Weekly Wrap 590: More nostalgia in the Quarantimes, plus some deep geekery in words

Thanon Intrawarowot, Chiang Mai

As the Quarantimes continue, it feels like I flip between thinking everything’s mostly fine and a combination of nostalgia and despair. There was certainly nostalgia, especially for my trip to Thailand two years ago, but my week of Monday 13 to Sunday 19 September 2021 was also surprisingly productive.

Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 590: More nostalgia in the Quarantimes, plus some deep geekery in words”

Weekly Wrap 410: Unexpected crickets before Canberra

Cricket!This is about Monday 2 to Sunday 8 April 2018, but let’s get on with the details.

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm Probe: Dr Alice Gorman, space archaeologist”, being The 9pm Edict episode 76. You can also listen to it on SoundCloud and Spreaker. This is the pilot episode of what I hope will become a regular addition to The 9pm Edict cycle, a series of long-form interviews with interesting people. Please let me know what you think.

Articles

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

It’s going to be a big one. On Monday morning I’m heading down to Sydney, where I’ll do some important preparations, like getting a haircut. I’ll also be continuing with the research on that SEKRIT editorial project. I’ll be able to tell you about that eventually, but not just yet.

On Tuesday I’m taking the 1201 train to Canberra, doing a bunch of stuff en route. That evening, I’m covering a panel discussion at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Stopping a Cyber Threat on Our Election: US and Australian Experiences. Should be interesting.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I’m covering the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Conference, so on Friday I reckon I’ll still be writing about that. There’s usually a bunch of stories.

I’ll stay in Canberra until late Saturday afternoon, and have a lazy day in Sydney on Sunday.

[Photo: Cricket! A large and, I think, female cricket found at Bunjaree Cottages near Wentworth Falls on 2 April 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 382: Spring springs, Melbourne looms

Laneway GirlThe week of Monday 18 to Sunday 24 September 2017 saw a solid surge into spring. It’s frightening.

Friday 22 September was the hottest September day ever recorded in Sydney and across much of NSW. That night, at least up here in the Blue Mountains, the overnight minimum was so far above average that it was a degree warmer than the average maximum for that day.

The planet is not broken.

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm End of the World, But More So”, being The 9pm Edict episode 68, was finally produced on Thursday night. You can also listen to it on SoundCloud and Spreaker. Be warned, the pace of the news cycle means that some of it has already been overtaken by events.

Articles

I’ve also part-written a piece for ZDNet that’ll appear on Monday.

Corporate Largesse, Media Appearances

None, but that changes next week.

The Week Ahead

Monday sees me on a day trip to Sydney for routine back maintenance. Beforehand, I’ll finish a yarn for ZDNet. En route and afterwards, I’ll work on my presentation for Wednesday night.

On Tuesday, I’ll catch an early train to Sydney to cover the first day of SINET61, the second annual joint conference of the Security Innovation Network and Australia’s Data61. I’ll stay in Sydney overnight.

On Wednesday, I’m flying down to Melbourne. That evening I’m speaking at Digital Manipulation of Democracy, part of the Victorian Fabians’ Spring Series of events on “Digitisation and Democracy”.

I’m staying in Melbourne through to Saturday afternoon. On Thursday evening, I’m talking about cybers or tech or something on ABC Melbourne. That’s probably at 1930 AEST, but check Twitter on the day. The rest is unplanned, but I’ll think of something. Or you will.

Further Ahead

Events I’m covering or speaking at include:

If there’s anything I should add in there, please let me know.

Update 28 September: Edited to reflect cancellation of ABC Melbourne spot.

[Photo: Laneway Girl. A mural outside a nightclub on Earl Street in Sydney’s Kings Cross, photographed on 9 September 2017.]

Weekly Wraps 350 to 357: Gosh is that the time?

Sunset over Ho Chi Minh CityThis Weekly Wrap is actually eight Weekly Wraps in one, covering Monday 6 February to Sunday 2 April 2017, numbers 350 to 357. Eight times the value!

Of these four weeks, I’ve spent roughly a week each in San Francisco, Ho Chi Minh City, and Canberra. I also visited a Cold War relic near San Francisco, namely Nike Missile Site SF-88L at Fort Barry. Other stuff happened too.

There’s so much in this Eight-Week Wrap, the bulk of it is over the fold. I won’t be able to list all the highlights, but I will mention two of the lowlights. I caught a conference plague, which slowed me down a bit. And my stress and anxiety levels, which had not been declining, went through the roof. And they’re still there.

This health issue is being addressed, so no sympathy is needed. (Instead, perhaps send me a tip to help with the revenue shortfall, especially with the low-reveue holiday periods of Easter and Anzac Day coming up.) But it does mean that my alleged plans for the next few weeks should be taken with an even bigger grain of salt than usual.

Continue reading “Weekly Wraps 350 to 357: Gosh is that the time?”

Weekly Wrap 342: The rush to the end of 2016 begins

Rain approaches Sydney: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 December 2016 was a funny beast. It started slow, but ended productively.

Podcasts

  • The new Corrupted Nerds podcast, Conversations 17: The Ruxcon 2016 Panel, was posted on Sunday. It’s also available on SoundCloud and Spreaker. The panel was Barry Anderson, a security solutions architect for Cisco Security Solutions, Asia Pacific; Prof Jill Slay, director of the Australian Centre for Cyber Security (ACCS) at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA); Meths Ferrer, a malware engineer at the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC); Richard Johnson, Manager of Vulnerability Development for Cisco Talos; and myself. Our moderator was Dr Suelette Dreyfus, journalist and research fellow at the University Of Melbourne.

Articles

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

On Monday morning I’m flying to Adelaide for a family funeral on Tuesday. On Monday evening I’ll be at the Exeter Hotel on Rundle Street from 1730 ACDT, and you’re welcome to join me. I return to Sydney on Wednesday evening, when I’ll migrate to Ashfield for a couple weeks of cat-sitting over the holiday season.

On Thursday and Friday I’ll be finishing some geekwork and writing, before Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on Saturday and Sunday.

Further Ahead

I plan to stream an episode of The 9pm Edict on the evening of Wednesday 28 December, but watch out for the formal announcement.

Next year’s calendar is staring to fill already. It seems I’ll be covering the APRICOT 2017 / APNIC43 conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, at the end of February. Stay tuned.

[Photo: Rain approaches Sydney. An aircraft on approach to Sydney Airport runway 16R on a gloomy afternoon just before the rain begins on 14 December 2016.]