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Weekly Wrap 212

[This post was actually written on 17 August 2014, but I’ve dated it 29 June 2014 so it appears in the archives in the correct sequence. This post is part of an attempt to clear the backlog of routine posts, hence the lack of photo, detail and finesse. — Stilgherrian.]

My week of Monday 23 to Sunday 29 June 2014 was relatively unproductive, thanks to the illness alluded to previously. There was one significant highlight, however: the return of The 9pm Edict podcast.

Podcasts

Articles

None. I did write a column for ZDNet Australia, but it wasn’t published until the following week.

Media Appearances

5at5

Why don’t you subscribe to 5at5?

Corporate Largesse

None.

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Weekly Wrap 211: Cold, briefly, with secret television

[This post was actually written on 3 July 2014, but I’ve dated it 22 June 2014 so it appears in the archives in the correct sequence. This post is part of an attempt to clear the backlog of routine posts, hence the lack of photo, detail and finesse. — Stilgherrian.]

My week of Monday 16 to Sunday 22 June 2014 was both unproductive, thanks to what was probably a cold, and over quite some days ago — so let’s keep this brief.

I also spent an entire day being a consultant on a new television series, a political thriller which has hacking and surveillance as key plot elements. I can’t talk about that any further, but it’s fun, and I daresay you’ll find out more soon enough.

Articles

Media Appearances

None.

5at5

Why don’t you subscribe to 5at5?

Corporate Largesse

None.

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Weekly Wrap 210: A rainy Monday sets the pace

Rushcutters Bay, Sydney: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 9 to Sunday 15 June 2014 went moderately well, starting off with a pleasant walk around Sydney on Monday, the Queen’s Birthday.

Productivity was a bit lower than I’d have hoped, but I did plenty of thinking about the future. The rapidly approaching end of the financial year tends to encourage that.

Articles

Media Appearances

5at5

A short week due to the holiday on Monday. Why don’t you subscribe to 5at5?

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

Monday is a day of planning, focusing mainly on the next steps for my podcasts, The 9pm Edict and Corrupted Nerds. I’m likely to produce an episode of The 9pm Edict in the days following.

Wednesday and Thursday are writing days, including something for ZDNet Australia and something for someone else.

On Friday I’m heading to Sydney to do some more consulting work on a certain television drama series. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, because the first series hasn’t aired yet. But it’s looking like there’ll be a second series, so my input has been requested.

Saturday is the Winter Solstice, happening at 2051 AEST for me, so I’ll celebrate that in some way. I haven’t figured out exactly how yet.

[Photo: Rushcutters Bay, Sydney, photographed just after a rain shower on Monday 9 June 2014.]

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So I’ve decided to drop Blogjune

Despite my early enthusiasm for Blogjune, saying I’d join various others in writing a blog post ever day this month, I’ve decided to give it a miss.

While I do want to be writing more of the essays I used to write, I’ve got plenty to be getting on with — including The 9pm Edict podcast, figuring out what to do with Corrupted Nerds, and of course generating more paying work.

Once I’d fallen a couple of days behind, the “commitment” to this arbitrary project was really only causing stress, without generating much in the way of benefits. So I’m quite happy to have dropped it.

The five Blogjune posts I did write are all tagged blogjune.

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Weekly Wrap 209: Nostalgia as winter falls, with Apple

St Stephens Anglican Church, Newtown: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 2 to Sunday 8 June 2014, at least beyond immediate work commitments, was somewhat limited by certain cashflow issues, but that seems to always happen when there’s a long weekend early in the month.

Still, the ebook project progressed nicely — and that will be announced properly in approximately a week. It’s not that exciting, though, trust me.

Articles

Oddly enough, both of these were triggered by the announcements at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). I found it quite funny that some people, even some alleged technology journalists, said there was nothing interesting to report because there wasn’t any new hardware.

There’s also the blog posts I wrote for Blogjune, which you may find interesting. Or not.

Media Appearances

5at5

Not quite a full week this week, though Friday’s was a bumper edition to make up for the gap. Why don’t you subscribe to 5at5?

Geekery

Corporate Largesse

  • On Friday I caught up with Michael McKinnon from AVG Technologies AU. We spoke about many interesting things, and he bought a couple of beers and dinner.

The Week Ahead

Monday is a public holiday for the Queen’s Birthday, but since she has neglected to invite me to her party — an administrative oversight I can accept, because she is a busy woman — I will be catching up with a friend instead. And then I shall return to Wentworth Falls.

Tuesday is a day of research and planning, unless a writing commission comes up. Wednesday is a day trip to Sydney for a lunchtime briefing by Brocade. Thursday is a day of writing. Wednesday and Thursday are days of writing. Friday onwards has yet to be allocated.

[Photo: St Stephens Anglican Church, Newtown, photographed from Camperdown Memorial Rest Park on 21 June 2003. I’ve decided that if I haven’t taken any decent photographs in the week covered by the Wrap, I’ll pick something from the same month in the past.]

[Update 10 June 2014, 1515 AEST: The Week Ahead edited to reflect a change of plans for Wednesday.]

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Operation Sovereign Borders, sinister and banal [blogjune05]

An Australian bureaucrat reacts to allegations that Operation Sovereign Borders removes safety gear from lifeboats: click to embiggenThis man’s name is Mick Kinley, and he’s shrugging with indifference at allegations that safety equipment is deliberately removed from the lifeboats used to return asylum seekers to Indonesia. But that OK, he’s the acting chief executive officer of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

I’ve never met Kinley. I know nothing of his work apart from this incident. But do we really need any further context? The bureaucrat in charge of maritime safety is challenged over what sounds like a breach of maritime safety, but, you know, “Whatever.”

I believe this is what’s called the banality of evil.

Hang on, I’d better scroll back a bit…

Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) is the Australian government’s grand-sounding name for the grubby process of intercepting any boats at sea that contain asylum seekers and returning them to Indonesia. They’re put into standard orange lifeboats towed behind our ships, and once they’re within a certain distance of Indonesia they’re cast off and left to find their own way hone.

But as The Guardian’s Paul Farrell reported on 7 May, safety equipment is removed from those lifeboats beforehand — ropes, scissors, knives, a mirror, fishing line and even buckets.

On 27 May, Kinley was questioned about this in the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee by Senator Stephen Conroy, who was clearly unimpressed. You can read the transcript — the relevant exchange starts on page 86 — but you should really watch the video to see the body language for yourself.

Actually, it’s worth picking up the story a little before that video starts, on page 84…

Continue reading “Operation Sovereign Borders, sinister and banal [blogjune05]”