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Don Stockbauer
May 13, 2019, 12:43:07 AM5/13/19
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here we go again.
Don Stockbauer
May 14, 2019, 11:58:15 PM5/14/19
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The funny thing about the global brain is if it's really occurring things will just keep getting better and better and people will have no idea why.
Don Stockbauer
May 15, 2019, 3:03:04 PM5/15/19
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How old sayings can be wrong :
If it walks like a duck , if it waddles like a duck , and it quacks like a duck by golly it is a duck .
I remember one of my physics professors at Victoria College saying "oh that's true , unless it's a toy being pulled along by a kid with a string."
If it walks like a duck , if it waddles like a duck , and it quacks like a duck by golly it is a duck .
I remember one of my physics professors at Victoria College saying "oh that's true , unless it's a toy being pulled along by a kid with a string."
Don Stockbauer
May 17, 2019, 7:56:46 AM5/17/19
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A few years ago my wife and I visited Bloomington,Indiana (not Bloomington, Texas ), we wanted to go to the university and see what we could see of Professor Hofstadter. of course his office was closed, we at least got to read the material posted outside of the door.
the town has a really interesting ecological
Creek in the middle of town.
the town has a really interesting ecological
Creek in the middle of town.
Don Stockbauer
May 17, 2019, 9:05:07 AM5/17/19
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Not wanting to sound just entirely pathetic here , we went to Bloomington to visit my wife's cousin.
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Don Stockbauer
May 19, 2019, 9:15:39 PM5/19/19
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So President Trump , under what cases do you think that abortion is justified ?
Well, I would say in the case of rape, incest, and the cases where I caused the pregnancies personally.
Well, I would say in the case of rape, incest, and the cases where I caused the pregnancies personally.
Don Stockbauer
May 20, 2019, 2:13:18 AM5/20/19
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Coldhearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colors from our sight.
Red is gray and yellow white,
Yet we decide which is right,
And which is an allusion.
Removes the colors from our sight.
Red is gray and yellow white,
Yet we decide which is right,
And which is an allusion.
Don Stockbauer
May 20, 2019, 9:36:26 AM5/20/19
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Allusion?????? Geez.
Don Stockbauer
May 21, 2019, 8:23:42 AM5/21/19
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Didn't Hofstadter somewhere write about subconscious substitution?
Don Stockbauer
May 21, 2019, 2:00:39 PM5/21/19
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Did you trade
a walk-on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
a walk-on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
Don Stockbauer
May 21, 2019, 3:25:44 PM5/21/19
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The only way to win is to not play.
Don Stockbauer
May 22, 2019, 7:32:49 PM5/22/19
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Heard it from a friend who , heard it from a friend who , heard it from another you've been messing around.
That's pretty thin evidence , wouldn't you think , it's almost like the old game of "telephone".
It's kind of like another song where they say "you've been talking in your sleep" and the misconception is that if you're talking in your sleep whatever you say is true ,which is absolutely false , you might just be having a dream about someone. You begin to wonder how many marriages have been destroyed because of that Miss Conception.
That's pretty thin evidence , wouldn't you think , it's almost like the old game of "telephone".
It's kind of like another song where they say "you've been talking in your sleep" and the misconception is that if you're talking in your sleep whatever you say is true ,which is absolutely false , you might just be having a dream about someone. You begin to wonder how many marriages have been destroyed because of that Miss Conception.
Don Stockbauer
May 24, 2019, 3:14:21 AM5/24/19
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Ever go outside at night and see all those radio transmission towers and say to yourself, "Wow, those are the synapses of the global brain, along with communication satellites."
Don Stockbauer
May 24, 2019, 8:52:02 AM5/24/19
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Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,
like the leaves on a tree you blew away.
like the leaves on a tree you blew away.
Don Stockbauer
May 25, 2019, 2:45:47 PM5/25/19
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Human relationships are like mathematical trapdoor functions: difficult to form , easy to destroy.
Don Stockbauer
May 25, 2019, 7:28:14 PM5/25/19
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Don't you think that trying to analyze human relationships is a little like trying to analyze chaos?
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Don Stockbauer
May 25, 2019, 8:30:31 PM5/25/19
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Is the reason a general systems thinker can do better than most people at solving problems because he or she has a wide knowledge of many fields and can see the relationships?
Don Stockbauer
May 25, 2019, 10:29:46 PM5/25/19
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I found an old explanatory chart made by Rand McNally called the Universal map of outer space , copyright 1958 . probably got it when I was six or seven as a present. Shows you how far we've come . It says "our universe according to one present theory was formed from one single gigantic contraction of cosmic particles in space into our present planetary system." Besides claiming a contraction rather than an expansion , which the Big Bang is , they switched from the universe to planetary system in the explanation.
It shows an artist's conception of Venus, "the surface of Venus observed in the midst of one of its giant methane storms." It shows frozen methane all over the place. Kind of hard to have frozen methane at 800 degree F temperatures.
It shows an artist's conception of Venus, "the surface of Venus observed in the midst of one of its giant methane storms." It shows frozen methane all over the place. Kind of hard to have frozen methane at 800 degree F temperatures.
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Don Stockbauer
May 31, 2019, 6:41:33 AM5/31/19
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The universal answer to the question "Why haven't you been writing me" is "I've been busy". Why isn't any other excuse ever trotted out?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 1, 2019, 11:20:52 PM6/1/19
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I read a science-fiction story once , it was set on Pluto , an industrial area there, somebody was just walking around , he goes over to big storage bin , he looks in it and it's full of what appears to be snow. The bin had a label on it that said: OXYGEN.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 2, 2019, 12:16:26 PM6/2/19
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Back around 1963 or so I remember in Parade magazine an article where a university, maybe it was MIT, created a set of robots whose only purpose in life was to maneuver around the office and sense a standard electrical outlet, plug themselves in and re-charge and then unplug themselves and go back to searching around for another wall outfit. I thought this was probably the most useful application for a robot you'll ever find. We actually have the same thing now but it's a lot more complicated, humans doing the plugging and unplugging of their phones.
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Don Stockbauer
Jun 3, 2019, 7:28:59 AM6/3/19
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On that explanatory chart they show Ceres as a ragged ellipsoid with a 5 to 1 aspect ratio. Maybe they're actually correct? Discussion, as the Colonel would say?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 3, 2019, 8:18:36 AM6/3/19
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What do you do if you're looking for a tool and you need that tool to find that tool?
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Don Stockbauer
Jun 4, 2019, 4:49:00 PM6/4/19
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Oooh baby, do you know what that's worth?
Oooh, Heaven is a place on Earth.
Oooh, Heaven is a place on Earth.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 5, 2019, 5:51:33 AM6/5/19
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Any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic.
So, Arthur, you mean in the future everybody will be pulling bunnies from a hat?
Ooops, can't communicate with the dead, except during seances.
So, Arthur, you mean in the future everybody will be pulling bunnies from a hat?
Ooops, can't communicate with the dead, except during seances.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 6, 2019, 7:36:52 AM6/6/19
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If Man is allowed to destroy all we need,
He will soon have to pay with his life for his greed.
Sorry for the non-gender-neutral language.
It was written long ago by a different Don.
He will soon have to pay with his life for his greed.
Sorry for the non-gender-neutral language.
It was written long ago by a different Don.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 6, 2019, 3:44:33 PM6/6/19
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Captain Picard time travels from 300 years in the future to our time. Someone asks him what his salary is in the future.
Picard replies: "We have no salaries in my time. We are given all the necessities of life as a birthright. And also , we are given access to all the riches of our civilization, which are beyond your wildest imagination."
Don Stockbauer
Jun 7, 2019, 7:39:53 AM6/7/19
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Ever notice that people parrot out stock phrases during conversations rather than being creative?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 10, 2019, 8:42:45 AM6/10/19
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Computing is getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. someday we'll have computing too cheap to meter.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 11, 2019, 12:21:52 AM6/11/19
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Now you're messin' with a son of a bitch.
Now you're messin' with a son of a bitch.
Now you're messin' with a son of a bitch.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 13, 2019, 4:22:00 AM6/13/19
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............context................
Don Stockbauer
Jun 13, 2019, 7:59:31 AM6/13/19
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my iPhone is always slow when it's in the house .when I take it outside it would be fast . what could that possibly be ? well I found out that the insulation in my attic is foil lined so my house was acting as a giant faraday cage killing the signal. isnt that wonderful ? so now I have to go outside to use the phone . in Texas that ordinarily wouldn't be a problem except for the mosquitoes and the hundred degree F. heat .maybe I should build a little building out here with no foil in the attic.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 13, 2019, 9:42:11 AM6/13/19
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At the Trinity site this coming weekend just like those Civil War battles they're having a reenactment of the event!
Don Stockbauer
Jun 13, 2019, 9:35:02 PM6/13/19
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What's puzzling you is the nature of my game.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 14, 2019, 8:12:30 AM6/14/19
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Things just keep getting more and more complex, don't they?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 14, 2019, 3:29:15 PM6/14/19
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What's reality hacking?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 15, 2019, 12:49:27 PM6/15/19
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I had an aunt Rose who underwent a heart operation and when it was time to restart her heart it wouldn't . Now think about that next time they put you under general anesthesia for some reason. One moment you're being put under , the next moment you're watching angels playing harps.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 16, 2019, 10:04:24 AM6/16/19
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In Luling Texas there's a restaurant named Memes.
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Don Stockbauer
Jun 18, 2019, 1:11:37 AM6/18/19
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Maybe we could slow civilization down enough to save it by requiring all messaging be made by walking or riding a horse to a telegraph office located in the central part of town.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 18, 2019, 7:16:58 AM6/18/19
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Did Juneau that all human interaction has the form of a game?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 19, 2019, 9:52:41 PM6/19/19
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Somebody warn me if this is not appropriate material for a Hofstadter fan group.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 20, 2019, 9:40:58 PM6/20/19
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Is this a Nguyen-Nguyen situation?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 21, 2019, 8:54:20 AM6/21/19
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I am your uncle Ernie and I welcome you to Tommy's holiday camp.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 21, 2019, 6:51:09 PM6/21/19
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Ooh superman where are you now
When everything's gone wrong somehow.
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour.
*********
I won't be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We're not just making promises
That we know, we'll never keep.
When everything's gone wrong somehow.
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour.
*********
I won't be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We're not just making promises
That we know, we'll never keep.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 21, 2019, 11:01:10 PM6/21/19
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One time I was in a hotel near Dealey Plaza and I noticed there were posters in it for a Kennedy Conspiracy Theory meeting. So I got on a hotel elevator and there was a fellow there and I asked him "what's the deal with the conspiracy theory meeting?" He said "oh haven't you heard? Someone shot the guy!!! So I resonded "Shot the guy!!! I thought he was still in office!!!" I don't know why he didn't have anything to say back.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 22, 2019, 5:43:34 PM6/22/19
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Is a good operational definition of the soul the difference between a living and a dead body?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 9:27:05 AM6/23/19
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Do you ever get the feeling that all the software you're using is a joke version created just for you to torture you where everybody else gets a nice useful version of the software?
"The paranoids are after me."
"The paranoids are after me."
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 10:03:33 AM6/23/19
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What's the advantage of being an untidy slob?
You get a lot of practice looking for things.
You get a lot of practice looking for things.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 10:07:43 AM6/23/19
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I use to suggest to astronomers that their data would be much cleaner if the Earth didn't have an atmosphere.
Someone once wrote me explaining carefully that with no atmosphere there would be no life on Earth, and thus humans wouldn't exist. Sarcasm needs it's own font.
Someone once wrote me explaining carefully that with no atmosphere there would be no life on Earth, and thus humans wouldn't exist. Sarcasm needs it's own font.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 10:22:10 AM6/23/19
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What's the answer to when someone tells you "I'm sorry , I can't talk about the classified information I have access to. If I did, I'd have to kill you."
Well, just answer, "You'd commit murder to protect your crappy ass , useless classified data?"
Well, just answer, "You'd commit murder to protect your crappy ass , useless classified data?"
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 10:36:33 AM6/23/19
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Having fantastic insight into the true nature of reality could very well mimic insanity , but the converse isn't necessarily true, an insane person might not have fantastic insight into the true nature of reality.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 11:19:48 AM6/23/19
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I read about this executioner in old London. If he felt the person he was hanging wasn't going quick enough he'd go over and cling onto the person.
Have you ever heard the details of drawing and quartering? First they slit open your abdomen, pull out your intestines and burn them in front of your eyes while you were still alive, and then tie your legs and arms to four draft horses and pull you apart . The British were a cheery bunch, weren't they?
Have you ever heard the details of drawing and quartering? First they slit open your abdomen, pull out your intestines and burn them in front of your eyes while you were still alive, and then tie your legs and arms to four draft horses and pull you apart . The British were a cheery bunch, weren't they?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 3:23:07 PM6/23/19
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You lock the door,
You throw way the key,
There's someone in my head but it's not me.
You throw way the key,
There's someone in my head but it's not me.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 3:55:50 PM6/23/19
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"Mabel, have you seen the vacuum cleaner?"
"We don't need a vacuum cleaner; vacuums are inherently clean."
"We don't need a vacuum cleaner; vacuums are inherently clean."
Don Stockbauer
Jun 23, 2019, 3:58:32 PM6/23/19
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Wouldn't the record player in Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach have survived a lot better had it
just been made more robustly?
just been made more robustly?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 24, 2019, 8:26:03 AM6/24/19
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I could never be an astronaut. I'm too much of a slob. All kind of housework piling up.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 24, 2019, 9:19:24 AM6/24/19
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I'm going back to college. I'm going to major
in Phil-ossify.
in Phil-ossify.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 24, 2019, 9:59:12 AM6/24/19
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Once I get my degree , I'm going to go somewhere and open up a little philosophy shop, and sell my philosophy.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 24, 2019, 2:20:07 PM6/24/19
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You know, things are so impersonal nowadays, they've come out with a new Dick and Jane reader; it's titled
"So-called Friends and Neighbours."
"So-called Friends and Neighbours."
Don Stockbauer
Jun 24, 2019, 6:26:27 PM6/24/19
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Why do I curse like a sailor at every little thing that happens ? well , it's because when you're raised on a ranch around your father and other people that would curse at every little tiny thing when they repaired machinery , that tends to stick with you.
If you're raised not doing anything , then your language is real nice.
If you're raised not doing anything , then your language is real nice.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 24, 2019, 9:59:09 PM6/24/19
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Why don't any of the people asking for money on the street corners ever wear a tuxedo?
Don Stockbauer
Jun 25, 2019, 12:31:27 AM6/25/19
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One way someone can easily have power over another person is to deny them communication.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 26, 2019, 1:48:21 PM6/26/19
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I saw an article in an old Psychology Today magazine, it was an article on biological phenomena and quantum mechanics and the mind. I saw a way to put the subjects into a circle, the first word should be joined to the last .
It goes "Quantum mechanics must be formulated giving consideration to the mind can be explained by biological phenomena can be understood in terms of ".
It goes "Quantum mechanics must be formulated giving consideration to the mind can be explained by biological phenomena can be understood in terms of ".
Don Stockbauer
Jun 26, 2019, 8:19:00 PM6/26/19
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Dear International Star Registry:
I have a special request for you. I would like you to rename The Star of Bethlehem after my dog, Coco. I think it would be great to get Christmas cards that read "Lo, and they beheld The Star of Coco in the east." Great fun.
I have a special request for you. I would like you to rename The Star of Bethlehem after my dog, Coco. I think it would be great to get Christmas cards that read "Lo, and they beheld The Star of Coco in the east." Great fun.
Don Stockbauer
Jun 26, 2019, 9:39:21 PM6/26/19
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My first programmable calculator allowed you to partition memory and execution space. I think I need that now. My memory is getting pretty bad, my execution/analytical space is still doing pretty good. So I wonder if there's a few buttons to push somewhere to do it.
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