Robbie Ellis

It’s the dreaded blackout – en.wikipedia.org is down for the next 24 hours. Students will be unable to write essays; journalists will be unable to write stories; the general public can’t use it as a “brain extension”.

The geekily insightful web comic xkcd has done a great job of covering Wikipedia’s influence on modern life:

http://xkcd.com/333/ – Getting Out of Hand
(Used under CC BY-NC 2.5)

Thankfully Google isn’t participating in the blackout, so a quick search for “site:xkcd.com Wikipedia” is not only possible, but fruitful. Here’s a collection of xkcd episodes about Wikipedia:

• http://xkcd.com/214/ – The Problem with Wikipedia
• http://xkcd.com/285/ – Wikipedian Protester
• http://xkcd.com/333/ – Getting Out of Hand (above)
• http://xkcd.com/446/ – In Popular Culture
• http://xkcd.com/545/ – Neutrality Schmeutrality
• http://xkcd.com/547/ – Simple
• http://xkcd.com/739/ – Malamanteau (itself a neologism)
• http://xkcd.com/843/ – Misconceptions
• http://xkcd.com/906/ – Advertising Discovery
• http://xkcd.com/911/ – Magic School Bus
• http://xkcd.com/978/ – Citogenesis

Have I missed any out?

I arrived in Dunedin just over eight hours ago. Chronology of my week:

• Tue 10: the last time presenting Sound Lounge.
• Wed 11: my last day at work for Radio New Zealand Concert; after-work drinks.
• Thu 12: packed up all my belongings in my flat in Wellington; parents flew into town.
• Fri 13: movers arrived to take half of the belongings in a truck; big karaoke-filled farewell party at The Fringe Bar (with a superbly varied cross-section of Wellingtonians)
• Sat 14: tetrised the remainder of my belongings into my car; sailed from Wellington to Picton; stayed overnight in Kaikoura.
• Sun 15: drove from Kaikoura to Dunedin; stopped in Christchurch to walk the perimeter of the Red Zone (more on that later); unpacked my stuff into my new flat.

I have a lawn.

In true awesome Dunedin fashion, my wall-mate (i.e. I’m in 12A, she’s in 12B) helped me unload a car’s worth of stuff, suggested the best Indian restaurant in town (Little India, 308 Moray Pl, for the record) and gave me a brief tiki-tour of the university campus.

After that, I’ve taken the chance to unpack and find a home for many items. It’s not yet perfect, but it’s coming along. Amusingly, the best place to store my musical instruments is in the kitchen. This beat is cookin’.

Also, I have a lawn.

And I’m missing an office chair. My acquired-from-previous-tenant desk is pretty useless without something to sit on – should have thought of that maybe.

Also, I know it’s supposed to be the middle of summer, but I’m regretting sending my two heaters with the movers instead of packing one in the car. If this is the middle of summer…

I’m presenting Settling the Score on Radio New Zealand Concert today. It’s the top 60 countdown.

Follow the progress as I update the webpage here: http://www.radionz.co.nz/score - better yet, listen live (how to listen, live audio stream here).

Five New Zealand pieces before lunchtime! That’s quite cool.

Also this: