• Announcing the PacifiGo Perennial

    1 June 2021 /

    Hey everyone! Some of you may be aware that I’m closely tied to the Queensland Go Society and the Brisbane Go Club – in fact, trying to sort out equipment for them is what led to PacifiGo in the first place. The QGS and BGC generally try to have a tournament roughly every 2 months or so. Doesn’t always work out, especially lately, but that’s the goal. In 2019 the Mainland Chinese Society of Queensland (MCSQ) sponsored a tournament. We ran it, everyone had fun, we had an unexpected tie for 3rd place in the Open Division despite having 3 layers of tie-breakers, good times. However, while I can’t confirm…

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  • Black Bowls?

    4 March 2021 /

    So, I was contacting one of the suppliers, looking to restock some stones and bowls, and they mentioned that in addition to the usual brown jujube bowls, they also some some lovely black ones! What to stock is always a bit of guesswork for me. If something sells a lot, I obviously try to keep it in stock, but with new things? Always a bit of a gamble. So I’m asking you! What do you think? Would you buy these, or would you prefer the dark brown ones?

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  • 2020 Australian Go Census Data

    26 December 2020 /

    So the 2020 Australian Go Census has come to an end. The anonymised data can be found here. Honestly, I’m not thrilled with this dataset. I was trying to streamline the process, but looking at it I think I lost more than I gained. The Limesurvey system is fine, but the way it handles data exporting and managing is awkward at best. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Qualtrics, I don’t know. But more precisely what bothers me about this dataset comes down to the size. In usual, when you run a survey like this, you get a number of completed responses, and maybe double that number in partial responses –…

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  • Spreading the Love

    27 November 2020 /

    TL;DR: I’d like to donate a portion of the gross income of PacifiGo to organisations that will do good in the world. Details still to be worked out. Asking for thoughts. So, as it says on the “My Story” part of the page, a large part of the reason I started PacifiGo in the first place is because I honestly, sincerely believe that the sheer cost of buying go sets that aren’t awful puts a lot of people, who would have otherwise really enjoyed the game, off getting more into it. Maybe they can’t afford it, maybe they figure dropping $400 on a set for a game that they like…

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  • Officially Live!

    14 November 2020 /

    This website has been a labour of love – and stubbornness, and frustration – for almost a year now, but I am finally able to say, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that this website is now live and able to accept orders. As of yesterday, it has successfully processed both an order and an international order! Very glad to have reached this level, and again, it couldn’t have happened without Genius Girlfriend 2D’s endless patience and work. And of course your support!

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  • 2020 Australian Go Census

    31 October 2020 /

    So, the website is in a much better shape than it was – many thanks to Genius Girlfriend 2D! But that’s not what I’m writing about today. No, today I’m writing to tell you about the 2020 Australian Go Census. This is an annual survey I run, trying to get a picture of who is playing go in Australia over the last 12 months, where they’re playing, what gets in the way of playing, what they’d like to see done, etc. This is entirely voluntary and anonymous, of course – the most identifying questions asked are gender, age and state of residence, and all of those questions are optional. In…

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