Word-whore. I write 'em. I talk 'em. Information, politics, media, and the cybers. I drink. I use bad words. All publication is a political act. All communication is propaganda. All art is pornography. All business is personal. All hail Eris! Vive les poissons rouges sauvages!
Is Android the reason we can’t have nice things any more? Astronaut Neil Armstrong: what a liar! And buttcrack, can you ever have too much?
In this episode we talk to a man somehow connected to Weird Coast T-Shirts (pictured above), and we hear about an orphan bear in Idaho.
Continue reading “The 9pm Bus Ride”
A curious article claiming that We are in the final years of our internet — I disagree — led to a conversation on Twitter which led, in turn, to me appearing on a podcast.
The podcast in question was in James Purser’s series Purser Explores the World, and the episode was entitled Tomorrow’s Geek.
I ended up talking about my path into geekery via an interest in the space program, railways, and the Angle Park Computing Centre; old-school programming styles; my thoughts on how the internet is changing power relationships; my opinion of consumer pseudo-geeks; how future geeks will be hacking DNA and drones, and other stuff.
Also appearing in this episode are network engineer Mark Newton and notable geek Liz Quilty.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:12 — 31.7MB)
That audio is precisely as posted by Mr Purser, i.e. I haven’t turned it into my usual Conversations format.
The Patch Monday podcast that I was producing for ZDNet Australia is no more. It has been replaced by a new weekly column, The Full Tilt, appearing every Thursday.
In The Full Tilt, Stilgherrian delivers an undiluted dose of criticism and analysis of the ways digital technology is changing our world and the spin that goes with it. Mostly in words — sometimes in audio or video formats — always cynical.
Yes, this is the sky-shouting column we were trying to name.
The first installment is Australia’s National Security Strategy? Or Labor’s election-year cyber gimmick?, in which Prime Minister Julia Gillard becomes Queen Boudica, saving us from the cyber-Romans, and builders are supplied with amphetamines No Doz [it seems I got edited]. Yeah, it’s a talent.
So why was Patch Monday dropped? It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a media outlet like ZDNet Australia would be under financial pressures. The simple fact is that my written words pull in a bigger audience than the podcast. And from my point of view, the podcast took far longer to produce than a written article generating the same income.
That said, The Full Tilt will include the occasional audio or video piece, though we’ve yet to decide when and why that will happen.
[Update 1900 AEDT: Edited to reflect the fact that article got edited. It’s not such a talent after all.]
It’s exactly one week until I’m meant to be in Canberra for Linux.conf.au 2013, but ZDNet Australia and TechRepublic don’t have the budget to send me. So who wants to pay for it?
Last year I wrote six articles and produced four daily podcasts. I don’t think it’s too immodest of me to say that they were well-received, and that I should cover this year’s event as well.
So, who’s going to cough up the dosh? I’ll need to have the air fares and accommodation covered, along with various minor expenses, and of course I’ll need to be paid as well. Much as I support and respect the free and open source software (FOSS) community, this media stuff is what I do to pay my bills.
I reckon there’s three ways we can do this.
How much are we looking at? About $5000.
A flight from Sydney to Canberra on Sunday and back a few days after the conference ends — because I need to finish making media objects first, then fly, and if I’m in Canberra I’d do some other things while I was there (about $240). Transport to and from the airports (about $150) and to and from the conference venues ($250). Accommodation for the duration of the conference, ‘cos I’d cover the rest out of my own budget (between $1100 and $1400). Call it $2000.
As for what I’m paid, well, that’s flexible. Last year the podcasts and articles came to just under $3000 including GST. While that may sound relative high for one week of work, bear in mind that I was up at 5am and working until after midnight most days, and working into the weekend. I think I pulled an all-nighter in there somewhere. So you’re pretty much rooted for days afterwards. And freelancers provide their own equipment, and in theory things like paying for future holidays (what?), insurance (come again?) and so on.
Obviously we’d have to decide the exact format of the media objects — whether they’re written stories or live blogs or podcasts or photographs or whatever, or of course a mix thereof. The conference organisers will presumably post the raw recordings of the presentations, but the journalistic approach is to seek out the newsworthy stuff, to analyse and comment upon whats being presented and how it’s being received.
So all up, it’s about $5000. My task for Monday morning is to decide which method to focus on. Which do you think might be best?
The week of Monday 14 to Sunday 20 January 2013 wasn’t quite as productive as I’d hoped, due to a combination of too much drinking and too much heat.
But there was plenty of time for reflection, and I managed to ramo up my blogging as planned, so I’m happy.
On Monday I wrote about the death of Aaron Swartz, and it proved difficult. Not because I was affected by his death — truth be known, I wasn’t a fan — but because I knew that the fans would be upset if I was seen to be too critical too soon. Plus I had to write something new, when eleventy bazillion words had already been written. After filing the story, I was exhausted.
I then made mistake of heading off for a drink or a dozen, and ended up at the The Haymarket Hotel on the promise of a cocktail bar, except “Martinis” isn’t open on Monday nights. So I had the pleasure of choosing cocktails from their dodgy girly cocktail list, and having them made by a waiter who was new to the bar and doesn’t normally make cocktails anyway. He did OK.
When the manager arrived back from dinner, I complained that the cocktails were too girly. “Mate,” he said, “this is George Street. That’s the point.” Oh yeah. Fair enough. It’s a mating signal, or something.
At the other end of the week, Friday was a write-off because it was Sydney’s hottest day on record. Maximum temperatures of 46C across the city. I escaped to Cronulla with the intention of having fish and chips, but I was distracted by a baby xenomorph and local customs, strange rituals and their cosmopolitan cultural experiences.
Anyway, to business…
None. I did say that I was going to write something about that, but yeah. Productivity. Tomorrow.
None.
Still none. I’d thought that Australia would have returned from its summer break this week, but no. It seems far quieter than the same time last year, and several taxi drivers agree.
Buggered if I know. Well, on Monday I’ll help Bunjaree Cottages set up their email marketing, and on Tuesday I’m being a guest on someone else’s podcast. But nothing else has been planned out, either for the working week or the Australia Day long weekend. I should probably do something about that.
[Photo: The rain begins… in Cronulla. Well, there were a few drops, just before I took the train back to the city.]
As my first full working week for 2013 draws to a close, almost, here’s an update on how I’m thinking this year might unfold for me. At least as far as work goes.
(If you’re not up to speed on this, please read Doing the business on Stilgherrian’s journalism and Death of a Freedom Fighter, a writing challenge before continuing. The second one includes an explanation of my focus on how the internet is changing power relationships.)
First, there’s a tidy-up of my arrangements with mastheads I currently write for. That’s already delivered two changes. Crikey has given me a pay rise, to a level they now describe as “slightly less pathetic”. I’ve started pitching more stories, and that’s resulted in three stories this week. And there’s this as-yet unnamed sky-shouting column in the works, which will start soon.
Second, I’m thinking of doing a few self-funded projects — or at least projects for which I directly arrange funding — rather than through someone else’s masthead. There’s all sorts of ideas rolling around in my head, though I haven’t reached any firm conclusions yet.
Continue reading “Five questions and no answers about my media work”