Weekly Wrap – Page 97

16 March 201418 March 2014

Weekly Wrap 197: Leura, clouds, and other minor joys

My week of Monday 10 to Sunday 16 March 2014 has been a vast improvement, with plenty of signs of productivity returning.

The difficulties hinted at last week were more about continuing gastro-intestinal problems rather than stress and depression — though obviously such things interact — and I’m fairly sure that the third anti-depressant I’ve been trying has very much not been helping in this regard. But I won’t tangle that thread of thought into this Wrap.

While there might not seem to be that much more this week, that’s because I don’t include the various geek-for-hire things I still do from time to time for some legacy clients. A couple hours of relatively straightforward systems administration pays more than writing a typical column, which can reduce the stress remarkably. Such a thing happened this week.

Articles

Want secure software? Listen to Marge Simpson, ZDNet Australia, 13 March 2014. In a way, this is a continuation of my column Apple’s goto fail needs a massive culture change to fix from 26 February, riffing off the news that a similar bug had been found in some Linux software, but drawing in some other threads as well.

By the time today (Sunday) ends, I should also have finished a piece for Crikey that’ll probably be published on Monday — though given the fascinating political news following the state elections in Tasmania and South Australia yesterday, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were held over until later in the week.

Media Appearances

None.

5at5

We seem to have gotten back on track from Wednesday, and the coming week is looking good.

5at5 number 15, 12 March 2013.
5at5 number 16, 13 March 2013.
5at5 number 17, 14 March 2013.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

On Monday and Tuesday I’ve got lunchtime briefings in Sydney, with Dell Australia and infosec company Imperva respectively, so that means I’ll almost certainly be in Sydney overnight too.

I haven’t locked in the exact order of play after that. It’ll depend on when payments arrive and when I feel in the mood for work, but obviously you can follow my Twitter stream to stay up to date.

[Photo: Study in purple and grey, Leura,14 March 2014, being a picture of the typical pre-storm cloudscapes we see up here in the Blue Mountains.]

10 March 2014

Weekly Wrap 196: Almost a void, but not quite

My week of Monday 3 to Sunday 9 March 2014 has been and gone and has delivered little of note. The plan did not go to plan. I shall return to this theme another time.

Articles

I completed my 1500-word piece for the Walkley Foundation magazine’s special issue on press freedom that’ll be published in May.

Media Appearances

None. However the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has asked me to guest lecture their first year students again with an updated version of Algorithms and the Filter Bubble in April, and ABC News24 has booked me for a chat way off in the distant future somewhen.

5at5

Well, there was one. Why did I start this again?

5at5 number 14, 3 March 2013.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

There is no plan. Let’s see. I have cancelled a planned visit to Melbourne, should you have seen mention of that somewhere.
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02 March 201402 March 2014

Weekly Wrap 195: Melbourne and many expenses

My week of Monday 24 February to Sunday 2 March 2014 was largely spent in Melbourne and Sydney. Both cities proved more or less enjoyable. And then I spent the weekend in a rainy Wentworth Falls.

While the Melbourne trip was primarily for the Intel event detailed below, I also caught up with various geekfolk and managed to combine work-related conversations with excellent food and drink. May I draw your attention to the Cookie Beer Hall, Whiskey & Alement, the Shark Fin Inn in Chinatown, and the Red Emperor Chinese Restaurant at Southbank.

I paid for all those things. It was more expensive than I’d planned. I don’t know how the lesser people can afford it, but there seemed to be so many of them in these venues.

Articles

Apple’s goto fail needs a massive culture change to fix, ZDNet Australia, 26 February 2014. Needless to say, as soon as you criticise Apple, the tribal zealots pour out their derpalicious comments. It’s just so stupid.

I’ve also been working on a 1500-word piece for the Walkley Foundation magazine that’ll be published in May.

Media Appearances

On Friday I spoke about the security risks of webcams on Channel TEN’s The Project.

5at5

Uhoh. The whole thing collapsed. Sorry. I’ll revive the poor little thing in the coming week. Promise.

Corporate Largesse

On Tuesday I went to Intel’s mixed-bag event in Melbourne, which combined briefings on their new Xeon E7 v2 Server processors, their vision for the future of workplace collaboration and how they’re implementing it themselves — I’ll be writing about that at some point — a look at a new project at NAB, and a rather fine three-hour lunch at Bistro Vue. Intel paid for my flights to Melbourne, airport transfers, and one night’s accommodation at the Crowne Plaza Melbourne — that last item being their sensible alternative to me having to catch the 0513 train into Sydney to catch a 0830 flight.

The Week Ahead

Monday is mostly about planning my media work, writing something for ZDNet Australia, and finishing off the article for the Walkley Foundation.

Through the rest of the week week I’ll be writing another piece for ZDNet Australia, one for Technology Spectator, making sure 5at5 returns to schedule, and figuring out what to do about the loose ends from my Pozible project.

The last is particularly embarrassing, because I’ve simply failed to deliver some of the products. I’ll have to figure out some alternative plan to make good.

I’ll be in Sydney on Wednesday and Thursday, staying overnight. In Wednesday there’s a lunchtime briefing by WatchGuard Technologies, and on Thursday I’m meeting with people from the Slovak infosec firm ESET.

I’m supposed to be in Sydney again on Saturday for an important social event. I’m not quite sure how I’ll plan my movements around that.

[Photo: Melbourne skyline, 26 February 2014.]

01 March 2014

Weekly Wrap 194: Brandis, Bitcoin and many medias

My week of Monday 17 to Sunday 23 February 2014 began with a busy time on the Gold Coast at the Tech Leaders Forum, but when I returned to Wentworth Falls mid-week I descended into food poisoning and related depths. I shall not be drawing a diagram. You shall be grateful.

Nevertheless I got quite a bit done, and I shall now list some of it. But I won’t say much more, because this week ended almost a week ago and I’m moving on.

Articles

I deliberately cut back on the number of written pieces I produced this month, their place in the budget having been filled by the discussion on digital privacy for Hitachi Data Systems. But I’m happy with what I wrote, including this column.

And the digital Antoinettes cried ‘Unemployed? Let them cut code’, ZDNet Australia, 21 February 2014. Contains the line: “the usual-suspect digital libertarian princesses — in the non-gender-specific sense — flouncing around as if they’re Marie Antoinette”.

Media Appearances

This was a ridiculous week for media spots. I did a total of seven radio interviews — and that’s after I’d turned down a couple of others, as well as a TV spot.

On Monday I spoke about Bitcoin on ABC 666 Canberra, but I screwed up the recording. Sorry.
On Tuesday I spoke about digital copyright on Spoke, the weekly social issues program on 3RRR.
That evening I spoke about digital copyright with Dom Knight on ABC Radio 702 Sydney, but I didn’t manage to get a recording of that one either.
Wednesday was the big day. First up, at around lunchtime, I spoke about the Internet of Things on ABC Gold Coast.
In the middle of Wednesday afternoon I spoke about the rumours of an Apple Car on 1395 FIVEaa Adelaide, which led to another lightheartedly cynical discussion of the Internet of Things.
On Wednesday afternoon I spoke about digital copyright on ABC 105.7 Darwin.
And later on Wednesday afternoon I spoke about Bitcoin again, this time on ABC Sunshine Coast.

5at5

Oh dear. It seems that 5at5, the “email letter” that I started three weeks ago, has started to get a bit wobbly. I only managed three issues this week. Sorry.

5at5 number 11, 17 February 2014.
5at5 number 12, 20 February 2014.
5at5 number 13, 21 February 2014.

Corporate Largesse

The Tech Leaders Forum 2014, formerly known as Kickstart Forum, on the Gold Coast ran from Sunday to Tuesday. The organisers, Media Connect, covered my flights from Sydney, airport transfers, and two nights accommodation at the InterContinental Sanctuary Cove. Then there were various freebies. Avaya: a 4GB USB key containing media assets. Emerson Network Power: a combination max-min thermometer-hygrometer; and an 8GB USB key containing media assets. NEC: an 8GB USB key; and a little battery-powered Bluetooth audio speaker. Riverbed: a Power Bank model A5 2600mAh external battery with all the connectors; and a 4GB USB key containing media assets, on a bright orange lanyard. Symantec: two bottles of orange juice.

[Photo: Stilgherrian juggling the invisible things at Tech Leaders Forum, 16 February 2014, with freelance journalist Claire Porter on the right. Photograph by Munir Kotadia. This is just crying out for some Photoshop work.]

10 February 2014

Weekly Wrap 192: Calm, too calm, too quiet

My week of Monday 3 to Sunday 9 February 2014 was, as I predicted last week, a quiet one, thanks to what now appears to be a distinct monthly cycle. We shall have to do something about that.

I shan’t list all the empty sections to this post, revealing that there weren’t any final media outputs — except of course for the daily 5at5 email letter, as I’m calling it. Why I started doing a new thing that generates no revenue is beyond my understanding. I mean, I explained it last week, but the explanation doesn’t make any sense.

However I did do quite a bit of preparation for the coming week…

The Week Ahead

I’m likely to be in the Blue Mountains through until Friday or Saturday, but as always that might change at very short notice.

There’s two key structuring events this week. On Wednesday I’m moderating a panel discussion on Australia’s new privacy laws for Hitachi Data Systems. That’s at 1200 AEDT, and it’s a Google Hangout so you can watch from wherever you are. And on Sunday I’m heading to the Gold Coast for the annual Kickstart Forum, where my tech press co-conspirators and I will be propagandised for three days.

Somewhere in there I may construct some paragraphs for money.

02 February 2014

Weekly Wrap 191: Loving the bomb and Bitcoin, with trees

My week of Monday 27 January to Sunday 2 February 2014 was, as I’d suspected it would be, the clear beginning of the start of the working year.

OK, the week hasn’t quite finished yet. It’s still relatively early on Sunday. But the day will be spent pottering around various work-related things, so I feel confident about that opening paragraph.

It’s pretty much an Australian tradition that the media silly season ends on Australia Day — although I did see someone suggest that in Sydney the summer holiday season runs from the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in early October through to the Mardi Gras parade at the cusp of February-March. We are a proud nation.

Articles

It’s strange, but we never really had to learn to love the bomb, Crikey, 29 January 2014. It’s a reflection on the Cold War on the 50th anniversary of the release of Stanley Kubrick’s film Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
Akamai’s HTTPS fail sets a bad example, ZDNet Australia, 29 January 2014.
Can Startupland bridge the smartphone generation gap?, ZDNet Australia, 31 January 2014.

Media Appearances

On Tuesday I spoke about Bitcoin, in the light of the arrests of a Bitcoin evangelist and a currency trader on money laundering charges, on ABC Radio’s The World Today.

Corporate Largesse

None. I’m clearly doing this wrong.

The Week Ahead

I’ll be in the Blue Mountains until Friday, in all likelihood. It’s the first week of a new month, so I daresay I’ll be keeping a low profile because none of those bastard clients have paid their invoices yet.

My writing slate includes two columns for ZDNet Australia, one for Corrupted Nerds — that’s one of the two pieces I still owe my Pozible supporters — and probably one for CSO Online.

I’m also doing the research and scripting for a panel discussion I’m moderating the week after — that’s due to be announced on Monday.

[Photo: Eucalypt Bark , photographed on 27 January 2014 at Bunjaree Cottages near Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains.]