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Paused but not dead
So, a few days ago I put up a post saying that the odds of PacifiGo continuing to run in anything resembling its current form were quite slim. Well, sometimes slim odds come up. Short version: I managed to figure a way to make the numbers less horrendous, and I will be continuing PacifiGo from Melbourne. There will be a hiatus during the move and re-organisation (I’ve disabled payment options on orders so you shouldn’t be able to complete any, and any that slip through I’ll just cancel and refund when I have a moment), and possibly a price increase to help absorb some increased costs, but we’ll see how…
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PacifiGo Closing Down
For reasons that don’t matter here, I will be moving to Melbourne from Brisbane in the very near future. Nearer than I’d like, but one downside of the housing crisis is timeframes get super-squeezed. As in, the end of next week. For years I’ve run PacifiGo essentially out of my garage, in large part because as much as I genuinely believe PacifiGo has helped people get into go by providing a way to get decent quality sets at a reasonable price, it doesn’t make nearly enough to justify paying for storage. This has been fine. However, the place I have ended up in Melbourne does not have workable storage sufficient…
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Money troubles
Hey everyone! So it has eventuated that there’s a chance I will need to move states in a few months. It’s not settled for sure yet, but the chances are substantial enough that I need to start working out potential logistics. In itself this isn’t terribly interesting to any of you, but it does create a logistical problem for me. See, at the moment, I store the stock in my garage – I don’t do enough business to pay for a storage unit big enough (boards are seriously bulky), and I don’t really need the space anyway. However, if I’m moving, I can’t guarantee I’ll have access to a garage…
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How Your Data is Protected
So a few minutes ago I received an e-mail claiming that the website was hacked, and the hackers were going to destroy my reputation by selling all the customer’s information and so on and so forth unless I paid them. At this time, I have zero reason to believe the e-mail is truthful; I see no signs of tampering, the passwords are all the same (although I have changed them just to be super-safe), no unusual activity etc. As a result, I have a high confidence that it’s one of those scam e-mails that says “we have damaging information, give us money or we’ll release it” when they don’t have…
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Classifieds section
So, I’ve spoken to a few people over the last few weeks who want to teach go, or set up a club, or whatever, but there isn’t a workable platform to present. You could use social media, but that has problems with privacy or unfair moderation or algorithmic weirdness or simply being able to find your listings in the infinite scroll. You could use pages like GumTree, but they’ll do things like remove your listing and ban you, and refuse to say why even when asked. So, as part of the ongoing process of promoting go and helping the go community, I’ve set up a Classifieds section on this website.…
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Gunbu no Pair Go
So people come to know about go through many different means. For me, it was a combination of the local go club coming to a board game club I was a part of, and the anime Hikaru no Go. For others, it was either the AlphaGo games, or the documentary surrounding it. But either way, it seems clear that media is a major potential tool in letting people know about this game we all love so much. Which is part of why I’m so excited to see yet another go manga coming out, namely Gunbu no Pair Go (first chapter freely available at the link, albeit in Japanese – hopefully…
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PacifiGo Perennial
It is my very great pleasure to announce the second annual PacifiGo Perennial on the 28th of May, 2022! This is an annual tournament we run in partnership with the Queensland Go Society, in which we cover all the costs of the tournament (entry, medals, venue rent) in order to have a tournament that anyone can participate in without worrying about cost! It’s a one-day tournament, so you don’t need to dedicate an entire weekend (I’m looking at you, Open division players who take time to think). Details still to be finalised (post will update as needed), but here’s what’s decided so far: Date: 28th May, 2022Time: Registration opens 9:30am,…
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Experience Korea festival
Hey all! Just a quick note that this weekend (the 23rd of April, 2022) I will be teaming up with the Queensland Go Society to have a stall at the Experience Korea festival at Kuraby from 10am to 3pm. I will mostly be teaching people about go (well, baduk), but also – because I’m a filthy capitalist who likes paying bills – will be selling go sets to innocent passers-by new players! The event looks like it’ll be a lot of fun – if poorly publicised – so drop by and say hi!
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DAKTECH Cup 2022 Announcement!
The 2022 DAKTECH Cup is now open for registrations! Run in order to raise money for Rare Cancers Australia, this is a tournament open to players from Australia or New Zealand – always fun, I like playing players from different clubs and regions – they have new tricks to learn, and my old tricks sometimes even work! This tournament is conceived and managed by Townsville Go Club convenor (and personal friend) Colton Tinkey, who is an absolute stand-up guy, so go and support his efforts to help the world! Entry is a minimum $15 donation to Rare Cancers Australia – the link above is probably the easiest way. There have…
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Biggest Tournament Blunders?
One of the things I like about online tournaments, especially organised by clubs or bodies like the QGS or the New Zealand Go Society, is that you play against people you never would otherwise. I was watching such a game today. The New Zealand Digital Tournament is on currently (and I’m participating!), and a friend of mine (a 40+ year old living in Brisbane) had their match against a 10 year old from New Zealand. The 10 year old (who I’ll call Felix, and was playing White) had my friend (who I’ll call Horatio, playing Black) dead to rights – he was up by about 40 points, and Horatio had…