My week of Monday 22 to Sunday 28 October 2018 was dominated by the building in the photo, the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), because I was covering SWIFT’s Sibos global financial services conference. It was all a bit strange.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 439: Banking, cybers, and whisky (lots of)”The 9pm Probe: Mike Godwin, attorney and author
While I was in Washington DC recently, I recorded an interview with attorney and author Mike Godwin, he of Godwin’s Law fame.
We spoke about Godwin’s Law, of course, as well as nationalism, concentration camps, human rights, privacy, the fragility of democracy, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, libertarianism, Australia’s My Health Record, and more.
Continue reading “The 9pm Probe: Mike Godwin, attorney and author”Weekly Wrap 438: Digging into the legislation, mostly
After two weeks of travel, my week of Monday 15 to Sunday 21 October 2018 was less hectic. My main focus for writing was legislation making its way through the Australian parliament.
Oh, and finally getting to the podcast production. That’s a good thing, right?
Podcasts
- “The 9pm Arch Window into the Soul”, being The 9pm Edict episode 79. It’s also on Spreaker and SoundCloud. This one’s a bit different, with Nicholas Fryer asking the questions. Let me know what you think.
Articles
- My Health Record privacy amendments ‘woefully inadequate’: Labor, ZDNet Australia, 15 October 2018.
- Australia’s anti-encryption legislation fails to address human rights concerns: Committee, ZDNet Australia, 18 October 2018.
- Senate inquiry recommends locking down My Health Record by default, ZDNet Australia, 18 October 2018.
- ADHA’s non-process for releasing My Health Record data revealed, ZDNet Australia, 19 October 2018.
Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None.
The Week Ahead
I’m spending the week in Sydney covering SWIFT’s Sibos global financial services conference on Monday to Thursday, then doing some writing and dealing with a medical appointment on Friday.
On the weekend I’ll post another podcast, based on the long interview I recorded with the remarkable Mike Godwin in Washington DC. And then I’ll collapse.
Further Ahead
The following week I’m covering the McAfee MPOWER Cyber Security Summit in Sydney on Tuesday, as well as a little more podcast production.
There’s nothing specific pencilled in right through to the end of the year, so I should probably do something about that. Suggestions are more than welcome.
[Photo: Waratah at Bunjaree Cottages. Despite the heavy rain, this Waratah at Bunjaree Cottages is flowering again this year. I am pleased. Photographed on 21 October 2018.]
The 9pm Arch Window into the Soul
This podcast returns to my hometown of Adelaide and turns thing inside out, with The Arch Window’s Nicholas Fryer asking me questions. Some of them dig into my past.
We talk about internet influencers, internet advertising, the role of the ABC as Australia’s national broadcaster, the shift in focus of The Australian and other Rupert Murdoch media outlets, Malcolm Turnbull, Korean boy band BTS, The Veronicas, Bipolar II Disorder, the nature of being a writer, Sky News Australia, bourbon, repressed memories, getting older, and the importance of fear.
Continue reading “The 9pm Arch Window into the Soul”Weekly Wrap 437: Cybering for two weeks in two countries
My fortnight of Monday 1 to Sunday 14 October 2018 was spent in The America and then in the Melbourne. I’m exhausted. But it was all quite productive.
Articles
- No Russian interference yet in US midterm elections: FireEye, ZDNet Australia, 4 October 2018. Interesting analysis. The first of three stories from the FireEye Cyber Defense Summit.
- America the ‘indispensable nation’ for cybersecurity: Madeleine Albright, ZDNet Australia, 4 October 2018.
- North Korea is the most destructive cyber threat right now: FireEye, ZDNet Australia, 5 October 2018. The key word here is “destructive”. When discovered, the DPRK hackers tent to trash everything in sight.
- My Health Record justifications ‘kind of lame’: Godwin, ZDNet Australia, 10 October 2018.
- UK’s NCSC to monitor internet routing to stop DDoS and hijacks, ZDNet Australia, 12 October 2018. An update on the NCSC’s impressive Active Cyber Defence work.
Podcasts
None published. But as well as the long conversation with Nicholas Fryer that we recorded in Adelaide two weeks ago, in DC I recorded a long interview with the remarkable Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin’s Law amongst many other things. Both of those podcasts will be posted some time in the coming week.
Media Appearances
None, which is unusual.
Corporate Largesse
- My flights to the US and the related accommodation were covered by FireEye.
- At the Australian Cyber Conference on 10–11 October there was plenty of food and drink, courtesy of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) and their sponsors. AusCERT: A branded SyncStop “USB Condom” to protect my devices while charging from random USB ports; Tenable: a copy of Cyber Exposure for Dummies; ThreatQuotient: A stress rhinoceros, leading Benno Rice to coin the euphemism “Squeezing the rhino”; Tripwire: Three t-shirts bearing the slogan “I didn’t start the fire”; Yubico: A YubiKey NEO authentication device.
The Week Ahead
On Monday, I’m back in Sydney, where I’ll be dealing with a couple of medical things, sorting through my notes and pitching some stories, and ending the day with some social life, before taking the train back to Wentworth Falls.
Tuesday through Thursday will be about writing for ZDNet and editing podcasts. I’ll plan that out as I go.
Friday is another Sydney day, with the usual mix of medical and work appointments, plus whatever remains to be done. I’m looking forward to having a lazy weekend.
Further Ahead
The following week I’m spending a bunch of time in Sydney covering the Sibos global financial services conference on 22–25 October. That’ll keep me pretty busy, so Friday through Sunday will be more laid-back.
Beyond that:
- McAfee MPOWER Cyber Security Summit, Sydney, 30 October.
- International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (Tentative)
[Photo: The White House. You know what this is. Photographed on the foggy Sunday morning of 7 October 2018.]