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Weekly Wrap 444: Cybers with a lovely view

03 December 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | No comments

My week of Monday 26 November to Sunday 2 December 2018 was rich and varied, with a little more research and writing than I’d expected.

Articles

I’ve also written nearly all of another ZDNet article, which is likely to appear on Monday.

Podcasts, Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

  • On Tuesday, Cybereason’s briefing session was held at STUDIO at the top of Sydney Tower. There was good food and quite a lot of wine.

The Week Ahead

After a slow start, Monday is a writing day, as well as a day of administrivia for the first working day of the month.

On Tuesday I head down to Sydney for a medical appointment, to interview a cybersecurity executive, and to attend a Sydney Ideas evening lecture on White Fragility. I’ll stay in Sydney overnight so can work in Sydney on Wednesday.

I’ll head to Sydney again on Thursday morning, slightly earlier, for a dental appointment, some errands, the ever-dangerous annual Annual Communications & Internet Community Boat Cruise, and dinner with a friend. Once more I’ll stay in Sydney overnight, with Friday as a writing day of some sort.

The weekend is not yet planned.

Further Ahead

Nicholas Fryer and I will be recording another joint episode of The 9pm Edict podcast on Thursday 22 December, and it should be posted that night.

[Photo: Looking across Sydney Harbour from Sydney Tower. The view to the north-east from Sydney Tower, with the Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Base East in the mid-ground, and out towards Sydney Heads, photographed on 27 November 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 440: A pause before the next burst, with ants

04 November 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

AntworksMy week of Monday 29 October to Sunday 4 November 2018 was relatively quiet, reflecting a sensible reaction to my hectic schedule in the weeks beforehand.

Also, as I mentioned in the update to last week’s Wrap, I was dealing with what I have dubbed Banker Flu.

Articles

Podcasts, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None. These categories seem to come in waves. But there’ll be new podcasts soon.

The Week Ahead

Monday is all about planning my work between now and the end of the year. Suggestions welcome.

Tuesday is Melbourne Cup Day, and while it isn’t a holiday in NSW it does tend to dominate the day throughout the country. I’ll take advantage of that by getting some writing done while everyone else is at the pub. Wednesday will be a social day, followed by routine shopping in the evening.

Thursday and Friday will be an as-yet-unstructured mix of writing and podcast production. Watch my Twitter feed for updates.

I’m spending Saturday afternoon and night in Sydney, where cat-sitting in Ashfield will be part of the agenda. Sunday is Remembrance Day, so I’ll attend one of the 11am ceremonies somewhere and have a relaxed lunch before getting the train back to the Blue Mountains.

Further Ahead

I suspect I’ll have more on this next week.

[Photo: Antworks, photographed at Bunjaree Cottages on 29 October 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 439: Banking, cybers, and whisky (lots of)

28 October 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

ICC SydneyMy week of Monday 22 to Sunday 28 October 2018 was dominated by the building in the photo, the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), because I was covering SWIFT’s Sibos global financial services conference. It was all a bit strange.

I’m used to plenty of hospitality at cybersecurity conferences, but the international banking industry works at a whole different level. It also generated three stories, with another one or two still to come.

And all of this happened despite a night of drinking whisky. I’d like to quash the rumour that we were drinking whisky until 6am, however. It was only about 5.50am.

Podcasts

Articles

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

  • SWIFT’s Sibos global financial services conference was awash with plenty of high-quality food and drink. I didn’t trawl the stalls, even though there were some excellent things on offer. I just grabbed a pen from the Reserve Bank of Australia when mine broke.

The Week Ahead

On Monday I’m writing something for ZDNet before doing the shopping and other errands in Katoomba.

Tuesday will be a long day. I’m catching the 0607 train down to Sydney to cover the McAfee MPOWER Cyber Security Summit. I daresay that as a result I’ll be writing something else for ZDNet on Wednesday.

Update 30 October: I’m down with what I’m calling Banker Flu. Monday and Tuesday have been write-offs. Wednesday will be about story pitches, writing, and the shopping.

I’ll leave Thursday and Friday unplanned for the time being. I have the sneaking suspicion that there’ll be something newsworthy to write about, and I’ll sort out the podcast plans for the rest of the year.

Further Ahead

There’s nothing specific pencilled in yet, so I should probably do something about that. Suggestions are more than welcome.

[Photo: ICC Sydney, photographed on 24 October 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 438: Digging into the legislation, mostly

21 October 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | 1 comment

Waratah at Bunjaree CottagesAfter two weeks of travel, my week of Monday 15 to Sunday 21 October 2018 was less hectic. My main focus for writing was legislation making its way through the Australian parliament.

Oh, and finally getting to the podcast production. That’s a good thing, right?

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm Arch Window into the Soul”, being The 9pm Edict episode 79. It’s also on Spreaker and SoundCloud. This one’s a bit different, with Nicholas Fryer asking the questions. Let me know what you think.

Articles

Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

I’m spending the week in Sydney covering SWIFT’s Sibos global financial services conference on Monday to Thursday, then doing some writing and dealing with a medical appointment on Friday.

On the weekend I’ll post another podcast, based on the long interview I recorded with the remarkable Mike Godwin in Washington DC. And then I’ll collapse.

Further Ahead

The following week I’m covering the McAfee MPOWER Cyber Security Summit in Sydney on Tuesday, as well as a little more podcast production.

There’s nothing specific pencilled in right through to the end of the year, so I should probably do something about that. Suggestions are more than welcome.

[Photo: Waratah at Bunjaree Cottages. Despite the heavy rain, this Waratah at Bunjaree Cottages is flowering again this year. I am pleased. Photographed on 21 October 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 437: Cybering for two weeks in two countries

14 October 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

The White HouseMy fortnight of Monday 1 to Sunday 14 October 2018 was spent in The America and then in the Melbourne. I’m exhausted. But it was all quite productive.

Articles

Podcasts

None published. But as well as the long conversation with Nicholas Fryer that we recorded in Adelaide two weeks ago, in DC I recorded a long interview with the remarkable Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin’s Law amongst many other things. Both of those podcasts will be posted some time in the coming week.

Media Appearances

None, which is unusual.

Corporate Largesse

  • My flights to the US and the related accommodation were covered by FireEye.
  • At the Australian Cyber Conference on 10–11 October there was plenty of food and drink, courtesy of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) and their sponsors. AusCERT: A branded SyncStop “USB Condom” to protect my devices while charging from random USB ports; Tenable: a copy of Cyber Exposure for Dummies; ThreatQuotient: A stress rhinoceros, leading Benno Rice to coin the euphemism “Squeezing the rhino”; Tripwire: Three t-shirts bearing the slogan “I didn’t start the fire”; Yubico: A YubiKey NEO authentication device.

The Week Ahead

On Monday, I’m back in Sydney, where I’ll be dealing with a couple of medical things, sorting through my notes and pitching some stories, and ending the day with some social life, before taking the train back to Wentworth Falls.

Tuesday through Thursday will be about writing for ZDNet and editing podcasts. I’ll plan that out as I go.

Friday is another Sydney day, with the usual mix of medical and work appointments, plus whatever remains to be done. I’m looking forward to having a lazy weekend.

Further Ahead

The following week I’m spending a bunch of time in Sydney covering the Sibos global financial services conference on 22–25 October. That’ll keep me pretty busy, so Friday through Sunday will be more laid-back.

Beyond that:

[Photo: The White House. You know what this is. Photographed on the foggy Sunday morning of 7 October 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 435: Flying in aircraft small and large

30 September 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Refuelling at Swan HillThe highlight of my week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 September 2018 was obviously being flown from Sydney to (nearly) Adelaide by Mark Newton in his Van’s RV-6 VH-SOL. That’s it in the photo. Obviously.

A podcast will result from that trip, “The 9pm Sierra Oscar Lima (Or Llama)”, in about four weeks from now, once I’ve finished travelling. Meanwhile, you can read the tweets and look at the blurry photos.

A second highlight was running a successful Pozible crowdfunding campaign, The 9pm Flying Visits, to record some podcast segments in Adelaide, Washington DC, and Melbourne. I’m visiting those cities for work, but thanks to 50 generous supporters contributed $2138 to cover extra accommodation and the like. See below for how that will all work.

Articles

Podcasts

None published, but I’ve recorded a long conversation with Nicholas Fryer, who does The Arch Window segments in The 9pm Edict. That will appear some time in the coming week.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

  • On Thursday, I met with the CEO of Responsight and his PR people. They bought me a coffee.

The Week Ahead

As I post this on Sunday afternoon, I’m at Adelaide Airport for flights via Melbourne and Abu Dhabi to Washington DC. I’ll arrive there on Monday evening local time.

I’m spending the week in DC covering the FireEye Cyber Defense Summit from Tuesday to Thursday, then enjoying my first visit to the city and recording more podcasts bits. I’m very pleased that one of those bits will be an interview with the remarkable Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin’s Law amongst many other things.

On Sunday night I fly out via Abu Dhabi to Melbourne.

Further Ahead

The following week I’m in Melbourne, arriving on Tuesday evening local time to cover the Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, on 9–11 October. I’m staying in Melbourne to write, and record yet more podcast bits, before flying up to Sydney on Sunday night.

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: Refuelling at Swan Hill. Mark Newton’s Van’s RV-6 VH-SOL about to be refuelled at Swan Hill Aerodrome, as the signage described it, on 28 September 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 427: Cybers, and Melbourne in winter

05 August 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Kill me now broIt 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

Media Appearances

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:

[Photo: Kill me now bro. Graffiti on a concrete anti-terrorist block at Melbourne’s Southern Cross station, photographed on 5 August 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 420: Cold, Canberra, and Space

18 June 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Canberra BungalowWithout going into too many details, here is my week of Monday 11 to Sunday 17 June 2018. Much of it was spent in Canberra, where it was cold and windy.

Articles

I’ve also part-written an analysis of this week’s conference “Building Australia’s Strategy for Space” put on by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). That should be up at ZDNet late on Tuesday afternoon.

Podcasts

None, but there will be two podcasts quite soon. Promise.

Media Appearances

  • Anthony Caruana reviewed my performance in AusCERT 2018 — The (not so) great debate. As far as I can tell, the video of the debate has not been posted. That’s probably for the best.
  • On Wednesday, I spoke about net neutrality on ABC Hobart. As you may have noticed, I’ve almost completely dropped my habit of posting the audio recordings.

Corporate Largesse

  • There was much good food and drink at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) conference “Building Australia’s Strategy for Space”. The dinner at the National Gallery of Australia was sponsored by Northrop Grumman. We were all given Northrop Grumman fidget spinners too. They must have tons of those stupid things to get rid of.

The Week Ahead

The week will be spent in Sydney, at least until the weekend. It’ll be all about writing for ZDNet and Crikey, but I’m also hoping to sneak in one of the two podcasts I owe you. Plus I hope to finally kick this goddam cold. I won’t set specific dates for any of these things, though, because that causes a bit too much stress.

Further Ahead

Things I’ve pencilled in, none of which have been confirmed yet:

[Photo: Canberra Bungalow. Canberra was established in 1913, and the now-Old Parliament House was opened in 1927, so the city is quite new. The inner suburbs have lots of these inter-War bungalows. This one is in Braddon. Photographed on 18 June 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 419: Brisbane and return, from sun to rain

10 June 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Approaching Gold Coast from the southI pulled back the pace for my week of Monday 4 to Sunday 10 June 2018. Brisbane’s sunny weather contributed to that at the start of the week. Fatigue sorted out the rest.

I did record a wonderful interview with John Birmingham, however, so watch out for that to appear soon in podcast form.

Articles

Podcasts, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None, but there will be two podcasts quite soon.

The Week Ahead

Despite it being the Queen’s Birthday holiday, Monday will join Tuesday in being a work day. Writing, that’s the plan, mostly for the Crikey project. Unless some news breaks, and I have a feeling in my waters that it will.

On Wednesday I’m off to Canberra for the conference Building Australia’s Strategy for Space being run by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

I’ll stay in Canberra for the weekend.

Further Ahead

Things I’ve pencilled in:

[Photo: Approaching Gold Coast from the south. The view from Virgin Australia flight VA523 SYD-OOL as it approached Gold Coast airport on 30 May 2018.]

Weekly Wrap 418: Cybers and a river in Queensland

03 June 2018 in Weekly Wrap by Stilgherrian | Permalink

Nested bridges on the Brisbane RiverMy week of Monday 28 May to Sunday 3 June 2018 began in the Blue Mountains, passed through the Gold Coast, and ended up in Brisbane. But I told you that last week.

Articles

Podcasts

None. But there will be two episodes quite soon. Trust me on this.

Media Appearances

  • On Monday morning, I spoke about the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on ABC Darwin.
  • On Monday evening, I spoke about the risks of leaving data un-wiped on things like printers and photocopiers on ABC Melbourne.
  • On Tuesday morning, I spoke about the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on ABC Alice Springs.
  • On Thursday, the inimitable wine writer Philip White cited one of my tweets, kinda, in his InDaily column, The art of ranking alcohol.

Corporate Largesse

  • Wednesday through Friday, there was plenty of food and drink to be had at the AusCERT Cyber Security Conference. I also scored an AusCERT backpack and polo shirt, and from Enex Carbon a couple of branded pens. I didn’t really run amok in the vendors’ stalls this year.

The Week Ahead

I’m staying on in Brisbane for a couple more days. On Monday, after a morning of writing, I’m having lunch with an infosec person, then recording an episode of The 9pm Probe with author and columnist John Birmingham. Tuesday includes more writing, as well as my afternoon flight back to Sydney.

Wednesday is a Sydney day, with a couple of medical appointments interrupting my scheduled writing. I’ll also be recording a review of a chicken and avocado pie — don’t ask — and eventually getting the train back up to Wentworth Falls.

The rest of the week is full of writing for Crikey and ZDNet, arranged as the mood takes me. Then there’s the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, but so far I haven’t planned anything for that.

Further Ahead

Things I’ve pencilled in:

[Photo: Nested bridges on the Brisbane River. SA view from a CityCat ferry as it makes its way down the Brisbane River towards the CBD, photographed on 3 June 2018.]

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