

Help Zed find Matt - moonpolysoft
http://www.zedshaw.com/blog/2008-10-28.html

======
SwellJoe
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).

~~~
tsbardella
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.

~~~
SwellJoe
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.

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abstractbill
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?

~~~
noonespecial
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.

~~~
ForgotMyName
And Americans wonder why response times deteriorate?

~~~
jimbokun
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.

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jacobscott
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?

~~~
SwellJoe
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.)

~~~
jacobscott
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.

~~~
SwellJoe
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.

------
qwph
I hope this has a happy ending.

