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!
My week of Monday 20 to Sunday 26 March 2023 saw some of my SEKRIT consulting work emerge into the daylight, and a usually straightforward train journey turn into a four-hour expedition.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 669: An election and a four-hour expedition — and that was just Saturday”
My week of Monday 22 to Sunday 28 August 2022 began in Leura in the Blue Mountains but was mostly spent in Sydney, housesitting in Surry Hills. I spent almost all that time inside, which was perhaps a wasted opportunity, but I recorded a great podcast and got some things done in the background.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 639: Leura, laziness in Surry Hills, and an old photograph of Oxford Street”
My week of Monday 4 to Sunday 10 May 2020 saw lots of talking, a little bit of writing, and a birthday party via video conference. That last bit worked better than I expected. Sunday was a far shorter day than most, for some reason.
Continue reading “Weekly Wrap 519: Walking past a derelict hotel is a metaphor for something”
The audio of last Thursday’s media140+ panel discussion on Digital Anonymity is now online — and you have a choice of listening.
Panellists were (left to right in the photo) Jessica Hill from ABC Radio current affairs; me; lawyer David Stewart from Wrays; Karalee Evans, senior director & APAC digital strategist from PR firm Text 100; and moderator John Kerrison from Sky News Australia.
Note that I could have embedded playable audio directly into this web page, but why should I give Audioboo and CBS Interactive the ability to track visitors to my website, whether they play the audio or not?
Embedding may be convenient, but that convenience is paid for with the privacy of your website visitors.
[Photo: The media140+ panel discussion as photographed by Neerav Bhatt. Image turned to black and white by me, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.]
The Media140 folks are running a panel discussion in Sydney this Thursday 24 November on Digital Anonymity: Do we have a right to anonymity online?
As Google and Facebook try by force to remove anonymity from the web, is privacy no longer seen as a fundamental right? Will it become a commodified product we will have to purchase? We take a look at the legal, social and media perspectives and ask the question is it really that important?
The moderator is John Kerrison from Sky News Business, and the panel includes Anne Hurley, the interim head of the Internet Industry Association Karalee Evans, senior director & APAC digital strategist, Text 100; Jessica Hill from ABC Radio current affairs; lawyer David Stewart from Wrays; and [coughs] me.
It’s at the Hotel Clarendon, 156 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills. 6.30pm for a 7pm start, $10m admission, and I’m told you’d better book.
Mr Kerrison seems to be taking it very seriously, with scenarios to discuss and all sorts of actual planning. We should be able to derail him pretty quickly, I should imagine.
[Update 22 November: Edited to reflect the change in line-up.]
’Pong is currently directing a short film, Memory of You | Reflection of Me, as part of his Masters of Digital Media at the College of Fine Arts. I’m helping, so you won’t see much of me for a few days. But here’s a photo.
Here, actress Fay Akrivou (left) discusses her character, a depressed mother, with ’Pong during a break in shooting at a terrace house in Surry Hills, Sydney. She’s not really that tired, that’s the make-up. It’s also a fairly dodgy version of the photo. I’ll post something better later.
Tomorrow morning we’re shooting at Coogee Beach, and then in the afternoon it’s at our house in Enmore. It’s a 6-minute film, but there’s seven scenes containing something like 35 individuals shots, for some of which they’re doing a dozen takes. ’Pong is both a hard taskmaster and a perfectionist.
My role? Um, I’m organising the sandwiches and beer. Well, someone’s got to do it…
[Update 21 September 2010: You can now watch Memory of You | Reflection of Me online, and ’Pong is seeking support for his next film.]