Month: November 2018

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Weekly Wrap 443: A cat, a podcast, and words on healthcare

My week of Monday 19 to Sunday 25 November 2018 was dominated by a grumpy cat, but I won’t go into that.

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm Arch Window of the Baked Goods”, being The 9pm Edict episode 81. It’s also on Spreaker and SoundCloud. My guest co-host was Nicholas Fryer. Please let me know if you like this format. We’ll be doing a second one before Christmas, and I may do another episode or two in different formats before the end of the year.

Articles

I also wrote a piece about the Assistance and Access Bill, which will appear on Monday.

Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

The week will be dominated by action in the Australian Parliament, namely debate over the controversial anti-encryption legislation, the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018.

The powerful Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) is still conducting hearings as part of its inquiry, but home affair minister Peter Dutton is pressuring the committee to hurry up, and prime minister Scott Morrison has said he wants the legislation passed in the next two weeks.

Hearings are now scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, and Friday this week. I’m writing some analysis for ZDNet for Monday, and we’ll see what happens after that.

Meanwhile, I’ll be in Sydney on Tuesday for a lunchtime briefing on “Countering Advanced Threats” by Cybereason, and on Friday for a media lunch with executives from Symantec.

Further Ahead

There don’t seem to be any major commitments between now and Christmas, just some single-day or overnight trips to Sydney for media briefings, end-of-year events, and social activities.

There will be at least one episode of The 9pm Edict wth Nicholas Fryer, however, and perhaps one that’s more of a long-form interview.

[Photo: Freelancer Life. Watching the Australian Senate live while grabbing a late breakfast of noodle soup at the Sussex Centre food court in Sydney’s Chinatown, photographed on 14 November 2018. So not this week.]

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Weekly Wrap 442: Dominated by digital health, plus ducks

Ducks escorting a convoyMy week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 November 2018 was dominated by digital health. Mostly Australia’s controversial My Health Record, as the list of articles will show, but also two events that had digital health as a focus.

I also did some planning for future podcasts, and some advisory work on someone’s proposal for a future media project.

Articles

All three are about My Health Record. The politics were moving fast, so maybe hit the last one first. It links back to the others anyway.

Podcasts, Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

  • On Monday the Health And Aged Care Press Lunch was held at the always-excellent Bentley Restaurant & Bar in Sydney. Clients of Bass PR picked up the tab: Telsyte, Osana, CQR Consulting, BOARD, Collard Maxwell Architects, and 8×8.
  • On Tuesday I had lunch at Luke Mangan’s magnificent Glass Brasserie at the Hilton Sydney Hotel, paid for by Aura Information Security.
  • On Tuesday evening, CISO Lens covered most of the drinks bill for a meeting they organised.

The Week Ahead

Monday is a writing day for ZDNet. Update 19 November 1930 AEDT: Monday ended up being a day of sleep, which for the moment I’m putting down to Annoying Side Effects from my medication regime.

On Tuesday I’m recording the next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, co-hosted by Nicholas Fryer. It won’t be streamed live, but will be posted the following day.

From Wednesday through Saturday I’ll be back in Sydney for some more cat-sitting. During that time I’ll be writing, starting off with a piece for ZDNet, I hope, and tidying up a bunch of loose ends. Saturday night is likely to include watching the coverage of Victoria’s state election.

Further Ahead

There don’t seem to be any major commitments between now and Christmas, just some single-day or overnight trips to Sydney for media briefings, end-of-year events, and social activities.

There will be at least one episode of The 9pm Edict wth Nicholas Fryer, however, and perhaps one that’s more of a long-form interview.

[Photo: Ducks escorting a convoy. Ducks and other waterfowl at Wentworth Falls Lake, photographed on 18 November 2018.]

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Weekly Wrap 441: The joy of a calm spring week

Suburban JoyMy week of Monday 5 to Sunday 11 November 2018 went as planned. I’ll tell you more about that another time. Maybe.

It was very much the calm before another couple of very busy weeks.

Articles

Podcasts, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None. As I said last week, these categories tend to come in waves. But there’ll be new podcasts soon, as detailed below.

The Week Ahead

On Monday I return to Sydney, writing for ZDNet en route, then heading to a lunchtime briefing on technology in health and aged care, then getting some back repairs.

I’ll remain in Sydney to cover a Tuesday morning session on the Future of Health, at an event sponsored by the Commonwealth Bank, then lunch meeting, then an evening meeting. There should also be more My Health Record action in the Senate, so I’ll be writing about that.

I return to the Mountains on Wednesday evening, after a day of writing. Thursday is likely to be about writing and the shopping. On Friday there’s another Senate hearing on the Assistance and Access Bill, the anti-encryption legislation, so I’ll be keeping an ear on that.

After all that I’ll want a quiet weekend.

Further Ahead

The following week will begin with more writing, then from Wednesday through Saturday I’ll be back in Sydney for some cat-sitting.

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will be recorded on the afternoon of Tuesday 20 November. It won’t be streamed live, but it will be posted the following day.

[Photo: Suburban Joy, being a rather bleak playground in Ashfield, Sydney, photographed on 11 November 2018.]

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Weekly Wrap 440: A pause before the next burst, with ants

AntworksMy week of Monday 29 October to Sunday 4 November 2018 was relatively quiet, reflecting a sensible reaction to my hectic schedule in the weeks beforehand.

Also, as I mentioned in the update to last week’s Wrap, I was dealing with what I have dubbed Banker Flu.

Articles

Podcasts, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None. These categories seem to come in waves. But there’ll be new podcasts soon.

The Week Ahead

Monday is all about planning my work between now and the end of the year. Suggestions welcome.

Tuesday is Melbourne Cup Day, and while it isn’t a holiday in NSW it does tend to dominate the day throughout the country. I’ll take advantage of that by getting some writing done while everyone else is at the pub. Wednesday will be a social day, followed by routine shopping in the evening.

Thursday and Friday will be an as-yet-unstructured mix of writing and podcast production. Watch my Twitter feed for updates.

I’m spending Saturday afternoon and night in Sydney, where cat-sitting in Ashfield will be part of the agenda. Sunday is Remembrance Day, so I’ll attend one of the 11am ceremonies somewhere and have a relaxed lunch before getting the train back to the Blue Mountains.

Further Ahead

I suspect I’ll have more on this next week.

[Photo: Antworks, photographed at Bunjaree Cottages on 29 October 2018.]