bunjaree cottages – Page 2

16 September 2018

Weekly Wrap 433: Easing into the new season

My 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

Australia’s anti-encryption law will merely relocate the backdoors: Expert, ZDNet Australia, 10 September 2018. This appears to have been a popular article. It links back to some of the other discussion of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018.

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.]

12 November 201712 November 2017

Weekly Wrap 389: Cybers, mist, and productivity

My week of Monday 6 to Sunday 12 November 2017 was a quite a productive one, especially with some organisational things done in the background. Je suis happy.

The big achievement was launching the crowdfunding campaign for The 9pm Edict Summer Series, to fund extra episodes of The 9pm Edict podcast over summer. As I write this on Sunday evening, 21 supporters have already taken us 45% of the way to Target One. Je suis even very happier.

Articles

Australia’s war on encryption potentially ‘reckless’: Former US cyber advisor, ZDNet Australia, 6 November 2017. Said advisor was Ben Flatgard, the Director for Cybersecurity Policy on the US National Security Council during the Obama administration.

Podcasts

On Thursday I produced an audio promo for The 9pm Edict Summer Series. It’s podcast-ish.

Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

On Monday, I’m writing for ZDNet, then going through my notes and recordings to see what else I should be writing about before the end of the year.

Tuesday is a Sydney day, primarily to go to a press lunch with cybersecurity company CQR. I may add some meetings, however, so place your bids.

The remainder of the week is mostly work for DirectorTech, but I’ll probably write something for ZDNet too.

Further Ahead

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will be recorded on Thursday 23 November at 2100 AEST. As has become traditional, it will be streamed live via stilgherrian.com/edict/live/.

This episode will include the wrap-up of the Pozible campaign for The 9pm Edict Summer Series.

[Photo: Track in the Mist, being one of the tracks leading to Bunjaree Cottages photographed late on the misty morning of 5 November 2017. While it was misty early in the week, it ended with some bright sunny days.]

08 October 201708 October 2017

Weekly Wrap 384: International diplomacy, and a skink

The week of Monday 2 to Sunday 8 October 2017 was short and full of pain, a bit like Woody Allen. Monday was a public holiday, and the rest of the week was packed with media tasks.

Articles

Both articles relate to the launch by foreign minister Julie Bishop of Australia’s first International Cyber Engagement Strategy on Wednesday. There might be a third story next week.

Australia goes hawk with new diplomatic cyber strategy, ZDNet Australia, 4 October 2017.
Australia’s diplomatic challenge is to avoid a cyber arms race, ZDNet Australia, 5 October 2017.

Podcasts

None by me, but I’m the guest on the next episode of the Covert Contact podcast. It was recorded on Friday, and will appear on Monday — which may be Tuesday Australian time.

Media Appearances

This week Australia’s federal and state governments agreed to merge the state-held facial biometric databases for things like drivers licenses into the federal system. I spoke about that on ABC Adelaide on Wednesday afternoon, and ABC South East NSW on Thursday morning. I probably won’t have time to post the audio though.

Corporate Largesse

On Wednesday, there were nibbles to be eaten at that cyber policy launch.

The Week Ahead

Monday and Tuesday will be a confused mix of planning, administrivia, story pitches, geekery, shopping, and other errands up here in the Blue Mountains.

Wednesday and Thursday will be spent in Sydney. Mostly it’s to cover the national conference of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA), but that’s up against the grandly named Everything IoT Global Leadership Summit, so I might pop over to that for a while too.

Friday 13 October is clearly going to be a day of writing. The weekend is unplanned.

Further Ahead

I think I’ll have to drop my plan to cover Ruxcon in Melbourne on 21–22 October, because it’s only two weeks away and there isn’t actually a plan. If I do get the energy for crowdfunding, it should probably go towards other things.

At this stage, there’s nothing special through to the end of the year. Now is your chance to fix that.

[Photo: Skink, being a 25cm-long skink of unknown species photographed at Bunjaree Cottages on 6 October 2017.]

17 September 2017

Weekly Wrap 381: Hasn’t everything been lovely! No?

This Weekly Wrap covers two weeks, Monday 4 to Sunday 17 September 2017. Thank the gods, spring is rolling on, and I’ll be back to weekly posting soon.

The fortnight’s achievements included wrapping up work on that SEKRIT editorial project — I’ll post separately about that on Monday — and the news that I probably don’t have skin cancer.

“Say what?”

So yeah, a spot on my leg that’s been there for years had recently started growing. I did what all of you should do. Rather than ignoring it, I showed it to my GP. He was fairly sure it was nothing to worry about, but to be sure, we sought specialist advice.

A lovely dermatologist chappie quickly identified it as a traumatised angioma, as shown in figures 16 and 17. Mine isn’t as visually prominent as that one, and only half the length.

My GP’s response was dismissive. “Oh, so it’s a scratch,” he said.

He’s been my GP for more than 20 years. He takes liberties. Like eating sandwiches during consultations.

Anyway, on with the show… such that it is.

Articles, Podcasts, Corporate Largesse

None, but see below.

Media Appearances

On Tuesday 5 September, I spoke about the fragility of the internet on ABC Adelaide. As has been usual lately, I probably won’t post the audio.
On Thursday 14 September, Tim Burrowes and I spoke about Facebooks’s new advertising policies on ABC Radio’s The World Today.

The Week Ahead

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will finally be recorded this Thursday 21 September at 2100 AEST. No really. As has become traditional, it’ll be streamed live via stilgherrian.com/edict/live/. You still have time to support this podcast with a one-off contribution.

Apart from that, I’ll be doing the usual mix of writing and complaining and stuff.

Further Ahead

Events I’m covering or speaking at include:

SINET61, Sydney, 26–27 September, although I’ll only be there on the first day. This event is part of the inaugural Cyber Week Sydney.
I’m speaking at Digital Manipulation of Democracy, part of the Victorian Fabians’ Spring Series of events on “Digitisation and Democracy”, on 27 September in Melbourne.
The iappANZ Summit 2017, Sydney, 3 October.
The Australian Information Security Association (AISA), Sydney, 10–12 October.
Ruxcon, Melbourne, 21–22 October.

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

[Photo: Hanging Swamp. The view down into a valley at the terrain known locally as a hanging swamp. This example is at the side of the main track at Bunjaree Cottages, near Wentworth Falls. Photographed on 13 September 2017.]

05 February 201705 February 2017

Weekly Wrap 348: And the words return…

My week of Monday 23 to Sunday 29 January 2017 saw my first written material for 2017, amongst other things. But it’s the third of three rush-through weeks, so that’s all you’re getting.

Articles

Australia’s new critical cyberdefender needs action rather than announcements, ZDNet Australia, 25 January 2017.
Victoria’s failed Ultranet project ‘corrupted’, declares IBAC, ZDNet Australia, 27 January 2017.

Media Appearances

My photo of a Nokia Lumia 925 smartphone was used to illustrate an article, Just when you thought Windows Phone couldn’t get any more dead…. This is by far my most-viewed and most-used photograph ever, and it’s just a product shot. Go figure.

Podcasts, Corporate Largesse

None.

[Photo: Spider and Fly. A spider of unknown species with its catch at Bunjaree Cottages, photographed on 15 November 2014.]

11 September 201611 September 2016

Weekly Wrap 328: Spring goes on, pain goes on, life goes on

My week of Monday 5 to Sunday 11 September 2016 was consumed by a second week of pain — slightly less pain than last week, and the rapidly-blooming spring helped make it bearable.

Podcasts

“The 9pm Spring Bruise”, being The 9pm Edict episode 63. It’s also available on SoundCloud and Spreaker.

Articles

None.

Media Appearances

On Tuesday, ZDNet posted another short video in their Security TV series, Ignore the email threat at your peril. It’s part of a feature on Cyberwar and the Future of Cybersecurity.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

Monday should be a relatively quiet day, a mix of production planning and administrivia. If the pain subsides a bit more, though, I might do some writing.

On Tuesday, I’ll be taking an early train down to Sydney, where I’ll stay for a couple of nights. On Tuesday and Wednesday I’m covering the SINET61 cyber innovation conference at Australian Technology Park. On Thursday it’s meetings and medical appointments, before a late-ish train back to the Mountains.

Friday is likely to include some writing, and then the weekend is unplanned.

Further Ahead

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will be recorded on 27 September, despite what I said in this week’s episode. I plan to record the next Public House Forum on Saturday 15 October somewhere in or near Sydney, and then another in Melbourne on 19 November.

I’m going to the Palo Alto Networks Cyber Security Summit in Sydney on 22 September, the AISA National Conference in Sydney on 18-20 October, the Ruxcon Security Conference in Melbourne on 22-23 October, and an event in Melbourne I can’t tell you about yet on 17 November.

[Photo: Almond Blossom at Bunjaree Cottages, Day Nine, one in a series of daily photos of an almond tree at Bunjaree Cottages near Wentworth Falls, 100km west of Sydney — although the images are of different parts of the tree. This one was taken on 7 September 2016.]