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!
As COVID-19 breaks out again in Victoria and, fortunately to a lesser extent so far, in New South Wales, the subject of Australia’s COVIDSafe app returns. There’s also interest in the new “free speech” social network Parler.
Continue reading “Talking Twitter hack, COVIDSafe, and Parler on ABC Brisbane and beyond”
My week Monday 1 to Sunday 7 April 2019 was a curious one. I spent a lot of time reading, and watching the bin fire that is Australian politics, but little came out of it.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 462: Controversial laws and a great big insect”
Monday 16 to Sunday 22 July 2018 was another very productive week. So much of it seems to depend on the weather.
The third and final tranche of the Crikey Prying Eyes series was released, that thing with me as series editor. I had one story this week, my series wrap, which I’m quite pleased with.
Plus I wrote four stories about My Health Record, Australia’s “new” centralised digital health record system, for ZDNet.
None.
It’s going to be a busy one, because there will be at least two more stories on My Health Record for ZDNet. One will be written on Monday, before I definitely watch the first episode of the Australian edition of Pointless starting at 1800 on TEN.
On Tuesday, it’s the long commute to Sydney for a lunchtime briefing on the cybersecurity of the energy industry and other utilities. As usual, I’ll probably add some appointments around that.
On Thursday, I’ll be talking about the Crikey Prying Eyes series on Melbourne radio 3CR’s Communication Mixdown at 1800 AEDT.
The following week I’ll be in Melbourne, from 30 July to 5 August. Primarily it’s for the SINET 61 conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’ll certainly be doing other things while I’m there, though, perhaps even recording a podcast or two.
Beyond that, I’ve pencilled in:
[Photo: Skyscraper Sunset. Sunset lighting strikes the side of an office tower near Central Station in Sydney on 25 June 2018.]
So Twitter is closing down Vine, the app that shares six-second videos. I’m not surprised. I always thought Vine was a gimmick.
On 28 October I gave my feelpinions to ABC Radio journalist Brendan Trembath, and they ended up in a 3-minute story for AM. There’s also a written story, Vine video sharing app killed off in latest sign of troubled times for Twitter.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.2MB)
The audio is ©2016 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is being served directly from the ABC website.
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”
Last month I took part in the discussion panel Politics of Social at Social Media Week Sydney — and here’s a video, finally.
Yes, I’m dealing with my backlog of posts.
What was this discussion all about?
Trust, authority and credibility are arguably more crucial in politics than anywhere else. Social media is now an essential part of the political process for MPs, citizens, and lobbyists, but how does that change public perception, the end results, and their impact on society? Our political experts will dissect past and present political activity to determine what the evolution of social media has achieved in political realm, and how political communications is likely to continue evolving.
Joining moderator Kate Carruthers, co-founder of Social Innovation Sydney, on 24 September 2014 were (left to right): Alex Greenwich, independent Member for Sydney in the Parliament of NSW; political sociologist Ariadne Vromen, associate professor at the University of Sydney; myself; and Steph Harmon, managing editor of Junkee at The Sound Alliance.
It was a lively discussion, and the video is over the fold, immediately below. Enjoy.
Continue reading ““Politics of Social” panel at Social Media Week Sydney”
