Category: Media

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Talking the Twitter investment on ABC 774 Melbourne

The news today was that Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has invested $300 million in Twitter, which values the company at around $8.4 billion. Not bad for estimated revenues of just $100 million this year.

A short time ago I did a radio spot on ABC 774 Melbourne with Lindy Burns. She still can’t pronounce my name, but nevertheless I filled her in on Twitter’s value compared with Facebook, Friday’s share market float by Zynga, and the current Silicon Valley boom. And here’s the audio.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:51 — 3.2MB)

The audio is ©2011 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, but it hasn’t been posted on their website so here it is. In return, I reckon you might choose to listen to Lindy Burns’ drive program some time soon.

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MOAR PANELZ: Board with Security?

I’m on yet another discussion panel this coming Thursday lunchtime: a Technology Spectator webinar [ugh!] called Board with Security?

We’ve had a whole bunch of security stories this year, but…

Research shows only 11 per cent of boards are presenting information security topics at each board meeting, and 40 per cent quarterly.

On the panel is Ernst & Young information security leader Mike Trovato; Black Swan Consulting Group director Keith Price, me, and I assume the moderator is Technology Spectator editor Charis Palmer.

It’s at midday Sydney time on Thursday 8 December, and you can register at GoToMeeting.

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The 9pm Edict #14

The 9pm EdictHomosexuals are special. They can vote people out of their club. Heterosexuals whine that their institutionalised racist breeder-money has been cut by, gosh, seven perfect. (Hi, Sherlock!) And the three stages of Top Gun and more from the CBS Interactive Christmas Party.

In this disturbing and long-overdue return of The 9pm Edict podcast, you’ll hear about the legal problems with the 2008 Gay Softball World Series, face the facts about cuts to Australia’s stupidly-named Baby Bonus, and hear a bunch of people at the CBS Interactive party talk about their childhood heroes.

If you were at that party and just want to listen to yourself, fast forward to the 10 minute 40 second mark.

Yes, there are bad words. And bonus hypocrisy.

You can listen below. But if you want all of the episodes, now and in the future, subscribe to the podcast feed, or even subscribe automatically in iTunes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:01 — 27.8MB)

If you’d like to comment on this episode, please add your comment below, or Skype to stilgherrian or phone Sydney +61 2 8011 3733.

[Credits: The 9pm Edict theme by mansardian, Edict fanfare by neonaeon, all from The Freesound Project. Photograph of Stilgherrian taken 29 March 2009 by misswired, used by permission. Extracts from The Breeders song Cannonball and the movie Forbidden Planet.]

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media140’s Digital Anonymity panel

The audio of last Thursday’s media140+ panel discussion on Digital Anonymity is now online — and you have a choice of listening.

Panellists were (left to right in the photo) Jessica Hill from ABC Radio current affairs; me; lawyer David Stewart from Wrays; Karalee Evans, senior director & APAC digital strategist from PR firm Text 100; and moderator John Kerrison from Sky News Australia.

Note that I could have embedded playable audio directly into this web page, but why should I give Audioboo and CBS Interactive the ability to track visitors to my website, whether they play the audio or not?

Embedding may be convenient, but that convenience is paid for with the privacy of your website visitors.

[Photo: The media140+ panel discussion as photographed by Neerav Bhatt. Image turned to black and white by me, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.]

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Do we have a right to anonymity online?

The Media140 folks are running a panel discussion in Sydney this Thursday 24 November on Digital Anonymity: Do we have a right to anonymity online?

As Google and Facebook try by force to remove anonymity from the web, is privacy no longer seen as a fundamental right? Will it become a commodified product we will have to purchase? We take a look at the legal, social and media perspectives and ask the question is it really that important?

The moderator is John Kerrison from Sky News Business, and the panel includes Anne Hurley, the interim head of the Internet Industry Association Karalee Evans, senior director & APAC digital strategist, Text 100; Jessica Hill from ABC Radio current affairs; lawyer David Stewart from Wrays; and [coughs] me.

It’s at the Hotel Clarendon, 156 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills. 6.30pm for a 7pm start, $10m admission, and I’m told you’d better book.

Mr Kerrison seems to be taking it very seriously, with scenarios to discuss and all sorts of actual planning. We should be able to derail him pretty quickly, I should imagine.

[Update 22 November: Edited to reflect the change in line-up.]

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Beware, I’m on another cloud panel

Watch out! I’m on the panel for the ZDNet Live event Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth on 1 December.

There are so many types of cloud out there and so many steps along the way. Are you setting out on the right path to the cloud for your organisation’s needs? In an upcoming live panel discussion, to be broadcast right here on ZDNet Australia, we look at the criteria you should be looking at.

Other panellists are: Zack Levy, chief commercial officer, Bluefire; James Turner, IBRS analyst (and ratbag); Greg Stone, Microsoft CTO; and moderator Brian Haverty, editorial director, ZDNet Australia.

Click through for the details. I couldn’t be arsed even copy and pasting them.