Weekly Wrap 427: Cybers, and Melbourne in winter

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 418: Cybers and a river in Queensland

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.]

Weekly Wrap 384: International diplomacy, and a skink

SkinkThe 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.

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.]

Weekly Wrap 373: Three weeks, ending in sunshine

Approaching Gold Coast AirportThis Weekly Wrap covers three weeks, Monday 3 to Sunday 23 July 2017, because I just simply didn’t get around to it. Sometimes the pace needs to be pulled back. Especially when you’re in Queensland.

There was plenty of productivity, but it was in the background. You’ll see hints of it in the lists.

Articles

Podcasts

None, but see below.

Media Appearances

  • On Wednesday 5 July, I spoke about the Medicare data breach and the dark web on ABC Adelaide.
  • On the same day, I spoke with journalism students at Macleay College about the tech press, and my thoughts on journalism generally. They’ve published an article and edited video.
  • On Friday 14 July, I spoke about the Australian government’s cryptography plans on ABC Perth.
  • On Thursday 20 July, I spoke about various ways to help secure your email on ABC Gold Coast.

I probably won’t get around to posting audio of those last two.

Corporate Largesse

None, apart from the food and drink provided at the conferences.

The Week Ahead

Monday through Wednesday will be days of writing and editing, for both ZDNet and the SEKRIT project. The latter is very close to completion now.

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will finally be recorded this Thursday 27 July at 2100 AEST, and streamed live via stilgherrian.com/edict/live/. You still have time to support this podcast with a one-off contribution.

On Friday, I’m heading down to Sydney, and the University of NSW in particular, to help celebrate the 30th birthday of the Australian Privacy Foundation. How time flies.

Further Ahead

At some point between 26 and 28 July, I’m recording the pilot episode of a new podcast. Even though it’s a variant of The 9pm Edict, it won’t be streamed live. It’s a different sort of thing. Details soon.

Later in the year, I’m covering SINET61 on 26 to 27 September; the iappANZ Summit 2017 on 3 October; the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) in Sydney from 10 to 12 October; and Ruxcon in Melbourne on 21 to 22 October.

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

[Photo: Approaching Gold Coast Airport (OOL/YBCG) from the north, photographed on 16 July 2017 from Virgin Australia flight VA517, served that day by Boeing 737-800 registration VH-YVA.]

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?”