Weekly Wrap 402: When goats were being considered

Narrow PlatformMy fortnight from Monday 28 January to Sunday 11 February 2018 is documented here, along with some plans for the future.

Articles

A fourth piece I wrote has yet to appear.

Media Appearances

Podcasts

None. But as you’ll have seen, I’ve launched The 9pm GoatFest Tasmania crowdfunding campaign to finance a podcast from GoatFest Tasmania on Sunday 25 February, and then a Public House Forum on Tuesday 28 February. Stay tuned for updates.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

I’ve avoided locking my goals into specific days of the week, because it just ramps up stress for no real benefit. But this week must have a fixed pattern.

On Monday, I’m shopping in Penrith Katoomba for various personal items, while writing for ZDNet and doing other bits and pieces en route.

On Tuesday, I’m heading to Sydney for the wedding of my ZDNet commissioning editor Chris Duckett during the afternoon and on into the evening. I plan to stay in Sydney overnight, which I consider to be a sensible precaution. I’ve kept Wednesday free of commitments too. On Thursday, there’s a media lunch with CrowdStrike, before a return train back to the Blue Mountains and, that evening, wrapping up the Pozible campaign.

Friday will be a writing day, I suspect.

Further Ahead

If all goes well, I’ll be at GoatFest Tasmania in Launceston on Sun 25 Feb, then recording a Public House Forum podcast in Hobart on Tue 27 Feb.

Looking way further ahead:

  • Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Conference, Canberra, 10–12 April.
  • Australian Cyber Conference, formerly the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) National Conference, Melbourne, 9–11 October.

Update 12 February 2018: Edited to reflect a schedule change for Monday.

[Photo: Narrow Platform. A woman walks along Platform 2 at Wentworth Falls station just before a train arrives on 9 February 2018.]

Talking end-to-end encryption on ABC RN Breakfast

ABC logoAustralia is opening a new campaign in the seemingly never-ending Cyptowars. This time, the target is end-to-end encryption.

Our favourite attorney-general, Senator George Brandis QC, wants “the cooperation of companies like Apple and Facebook and Google and so on” to help the government break into encrypted communications. That cooperation would presumably extend to messaging apps that use end-to-end encryption, such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and so on.

And cooperation would be ensured, thanks to new legal sanctions.

Brandis says he’s not interested in putting mandatory “back door” access into the encryption used by messaging platforms. But how can that be true when he’s asking for the tech companies to be able to provide access to customers’ encrypted messages? That’s exactly what a back door is.

Anyway, this morning I was interviewed on this topic by Fran Kelly on the ABC’s RN Breakfast. We spoke for more than seven minutes.

The audio is ©2017 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is being served directly from the ABC website.

For more analysis, try George Brandis’s salvo in cryptowars could blow a hole in architecture of the internet, by the Guardian’s Paul Farrell.

Weekly Wrap 335: Being a busy media whore in Melbourne

Melbourne is doomed: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 October 2016 was spent in Melbourne, being busy, and being a bit of a media whore.

Since this Weekly Wrap is late, just like last week’s, I’ll get straight into it.

Articles

Podcasts

None, but I recorded material for another Ruxcon-related episode of Corrupted Nerds, and The 9pm Edict Public House Forum 4. Both will appear during the week of 7 November.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None.

[Photo: Melbourne is doomed, photographed on 30 October 2016. A cold front was approaching Melbourne, accompanied by a severe weather warning about strong winds. This is what it looked like from St Kilda Beach.]

Weekly Wrap 331: Maybe possibly a phase shift, perhaps

Glebe Island Bridge: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 26 September to Sunday 2 October 2016 was quite good, I think, for a whole bunch of reasons.

I did a decent amount of media production. I got one of my lingering geek-for-hire projects moving again. And it was a successful first week of the action plan put together by my doctor. Many wins.

I also launched a Pozible crowdfunding campaign, Stilgherrian > Melbourne 2016, to fund a variety of things late this month. Please consider.

Articles

Podcasts

None, because I rescheduled the planned recording session for The 9pm Edict to this coming Wednesday.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

Monday is Labour Day, a public holiday, so I’ll be trying to take it easy. I suspect I’ll fail.

On Tuesday, I’m writing for ZDNet, bringing my geek-for-hire projects up to date, and negotiating my next moves with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

On Wednesday, I’m recording and streaming an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast. That’s scheduled for 2100 AEST.

Thursday sees a medical appointment, the final episode of The Code at 2030 AEDT, and the wrap-up of my Pozible campaign at 2100 AEDT.

Friday will mostly be about some geek-for-hire work.

I’m hoping that the weekend will be the first with no actual work in quite some time. At least that’s the plan.

Further Ahead

I plan to record the next Public House Forum episode of the Edict on Saturday 15 October somewhere in or near Sydney.

I’m going to the AISA National Conference in Sydney on 18-20 October, and the iappANZ Trust In Privacy Annual Summit in Sydney on 14 November.

I plan to be in Melbourne from 21-30 October, or thereabouts. The trip includes the Ruxcon Security Conference on Sat-Sun 22-23 Oct (I’m also on the closing panel), a radio spot on ABC 774 Melbourne on Tue 25 Oct at 1930 AEDT, MCing an event for LaTrobe University on the evening of Wed 26 Oct (details TBA), and recording a Public House Forum episode of the Edict on Sat 29 Oct.

[Photo: Sydney’s Glebe Island Bridge, photographed on the sunny 28 September 2016.]