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!
Papua New Guinea suddenly remembers it’s not a colony any more and acts like a real nation. Nicholas Fryer makes some modest proposals. And there’s terror in the streets of Baltimore.
In this episode, there’s talk of hedgehogs and weasels, refugees and terrorism, and more.
Continue reading “The 9pm Victory over the Adult Hedgehog Onesie Bomber”
My week of Monday 25 April to Sunday 1 May 2016 was disrupted — not in that silly fashionable way, but in the traditional annoying way — by failing computer hardware and illness.
My MacBook Pro developed a screen fault, so I lost time moving my work to a loaner machine and organising repairs. Somewhere along the way I got what I presumed was food poisoning but which is clearly something else. Both patients are getting better, the silicon more quickly than the flesh.
The many edits to last week’s Weekly Wrap reflect all the plans made and discarded.
As a result…
None.
None. However an episode of The 9pm Edict is part-produced.
None.
I’m back at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains this week, or at least for most of it.
On Monday, I’m working on geek-for-hire tasks in the morning, and completing that episode of The 9pm Edict podcast in the afternoon and evening.
On Tuesday, I’m making the long commute down to Sydney to cover the inaugural National Fintech Cyber Security Summit. Tuesday night is federal Budget Night in Australia, so I’ll probably stay in Sydney to amuse myself with that rather than spend the evening on the train. Nah, that’s too long a day. I’ll do some bits and pieces in the Blue Mountains instead.
On Wednesday morning, I daresay I’ll be writing something. At midday, it’s my first progress check at the Black Dog Institute, three months into working on the dog of a different colour. I’ll probably have some news. Then I’ll collect my repaired MacBook Pro, and return to the Mountains.
The remainder of the week and the weekend are unplanned, but I know I’ll be writing for ZDNet and doing more geek-for-hire stuff in there somewhere.
On 24-27 May, I’m covering the AusCERT Cyber Security Conference on the Gold Coast. Apart from my usual conference coverage, once more I’ll be on the panel for the event’s closing Speed Debate.
Update 2 May 2016: Edited to reflect changed plans for Tuesday.
[Photo: Approaching Sydney. A Qantas Boeing 737-800, I believe, on approach to Sydney airport (SYD) over the inner west suburb of Lilyfield on 25 April 2016.]
In this month’s now semi-regular spot on ABC 774 Melbourne, it was only natural to talk about the Australian government’s new Cyber Security Strategy, as I did on four spots elsewhere last week.
But as you’ll hear, this 20-minute conversation with Lindy Burns on Tuesday night covered quite a bit of territory — even, briefly, the National Broadband Network.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (12.4MB)
For further background material, see the first post in this series.
This audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
[Photo: The view in ABC Radio’s Sydney TARDIS 1 just before I did this radio spot on 26 April 2016.]
My week of Monday 18 to Sunday 24 April 2016 went pretty much to plan, with productivity when it was needed, and some relaxation when that was needed.
None.
I’ll be spending another whole week in Sydney, staying at my usual SEKRIT cave in Lilyfield.
[Update 26 April 2016: I’ve had to rearrange my week, because my decision to eat all the leftovers on Monday was a poor choice, and because I didn’t allow quite enough time for moving my data to the loaner MacBook Pro. Update 27 April 2016: More schedule changes. This is not a low-entropy week.]
Monday is Anzac Day, but instead of enjoying the public holiday, I’ll be catching up on some geek-for-hire work, and finishing the script for an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast. I’ll also be collecting a loaner MacBook Pro, for use while mine goes in for repair some time in the following days, and loading it with data.
On Tuesday, I’ll be writing for Crikey, getting a briefing from Verizon on their new Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), probably writing for ZDNet, and recording that podcast catching up on some geek-for-hire work, finishing the script for an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, and at 1900 AEST doing a radio spot for ABC 774 Melbourne.
On Wednesday and Thursday, I’ll be going to some of the Amazon Web Services Summit Sydney. On Wednesday evening, I’ll be recording that podcast.
On Wednesday, I’m posting the audio from Tuesday night, working on the much-delayed geek-for-hire projects, and proposing some topics for Thursday night’s videos. I’ll also be battling considerable nausea. The geek-for-hire work continues on Thursday morning.
On Thursday afternoon I’m dealing with the computer repairs repairs (if I haven’t already done so), then in the evening recording some videos for ZDNet.
On Friday, I’ll finally be recording that podcast.
Somewhere in there I’m doing some writing for ZDNet.
On 3 May, I’m covering the inaugural National Fintech Cyber Security Summit in Sydney. Then on 24-27 May, I’m covering the AusCERT Cyber Security Conference on the Gold Coast.
[Photo: Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos at Wentworth Falls. Wentworth Falls is home to a clan of sulphur-crested cockatoos numbering about 50. I managed to capture some of them in flight while waiting for a train on 20 April 2016.]
This is the final radio spot of four that I did on Thursday to discuss Australia’s new Cyber Security Strategy.
For background on strategy itself, see the first post in this series.
This spot was on ABC 666 Canberra. The presenter was Adam Shirley.
Each of these spots varied in content and style. In this one, we discussed offensive cyber capabilities, the cyber arms race, whether the money is being well-spent, the difficulties of defending networks, the state of cybercrime, and what cyber attacks might involve.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.5MB)
This audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
This is the third of four radio spots I did on Thursday to discuss Australia’s new Cyber Security Strategy.
For background on strategy itself, see the first post in this series.
This spot was on Sydney commercial station 2UE. The presenter was Bill Woods.
Each of these spots varied in content and style. In this one, we discussed the importance of cyber security and its history, the Bureau of Meteorology hack and its timing, the assumption that our spooks do what other country’s spooks do, the difficulty of attribution, the difficulty of cyber security, the cost of cybercrime, China’s hack of US fighter aircraft programs, and Australia’s ability to cash in on the cyber skills shortage.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.0MB)
This audio is ©2016 Fairfax Media.