Tag: infosec

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Weekly Wrap 329: Plenty of cybers as spring unfolds

Almond blossom and eucalypts in the gentle Sunday rain: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 September 2016 started to see a return to productivity after the pain of previous weeks.

There were also some shifts on the personal front, but I’ll keep them to myself for the time being. On with the show…

Articles

Both of these pieces came out of the SINET61 cyber innovation conference. More will follow.

Podcasts

None.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

The Week Ahead

On Monday, I’m writing for ZDNet, doing some data-wrangling for a client, then re-planning the coming weeks because my mid-October trip to Melbourne has been cancelled.

Tuesday and Wednesday will be a combination of geek work, research, writing, and preparing my next crowdfunding campaign, ordered as the mood takes me.

Thursday, though, is a long one. I’m looking at early train down to Sydney, then the Palo Alto Networks Cyber Security Summit through to lunchtime. I’ve got medical appointments from 1415, and then a radio spot on ABC 774 Melbourne at 2000 AEST. I’ll stay in Sydney overnight.

On Friday, I’ll probably have some meetings or write for ZDNet, before catching the train back up to the Mountains. I’m still juggling that one.

On Saturday, I’ll bump out of Bunjaree Cottages and head down to Sydney, and once more I’ll be based there for a while. Sunday is a day of rest, allegedly.

Further Ahead

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will be recorded on the evening of Tuesday 27 September. I plan to record the next Public House Forum on Saturday 15 October somewhere in or near Sydney, but the one planned for Melbourne on 19 November is cancelled for the time being.

I’m going to the AISA National Conference in Sydney on 18-20 October, and the Ruxcon Security Conference in Melbourne on 22-23 October.

Update 20 September 2016: Edited to reflect some schedule clarifications.

[Photo: Almond blossom and eucalypts in the gentle Sunday rain, yet another photo taken at Bunjaree Cottages near Wentworth Falls, 100km west of Sydney. This one is from the rainy afternoon of 18 September 2016. I’ve previously posted images of the almond blossom emerging.]

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

Almond Blossom at Bunjaree Cottages, Day Nine: click to embiggenMy 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

Articles

None.

Media Appearances

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.]

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Weekly Wrap 327: Spring is far more painful than planned

Almond Blossom at Bunjaree Cottages, Day Four: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 29 August to Sunday 4 September 2016 was full of pain. I didn’t realise how seriously I’d been injured last weekend. Somehow, however, there’s plenty of things to report.

The injury I mentioned last week turned out to be a severe contusion — that’s bruising — of the ribs. It was just short of a fracture, but oddly enough the bruising is usually more painful, and that pain will be with me for several weeks. It’s strong painkillers, anti-inflammatories, and rest for me.

I strongly recommend never getting severe rib contusions.

All last week’s planned events were cancelled. It’s a good thing, therefore, that things emerged from the pipeline.

Articles

Media Appearances

Podcasts

None, but next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will be recorded and streamed live on Tuesday 6 September at 2100 AEST.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

Monday is a relatively quiet day. I’m being interviewed about The Code at 1430, but apart from that it’s production planning and administrivia, I think.

On Tuesday, it’s an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast.

Past that, well, it depends on the pain levels and the mood. This much pain doesn’t exactly cheer one up. But I’d like to get down to Sydney for at least one day. Stay tuned.

Further Ahead

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 Four, one in a series of daily photos taken 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 2 September 2016.]

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Weekly Wrap 326: To the Mountains for Spring, and pain

Sydney Central Station on a spring morning: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 22 to Sunday 28 August 2016 began well, but ended in pain.

Monday and Tuesday went to plan, but after that the fatigue set in right through until Saturday. The cat’s humans returned on Saturday evening, rather than Sunday as I’d expected, and that night became a bit… rowdy.

I awoke Sunday morning in pain, thanks to falling onto the edge of a coffee table, and copping the hard corner in the ribs. Do not trust coffee tables. That made the return to Wentworth Falls… interesting. But hey, here I am.

Articles and Podcasts

None, but I’ve gathered plenty of material for writing over the next few weeks.

Media Appearances

  • On Tuesday, I recorded another five videos with Chris Duckett for the ZDNet Security TV series. They will appear over the coming weeks.

Corporate Largesse

The Week Ahead

It’s my first week back in the Blue Mountains for three months, and it’s the start of Spring. I’m looking forward to it.

On Monday I’m keeping quiet to rest my back, then staying in to watch an episode of ABC TV’s Four Corners on Cyber War. On Tuesday I’m doing an early-morning interview, reviewing Four Corners for Crikey, and in the afternoon running errands in Katoomba.

On Wednesday, it’s the long commute down to Sydney for a briefing by Nokia’s Fixed Networks division that morning, then writing for ZDNet. I may or may not stay in Sydney overnight. Then on Thursday I’ll be at the Trend Micro CLOUDSEC conference.

There’s a chance all that might be reshuffled or even cancelled if the pain lingers too long.

It most certainly was reshuffled. It turns out that while I haven’t broken any ribs or damaged my kidneys, it’ll take two to four weeks for the injury to settle down. Resting is a more sensible idea than long train commutes. I’ll do some writing and suchlike from where I am.

I reckon Friday will see some more writing for ZDNet, and then the weekend is unplanned.

Further Ahead

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will be recorded and streamed on Tuesday 6 September.

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.

Update 30 August 2016: Edited to reflect pain-related schedule changes.

[Photo: Sydney Central Station on a spring morning, photographed not this year but on 15 August 2012.]

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Weekly Wrap 323: It rains as Australia’s Census looms

Norton Street in the Rain: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 1 to Sunday 7 August 2016 saw a visible return to productivity, a week that was dominated by the forthcoming national census in Australia.

I wrote two columns and did two radio spots related to the census, and there’s more to come, although logistical problems meant that I had to turn down a TV spot.

That said, my “very severe” stress level continued, along with their health effects. Once more, I’ve been trying to take it easy.

If you’ve got a few stresses in your life, or you’re feeling down, or anxious, you might want to spend the next three minutes doing a DASS-21 assessment. It measures the three related states of depression, anxiety and stress. While it doesn’t provide a diagnosis on its own, it’s a good starting point for a conversation with your GP.

Articles

Podcasts

None, as it turns out, because The 9pm Edict was delayed. But see below…

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

It’s another week in Sydney.

On Monday, I’ll be writing for ZDNet, updating all the geek projects, and trying to sort out my current cashflow disaster.

Tuesday is dedicated to producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast. Yes, I know I said that last week, but this time it’s actually happening. I’ll livestream the podcast at 2100 AEST, although some segments or even the entire podcast may be pre-recorded. Since that’s Census Night in Australia, this episode will have some sort of Census theme. Sort of.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I’ll be covering the ADMA Global Forum, ADMA being the Association for Data-Driven Marketing and Advertising. I daresay I’ll be writing something about it on Friday.

The weekend is unplanned.

Further Ahead

I’ll be going to the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit in Sydney on 22-23 August, the AISA National Conference in Sydney on 18-20 October, and Ruxcon Security Conference in Melbourne on 22-23 October.

[Photo: Norton Street in the Rain. A rainy afternoon on Norton Street, Leichhardt, photographed from the Leichhardt Hotel on 3 August 2016.]

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Talking the 2016 Census and privacy on ABC 666 Canberra

ABC logoThe second of my two radio spots about the 2016 Census was with Adam Shirley on ABC 666 Canberra. I think it’s the better of the two, probably because it was my second go at some intelligent-sounding sound bites.

For the background on this Census issue, see the previous post.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.5MB)

This audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.