While the NSW election results and the Indigenous Voice to Parliament dominated the political news this week, there was plenty of action in the background. Cybersecurity, secrecy and freedom of information, censorship, esafety, online gambling, and more.
Continue reading “Digital developments from Canberra 30”The 9pm Snail is Sleeping with satirist Mark Humphries

You know him from ABC TV’s 7.30. You know him from The Feed and The Roast and Pointless Australia and more. Yes, the autumn series continues with satirist Mark Humphries.
Continue reading “The 9pm Snail is Sleeping with satirist Mark Humphries”The 9pm Arch Window of the Self-Pleasuring Breakdown of Reality

This episode it’s all about the year that was 2019, as it dissolves in unreality and disappears in a cloud of bushfire smoke.
Continue reading “The 9pm Arch Window of the Self-Pleasuring Breakdown of Reality”Algorithms and the Filter Bubble references for 2015
This morning I delivered version six of my now-regular guest lecture to media students at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), “Algorithms and the Filter Bubble”. Here are the references and further reading.
The links over the fold start off with some background material that sets out my worldview, and then things are in roughly the same order as presented in the lecture — with the order becoming less coherent further down the page. There’s more material linked here than I mentioned in the lecture itself. Enjoy.
A recording of the lecture will be made available in roughly one week on Wednesday 23 September on Friday 25 September, as the change in Prime Minister has triggered the demand for some of my commentary. This page may be updated with further links at that time.
Continue reading “Algorithms and the Filter Bubble references for 2015”
Weekly Wrap 116: Porn, planes and presentations
Here’s my week Monday 20 to Sunday 26 August 2012. Once more it’s nothing but the facts, ma’am, because I’m so far behind in these posts.
Podcasts
- Patch Monday episode 151, “Porn industry innovates itself to death”, a conversation with Jeff Sparrow about his new book, Money Shot: a journey into porn and censorship.
- In a surprise to me as much as to you, The 9pm Edict episode 21 appeared.
Articles
- Anonymous hacks Sony again, except no they didn’t, CSO Online, 20 August 2012.
- Samsung’s unremarkable copy shop, Technology Spectator, 24 August 2012. The Samsung Experience Store opened in the same block of Sydney’s George Street as the Apple Store, making comparisons inevitable
Media Appearances
- On Monday afternoon I was quoted in Margaret Gee’s post, Twitter and journalism — where does the reporting end? Would anyone like me to expand on these thoughts?
- On Tuesday there was my usual spot on Phil Dobbie’s Balls Radio, this time about the potential collapse of Facebook and the entire second dotcom bubble.
- On Saturday I spoke at Consilium about the way the internet is changing power relationships. I’ll be posting the audio once I’ve obtained permission from the participants I namechecked, as the event was held under a modified Chatham House Rule.
Corporate Largesse
- On Wednesday I attended the launch party for the Samsung Experience Store in Sydney, where of course they provided food and drink.
- On Thursday through Saturday I attended Consilium at the Palmer Coolum Resort on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The Centre for Independent Studies covered by flight from Sydney to Sunshine Coast, accommodation, food and drink, a limousine from the resort to Brisbane airport, and a flight back to Sydney — but I wasn’t paid for my appearance at the event.
- On Sunday I flew from Sydney via Los Angeles to San Francisco to attend the VMworld event at VMware’s expense. I’ll list all of the freebies from that event on the next Weekly Wrap.
[Photo: View from Millers Point, taken from my room at The Sebel Pier One Hotel in Sydney. On the left is Pier 2/3, and across Sydney Harbour is Harry Seidler’s controversial Blues Point Tower.]
Flame gets me talking cyberwar worms on The Project
The Flame worm seems to have captured the imagination of the mainstream media this week — to the point where I ended up talking about it on the Channel TEN program The Project on Tuesday night.
If you’re not up to speed yet, try my day one piece for Crikey then my day two piece for CSO Online — the latter having been written after we’d all calmed down a bit.
As you can see, I’ve uploaded the relevant video clip to YouTube because I can’t seem to get the official embed code from The Project’s website to work properly. If that YouTube embed isn’t working either, you can view the segment on YouTube. Or watch the entire program segment on The Project’s website.
Yes, The Project team really did manage to turn a discussion of cyberwar into a joke about masturbating to internet pornography. It’s a talent.
Continue reading “Flame gets me talking cyberwar worms on The Project”