Mind on the Fritz

My name is Chris Fritz. I'm an educator, linguist, gamer, and relentlessly critical thinker. I share stuff I think and stuff I like.

[mindonthefritz]

Perspective!

[via Beauty for Ashes]

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Does anyone else feel an intense satisfaction carrying around their favorite stuff for no practical reason?

There's pretty much always at least one object - usually a book - that I just like to haul around with me wherever I go. If it's a book, it doesn't matter if I'm just driving to the pharmacy and won't have time to read it. It doesn't matter if I'm going out with friends and will just leave it in the car. I just want to have it nearby, because I feel happy when I hold it in my hands and think about the ideas inside or what the object represents.

Can anyone else, other than 3-year-olds (because those little dudes know how to live!), admit to the same indulgence? What do you carry around?

[mindonthefritz]

3 Superman Graphic Novels that Changed My Life

Let me start out by saying I'm not a huge fan of most super hero comics. They too often seem more than a little hokey and juvenile. There are many exceptions though, such as these few takes on Superman, which may just blow your mind.

Secret Identity

In a world where Superman comics already exist, a young boy coincidentally named Clark Kent finds he actually develops the powers of Superman. The novel follows Clark through his life to old age, more interested in exploring the practical and philosophical implications of these powers, than with epic battles with arch-enemies. Themes include expectations, responsibility, mortality, and trust. 

Earth One

A young Clark Kent moves to Metropolis after college, trying to figure out what to do with his life. As he applies for jobs, he struggles with a felt responsibility to support his mother and use his unique abilities and brilliant mind to maximize his contributions to the world...but he also just wants to be happy and lead a fulfilling life. Themes include finding purpose, prioritizing responsibilities, and risks worth taking.

Irredeemable

Not about Superman per se, but rather another super hero with Superman-like powers, The Plutonian. The simple what-if posed here is, "What if Superman got so fed up with the super-human expectations placed on him, and being able to hear every distrustful or hateful remark whispered of him - that he finally just snapped? What if Superman hated humanity?" This one really makes you question whether insanity isn't the inevitable result of having Superman's powers. Themes include power, fame, and responsibility, with a darker twist.

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"Present Face" by Garfunkel & Oates - a song about the inevitable awkwardness surrounding mandatory gift-giving occasions. Well, they're awkward for me at least.

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This is exactly the cycle Katie and I go through, at least once per month.

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Being kicked around by the world so much that I eventually just break and turn into something I don't want to be...that's one of my greatest fears. On a related note, it's funny how songs you've known all your life can sometimes, suddenly take on new meaning. The lines below, from Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, were always hollow when I was growing up. These days I usually belt them out in the car and almost well up.

You end up like a dog that's been beat too much 'Til you spend half your life just covering up

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(via fuckyeahlgbt)

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Autohotkey FTW

Autohotkey is a very high-level, open source scripting language for Windows. It's so powerful and flexible that almost every time I think, "Hmm...I wish there were a program for that", I can usually make one in Autohotkey in less time than you'd think. Whether it's a script to keep all the audiocasts* in my Miro library up-to-date on my phone (and vice versa), or one that automates xkcd's 30-second delay internet distraction therapy, Autohotkey is always up to the task. Thank you for being in my life, you beautiful lump of code.

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* "Don't you mean podcasts? Isn't that what they're called?" If you were just thinking this, the answer is yes, some people call them that, but I choose not to. Why? The same reason I'm pained every time someone tells me they just "bricked" their iPhone. If you just screwed up the jailbreaking and can get it back to working order, it's not bricked. When a device is bricked, it's broken so badly as to be made as useful as a brick - and you can't turn a brick into a working iPhone, as far as I know. Likewise, what many people call "podcasts" aren't just broadcasts to be played on an iPod, so I use the more accurate term, "audiocasts" (short for "audio broadcasts"). Audiocasts can often be listened to on the radio, or downloaded and played on a computer or portable audio player. I know I'm "just arguing semantics", but precise language is important, yo.

[mindonthefritz]

Funny how paying someone for sex is illegal unless you record it and sell it.

The I/O Malfunction blog

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Is FarmVille Breeding FarmVillains?

FarmVille is a popular social network game with over 65 million active users, where one can harvest virtual crops and raise livestock on one's own virtual farm, as well as help out on the farms of friends. Sounds like harmless fun, right?

Wrong.

According to professional experts with PhDs, the dramatic increase in illegal field plowing and cow milking in the United States can be directly attributed to the growing popularity of FarmVille. "On FarmVille, users can visit each other's farms whenever they like and perform any number of farming activities. The problem is, many users find it difficult to distinguish between real life and the game," remarked Dr. Rochester, one of the experts interviewed.

Many farmers agree, including Ted Henderson of Abbeville, Georgia. Like many, Henderson reports an alarming increase of "FarmVillains" - FarmVille players that wander onto a farm and start trying to help out. "These Internet jokers don't know what they're doing! On a real farm, crops have to be planted at the right time of year, you have to wait a long time before you can harvest them, and you can't just click on cows to milk them. They may be trying to help, but they're destroying everything! It probably doesn't help that our town's name also ends in ville."

In defense of FarmVille comes Julie Adams, National FFA director of marketing and communications. She says applications like FarmVille, even though they don't accurately represent agriculture, demonstrate the fondness the public has for farming. Adams claims that playing FarmVille "shows at least an appreciation for where your food comes from."

But is an "appreciation" good enough, when FarmVille players are destroying the very sources of their food? I'm sure we'll all have more appreciation for any meal when virtual worlds like FarmVille have destroyed our global food systems.

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This satirical news report was inspired by the quality journalism of Fox News regarding, especially, the evils of video games.

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You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It's their mistake, not my failing.

Richard P. Feynman

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Don't worry about what you will do next if you take one step with all the knowledge you have. With all the knowledge you have there is usually just enough light shining to show you the next step.

Mardy Murie

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I wanted to share this video because I simply don't hear this message enough. I see a lot of people suffering, stressed out, while proudly announcing how little sleep they get and how little time they have for what's really important to them.

(Being critical of one's relationship with work is something I've been passionate about for a while, even creating a rubric for teachers to judge how well their schools treat them. Though honestly, I think everyone really needs their own rubric, based on their own values.)

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Kubrick describes my life philosophy very well! This almost makes me think I should be buying Playboy just for the articles.

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Funky and Uplifting: One Tribe by The Black Eyed Peas

When I'm feeling down or cynical, this song always helps put me back in my groove.