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Help Zed find Matt

zedshaw.com

38 pointsmoonpolysoft21 comments

So Zed Shaw is dramatically less of an asshole than I'd always assumed based on his vitriolic writings. He's gone to far greater lengths to help this guy than most folks would in such a situation.

I'll point out that this sounds very much like Matt suffers from schizophrenia. I know this illness well as someone very close to me suffers from it, and when unmedicated behaves pretty much exactly like that. That's not to say the situation is any less dangerous, but probably not because someone is going to kill Matt--more likely because he'll get himself into dangerous situations because of his dramatic misinterpretation of events. Schizophrenics without friends and family to help keep them out of trouble, and medicated as necessary, often wind up in prison.

If my from afar diagnosis has any basis in reality (which it very well may not--I'm not a psychiatrist, and I only know what the website told me), the fact that Zed posted all of this information will very likely be taken as a sign that Zed, formerly a "friend" worthy of trust in a dangerous situation, is now Matt's enemy. Family and lifelong friends are not immune to this effect, so I'm certain a random stranger who wrote some nifty software won't be. Anything said or done that doesn't match precisely the worldview of a schizophrenic is viewed with suspicion, and very often the worldview changes from minute to minute as the mind flits from one misinterpretation to the next. This may explain why Zed can't get in touch with him: Zed is obviously part of the conspiracy, and his trying to call him frequently merely confirms it (there is no "right" action here; Zed certainly hasn't done anything wrong, it's just the way things go in the mind of a schizophrenic).

If Matt is suffering from schizophrenia he would be about the age it would be getting bad. That is one of the saddest things when a guy is doing great hits about 21 22 and then the disease first takes over. It is worse because if they were junkys or crack heads they could just get clean but that disease means lots of hospitalizations and an often fruitless attempt to find the right medication.

This is true, but as with many other diseases, now is the best time in history to be schizophrenic (though it will hopefully continue to get better). In the past ten to twenty years there have been some drugs introduced that actually work. They have some negative side effects, and seem to effect ambition among other things, but it is possible to control schizophrenia in many cases without hospitalization or constant supervision. Leading a normal life seems to be feasible for many, though it does currently require lifelong medication.

Zed in real life is actually a very personable fellow. I know he has deliberately crafted a persona of over-the-top arrogance and hubris, but you should appreciate his blog for its hipster irony, and not think he takes himself seriously. His response to a random phone-call is completely consistent with what I've seen of him in person.

Most people spewing that kind of vitriol care very deeply, they just wish they didn't, hence the tirades.

I'm not a native of the US, so I could be wrong, but aren't you only supposed to call 911 for an immediate emergency situation?

Ostensibly yes, but in America it has basically become a synonym for "nearest police department".

We should only use it when we need a fire-truck/ambulance/police-car here as fast as possible, but it has become acceptable in most areas to dial it to report burglaries, vandalism, missing persons etc.

And Americans wonder why response times deteriorate?

Seems that it's more efficient just to let 911 take all calls and route appropriately. Taking calls, determining if the situation is urgent, getting the necessary information from possibly panicked callers, etc. I know that a law enforcement officer told us to always call 911 if we saw illegal activity, because if nothing else they periodically map the calls and use that to determine where to patrol.

It shouldn't take more than a few seconds to determine most non-urgent calls aren't urgent and transfer them somewhere else.

That's what they taught me in school, but it's not what my police department thinks. It probably varies by location.

I reported a crime about 2 years ago, and they needed my signature on an official statement. The department left a message that said "When you're home next, call back 555-1212 extension 9999, or just call 911 and ask for detective so-and-so". I figured, when am I going to get to call 911 again? So I called, stated that I had no emergency, but was told I could get in touch with detective so-and-so, and they transferred me to him and were even really nice about it.

Theoretically, but it's more efficient to let the police filter & route calls appropriately. Trusting 300 million people to manage it themselves can be dangerous -- you'll get both non-emergencies calling 911, and true emergencies afraid to call 911.

One of the first things they ask you when you call 911 is if your call is an emergency. Being able to get in touch with the local police for non-emergency issues by calling 911 means you don't have to know the phone number for every local police station.

Is it clear that this isn't just some kind of alternate reality game? I mean, if he can find all this guy's info, he can't find his parents?

You sound so confident of that. Try to find who my parents are. I've been on the Internet since 1994. I have a trail 14 years long. I'll give you some keywords for the past ten or so: squid, webmin, texas, joe cooper (and the obvious "swelljoe").

Good luck. (And, if you do happen to figure out where my parents are or their names, no need to post that data. I'll trust that your google fu is above and beyond the merely mortal. I will also be deeply impressed, because I couldn't find the barest of clues in the couple of minutes I searched...I really wondered, "Is it that easy to track down someones family?")

Edit: So some folks have decided to take me up on the challenge, which is fine with me. But I will make a humble request that you not actually call or email any of my friends, family, or acquaintances. If you think you've got a lead, just let me know via email and I'll tell you if it would result in an answer or another solid lead. (So far, no one actually has figured out any friends or acquaintances to call, and no one has gone beyond a virtual search, as far as I know. I'm just thinking proactively. The Internet does strange things sometimes.)

I'm npt going to try too hard but.. you gave plenty enough info there to track them down (assuming I dont just have to se google :))

That's probably true. A couple of phone calls, and a well-place email to acquaintances would probably do the trick. My point is that if it's hard to find my parents (given my very long, very public, history on the Internet), and I believe it would be, without resorting to background checks or other somewhat pricey processes, I imagine it must be much harder to track down the parents of someone who you only have a couple of snippets of information about. The Internet trail is far shorter, as well...finding friends and others to contact could be challenging.

Idunno about that. I skiptrace dates before I meet them for fun+safety. I don't use any pay services, just freely accessible info. I learn all kinds of useful things. Social networking makes the information that much more detailed.

This is silly. I know where you work. In case of emergency, I would mail your bosses and have them pass word on to your parents.

So, in most cases I guess that would work. Not in my case (all email to my public company addresses goes to me). But in most cases, that makes good sense. I guess I don't really think about that since it's been so long since I've worked for someone else.

I hope this has a happy ending.

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