Tag: cso online

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Weekly Wrap 148: Libertarian overload, with heraldry

Heraldry Overload, Union Theatre, Lithgow (detail): click to embiggenThe week of Monday 1 to Sunday 7 April 2013 was days ago, so once more I’ll just present the basic facts with a random photo.

Articles

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None. But there’ll be plenty this week.

The Week Ahead

Well, Monday’s been done. I wrote a thing for Crikey previewing the Coalition’s broadband policy announcement. We’ll get the actual announcement tomorrow (Tuesday) or the day after (Wednesday, in case you need help working that out), so I’ll write more about it then.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I’m also taking the train to Sydney for a 1500 meeting in the CBD and subsequent drinks, and then staying overnight for a lunchtime briefing on Wednesday.

The rest of the week will be a mix of writing and geekery, as I choose to take it.

However at some time on the weekend I should be returning to Sydney, to stay there for two weeks while Bunjaree Cottages turns into school holiday mode. In theory. Nothing has been confirmed. And I am actually quite relaxed with this knowledge.

[Photo: Heraldry Overload, an architectural detail on the Union Theatre, Lithgow.]

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Weekly Wrap 147: Easter rush with added geekery

"Shut up, I'm eating this flower": click to embiggenThe week of Monday 25 to Sunday 31 March 2013 was hectic and varied — lecturing at a university, appearing on TV and being reminded how easily internet technology can fall apart.

The various media things are listed here, of course. What’s not listed is a sudden and unexpected day full of geekery that began at 0100 on (Good) Friday and ran well into the evening. A server software upgrade went pear-shaped. and I had to coordinate work between the server team in India and the data centre team in the US. Given that they had different responsibilities and authorities, I had to sign off on their plans. There’s some lessons in there that’d make an interesting blog post — but not yet.

Articles

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

  • On Monday, I paid a visit to Vertel in Alexandria, Sydney, to find out about what they can do with high-speed wireless internet links. They offered me a beer. I accepted. It was a Peroni. It was rather nice.

The Week Ahead

This’ll be an interesting one because tomorrow, which is both the public holiday for Easter Monday and the start of a new quarter, I’m planning to kick off a series of changes in my little world. Or at least try to. I’ll write about that tomorrow morning afternoon.

I’ve also got plenty of writing lined up, including two pieces for Technology Spectator, one for CSO Online, one for Crikey and my usual column for ZDNet. This both pleases and stresses me. I may rearrange this a bit, because that’s rather a lot for a short week.

At this stage it’s looking like I’ll be in Wentworth Falls for the first part of the week, before heading down to Sydney on Friday morning to record Marc Fennell’s Download This Show for ABC Radio National.

[Photo: Shut up, I’m eating this flower, yet another photograph of a crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans) at Bunjaree Cottages. I feel like I’ve posted a few too many Bunjaree bird photos lately, but I couldn’t resist the seemingly-cheeky look this guy threw me while he ripped apart and ate the eating a mountain devil (Lambertia formosa) flowers from a nearby plant.]

[Update 1 April 2013, 1145 AEDT: Updated the ETA for the post about my plans to reflect the unfolding reality.]

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Weekly Wrap 143: Rain, more rain and a few irritations

Dawn, with spitting rain: click to embiggenThe week of Monday 25 February to Sunday 3 March 2013 was full of rain and dark moods.

At the front end of the week, the rain provided a lovely backdrop to some writing. But Mistress Insomnia joined forces with some annoying personal news and an upset stomach to cause the end of the week to be a write-off. Oh well.

Articles

Podcasts

This podcast that I’m meant to be doing for TechRepublic is well and truly jinxed, it seems. Having obtained a replacement recorder, I was all set to record it on Friday morning. But my digestive tract decided otherwise.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

  • On Tuesday I went to the media launch of Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, held over lunch at Rockpool Bar & Grill in Sydney. Kaspersky Lab paid, of course. A magnificent sirloin was accompanied by a rather nice pinot noir, and followed by a cheese plate.

The Week Ahead

Nothing is locked into the schedule yet, though of course I have things to write as usual. I guess I’ll just make it up as I go along.

[Photo: Dawn, with spitting rain, a photograph taken at dawn on 26 February during light rain at Bunjaree Cottages.]

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Weekly Wrap 140: China hacks, Telstra slows, and more

Welcome to the People's Democratic Republic of Burwood: click to embiggenThe week of Monday 4 to Sunday 10 February 2013 was… in the past. Shit, it’s already Wednesday night! I’ll just post this here now, with little commentary.

Well, one comment. We do seem to be getting back into the writing thing for 2013.

Articles

Podcasts

None. But wait.

Media Appearances

  • On Thursday I spoke about Twitter and TV on ABC Radio National’s Media Report.
  • Also on Thursday, I spoke about various internet things with Dom Knight on ABC 702 Sydney. I may or may not post the audio. Although I recorded it, there’s a chunk missing because mobile internet.
  • On Friday, I spoke about The Global Mail on Radio 2SER’s Fourth Estate.

Corporate Largesse

Still none. Was it something I said?

The Week Ahead

It’s half gone, and I’m making it up as I go along. But Sunday morning I fly to Maroochydore for Kickstart Forum 2013, so I’ll probably be in Sydney on the weekend.

[Photo: Welcome to the People's Democratic Republic of Burwood, being a picture of a building in Sydney’s suburbs that disturbs me, photographed from a moving train.]

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So China hacked some US newspapers…

Screenshot of NYTimes.com: click for original storyOn 31 January The New York Times reported that it had been hacked by China, their networks penetrated for some four months. The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post too. So naturally I ended up writing about it.

For Crikey I wrote China not the only ones taking part in cyber spookery, which puts these attacks in the context of the online espionage and sabotage operations of recent years.

“Countless organisations have experienced the same scenario in recent years,” I wrote. “But it’s big news this time because journalists were the targets.” Cynical, perhaps, but I gather security über-expert Bruce Schneier said much the same thing, so I’m kinda chuffed.

And for CSO Online I wrote Chinese attacks show up useless infosec, again.

“Recent attacks on US newspapers are further proof that, despite making billions, the information security industry is pretty much screwed,” it begins. That one won’t make me any friends. So nothing new there.

I must admit, I found both stories fairly straightforward to write. I guess I’ve been writing about this stuff long enough to feel confident about it.

China has denied the accusations, of course.

As it happens, this week’s On the Media podcast from WNYC begins with a six-minute backgrounder on the hacks which is well worth the listen.

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Linux.conf.au coverage trimmed: January a writing write-off

So my January was a bit of a failure. I didn’t do much reassessment of the journalism and other writing I do. The cancellation of the Patch Monday podcast and my Linux.conf.au coverage killed off income. And I spent too much money. Sigh.

If you’re not interested in my personal thought processes, skip this post. I know I would.

Linux.conf.au first. While I did think about ways to generate funding for coverage at the same level as last year, the time was too short. If I got to Canberra somehow, I could still pitch stories to editors as usual, but cashflows were tight. Then Pia Waugh invited me to interview Sir Tim Berners-Lee for iiNet as part of their sponsorship of the TBL Down Under Tour. Two nights accommodation were offered. So hey, I went to Canberra for a couple days.

I ended up filing just one story. Instead of a solid income-generating week to counteract the December-January slump, it was a loss-maker.

Want a picture? I’ve added January to my chart of stories written, and I’ve changed the title to “media objects” because I’ve added the Patch Monday podcast to the ZDNet total. I’ve also added a mysterious black line. The recent slump is clear.

Chart of media objects produced 2011-2013

So, the current status of my thinking-about-writing thing since my last update?

Continue reading “Linux.conf.au coverage trimmed: January a writing write-off”