silicon valley – Stilgherrian

10 November 201427 January 2019

The 9pm Words, what even are they?

It’s time to have a few words about words. Yes, words. Words like “webinar”. Words like “disruption”. And words like “I have no words”.

Elephant stamps of approval go to the staff of American Airlines and Los Angeles International Airport for being fearful of a Wi-Fi hotspot name, and the fans of One Direction who didn’t know what a poppy symbolises.

And there’s more stuff, but you’ll have to listen.

22 October 201431 July 2022

The 9pm Vision for Australia

Screenshot of PM Tony Abbott paying tribute to the late Gough Whitlam

Australia’s former Prime Minsister Gough Whitlam is dead. Politicians across the political spectrum praise Whitlam as a man of vision, but how does the current mob stand up? And yesterday was International Fisting Day. What did you do to celebrate?

Elephant stamps of approval go to an Australians this time: Bronwyn Bishop, Speaker of the House of Representatives, for her rumour-based security process; and Senator Jacqui Lambie, for confusing outrageous movie-plot ideas with reality.

We received two listener comments! In my response, I referred to some things I’ve discussed previously in Berners-Lee, Silicon Valley, and Australia’s cultural cringe and And the digital Antoinettes cried ‘Unemployed? Let them cut code’ and iPhone, therefore I am …a selfish disruptor and Enjoy your Ubergasm, but donâ€™t expect respect in the morning.

And we refer to videos including the 1972 campaign song It’s Time, tributes to Gough Whitlam by Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, and Will.I.Am’s launch video for i.am/PULS.

06 July 201417 August 2014

Weekly Wrap 213

[This post was actually written on 17 August 2014, but I’ve dated it 6 July 2014 so it appears in the archives in the correct sequence. This post is part of an attempt to clear the backlog of routine posts, hence the lack of photo, detail and finesse. â€” Stilgherrian.]

My week of Monday 30 June to Sunday 6 July 2014 was, finally, an extremely busy one, as you can see from this basic listing.

Articles

Do the Privacy Commissioner’s teeth have any bite?, ZDNet Australia, 30 June 2014.
Facebook manipulation yet more evidence of Silicon Valley’s contempt, Crikey, 30 June 2014.
Ancient vulnerabilities are geddon in the way of security, ZDNet Australia, 3 July 2014.
Twitter becoming the latest instrument of terrorism, Crikey, 4 July 2014.

Media Appearances

On Monday I spoke about Todd Carney’s bubbling and other internet stunts and fads on ABC 666 Canberra.
On Tuesday I spoke about various tech issues with Dom Knight on ABC Local Radio around NSW.
On Thursday I spoke about wi-fi security and the need to keep personal data more secure than credit cards on ABC News24. A recording will be posted in due course.
Also on Thursday, I spoke about robot news on ABC Radio National Drive.

5at5

5at5 number 71, 30 June 2013.
5at5 number 72, 1 July 2013.
5at5 number 73, 4 July 2013.

Why don’t you subscribe to 5at5?

Corporate Largesse

On Wednesday I went to Sophos’ World of Warbiking Breakfast, during which we were fed a lovely meal at Aqua Dining at Milsons Point in Sydney. We also received Sophos-branded cycling smartphone holder, water bottle, notebook and pen.
Also on Wednesday, I went to Amazon Web Services’ media briefing, “Exporting Australian IP to the World”, which took place over an excellent lunch at Gowings Bar and Grill and Sydney’s QT Hotel.
And again on Wednesday, I had a long meeting over coffee with someone from the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA), and of course they paid for the coffees.