And throw in  .. Long Tons, Troy ounce, Furlongs, Rods, Knots, Fathoms, Barrels, Hogsheads, Dog Years, Shot, Hand, Board Feet...

Actually, we are stuck with 2 systems.  The American scientific community has long ago converted to metric, a system 95% of the world uses -  but the we who use the "Customary" system - all 2 of us - argue the Metric System is it is too hard!

Go figure.

Electoral System

We claim a democracy in the USA.  We are,  however, technically, a republic, at least for awhile yet - where we elect representatives who pass laws and vote on our behalf, occasionally. 

We claim 1 person/1 vote, but ... in presidential elections, each state selects electors and they cast the votes for president, 538 of them, 1 for each member of congress plus 3 from DC.  So 270 votes wins the presidential election. 

For example, Minnesota, having 8 representatives and 2 senators, gets 10 electoral votes. North Dakota gets 3, 1 representative and 2 senators. Minnesota has roughly 6 million people which works out to 1 electoral vote per 600,000 residents.  North Dakota has 800,000 people which translates to 1 electoral vote per 267,000 residents.  And a further extreme .. California has 40 million people with 54 electoral votes which maps to 1 electoral vote per 740,000 residents.

Clearly we do not have an equal representation system. A presidential candidate could win the election  being outvoted by 7 million popular votes by eking out wins in a few states.  e.g. narrowly win the Texas and Florida popular vote and receive 70 electoral votes while losing California by 5 million votes.  Five times in history, presidential candidates have won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College. 

Usurpers: John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, George W. Bush, Donald Trump. 

Shoulda Beens: Andrew Jackson, Samuel Tilden, Grover Cleveland, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton.

What is the rationale for such a ridiculous system? 

As in many mediocre solutions this one was a compromise. Our Founding Fathers could not countenance the rabble determining who would be president and preferred that Congress select the President, so opposed a popular vote system. The Congressional faction favoring the popular vote could not countenance the cronyism of selecting one of their own for the job. 

So the “Electoral College” was born, a slate of “electors” appointed by each state to cast the presidential votes. The number of votes each state would be determined by population which translates to congressional districts. And here another abominable compromise came into play. Southern states lobbied for slaves to be counted toward the population total and eventually they were compromised down to 3/5ths of a person. So the Electoral College was instrumental in the persistence of slavery.  Since almost all states require electors to vote for the person winning the popular vote in the state (Maine & Nebraska tally electoral votes by Congressional district), the main effect of the system is to dilute the vote of large population states and enhance the vote small population states. 

In 1889-1890 the admission of small population western states was largely driven by the number of electoral votes they could deliver to the Republicans. North & South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington, each delivering 3 electoral votes with 6 states added to the Union in a single year. In response, Democrats lobbied to include Arizona and New Mexico which didn’t happen for another 20 years.

At the time, The Boston Globe pointed out that the Idaho & Wyoming together had a population of “a fair sized congressional district in Massachusetts” but would be represented in Congress by four senators and two representatives.

And the push continues to this day with factions lobbying for Washington DC and Puerto Rico statehood.  And some would include Canada and Greenland in the wishlist. 

Too often the electoral college results have denied the will of the majority.  It's overdue for removal.

Income Tax

The US tax code is roughly 7000 pages, 5x War & Peace. Clearly not something mere mortals can comprehend. There are over 15 major schedules and more than 100 different forms, schedules, and worksheets that can be associated with the IRS Form 1040. So those who have any complexity in their financial life i.e have any income beyond wages, have dependents, itemized deductions, business or rental income,  sold real estate etc. - will generally hire an accountant or use tax preparation software like TurboTax to do their tax filing. It is a system where errors - intended or inadvertent - are rampant. And when you make them, you are punished with penalties.  

Of course, the very rich have workarounds, masters at tax avoidance with the best lawyers and accountants money can buy.  They don't do W-2's as their income is generally not wages.  They pay tax at a lower rate because they leverage favorable rates on investment income (capital gains) and numerous loopholes e.g. real estate , oil businesses, sports teams, private jets ... surprised?  It is true - the rich are not like the rest of us.

It shouldn't be this complicated. 

In some countries, e.g. Sweden, Norway, Finland, the government calculates taxes and citizens receive a statement each spring with a summary of income, deductions, wealth and debt. Tax filing thus consists of verifying a pre-filled tax return. In some countries e.g France, all filings are made online. 

Tipping

It used to be leaving a tip was optional and indicated appreciation for service well done. The days of the jar next to the cash register are over. Tipping is now in your face with an app shaming you into an 18-30% tip. Most every point-of-sale transaction now presents you with a very public tipping app with the person behind you tsk'ing as you choose 10%.  In Europe servizio incluso is often the rule so there's no need to struggle over how much to tip.  I'm in favor. 

BTW - How much do you tip your plumber?

Tennis Scoring

15 Love, 30 Love, 40 Love - apparently stemming from the quarter hours on a clock but why 40 instead of 45? God only knows [GOK for short, a useful bookkeeping entry]. And then there’s deuce? How is it that deuce means tie score?  So the scoring is weird compounded by equating "Love" with zero - just seems wrong. The goal to win the game at love should not be a tennis thing. 

Just no.  What's wrong with 4-0?  

Spelling, Grammar, Word Usage

I have written several posts on the strange, quirky English language (Word Nerd, Strangelish, Bloody Marvelous English Language, An Ostentation of Peacocks, Apologies Mr Paulson) so I will leave it at that on the ridiculous impossibly marvelously complex English language.

And who decided we should use Arabic numerals?

Copyright © 2026  Dave Hoplin