Brain crack
Ze Frank's phrase, explained by Hank, for an idea kept in your head until it can be done perfectly, so the brain gets addicted to the idea of ideas; the cure is to get ideas out fast.
Early context: Hank calls brain crack one of the fundamental gifts Ze Frank has given the world and links Ze Frank's brain crack video. — Dr. Manhattan's Dangle and Brain Crack 00:00:00
in-group term (adopted phrase) · in 8 videos, 2009–2012 · peak 2011 (4 videos) · last heard 2012
- First in the videos: 2009-03-18 · Dr. Manhattan's Dangle and Brain Crack 00:00:00
- Last in the videos: 2012-09-25 · Do Businesses Need to Suck? 00:00:00
- Related threads: Hank invites viewers to carry out his give-away ideas (2009) (Mar 2009) · Hank asks Nerdfighters to share their brain crack ideas in comments and video responses (2009) (Mar 2009) · URLatron: Hank's Tumblr-to-.com domain service (2011) (Oct 2011)
Videos per year: 2009: 3 · 2011: 4 · 2012: 1
Every video
2009
| date | video | use | what is said |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-03-18 | Dr. Manhattan's Dangle and Brain Crack 00:00:00 | mention | Hank calls brain crack one of the fundamental gifts Ze Frank has given the world and links Ze Frank's brain crack video. |
| 2009-09-15 | Internetless in Maine 00:00:45 | mention | Brain crack idea one: build vending machines into buses (Greyhound or city) so riders can get a Coke or a sandwich, because he is always hungry and thirsty on buses. |
| 2009-09-16 | #@$%#!!! From Maine 00:02:14 | mention | Brain crack: Hank wants a wristwatch or head clamp that tracks his sleep cycle and wakes him at the right moment, coming out of REM sleep. |
2011
| date | video | use | what is said |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-02-07 | Cancer Sniffing Dog 00:01:22 | mention | Hank's 'horrible brain crack' idea: film the books and knick-knacks behind him and link each to a review or its story; about 200 hours of work, so it stays unmade. |
| 2011-08-12 | The Fair: Testacular! 00:01:27 | mention | Hank says he has been suffering from severe brain crack lately, with two huge projects on his mind. |
| 2011-09-14 | How to Make Ideas Real: Readit1st.com 00:01:02 | mention | Hank says he then sat with the idea, perfecting it in his head while it never became real; Ze Frank calls this brain crack and freed him from it. |
| 2011-10-21 | Signing Psychosis, BlizzCon, TFiOS, Awesome Adventures, and URLatron 00:02:26 | mention | A year ago Hank's video on setting up a .com domain described a process costing about $80; a friend's brain crack simplified it and, after months of work, URLatron is ready to launch. → URLatron: Hank's Tumblr-to-.com domain service (2011) (last documented in 2011 (looked back on in 2025), 2025-12-09) |
2012
| date | video | use | what is said |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-09-25 | Do Businesses Need to Suck? 00:00:00 | mention | John says we all feel for-profit companies kind of suck even though we like what they make, like iPads and Dr Pepper, and wonders why, as co-owner of one. |