Australian author and reprobate John Birmingham joins me for the first in this podcast’s Spring Series 2020.
Continue reading “The 9pm End of Civilisation with John Birmingham”The 9pm End of Civilisation with John Birmingham
Weekly Wrap 461: Cybers, data, ethics, roast lamb
My week Monday 25 to Sunday 31 March 2019 was remarkably productive, all things considered. I am pleased.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 461: Cybers, data, ethics, roast lamb”Weekly Wrap 427: Cybers, and Melbourne in winter
It was a busy fortnight from Monday 23 July to Sunday 5 August 2018, and this pleases me. So much written, across two cities. And I had a lovely time in Melbourne.
Articles
- The My Health Record story no politician should miss, ZDNet Australia, 23 July 2018. The controversy around Australia’s digital health records system is, if anything, growing.
- Poor cybersecurity could destabilise increasingly complex energy grids, ZDNet Australia, 26 July 2018.
- Canberra still in denial over My Health Record concerns, ZDNet Australia, 30 July 2018.
- Avoid distractions to focus on the long cyber game: ASD chief, ZDNet Australia, 31 July 2018.
- AI can deliver ‘faster better cheaper’ cybersecurity, ZDNet Australia, 1 August 2018.
- Startups going global should go GDPR: Lawyer, ZDNet Australia, 2 August 2018.
- My Health Record: Canberra is still missing the point, ZDNet Australia, 3 August 2018.
Media Appearances
- On Monday 23 July, I spoke about My Health Record on ABC Adelaide, and on ABC Darwin. I won’t be posting recordings, because I’ve pretty much said it all in the articles.
- On Tuesday 24 June, I spoke about My Health Record on Leigh Stark’s podcast The Wrap.
- On Thursday 26 July, I spoke about Google’s €4.3 billion fine for anti-competitive behaviour on ABC Radio’s The World Today.
- On Wednesday 1 August, I was one of the people interviewed for a story on ABC Radio’s The World Today, ‘Australia needs to be concerned’: Facebook and cyber security. There’s also a text version at ABC News, Cyber security experts warn Australia not immune from election meddling via Facebook.
Podcasts
None. I really must catch up on the podcast production.
Corporate Largesse
- On Tuesday 24 July, the lunchtime briefing held at the excellent Bentley Restaurant and Bar in Sydney was paid for by Frost & Sullivan, CQR Consulting, Indra Australia, and Zscaler.
- There was plenty of good food and drink at the SINET 61 cybersecurity innovation conference, held at The Langham, Melbourne on 31 July and 1 August. Note that I paid for my own flights and accommodation.
The Week Ahead
I’ll be back in New South Wales this week, starting off with the errands and medical appointments in Sydney on Monday before taking the train back to Wentworth Falls. I may well do some writing as well. The writing continues Tuesday through Thursday.
On Friday I’m back in Sydney for another medical appointment, a lunchtime meeting in Pyrmont, and a visit to the National Archives of Australia’s premises at Chester Hill. I hope that last errand will produce a fascinating document for you.
Further Ahead
I’ve pencilled in:
- CLOUDSEC Australia 2018, Sydney, 28 August.
- D61+ LIVE, Brisbane, 18–19 September. (TBC)
- 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)
[Photo: Kill me now bro. Graffiti on a concrete anti-terrorist block at Melbourne’s Southern Cross station, photographed on 5 August 2018.]
Talking trust and the uncanny valley on ABC Melbourne
It’s been a while since I’ve posted the audio from any of my radio spots, but we’re back. Here’s my conversation with Lindy Burns on ABC Melbourne from the evening of 31 October.
Two stories took our fancy.
First was the Australian tour of a supposedly intelligent robot called Sophia. I’m sceptical about how intelligent it actually was, but it gave me an excuse to talk about the uncanny valley, and the early chatbot ELIZA.
Second was the news that Amazon is launching a new service called Amazon Key, which will let couriers open people’s front doors and put deliveries inside. Would you trust strangers to come into your house?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (11.3MB)
This audio is ©2017 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Weekly Wrap 387: Roses, rain, wine, and cybers
My week of Monday 23 to Sunday 29 October 2017 was adequate. I’ve been having a relaxed Sunday, though, and I don’t want to spoil that, so let’s get on with the show.
Articles
- NSW Police targeting shows the ethical dangers of secret algorithms, ZDNet Australia, 27 October 2017. There’s more to come on this topic, I think.
Podcasts
- “The 9pm Hallucinating Goldfish”, or The 9pm Edict episode 69, was streamed live and recorded on Tuesday night. You can also listen at SoundCloud and Spreaker. You can support this podcast with a one-off contribution via PayPal or major credit cards. Please consider.
Media Appearances
- On Tuesday, I spoke about the targeting of advertising on social media on ABC Canberra.
- On Wednesday, I spoke about encryption policies and, briefly, Nazis for the next episode of the Covert Contact podcast, which will appear very soon. If you haven’t done so, you can still listen to my first appearance, the episode about Australian Cyber Policy.
- My story about an Australian defence contractor’s data breach from a couple of weeks ago was picked up by a Ukrainian news site, and a site in Italian that I didn’t investigate further.
Corporate Largesse
None.
The Week Ahead
Monday will definitely be a jumbled day of editorial planning, research, story pitches, and administrivia. I’m glad I’ve already sketched out the rest of the week.
On Tuesday I’m heading to Sydney for a couple meetings, but I’ve got room for more. I’m also doing a radio spot on ABC Melbourne at 1930 AEDT.
Wednesday will be a day of writing, as will most of the rest of the week.
At some point, I’ll also announce a new crowdfunding campaign. It’s been more than a year since my last concentrated ask-for-money burst, and the gods know my budget needs it. But there’s been some changes in the crowdfunding landscape since then, so I don’t want to rush it. Stay tuned for details.
Further Ahead
At this stage, I haven’t locked in anything specific for the rest of the calendar year. Please feel free to make some suggestions.
[Photo: Antique Roses at The Alex. The back bar of the Alexandra Hotel, Leura, was decorated with a bouquet of antique roses taken from the pub’s own garden. Photographed on 26 October 2017.]
Talking Hawking and artificial intelligence on radio 2UE
“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” said Stephen Hawking the other day.
“It would take off on its own, and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”
Look, I have many feels about this sort of statement, which will have to wait for another time. But I managed to express one of those feels to Justin Smith on Sydney’s radio 2UE on Thursday afternoon. And here it is.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.7MB)
This audio is ©2014 Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd.