When I was visiting New Zealand, I absolutely LOVED Queenstown. It had a really traveller/hippie/student vibe... Also had a bit of that out-of-season ski-resort type of feel too (we were there about this time last year... so mid-late fall for them). An absolutely gorgeous little town nestled into the mountains... Maybe not the best place to settle for the year (particularly for your bf's line of work) - unless you're really into that sort of vibe and willing to work in the service industry... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 6:53 AM on May 28, 2008

Yup... he'll lose out on firmware updates (very handy, IMO... on the 360 alone, it's added in things like divx support for the media center functionality, which is super useful for me)... the PS3 also adds functionality through firmware updates, not just bug fixes, but if your brother is happy to play games and put up with the bugs? It will be more of an annoyance than anything. Plus, he also won't get to compare his gamerscore online with his buddies. :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 7:02 AM on May 9, 2008

peep - don't you have a wireless router? The PS3 has BUILT IN WIRELESS! :) And see the link posted by jozxyqk above for all the PS3 system updates thus far.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 10:16 AM on May 9, 2008

Hrmm, I guess 2 days is too recent to show up in a MeFi search then, blast! Ahh well, more links any way!
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 8:03 AM on May 9, 2008

The thing about HTTrack is, the scan rules aren't quite so smart. The inclusion rules are kind of dumb, actually, because unless you specifically exclude something (say, *96*.mp3), it will download them any way. So really, the only way you can add rules that are useful is if you have specific things that you want excluded. I've tried just putting in "+*192*.mp3" as an inclusion rule, but then it still goes and downloads every other type of mp3 file as well.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:13 AM on February 14, 2008

Although, looking at httrack's advanced rules pages, it looks like the order of rules might make a difference. So perhaps that was my problem? Maybe if I do "-*.mp3 +*192*.mp3" it'll work?
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:16 AM on February 14, 2008 marked best answer

Ugh. Ok, anybody looking for a dumbass? Yeah, that would be me - turns out, the reason WHY it kept downloading EVERYTHING even though I only wanted the *192*.mp3 files is because there was a "192" in the password for the site... so even though it wasn't technically part of the URL, because HTTrack uses the http://user:password@siteaddress.com/blah format to fetch links, it's not smart enough to exclude the user/pass from the scan rule matching.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:36 AM on February 14, 2008 marked best answer

I marked all the HTTrack answers as best answer, because they helped me find out my dumbassedness. Thanks folks! :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 12:22 PM on February 14, 2008

I always just thought it was called a balance pole. The Wikipedia entry on tightrope walking doesn't have a specific term either.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 8:26 AM on February 12, 2008

Hrmm... dang. I worried that that might be the case. Ahh well. I'll try to get it figured out sooner or later.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 8:05 AM on January 16, 2008

Many thanks all! I'll check out those options... the Trackstick looks awesome, though it's expensive! That Royaltek one looks like it might be right up my alley!

Cheers!
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:18 AM on December 18, 2007

I've never heard this. I would be curious how it could possibly be true.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:45 AM on December 17, 2007

You worked there for 6 years, and can't find *anybody* to give you a reference? Yikes. Well, if previous references are still around, I'd say your best excuse is "My previous employer has a policy of not giving out references, either written or verbal, for legal reasons" - hopefully new employers will believe that, as in some cases it's actually true (my last company is an example of this).

As for why you left? It's not too hard to make up something... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:27 AM on July 23, 2007

I have to agree and disagree about the health issues. The way you phrase it here, definitely does sound spooky. But a simpler explanation of it "I got in a car accident and couldn't work for a while, so I left my last job" seems to me like it would be a perfectly adequate answer for any employer.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:44 AM on July 19, 2007

My SD450 died after it tried to turn on in my bag - the lens couldn't extend properly, and it broke the mechanism inside. Luckily it was still under warranty, but I've been MUCH more careful with it since.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:22 AM on July 19, 2007

Also - bear in mind that the viewfinders on compact P&S cameras are often seriously innacurate. Unless I'm shooting with my SLR, I prefer to use the screen on the back as my viewfinder. With the SD450, I'll still get fantastic battery life as the screen shuts itself off in a short period of time of inactivity (ie no buttons pressed) and turns itself right back on as soon as you half-press the shutter.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 11:24 AM on July 19, 2007

Hrmm... are the little tape winder bits spinning properly? I was under the impression that modern tape players learned how to flip sides by the tension in the winding bits - that is, as soon as it feels any resistance, it stops playing in one direction and tries to play in the other direction. However, I could be *totally* wrong on this. It's something to check on, at any rate.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 10:13 AM on July 19, 2007 marked best answer

I haven't had a camera yet that charges via USB (and it annoys me to no end) - including my Canon SD450... but your mileage may vary.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 7:39 AM on July 19, 2007

Without telling you what proof they require, they basically have you by the nuts. I would go back to them and ask them what *type* of professional needs to create the report. I mean, you could take it to a computer store, tell them the story, and get them to write you up a letter. You could also get them to take a multimeter to the power supply, which should show some irregularities somewhere if it is, indeed, the problem. But then eBuyer could say "Yeah, that's not the type of report... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 12:53 PM on July 9, 2007

You would almost certainly wake up when you started choking on the water - but at the same time you could be very disoriented, not know where you are, and still end up drowning because you couldn't swim to the surface. Keep that in mind.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 8:26 AM on July 9, 2007

Just wanted to add in here - you definitely should have been complaining about the mold from the day it was found. That's a serious health issue right there. I would think you had a couple options with respect to that mold, as far as threatening to/actually reporting him to a health inspector (or building inspector? who actually deals with such things?). Not sure whether or not that will help you with your outstanding utility bill though.

Definitely try to find a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 8:09 AM on July 9, 2007

I just came to AskMe today to ask this same question. My dog is keeping us up at nights with his obsessive licking (my fiancee and I are staying at my mom's place at the moment, so he has to sleep in our room with us), and my guess is plant allergies of some sort as he does this every spring, but ONLY in the spring. It seems particularly bad this year, but then so do my own hayfever allergies.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 7:16 AM on June 25, 2007

Your friend might be better off traveling to Cuba from a Caribbean country rather than Canada. US Customs has a strong presence in Canada and will sniff him out relatively quickly.

Really? Does US customs wander around Canadian airports looking for American tourists leaving for, or returning from Cuba? This seems very strange to me. Or is it just that US customs has ties to Canadian customs, and so there's a good chance of information sharing there?
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 6:20 AM on April 19, 2007

US Customs is in Canada -- or at least it was when, ah, an American I know went to Cuba. It's unnerving to suddenly bump into US Customs at the start of your flight to the US.

Well, I was aware of that (I've made a few flights from YYZ to the states in my day) - but I guess I was just assuming that this American flying with the OP was living in Canada, not just transiting through the airport on their way back to the US. If they ARE transiting... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 8:14 AM on April 19, 2007

A big telltale sign for customs agents to search for is an American citizen returning from Canada with a tan.

... presumably in winter, of course. :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 7:05 AM on April 20, 2007

Hrmm... thanks for the advice thus far folks... I'd love to hear more! My mom is going to look into her insurance policy - we are shipping our stuff that's not traveling (FFox spell check says only one 'l' in that word? hrmm) with us back to my mom's place, so I guess it wouldn't be too hard to claim that it *is* our residence, despite not actually living there yet. We've actually been quite bad about getting renter's insurance here. It's something that we kept talking about doing, but never... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 7:18 AM on April 10, 2007

Just an update: my mom's home insurance company says that they won't cover our stuff until we actually move in. Annoying. I'm looking into renter's insurance options here, now.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 6:09 AM on April 11, 2007

Even better update (not): in Ireland, if you are renting your accomodations, Insurance companies do not provide the option to insure items taken out of the house (such as engagement rings, photography equipment, laptops). If you own the house? No problem. But not if you rent it. WTF? What difference does THAT make?
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 9:26 AM on April 18, 2007

How about i Trip plus a cheap portable radio? Assuming you have an iPod of course.

Or, eliminating the need for an iPod, something like the SF150C : SoundFeeder Computer Music FM Transmitter with USB Power Cord from this page. But really, a cheap set of speakers (even with your laptop just outside the door, you don't even really need a long cable) will probably suffice.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 5:58 AM on April 18, 2007

PenguinBukkake, have you considered photobucket.com as a interim solution? They do not allow hot-linking and their free account is pretty generous.

Umm, if Photobucket doesn't allow hotlinking, how will PenguinBukkake display the photos on his/her blog?
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 5:35 AM on April 18, 2007

And ImgRed will prevent your image from being hotlinked from *your* site, but it won't prevent hotlinking in general. Do you want people to not use your images at all? Or are you happy as long as they're not leeching up your TypePad bandwidth?
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 5:48 AM on April 18, 2007

My friend will often email ebay sellers to see if they'll sell for cash in hand. Generally, he does it for a few reasons:

1) It means that he's guaranteed to get the item
2) He's hoping to get it for less than the auction COULD go for if it gets into a bidding war
3) He hates dealing with paypal.

So, it's not necessarily a scam. But, it's entirely possible that you could get more than the 90 quid for it and that's why... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 2:25 AM on April 17, 2007

I do believe that it must, in some way, break ebay's terms of service. Which means that it is probably illegal.

Hrmm... breaking eBay's TOS does not necessarily mean (or even PROBABLY mean) doing something illegal. That's just silly.

The seller cancels the auction and relists with "buy it now" -- or perhaps it's now possible just to change the type of auction while keeping everything else the same.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 12:50 AM on April 18, 2007

Yikes. Ok, here's a bunch of things that could be reasons for what happened. It could also be none of these things:

1) He has a double standard. Says it's fine for you to date other people, but gets a sour taste in his mouth when you actually do.

2) He actually secretly likes you, but doesn't realize it. So when you started dating other people, he was hurt subconsciously but didn't realize why, and figured that it meant... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 7:33 AM on April 16, 2007

pwally: Sure, that might be a possibility, but I can't see how he could have possibly gotten the idea that she was looking for a relationship with him. If anything, the opposite would be true - she was exclusively seeing him, then moved on to dating other people. In theory, she is coming off as LESS interested in him now than she was before.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 7:58 AM on April 16, 2007

Which, of course, is very much a possibility as the explanation for why he decided to just be friends.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 8:00 AM on April 16, 2007

Oh, and don't forget to update us on how things turn out!
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 1:45 AM on April 17, 2007

There are plenty of examples of syntax in Hiberno-English derived from Irish though which give unique phrases such as "He's after messing everything up" rather than "He has messed everything up" or "He has no Irish" meaning "He doesn't speak Irish."

I'm after picking up some of these in my daily speech, as a Canadian who's lived here for a year and a half. Along with adding "like" to the end of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 1:41 AM on April 17, 2007

When I have Bluetooth enabled on my RAZR, even on standby without using the headset, I've found that my battery life is DRAMATICALLY lower. So now I just turn it on when I intend to use the headset, and my phone stops dying every few days - I get a good 3-4 days without recharging (I don't talk on it much :))
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 1:27 AM on April 17, 2007

However, it is worth noting that VNC and RDP are typically blocked by corporate firewalls and some public routers. A second and very useful tool in your remote access toolkit would be Hamachi.

Of course, you can change what ports are used by RDP and VNC clients, and set your router at home to use a non-standard port number to get around corporate firewall port blocking. My work blocks port 5900 (VNC's default), so I just changed my router at home... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 4:31 AM on April 16, 2007

Another problem I had, when I logged into an RDP session, I would be logged out of the computer locally, and vice-versa.

There's a command line option (/console) that logs you in to the console session, to prevent exactly this from happening. This prevents you from logging out the currently logged in user.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 1:35 PM on April 16, 2007

I'm confused - does this actually need to be a Wordpress plugin? I don't see where the Wordpress integration is required.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 3:31 AM on April 16, 2007

Ahh yes, I forgot about the CSS goodness benefits of WP. Disregard my previous comment

Indeed, it would be helpful to know what ones you've already tried. And if you can't find one that you like, I could almost certainly write one up in a few days (provided the WP plugin writing is as easy as it's meant to be...) - I've already got a bit of experience writing Flickr API apps.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 4:19 AM on April 16, 2007

geez , next thing you're going to tell us is that you don't refrigerate ketchup. the horror!

There is nothing worse in this world than cold ketchup. Yuck. I don't care if the bottle says "refrigerate after opening" - I've been keeping it opened in the cupboard for my whole life, and never gotten sick (That stuff NEVER goes off! I've got one in the cupboard at home right now that's been there a good 3 months, and I just had some yesterday.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 9:03 AM on April 11, 2007

The ketchup bottle does not say "refrigerate after opening."

I don't have a ketchup bottle handy to check, but the last time I had this argument with a girlfriend, the bottle (Heinz, I believe this was here in Ireland but it may have been in Canada) did in fact say "Refrigerate after opening". So, at some point in fairly recent history this was, in fact the case. But this is a bit of a derail, any way :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 1:05 AM on April 12, 2007

Just an update on the ketchup situation/derail: here in Ireland, Heinz ketchup does actually say to refrigerate after opening, and on top of that it even says to consume within 8 weeks and discard. I'm thwarting them on TWO fronts with my current 4 month old bottle of ketchup that's been sitting in the cupboard.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 3:40 AM on April 16, 2007

miss lynster: again, don't think the Zout will be useful with this particular pair of unwashed denim jeans.

Having said that - I had no idea that such a thing existed. I'm fascinated by the lengths that people will go to for their jeans.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 3:28 AM on April 16, 2007

You want excellent indoor and nighttime quality, yet you don't want a DSLR... Hrmmm. Unfortunately, many compact digicams are pretty much shit at precisely those things (unless you use flash, in which case you get lovely washed out faces). I'd second image stabilisation - I think Canon's doing a lot more IS on their smaller cameras now - but you have to keep in mind that image stabilisation only helps with *camera shake* - if your subject is moving at all, it will still blur mightily.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 3:20 AM on April 16, 2007

I don't think it's really possible to be objective about something that you've put hundreds or thousands of hours of work into. Really, you just have to trust the judgment of others when it comes to things like this. The fact that 4 separate investors weren't interested isn't necessarily proof that it won't be successful - investors have missed the boat LOTS of times in the past. You could put it out there for free or go the shareware route, and see how popular it becomes. Then let the money... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 3:21 AM on April 12, 2007

Hrmm, can't vouch for these folks, but they popped up as the first result of a Google search for "brooklyn cat sanctuary". They could probably give you some good info, at any rate.
posted to Ask Metafilter by antifuse at 9:25 AM on April 11, 2007