Weekly Wrap

A weekly summary of what I’ve been doing elsewhere on the internets.

Weekly Wrap 441: The joy of a calm spring week

11 November 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | No comments

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.]

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

04 November 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | No comments

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.]

Weekly Wrap 439: Banking, cybers, and whisky (lots of)

28 October 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | No comments

ICC SydneyMy 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.

I’m used to plenty of hospitality at cybersecurity conferences, but the international banking industry works at a whole different level. It also generated three stories, with another one or two still to come.

And all of this happened despite a night of drinking whisky. I’d like to quash the rumour that we were drinking whisky until 6am, however. It was only about 5.50am.

Podcasts

Articles

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

  • SWIFT’s Sibos global financial services conference was awash with plenty of high-quality food and drink. I didn’t trawl the stalls, even though there were some excellent things on offer. I just grabbed a pen from the Reserve Bank of Australia when mine broke.

The Week Ahead

On Monday I’m writing something for ZDNet before doing the shopping and other errands in Katoomba.

Tuesday will be a long day. I’m catching the 0607 train down to Sydney to cover the McAfee MPOWER Cyber Security Summit. I daresay that as a result I’ll be writing something else for ZDNet on Wednesday.

Update 30 October: I’m down with what I’m calling Banker Flu. Monday and Tuesday have been write-offs. Wednesday will be about story pitches, writing, and the shopping.

I’ll leave Thursday and Friday unplanned for the time being. I have the sneaking suspicion that there’ll be something newsworthy to write about, and I’ll sort out the podcast plans for the rest of the year.

Further Ahead

There’s nothing specific pencilled in yet, so I should probably do something about that. Suggestions are more than welcome.

[Photo: ICC Sydney, photographed on 24 October 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 438: Digging into the legislation, mostly

21 October 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | 1 comment

Waratah at Bunjaree CottagesAfter 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

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.]

Weekly Wrap 437: Cybering for two weeks in two countries

14 October 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

The White HouseMy 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

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:

[Photo: The White House. You know what this is. Photographed on the foggy Sunday morning of 7 October 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 435: Flying in aircraft small and large

30 September 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Refuelling at Swan HillThe highlight of my week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 September 2018 was obviously being flown from Sydney to (nearly) Adelaide by Mark Newton in his Van’s RV-6 VH-SOL. That’s it in the photo. Obviously.

A podcast will result from that trip, “The 9pm Sierra Oscar Lima (Or Llama)”, in about four weeks from now, once I’ve finished travelling. Meanwhile, you can read the tweets and look at the blurry photos.

A second highlight was running a successful Pozible crowdfunding campaign, The 9pm Flying Visits, to record some podcast segments in Adelaide, Washington DC, and Melbourne. I’m visiting those cities for work, but thanks to 50 generous supporters contributed $2138 to cover extra accommodation and the like. See below for how that will all work.

Articles

Podcasts

None published, but I’ve recorded a long conversation with Nicholas Fryer, who does The Arch Window segments in The 9pm Edict. That will appear some time in the coming week.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

  • On Thursday, I met with the CEO of Responsight and his PR people. They bought me a coffee.

The Week Ahead

As I post this on Sunday afternoon, I’m at Adelaide Airport for flights via Melbourne and Abu Dhabi to Washington DC. I’ll arrive there on Monday evening local time.

I’m spending the week in DC covering the FireEye Cyber Defense Summit from Tuesday to Thursday, then enjoying my first visit to the city and recording more podcasts bits. I’m very pleased that one of those bits will be an interview with the remarkable Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin’s Law amongst many other things.

On Sunday night I fly out via Abu Dhabi to Melbourne.

Further Ahead

The following week I’m in Melbourne, arriving on Tuesday evening local time to cover the Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, on 9–11 October. I’m staying in Melbourne to write, and record yet more podcast bits, before flying up to Sydney on Sunday night.

Beyond that:

  • The Sibos global financial services conference, Sydney, 22–25 October.
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (TBC)

[Photo: Refuelling at Swan Hill. Mark Newton’s Van’s RV-6 VH-SOL about to be refuelled at Swan Hill Aerodrome, as the signage described it, on 28 September 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 434: Spring, with quoll and crowdfunding

23 September 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Tiger QuollThe highlights of my week of Monday 17 to Sunday 23 September 2018 included seeing a tiger quoll at very close range as it ambled part the house. That’s it in the photo.

I also managed — finally! — to extrude a podcast. And I launched a Pozible crowdfunding campaign to record some podcast segments in Adelaide, Washington DC, and Melbourne over the coming weeks. I’m visiting those cities for work.

Please consider pledging your support to The 9pm Flying Visits.

Podcasts

Articles

Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None, but this will change a lot in the next few weeks, at least as far as Corporate Largesse goes.

The Week Ahead

I’m kicking off a few weeks that have already been mapped out. Monday is about planning, logistics, story pitches, some geekery, and shopping. Tuesday and Wednesday are about writing and data wrangling, ideally.

On Thursday, I’m heading down to Sydney for an interview at 1100, plus a few other bits and pieces, before wrapping up The 9pm Flying Visits at 2100 AEST. You have until then to pledge your support. Please consider.

On Friday, I’m flying from Sydney’s Bankstown airport to Wagga Wagga to Swan Hill to Goolwa in a Vans RV-6 light aircraft registration VH-SOL piloted by Mark Newton. We hope to start the engine at 0830 AEST. En route I’ll record things for a subsequent podcast and tweet some observations. So far the weather forecast looks reasonable, but there’s always the chance of delays.

Saturday and Sunday will be spent in Adelaide, and I’ll record a podcast bit or two. I fly out at 1805 ACST on Sunday, travelling via Melbourne and Abu Dhabi to Washington DC.

Further Ahead

I’m spending the week in DC covering the FireEye Cyber Defense Summit on 1–4 October, then enjoying my first visit to the city and recording more podcasts bits before flying out Sunday night to Abu Dhabi and Melbourne.

The following week I’m in Melbourne, arriving on Tuesday local time to cover the Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, on 9–11 October. I’m staying in Melbourne to write, and record yet more podcast bits, before flying up to Sydney on Sunday night.

Beyond that:

  • The Sibos global financial services conference, Sydney, 22–25 October.
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (TBC)

[Photo: Tiger Quoll. A tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, or the tiger cat, spotted at Bunjaree Cottages near Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains on 19 September 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 433: Easing into the new season

16 September 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Eucalypt ScrublandMy week from Monday 10 to Sunday 16 September 2018 did not work out as I’d hoped last week. I did head down to Sydney as planned, but it turned out that I wasn’t as recovered from the lurgi as I’d thought. I think we’re done with that now.

Articles

Podcasts, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

It was another week when all three of these categories were empty, mostly because I didn’t go to the AI & Machine Learning Summit as planned. But see below.

The Week Ahead

Monday and Tuesday will be about writing for ZDNet, I hope, but I’ll also kick off a quick crowdfunding campaign to record some podcasts while I’m in Washington DC and Melbourne.

The next episode of The 9pm Edict will now be recorded on Wednesday 19 September (moved from Tuesday) at 2100 AEST. Listen on the livestream or on Spreaker apps, or listen later on the usual feeds.

Thursday will be a relatively easy day, before returning to some media work on Friday. After that, the weekend is intended to be about de-stressing. I note, however, that the Equinox is on Saturday night at 2354 AEST, so I might do something to mark the occasion.

Further Ahead

The week of Monday 24 September kicks off a few weeks that have already been mapped out. It begins in writing mode. Thursday will be a Sydney day, and I’ll stay overnight because…

On Friday — or on Saturday if the weather is against us — I’m flying from Sydney’s Bankstown airport to Wagga Wagga to Swan Hill to Goolwa in a Vans RV-6 light aircraft registration VH-SOL piloted by Mark Newton. En route I’ll record things for a subsequent podcast.

On Sunday I fly from Adelaide to Abu Dhabi to Washington DC to cover the FireEye Cyber Defense Summit on 1–5 October. I’m spend the weekend in DC before flying back through Abu Dhabi to Melbourne to cover the Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, on 9–11 October.

Beyond that:

  • The Sibos global financial services conference, Sydney, 22–25 October.
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (TBC)

[Photo: Eucalypt Scrubland. I do so love the patterns created by sunlight in the scrub at Bunjaree Cottages, and sometimes it works better in monochrome. Photographed 14 September 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 432: More cybers, with a little Cronulla

09 September 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

The Right to StrikeI don’t know what to make of my week from Monday 3 to Sunday 9 September 2018. It felt like I was quite busy, but there isn’t as much visible output to show for it. Oh well.

Articles

I wrote a third piece for ZDNet that should appear on Monday.

Podcasts, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None. I am very embarrassed not to have done the podcast on Wednesday as promised. I did make the journey to Cronulla the recording session, as foreshadowed last week, but it turned out that I wasn’t quite recovered from illness, and needed to rest. But see below.

The Week Ahead

It’s a Sydney-centric week. I’ll head down the hill on Monday morning for least one meeting that afternoon.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I’m covering the AI & Machine Learning Summit. Thursday and Friday will be therefore about writing.

Further Ahead

The next episode of The 9pm Edict will now be recorded on Tuesday 18 September at 2100 AEST, because that week looks less hectic. Listen on the livestream or on Spreaker apps, or listen later on the usual feeds.

Beyond that:

  • Flying Sydney to Adelaide in a Vans RV-6 light aircraft registration VH-SOL piloted by Mark Newton, on Friday 28 or Saturday 29 September. I’ll record things for a podcast en route.
  • FireEye Cyber Defense Summit, Washington DC, 1–5 October.
  • Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, Melbourne, 9–11 October.
  • The Sibos global financial services conference, Sydney, 22–25 October.
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (TBC)

[Photo: The Right to Strike. Trade union members leading a protest march through Pitt Street, Sydney on 6 September 2018. It was a big event, with the column stretching for maybe two kilometres, yet it received little media coverage. As for this photo, I wish I’d had a wider angle lens and been able to bet in closer.]

Weekly Wrap 431: Spring, beyond the killing season

02 September 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | 1 comment

InterCity train at Wentworth FallsI am so, so glad that my week of Monday 27 August to Sunday 2 September 2018 included the end of winter — as did everyone else’s on this half of the planet — and the end of the latest campaign of carpet-bombing attacks on my intestinal biome. Things are returning to “normal”. I think.

Articles

Podcasts, Media Appearances

None, but I will finally be doing a podcast this week. See below.

Corporate Largesse

The Week Ahead

Monday and Tuesday I’m writing for ZDNet and doing some pre-production for the podcast. Then on Wednesday morning I’m catching the train down to Sydney, and then to Cronulla, because…

The next episode of The 9pm Edict will be recorded in Cronulla this Wednesday 5 September at 2100 AEST. Listen on the livestream or on the Spreaker apps, or listen later on the usual feeds.

I’ve chosen Cronulla because that’s at the heart of our new Prime Minister’s electoral base, and because I want to revisit the episode recorded there four years ago, The 9pm Shire.

Thursday will be spent in Sydney, taking care of some medical and personal matters. The remainder of the week is unplanned.

Further Ahead

I’ve pencilled in:

  • Flying Sydney to Adelaide in a Vans RV-6 light aircraft registration VH-SOL piloted by Mark Newton, Friday 28 or Saturday 29 September. I’ll be recording things for a podcast en route.
  • FireEye Cyber Defense Summit, Washington DC, 1–5 October.
  • Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, Melbourne, 9–11 October.
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ (iappANZ) Annual Summit, Privacy: Handling the Seismic Shift, Melbourne, 1 November. (TBC)

Update 3 September: Edited to add the top two items to Further Ahead. Update 5 September: Edited to reflect cancellation of podcast for health reasons.

[Photo: InterCity train at Wentworth Falls. A TrainLink NSW V-Set train emerges from the mists at Wentworth Falls station on 27 August 2018.]

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