Month: November 2011

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Do we have a right to anonymity online?

The Media140 folks are running a panel discussion in Sydney this Thursday 24 November on Digital Anonymity: Do we have a right to anonymity online?

As Google and Facebook try by force to remove anonymity from the web, is privacy no longer seen as a fundamental right? Will it become a commodified product we will have to purchase? We take a look at the legal, social and media perspectives and ask the question is it really that important?

The moderator is John Kerrison from Sky News Business, and the panel includes Anne Hurley, the interim head of the Internet Industry Association Karalee Evans, senior director & APAC digital strategist, Text 100; Jessica Hill from ABC Radio current affairs; lawyer David Stewart from Wrays; and [coughs] me.

It’s at the Hotel Clarendon, 156 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills. 6.30pm for a 7pm start, $10m admission, and I’m told you’d better book.

Mr Kerrison seems to be taking it very seriously, with scenarios to discuss and all sorts of actual planning. We should be able to derail him pretty quickly, I should imagine.

[Update 22 November: Edited to reflect the change in line-up.]

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Beware, I’m on another cloud panel

Watch out! I’m on the panel for the ZDNet Live event Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth on 1 December.

There are so many types of cloud out there and so many steps along the way. Are you setting out on the right path to the cloud for your organisation’s needs? In an upcoming live panel discussion, to be broadcast right here on ZDNet Australia, we look at the criteria you should be looking at.

Other panellists are: Zack Levy, chief commercial officer, Bluefire; James Turner, IBRS analyst (and ratbag); Greg Stone, Microsoft CTO; and moderator Brian Haverty, editorial director, ZDNet Australia.

Click through for the details. I couldn’t be arsed even copy and pasting them.

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Talking Google and names on ABC 105.7 Darwin

On Tuesday I did another radio interview about Google’s stupid names policy, as outlined in my expletive-filled blog post and an op-ed for ABC The Drum.

This time the conversation was with ABC 105.7 Darwin presenter Annie Gastin, in the context of the full range of unusual names. Quite fun.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.2MB)

The audio is of course ©2011 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, but since they don’t usually post it online here it is.

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Weekly Wrap 75: eCrime, Canberra and a dead computer

A weekly summary of what I’ve been doing elsewhere on the internets. This week included a visit to Canberra and the final death of my battered MacBook Pro.

The computer was three and a half years old, and has seen quite a few accidents. The biggie was doing a somersault down an asphalt road, bouncing off every corner and denting and warping the case. Another fall was only a cafe table leg, which dented the spine. After all that and plenty of other dents and scratches, the “9” and “delete” keys had failed and it tended to crash randomly if I picked it up carelessly.

This morning the motherboard finally gave out. I’m amazed it lasted this long. It has been replaced with a crisp new MacBook Pro.

Podcasts

  • Patch Monday episode 113, “Bell Labs’ high-bandwidth future”. An interview with Bell Labs’ chief scientist Alice White covering social computing, optics, quantum computing, and the potential of Australia’s National Broadband Network..

Articles

Every article I wrote this week related to the third annual eCrime Symposium in Canberra.

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

  • The organisers of the eCrime Symposium provided refreshments during the event, and a meal at Sammy’s Kitchen and drinks at the Tongue & Groove on the first night.
  • On the night after the conference, I was bought far too many drinks by various people with kangaroos, emus and the word “security” or “crime” on their business cards.

Elsewhere

Most of my day-to-day observations are on my high-volume Twitter stream, and random photos and other observations turn up on my Posterous stream. The photos also appear on Flickr, where I eventually add geolocation data and tags.

[Photo: The Canberra Rex Hotel, where I stayed for three nights this week, is being renovated — and it’s long overdue. This is the toilet-flush button from my room, and there’s further evidence.]

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Visiting Canberra for a cloud security conference

I’m off to Canberra again on 22 November for Trend Micro’s half-day Canberra Cloud Security Conference on 23 November, which I’m covering for CSO Online.

I’m actually a bit skeptical about the worth of this event. Some of the language on Trend Micro’s promotional materioal does not fill me with confidence.

This C-level gathering will bring together stakeholders across government, while offering a dedicated platform that weighs the pros and cons of the journey to the cloud… This event will offer a unique format for leading security specialists and business leaders in Federal Government to exchange ideas, gain valuable knowledge, and share their real-world risk management experiences.

What’s so goddam “dedicated” and “unique” about a bunch of people listening to a few blokes talking, followed by a panel discussion? Arsehats.

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Wankitecture Sydney: why bother?

These architectural features on Cumberland Street in The Rocks, Sydney, look quite lovely I suppose — until you stop, look and think. Then you’ll realise they’re completely pointless. They’re an architectural wank. Wankitecture.

The things with the red canopies look like they’re some sort of, well, canopies to protect people from sun and rain. But they’re positioned such that they offer no protection whatsoever to the benches and picnic tables. No, the benches and picnic tables sit fully exposed to the elements. The only things the things with the red canopies protect are bleak patches of pavement.

Continue reading “Wankitecture Sydney: why bother?”