Listen to Civil_Disobedient, delmoi, and nicolas léonard sadi carnot.

Your education in Australia will cost a lot. Looking at the site delmoi linked to, you are looking at more than $10K US per year. From the same site: if you are on a student visa, you have to apply for permission to work, and can only do so after you arrive in Australia. I couldn't see anything on how many hours you can work per week, but I'm willing to bet that it is only part-time.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 2:08 AM on February 29, 2008

rxlist.com works too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 4:59 PM on February 24, 2008

As a listener, your problem isn't that I steal your music. It's that I ignore your music. Get it out there, get it heard - if people like it, you will make money off it somehow. We'll come to your gigs, we'll put money in your tip jar, we might even buy CDs. If lots of us like it, you'll be able to sell it to advertisers, if you wish. But get it out there, first of all.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 5:04 PM on February 20, 2008

I'm a straight man, so maybe I'm coming from a completely different perspective to you, but I agree with the posters above me. Keep your mouth shut. Every time I've been in your position, and spoken up, it's had negative consequences. Talking about this sort of thing makes future relationships between you and them really weird.

Maybe Dan and Tom will take it differently, but all my life experience says don't tell. Instead: grieve, try to make new friends. Eventually,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 12:23 AM on February 20, 2008

The reviews on that page are great. I loved the woman who blamed the book for her friends growing up to a life of walking on the wild side...and the 14 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO HAD TO WRITE THE TRUTH IN ALL CAPS!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 12:25 AM on February 17, 2008

I would be more worried about how edible the hot dogs would be than customs. Just walk through the "nothing to declare" gate and don't tell anyone you brought food with you.

Depends how strict the country's biosecurity laws are: plenty of people have been handed instant fines of several hundred dollars for bringing a single apple into New Zealand, for example. I have no idea how strict the Chinese biosecurity laws are, or whether they apply... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 12:40 PM on February 15, 2008

I'm going to respectfully disagree with awesomebrad. It seems to me that his suggestions match how men prefer to interact online, which is obviously fine if you're a gay man, less good if you're heterosexual.

I'm a straight man, I've spent a fair bit of time on online dating sites, and the impression I get from women on those sites is that the following, as posted by minervous, are good approaches

1) well-written and grammatically... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 12:38 PM on January 28, 2008

Any movie based on a book or short story by Philip K. Dick. See: Blade Runner (at least the original theatric release), Total Recall, and Minority Report.

Yes indeed. You missed the most egregious example, though: Screamers (adaptation of Second Variety) - a simple story with a killer payoff in the very last line, which was completely ignored in favour of a happy ending. (Paycheck, of course, was just bad - but there wasn't ever enough in the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 12:19 PM on January 8, 2008

Seconding everyone who says just do it.

I go to a fair few gigs on my own. My usual approach is to try to get there reasonably late, unless I really want to see the support band, so I don't spend too much time standing around. I'll maybe go in, get my hand stamped, find out when the bands are on, and then go out and get a coffee or something while I wait.

I've had people come up and chat to me sometimes, because I've obviously been alone - both... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 1:06 AM on January 6, 2008

Speaking as an ex-pat New Yorker, this profiling would be barely legal in America. Its totally unacceptable in the UK.

As a datapoint, I went through a very similar survey when I worked for a large-ish government organisation in the UK. This certainly isn't something unique. I make no comment about the legality.

I answered honestly (some alcohol, asthma, some history of depression) and it didn't cause me any problems. YMMV.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 10:28 AM on January 5, 2008

MDMA (ecstasy) has a long shelf life - "will last longer than you" according to Erowid. I've seen a quote attributed to Alexander Shulgin that "if they'd stored MDMA in the pyramids, it would still be usable".

No idea about other drugs, or the second part of your question.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 1:17 PM on January 1, 2008

ThePinkSuperhero: You may not post, transmit, or share User Content on the Site or Service that you did not create or that you do not have permission to post.

I suspect that "do not have permission to post" refers to copyright permissions, not permission from the people in the photographs - meaning I can't copy and post a photo from your Flickr stream without asking you, but I can post my photograph of you with no problems.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 10:22 PM on December 29, 2007

Prozac worked for me (mild-moderate, long-term depression). It did have a few costs - lowered libido and lowered inhibitions. This second one is worth bearing in mind with regards to your job - I found myself saying and doing some rather stupid things, that I might not have done before I went on the prozac. Some self-monitoring could be wise.

Also, I found that I was significantly worse off mentally for the few weeks after I began the prozac - I got worse before I got better.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 1:41 PM on December 21, 2007

Can you quote any of the lyrics? I'm reasonably familiar with their songs having seen them live a bunch of times.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 7:57 PM on December 18, 2007

Doing some digging: WhatTheFolk only lists the two songs from that episode, as does Wikipedia. So I suspect that it probably isn't one of their own songs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 8:16 PM on December 18, 2007

You've got your answer, but FWIW I agree with the previous posters. It's not one of their regular songs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 1:56 PM on December 19, 2007

Seconding Pynchon, there's a clear influence in Infinite Jest.
Also seconding Dickens, and emphasizing Bleak House. David Copperfield is good too; if you like those, you might as well try his others.
Definitely seconding George Eliot - Middlemarch and William Thackeray - Vanity Fair. Fielding's Tom Jones is great as well.
Tristram Shandy by Laurence Stern might appeal (the weirdest early novel I've read; feels more like a recent post-modern novel than an 18th... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 10:25 PM on December 17, 2007

Music: Nature's Best is definitely the way to go as a starting point: it will give a good mix of the really popular Kiwi songs (the ones everyone sings along to drunkenly at parties) and some of the better indie/alternative stuff. Though it's a little weak on hiphop and dance, IIRC.

Indie music: The Chills; The Clean; Straightjacket Fits, the Verlaines; Chris Knox (solo; with Toy Love); Headless Chickens. (Though those are all kinda old now). The Phoenix Foundation are... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 2:39 AM on December 15, 2007

Blur: End of A Century: "and your mind gets dirty/as you get closer/to thirty"
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 1:19 PM on December 13, 2007

Wouldn't bother writing to the Queen (how much mail do you think she gets?). A local MP or newspaper might be more likely to be read. Other than that, I'm with the others who suggest volunteering.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 1:13 PM on December 13, 2007

According to the National Library of New Zealand's catalogue, there was a cassette version, copies of which are held in a couple of NZ libraries.

I can't find any evidence of a CD version, or anything online.

*Maybe* you could order a cassette copy via interlibrary loan, and copy from that [but don't, because it would be illegal]. But even if you could, there's zero chance you could do this before Christmas, anyway.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 7:43 PM on December 9, 2007

If you have any chance for travel (to the south island, to Australia, away to go to school), that is a perfect excuse to readjust your social world; otherwise you have to do it the old fashioned way, by just being brave and talking to new people.

While reading Forktine's post, I started thinking along these lines, only to see that s/he had already spelled it out.

NZ is small (especially in subculture scenes). If you do some... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 11:58 AM on November 22, 2007

I tend to agree with pravit: go somewhere different and interesting. I've been to Bangalore and I think you'd have an interesting time there.

On those grounds, I'd advise against Canberra (there are some interesting cities in Australia, Canberra isn't really one of them).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 11:41 AM on November 22, 2007

Winston Peters (Maori) was deputy PM in NZ from 1994-98

True, though he wasn't directly elected (he got in as part of a coalition deal between NZ First and National - only a small percentage of the electorate would have wanted him as PM at the time).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 3:25 PM on November 20, 2007

the question is not "do other sports have rules that provide for the ejection of players and coaches," it's "Do players and coaches from other sports get ejected from games as much as players and managers do in baseball?"

(Not snarking): It would be helpful (especially for us non-USains) for someone to explain how often baseball players/managers get ejected. I could probably find you stats for red cards in soccer fairly easily,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 2:53 PM on November 19, 2007

Bit esoteric, maybe, but former New Zealand Prime Ministers: from that list Savage (first Labour PM, pretty much invented the NZ welfare state), Fraser (active in founding of the UN), Holyoake, and Kirk all left school without any qualifications - some at the age of 12.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 3:50 PM on November 15, 2007

For some critical theory about social networking sites, look at Danah Boyd's work. The last issue of the Journal of Computer Mediated Communication has a focus on social technologies (I haven't read it yet, but it looks interesting).

I'd add Information Wants to Be Free, Shifted Librarian and Librarian in Black to the list of blogs that rykey mentioned.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 11:14 AM on November 15, 2007

Seconding earlier answers, especially phaedon.

Just to reiterate, this isn't you, it's them. (I did a brief slot as a student radio DJ, real low level, and even I got this sort of thing once: I had one woman call me 3 or 4 times in a show, then when I mentioned my girlfriend on air, she rang back and started insulting me...)

I see nothing wrong with replying to one-off emails, but if they keep writing back and being too chatty or inappropriately... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 3:24 PM on November 8, 2007

teststrip covered NZ pretty well. I'll point out that many of the Pacific Islands are surprisingly expensive, especially if you want to eat Western-style food (a lot of it is imported). Rarotonga, for example, was about as expensive as traveling in NZ - probably not too cheap for you at the moment, given the low US dollar.

LonelyPlanet will give you the basics of visas and costs for different Pacific nations. You might want to check if you can camp - I don't know about... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 7:14 PM on November 3, 2007

the bone people" by keri hulme is supposed to be amazing. i believe it is about an australian living among a tribe in polynesia.

I'm pretty sure it isn't....

You're not thinking of Lloyd Jones' Mister Pip, are you? That's about a New Zealander living in Papua New Guinea, in a low-tech tribal village, and is probably worth a read.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 4:48 PM on November 1, 2007

The Murderers are Among Us is pretty good:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038769/

Made in 1946, apparently the first German film after the war.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 12:10 AM on October 31, 2007

I know lots of people who fight to hang on to relationships because they really, really REALLY want to be in a relationship, not because they actually are into the other person.

While this is true, I would suggest that anyone who isn't fighting to hang onto a relationship certainly isn't into the other person.

I echo everyone else, especially 45moore45. If she really wanted to continue this, she would be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 3:55 PM on October 27, 2007

I can give you the New Zealand law:

11. Every person commits an offence against this Act who,—

(a)Without lawful authority, alters the New Zealand Flag by the placement thereon of any letter, emblem, or representation.

Flags Emblems and Names Protection Act 1981 via legislation.govt.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 7:26 PM on October 25, 2007

Pessimistic:
Joy Division.
Swans 'God Damn the Sun'.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 2:22 PM on October 21, 2007

Step It Out Mary
Marie's Wedding
When Will We Be Married?
The Wild Rover
The Irish Rover

Possibly a good idea to avoid The Boys of the Old Brigade or The Foggy Dew.

The pedant in me points out that '...and the band played Waltzing Matilda' is an Eric Bogle song, and Ewan McColl wrote 'Dirty Old Town', but the Pogues-lover in me agrees with the choices.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 12:23 AM on October 7, 2007

The Premier League is suing YouTube (2 MB PDF) to get that material taken down.

Football 365 is a good and irreverent site with a humourous slant. Gives you a feel for the context of the game and the fans' perspectives, not just match reports. But not a lot of video.

I'd agree with the recommendation for Match of the Day. It meets your needs pretty well.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 4:28 PM on October 6, 2007

Pretty much any of the first five Ramones albums will do you nicely.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 2:12 AM on October 2, 2007

I'm a guy, and I'm in New Zealand, so my comments may not totally apply. However, I've used online dating extensively and met my current partner online.

1. Approach guys that you find interesting. In my experience, there are more males than females on these sites, which means that males have to make considerable effort to attract a woman: our messages are competing against so many other messages. I had pretty much become disillusioned with online dating and was about to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 3:06 AM on September 27, 2007

Start with what you have, which is the Wikipedia article. Check the sources listed there. Check their bibliographies for earlier texts which they cite. Use a citation index to find subsequent works which have cited them.

Try to find a more scholarly encyclopedia article which deals with the subject, and check the sources cited there.

Try to find a journal article which discusses it (use your library's databases; talk to a reference librarian to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 5:36 PM on September 20, 2007

Come Back From San Francisco - The Magnetic Fields.
I Thought You Were My Boyfriend - The Magnetic Fields.
London - The Smiths
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 1:16 AM on September 16, 2007

Echoing Joe's Spleen: Fiji should be cheap, but there are potential risks.

Here's the NZ government's advice on Fiji (we're monitoring the issue fairly closely as it's in our backyard, relatively speaking). The summary: there is "some risk". The Aussies "suggest caution". (Other countries' warnings linked from the NZ page, but some (e.g. the US one) are now out of date, due to developments in the last few days).

I'm going to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 5:17 PM on September 7, 2007

Using quote marks around the !!! should work on Google, in theory, but doesn't.

At the risk of stating the obvious: following Tomorrowful's first comment, Googling "pronounced chk chk chk" gets good results (including this one that discusses this very problem).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 4:06 PM on September 6, 2007

Maybe some Philip K Dick? Deus Irae? Do Androids Dream...even?

Short story: There Will Come Soft Rains (forget the author).


Children of Men, if it's as good as the movie.

Some spoilers ahead.





Really.







Very... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 10:14 PM on August 30, 2007

Anecdote: while working in the UK for a temp agency, they accidentally paid me twice. If I remember correctly, they phoned me up and asked me to sign something (or do something) to enable them to recover the money. It was a while ago, so my memory's hazy, but I'm not sure that they could easily have taken the money from me, without my approval. Of course, it was fairly obvious that if I'd hung onto the money, my future prospects would have been fairly poor.

I would be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 3:30 PM on August 30, 2007

How about Poleconomy, the British Commonwealth version of Monopoly. I've only played the Canadian version, but apparently there is a UK version and an Australian version.

Ah, Poleconomy, no wonder I wasn't getting any good hits on a search for Polyconomy. I distinctly remember playing a New Zealand version in the 1980s, but quite possibly I was really playing the Australian version. I quite enjoyed it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 8:43 PM on August 14, 2007

Noting i_am_joe's_spleen's post, I would strongly encourage your wife to declare absolutely everything at Customs. Err on the side of caution. Carry an apple through without declaring it? They *will* hit you with an instant fine of several hundred dollars.

Much better to declare everything, and maybe have to disinfect your hiking boots. I had to do this, it isn't really much of a hassle and it's a lot better than a fine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 3:23 PM on August 11, 2007

See also (there are other similar AskMe's, too).

I also accidentally washed my phone.

I put the phone in the hot water cupboard and let it dry there for a few days. It partially recovered (there's gunk under the faceplate, and some of the buttons didn't work for a while).

Taking it apart, not turning it on, and placing it somewhere warm and dry would seem to work reasonably well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 8:41 PM on August 8, 2007 marked best answer

Thirding Abiezer's and gspm's recommendation - it's updated very rapidly (provisional scores are updated during games), and contains a good level of detail (e.g, players score points for more than just goals and assists). It's also free.

But note gspm's comments that it lacks the H2H and draft elements that seem to characterize American fantasy leagues. These don't seem common in English fantasy leagues, perhaps because real English sports don't contain a draft system,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 3:12 PM on July 31, 2007

According to Lonely Planet, you need a visa before you will be allowed into India (as others have said) - and "most" embassies will not issue you with a visa unless you have a return/onwards ticket.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 6:28 PM on July 30, 2007

Not a lawyer, but pretty sure there's no contract here:

Offer: I'm buying the place, are you interested?
Counter-offer: yes, but there are a few things I'd like to discuss.

No acceptance of the original offer, so no contract.

On preview, what whoallli said.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Infinite Jest at 4:21 PM on July 29, 2007