Game Reviews – PAX Aus 2022

I went to this year’s PAX Australia gaming convention and briefly reviewed of a lot of independently developed video games, as well as several board games, for friends who weren’t there. Now you, too, may read my reviews.

Video games reviewed: Before We Leave ; Darkweb Streamer ; Dredge ; Every Hue of You ; The Godfeather: a Mafia Pigeon Saga ; Gubbins ; Mars First Logistics ; Repella Fella ; Sigil of the Magi ; Spies and Soldiers
Board games reviewed: The Crew: Mission Deep Sea ; Magic Maze ; Nataterra
Bonus content: Aethermon: Tower of Darkness ; Chess Plus

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Personal carbon offsetting 2020

This year is (almost) the same as last year: Australian Gold Standard Verified Emissions Reductions from the Carbon Neutral Charitable Fund (CNCF).

The difference to last year is that demand for GS VERs was so great the CNCF removed them from their web shop – however, they are still selling (at reduced volumes) over the phone. Individuals offsetting their personal emissions shouldn’t encounter any problems.

CNCF’s phone number is 1300 857 970 or +61 8 9420 7214.

I purchased offsets for 20 tCO₂-e at $25 each. Now that I have an electric car and live in an all-electric household with 100% GreenPower, offsetting 20 tCO₂-e is excessive! But I haven’t done the work to calculate my new emissions profile, so I’ll keep putting $10/week aside for the moment. If I decide to purchase fewer offsets next year I can always put the rest toward rego for the EV.

COVID-19 lockdowns don't show the limits of individual climate action

I’ve seen the following argument go around a bit this week:

“So we accidently ran an experiment where we did the most any individual can do to reduce carbon emissions and it’s not enough.” (Tweet)

It’s wrong. Individual actions are not enough, but they are absolutely necessary.

Institutional/structural changes are absolutely necessary – but also not enough.

We need everything.

Treating a three-month lockdown as a proxy for what can be achieved through individual action both reduces individual agency to consumption choices and misunderstands the nature of structural changes.

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Stolen Cannondale Quick Disc 1

My bicycle was stolen overnight last night. The thief/thieves got into the secured lobby of my apartment building and unscrewed the wall bracket onto which my bike was locked; I walked out of my front door in the morning to find nothing but bolt holes in the wall.

On the off chance I find my bike for sale second-(or third-)hand, here are some identifying features:

• Cannondale Quick Disc 1, 2018 model
• Black frame, size medium
• Serial number YA86813
• Handlebars cut down to 585mm
• Ergonomic grips
• Front & rear mudguards, black. Rear guard’s rubber flap at the end has bits missing in the middle, as though an odd bite has been taken of it.
• Brass bell with guitar logo. Fastened of left side of bar; will have left a mark on the bar through rubbing.
• Sigma wireless trip computer, white. Model BC8.12, maybe? Also on left side of frame; might be some sticky gunk left on the bar. The sensor was on the right front fork.
• Bontrager Ion 450 R Headlight, on right side of bar, near centre. Will also have left some wear.
• Knog Blinder Mob V Mr Chips rear light
• Black Bontrager carbon fibre water bottle holder, ‘bat cage design’. (In this pic this is on the down tube; I had moved it to the seat tube.)
• Additional cats eye reflectors; two on each wheel. I think I had them offset: not opposite each other, but at two points of an equilateral triangle. On the front wheel I know that if the valve was at 270°, the reflectors were at the bottom. (Important for hanging on racks.)
• Sticker, “The Living End”, on left side of down tube.
• I almost never used my heaviest two or three gears, so they are significantly cleaner than the rest of the gearset.

Personal carbon offsetting 2019

I have discovered that individual purchases of carbon offsets from registered charities (i.e. not for a business nor from a business) are tax deductible. As such, while the South Pole Group (from whom I last purchased) is still around, I have switched to buying Gold Standard Voluntary Emission Reductions from the Carbon Neutral Charitable Fund. They sell offsets from Australia’s first (and, as far as I can tell, only) GS VER project.

Otherwise, my post from 2017 is still pretty current.

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Government raids aren't about journalists, but about society

Forget ‘journalists’: the AFP raids are an attack on people who make life uncomfortable for the state; people who resist the desires of government and government bodies to keep their mistakes secret and avoid being held to account. Journalists might be “chilled” by these raids, but they are primarily the vector for attacks on whistle blowers – which is to say, attacks on ordinary people exposing the wrongdoing of those with power.

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We have a responsibility to, and for, terrorists

I’m uncomfortable with the Government cancelling the citizenship of Australians it doesn’t like: Neil Prakash, in this case. He’s our problem. Prakash is a mangy cur we helped raise, and rather than taking responsibility for him, we’re kicking him out onto the street and expecting our neighbours to take care of him.

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Personal carbon offsetting 2017

TL;DR

I’m buying Gold Standard offsets from South Pole Group now. If you want to offset your own emissions, try estimating them using the EPA’s Australian Greenhouse Calculator. Then use the South Pole Group website to buy credits – ideally Gold Standard, but Verified Carbon Standard are probably also fine.

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How much superannuation do I need?

Don’t panic about your superannuation. You probably won’t need as much as you think – 80% of current retirees spend less than ASFA’s “modest” standard, and the current Age Pension mostly covers that.

(That said, long term compound growth investment is terrific, and I encourage you to invest in your super if you can afford it.)

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Research vs consent: the Australian Census

I’m quite conflicted about the Australian Census this year. Basically I’m torn between loving the Census and thinking the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) are handling the process – especially the privacy concerns – like out-of-touch chumps.

On the one hand, the Census is great. It provides data that are incredible valuable and important for many, many aspects of policy in Australia. My work and research would be so much harder without the ABS in general, and the Census in particular. I want both to continue and to be excellent.

On the other hand – what the fuck are the ABS doing? Linking our Census data with data from other sources may be incredibly valuable from a research perspective, but it’s also a massive reduction in privacy. The trade may well be worth it – but for fuck’s sake, that’s not a decision an agency just gets to announce.

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