About Frank Moraes

Frank MoraesFrank Moraes is a freelance writer and editor with broad interests. He is educated as a scientist with a PhD in Atmospheric Physics. He has worked in climate science, remote sensing, and throughout the computer industry. And he has taught physics.

He doesn’t like talking about his clients because they already think he’s a Marxist and plotting to take over the means of production. But he will reveal this: he is the editor at a number of large tech websites and a writer all over in the online business world. His life is everything that he ever wanted, and he now spends a lot of time wondering why he aimed so low.

Moraes’ pet projects are an unproduced video series called “The Post Postmodern Comedy Hour” and a collection of theatrical essays. In his spare time, he memorizes speeches from plays. Despite suffering from agoraphobia, he is a great actor alone in his room.

Oh, he’s also really opinionated about books, film, theater, music, pens, politics, and just about everything else. Not that there is much else.

Email: Frank [at] franklycurious.com.

Most Popular Articles

I love some of these. Others I hate. It just goes to show that you never can tell.

Bugs Bunny: Rabbit or Hare?
This is an odd one. Before I wrote this article, no one had ever addressed it. To me it is obvious. This is one of the great questions — up there with, “Why is there evil in the world?” I’m pleased that a lot of people are interested in the question.
Charlie Pierce’s Clever Names for Things
This is a surprise hit. I wrote it mostly just so I could keep track of all the amusing names that Charlie Pierce has for people. But the page is one of the most popular on the site. And a great thing about it is that commenters will mention things to add to the list.
Analysis of the Short Film Madame Tutli-Putli
This is an old one — written the first year of the blog. I like articles like this. It’s popular because the film is not well known. And it is so strange that few are willing to stand up and explain what it means. I stand by my original analysis, which I wrote six years ago.
This Is Not a Math Joke
This is one that appears to get posted even couple of weeks on reddit. I didn’t think much of it when I wrote it. It’s just a rant — my complaints that people confuse math with the language we use to talk about math.

Random Articles

10 thoughts on “About Frank Moraes

  1. Frank, a quick correction to a 2012 post: Jill Stein DOES support term limits, at least as of 2015. See http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Jill_Stein_Government_Reform.htm Like me, she believes that term limits are a necessary but not sufficient prerequisite for change. Since 1970, House incumbents have won about 94 percent of the time. In a seniority system, where newbies are far from the levers of power, change is not really possible under these conditions. Scheduled rotation is vital when incumbents on average raise $1.6 million and challengers raise $258k. Term limits are an institutional leg up for citizens versus corporate interests. Thanks.

    • Why are you commenting here?!

      Thanks for the correction.

      I recently wrote a comment (or something) talking about how it is all those incumbents win, and it isn’t bad. Representatives solve problems for their constituents and that makes their constituents really loyal. This is why Representatives have it so much easier than Senators (and it isn’t gerrymandering, because that’s given to start with).

      I have two problems with term limits. First, it is based on the idea that anyone can be a politician and that in one of our most important jobs, it is best to have people who are still learning the job. And this just makes them more dependent upon lobbyists and others who can “educate” them on the issues of the day. Second, it is anti-democratic. I have confidence in democracy. We need to educate the people, not stop them from making choices.

      If you comment again, can you move this to the article you are referring to. I see all. And the newest comments are listed on the right of each page. You can link back to this page. Pretty much all html is allowed in comments.

      Thanks!

    • That’s kind of you! I look forward to checking out your site, which looks very interesting. Fun fact: it was started one month before Frankly Curious.

      I haven’t been creating as much new material recently because I’m consolidating material. The site has 8,000 articles, which average about 600 words. I’m trying to go more in your direction with fewer but longer articles.

      Thanks for stopping by; I will do the same at your site.

  2. Hi,

    I read your article “Copyright Law In 2019 Explained In One Page” on the whoishostingthis.com website. Thank you so much for the lengthy explanation!

    I have a question, however, that I wasn’t able to find the answer to in your article: I want to make a film that involves a character who, out of his obsession with the Joker as portrayed by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (TDK), and who is undergoing an existential crisis, begins to hallucinate seeing a double of himself who dresses (similar to) and acts like the Joker (as portrayed by Ledger).

    I can’t tell whether this would be an infringement of Warner Bros. copyright to The Dark Knight or to the DC Universe owners. The closest rule that seems to apply to me is Fair Use. However, I am not trying to criticize, comment or mock the original film. In fact, I am not using anything related to the plot, and won’t be copying any dialogue straight from the film. The character in my movie is not even, technically, the Joker. Instead, it is the main character projecting his negative side of himself as a fictional character he admires.

    As you mentioned in your article, an idea can’t be copyrighted; only a material, final product can. In my case, not only am I not using anything directly from TDK, I’m also just using the idea of a Joker, not trying to imply in any way that my main character would be interacting with the actual Joker.

    Would you please be able to help me determine whether I should be okay with writing and filming a story that uses this type of character? I have had this question for long and I still haven’t been able to answer it.

    Thanks in advance; your help is very much appreciated!

    Victor Silverio.

    • This is something you need to discuss with a lawyer. However, what you are talking about is exactly why I no longer believe in copyright. I’m certain that WB would sue you. And since you don’t have the kind of money required to defend yourself, it doesn’t really matter whether the law is on your side. You would lose. However: my guess is that the law is not on your side because characters and dress are copyrightable.

      Just the same, I don’t think this is right. The idea of copyright is to encourage creative work. But your situation is one of way too many that show copyright now discourages creative work.

      You seem to have two options. First, you could rework your story so that the “Joker” character is one you invent for your film’s universe. See the no-budget film Robot Ninja for reference. Or you could approach WB with the script, but you aren’t likely to get very far.

      It sounds like an interesting idea for a film. Good luck!

    • Thanks! Yes, I did overuse intensifiers and superlatives in the past. My last 5 years of editing have hopefully improved that!

    • Thanks! That article gets a fair amount of traffic — I assume because other people wonder about the guy. I hope it helps people. I’ll have to read it again, I don’t recall it being funny. But I may well have been on a tear. I remember being really annoyed with the call!

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