Month: August 2015

Posted on

Weekly Wrap 273: Security, dentistry, and technology

Don't be a cog in the machine: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 August 2015 was disrupted by dentistry. A filling broke, quite a large one, and I lost half a day of covering the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit. There were also budgetary impacts. Why do we have teeth?

There was some good news, however. My new MacBook Pro arrived, courtesy of The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh. Migrating everything to the new machine was seamless, and took just over two hours. I’ll report further on its performance in due course.

Articles

None, but I’ve done most of the work on a ZDNet column that will be posted on Monday.

Podcasts

None, but a new episode of The 9pm Edict will appear on Tuesday. I’ve already done a lot of the pre-production.

Media Appearances

  • On Wednesday morning, I spoke about telecommunications metadata on ABC 105.7 Darwin.
  • On Wednesday evening, I spoke about this very same subject at length on ABC 774 Melbourne, but I didn’t make a recording.

5at5

There were three editions of 5at5, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Why not subscribe so you’ll get all the future ones?

Corporate Largesse

  • On Monday and Tuesday, I covered the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit at the Hilton Hotel Sydney, and there was plenty of food and drink. While I was there, Blue Coat gave me a 16GB thumb drive.

The Week Ahead

It’s the second of two weeks in Sydney, and it starts off hectic. On Monday, I have to finish a ZDNet column, scope out a server upgrade for a client, and complete The 9pm Edict podcast.

On Tuesday, I’ll organise the final technology purchases for The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh, and write my bit for the ACCAN National Conference debate on Wednesday. Then at 2030 AEST that night, I’m talking about some recent tech stories on ABC 702 Sydney and Local Radio around NSW.

On Wednesday, I’ll actually be at the ACCAN National Conference, or at least in the afternoon for the panel discussion. The morning is likely to be spent catching up on various background tasks.

On Thursday, I’m writing a column for ZDNet, and turning my UTS lecture from April into a video.

On Friday, I’ll design and test my new podcast recording set-up. I’ll post a description once that’s done.

The weekend will see me not working at all, ideally. No, really.

Further Ahead

On Friday 11 September, I’ll be presenting my regular guest lecture at UTS. And then on Saturday 12 September, it’s the recording session for The 9pm Edict Public House Forum, with post-production to be done on the Sunday.

[Photo: Don’t be a cog in the machine, being graffiti photographed somewhere in Sydney on 29 July 2007.]

Posted on

Announcing “The 9pm Edict’s Public House Forum”

Australian Arms Hotel, Penrith: click to embiggen

Would you like to witness the recording of a very special episode of The 9pm Edict podcast? Yes? Then organise yourself to be at the Public House Forum on Saturday 12 September.

As part of my recent Pozible crowdfunding campaign, The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh, I’m recording a forum in a public house — yes, a pub — where a panel of punters will discuss the questions posed by the MEDIA FREEDOM ENLIGHTENED ONES.

Continue reading “Announcing “The 9pm Edict’s Public House Forum””
Posted on

Talking metadata on ABC 105.7 Darwin

ABC logoAustralia’s mandatory data retention legislation is back in the news again, in part because ABC journalist Will Ockenden put a year’s worth of his so-called “metadata” online and invited people to trawl through it.

This morning I spoke a little about the concept on ABC 105.7 Darwin with breakfast presenter Alan Steer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.6MB)

The audio is of course ©2015 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Given that there’s bound to be quite a bit about data surveillance in the news again soon, here’s three of my articles on the topic that’ll set the mood.

Posted on

Weekly Wrap 272: Kangaroos and fabrication, and the rest

The wokking of the kangaroo: click to embiggenMost of my week of Monday 17 to Sunday 23 August 2015 was wiped out by a cold, as I mentioned last time. But apart from that, I’m pleased with proceedings.

I didn’t get much new done, but some of my recent ZDNet columns seem to have gotten plenty of attention. I squirted out a new podcast, and locked in plenty of stuff for the future.

Articles

Following on from last week’s Android, you have serious security problems, we have…

Podcasts

Media Appearances

5at5

There were four editions of 5at5, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Why not subscribe so you’ll get all the future ones?

Corporate Largesse

  • On Wednesday, I met with Dick Bussiere from Tenable Network Security — the chap who was quoted in this week’s ZDNet column — and their PR people paid for the coffee.

The Week Ahead

The week begins with the 0636 train to Sydney, because this is the first of two weeks I’m spending in Ashfield in Sydney’s inner west, catsitting. On Monday and Tuesday, I’m covering the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit in Sydney. I daresay that I’ll spend a big chunk of Wednesday writing about things from that event. Thursday too, maybe.

Mid-week I’ll also be announcing the full details of The 9pm Edict Public House Forum. I’ve already said elsewhere that it’ll be recorded on Saturday 12 September at the Australian Arms Hotel in Penrith, but still to come is information on how you can be part of the live audience.

In the latter part of the week, I’ll finally be able to buy all the hardware that you good people have paid for in The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh. The new MacBook Pro has already been ordered, and should arrive late in the week. I’ll shop around for the rest as I get the time.

The weekend sees a Full Moon, so I shall take the necessary precautions. I’ll probably also knock off a quick episode of The 9pm Edict.

Further Ahead

During the following week, starting Monday 31 August, I’ll design and test my new podcast recording set-up. I’ll post a description once that’s done. I’ll be at the ACCAN National Conference on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 September, and indeed taking part in a panel discussion on the Wednesday afternoon. The weekend of 5 and 6 September will see another special episode of The 9pm Edict.

Further ahead still, on Friday 11 September, I’ll be presenting my regular guest lecture at UTS. And then on Saturday 12 September, it’s The 9pm Edict Public House Forum, with post-production to be done on the Sunday.

[Photo: The kangaroo is wokked, being a photograph of my breakfast in progress, taken on 23 August 2015.]

Posted on

Talking the Ashley Madison hack on ABC Gold Coast

ABC logoThe Ashley Madison hack returned to the news this week, because the 30-day deadline given by Impact Team, the hacker(s) who claimed responsibility, expired, and the site’s data started being dumped onto the internet.

While I’d spoken about this before on ABC 936 Hobart, this week I spoke about the then-latest developments on Friday with ABC Gold Coast. Here’s the full conversation with morning presenter Nicole Dyer.

The site I mentioned at the end, where you can check whether your email address appears in the Ashley Madison data dump, or in many of the larger data breaches of recent years, is haveibeenpwned.com, run by Australian security researcher Troy Hunt. Use it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (7.0MB)

The audio is of course ©2015 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.