Word-whore. I write 'em. I talk 'em. Information, politics, media, and the cybers. I drink. I use bad words. All publication is a political act. All communication is propaganda. All art is pornography. All business is personal. All hail Eris! Vive les poissons rouges sauvages!
Some big ones this week, including announcements about a new national cybersecurity strategy, federal-state coordination on digital IDs, various legislation given the go-ahead by Senate committees, and what’s probably the final week of public hearings in the Robodebt Royal Commission.
Continue reading “Digital developments from Canberra 27”
My week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 October 2016 was spent in Melbourne, being busy, and being a bit of a media whore.
Since this Weekly Wrap is late, just like last week’s, I’ll get straight into it.
None, but I recorded material for another Ruxcon-related episode of Corrupted Nerds, and The 9pm Edict Public House Forum 4. Both will appear during the week of 7 November.
None.
[Photo: Melbourne is doomed, photographed on 30 October 2016. A cold front was approaching Melbourne, accompanied by a severe weather warning about strong winds. This is what it looked like from St Kilda Beach.]
My week of Monday 26 September to Sunday 2 October 2016 was quite good, I think, for a whole bunch of reasons.
I did a decent amount of media production. I got one of my lingering geek-for-hire projects moving again. And it was a successful first week of the action plan put together by my doctor. Many wins.
I also launched a Pozible crowdfunding campaign, Stilgherrian > Melbourne 2016, to fund a variety of things late this month. Please consider.
None, because I rescheduled the planned recording session for The 9pm Edict to this coming Wednesday.
None.
Monday is Labour Day, a public holiday, so I’ll be trying to take it easy. I suspect I’ll fail.
On Tuesday, I’m writing for ZDNet, bringing my geek-for-hire projects up to date, and negotiating my next moves with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
On Wednesday, I’m recording and streaming an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast. That’s scheduled for 2100 AEST.
Thursday sees a medical appointment, the final episode of The Code at 2030 AEDT, and the wrap-up of my Pozible campaign at 2100 AEDT.
Friday will mostly be about some geek-for-hire work.
I’m hoping that the weekend will be the first with no actual work in quite some time. At least that’s the plan.
I plan to record the next Public House Forum episode of the Edict on Saturday 15 October somewhere in or near Sydney.
I’m going to the AISA National Conference in Sydney on 18-20 October, and the iappANZ Trust In Privacy Annual Summit in Sydney on 14 November.
I plan to be in Melbourne from 21-30 October, or thereabouts. The trip includes the Ruxcon Security Conference on Sat-Sun 22-23 Oct (I’m also on the closing panel), a radio spot on ABC 774 Melbourne on Tue 25 Oct at 1930 AEDT, MCing an event for LaTrobe University on the evening of Wed 26 Oct (details TBA), and recording a Public House Forum episode of the Edict on Sat 29 Oct.
[Photo: Sydney’s Glebe Island Bridge, photographed on the sunny 28 September 2016.]
It’s that special day that comes but once every five years. Australia’s national Census 2016. And so far hasn’t it been a disaster.
“Look we don’t like to call it data mining, it’s more like data fracking,” tweeted by Johannes Jakob on 9 August, and he’s right.
Continue reading “The 9pm Fracking Your Data Real Good”
My week of Monday 1 to Sunday 7 August 2016 saw a visible return to productivity, a week that was dominated by the forthcoming national census in Australia.
I wrote two columns and did two radio spots related to the census, and there’s more to come, although logistical problems meant that I had to turn down a TV spot.
That said, my “very severe” stress level continued, along with their health effects. Once more, I’ve been trying to take it easy.
If you’ve got a few stresses in your life, or you’re feeling down, or anxious, you might want to spend the next three minutes doing a DASS-21 assessment. It measures the three related states of depression, anxiety and stress. While it doesn’t provide a diagnosis on its own, it’s a good starting point for a conversation with your GP.
None, as it turns out, because The 9pm Edict was delayed. But see below…
None.
It’s another week in Sydney.
On Monday, I’ll be writing for ZDNet, updating all the geek projects, and trying to sort out my current cashflow disaster.
Tuesday is dedicated to producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast. Yes, I know I said that last week, but this time it’s actually happening. I’ll livestream the podcast at 2100 AEST, although some segments or even the entire podcast may be pre-recorded. Since that’s Census Night in Australia, this episode will have some sort of Census theme. Sort of.
On Wednesday and Thursday, I’ll be covering the ADMA Global Forum, ADMA being the Association for Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising. I daresay I’ll be writing something about it on Friday.
The weekend is unplanned.
I’ll be going to the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit in Sydney on 22-23 August, the AISA National Conference in Sydney on 18-20 October, and Ruxcon Security Conference in Melbourne on 22-23 October.
[Photo: Norton Street in the Rain. A rainy afternoon on Norton Street, Leichhardt, photographed from the Leichhardt Hotel on 3 August 2016.]
Australia’s 2016 Census is turning out to be the most controversial in history, mostly because the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has decided to keep people’s names and addresses associated with their raw Census data for four years, and perhaps longer.
This has of course triggered privacy concerns.
Personally, I think the ABS has only itself to blame, because they didn’t include us citizens in the journey this decision, and they’ve been hopeless at explaining themselves.
I wrote about this for ZDNet on Monday, Census privacy risks are not what they seem, and that triggered a couple of radio spots.
This conversation with Nicole Dyer on ABC Gold Coast was the first. It begins with some comments from the ABS Census Director, Caroline Deans.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.3MB)
This audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.