The rain is hammering against my home office window, and for once, I’m genuinely happy about it. After nearly six months of unusually dry weather, this downpour feels like nature finally remembered where Victoria is on the map.

Looking at the Bureau of Meteorology data, the situation has been particularly dire. The entire southern coastline, including the Southwest of Victoria, has been experiencing severe drought conditions, with some areas recording their lowest 24-month rainfall on record. Warrnambool, typically one of our wetter regions, just recorded its highest daily total in 18 months - and it’s about time.

The announcement of Labor’s $2.3 billion home battery subsidy scheme has sparked intense discussions across various forums. While many homeowners are celebrating the prospect of more affordable energy storage solutions, there’s a deeper conversation we need to have about equity and access in our transition to renewable energy.

Looking through the comments and discussions online, there’s clear excitement from homeowners who’ve been waiting for this kind of initiative. Many report significant benefits from existing battery installations - from near-zero power bills to maintaining power during outages. The technology clearly works, and works well.

The shopping receipt sitting on my kitchen bench tells a story that’s becoming all too familiar. Desiccated coconut, that humble baking staple, has jumped from $2.70 to $4.00 at Coles - a staggering 48% increase. Looking at the prices across our major supermarkets, it’s the same story: Aldi at $3.90, Woolworths matching Coles at $4.00.

This might seem like another example of supermarket price gouging, but digging deeper reveals a more complex story. The Philippines, a major coconut producer, was hit by six devastating typhoons in just 30 days last year. These natural disasters didn’t just destroy crops; they took hundreds of lives and devastated communities. It’s a stark reminder that behind every price increase, there’s often a human story we don’t see on the supermarket shelf.

The tech world’s insatiable appetite for rare earth metals is steering us toward a disturbing new era of resource colonialism. Recent discussions about Trump’s renewed interest in acquiring Greenland have exposed an uncomfortable truth: our digital future might be built on the same exploitative foundation as our industrial past.

Working in tech, I’ve witnessed firsthand how rapidly advancing AI technologies demand increasingly exotic materials. While the promise of artificial intelligence is exciting, the environmental and geopolitical costs are rarely discussed in our dev meetings or stand-ups. The recent revelation about plans for a $500 billion AI complex brings this issue into sharp focus.