syria – Stilgherrian

31 August 201427 January 2019

The 9pm Road to War

Screenshot from WCSC Live 5 News: click for original news story

Prime Minister Tony Abbott points to the enemy, and to the difficult road ahead. What road is that? Foreign Minister Julie Bishop gives a clue.

We also determine the three key differences between Philip Ruddock and a mechanical duck.

We award elephant stamps for people who have been exceptional in the category of thinking to the authorities of Summerville, South Carolina, for arresting a 9th-grader for an alleged dinosaur killing (pictured above), and the 20-year-old man arrested at Riverwood on 26 August.

And we introduce a new segment, Ubergasm, exploring the work of our favourite libertarian disruptors. Today we hear about Uber’s playbook for sabotaging Lyft and a tweet from PR columnist Ed Zitron.

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.

01 September 201301 September 2013

Weekly Wrap 169: Explaining all the things, in various ways

My week Monday 26 August to Sunday 1 September 2013 was a full one, and I survived.

Part of me wants to write more than that, particularly after last week’s false start, the thoughts generated by my university lectures on Monday, and the idiocy of being banned by Microsoft — and in that account I really should have emphasised more the defamatory nature of that action.

But it’s already well into Sunday evening, I’ve already written my counterpoint to gripes about the Sunday Telegraph, and it’s a busy week ahead (see below). So on with the facts.

Articles

Gartner’s vision of infosec 2019: four scenarios, all bad, CSO Online, 28 August 2013.
Look, we told you about these droids, ZDNet Australia, 29 August 2013.
Assad’s army: the future of hacking is here, with a new target, Crikey, 30 August 2013.
Melbourne IT breach highlights need for security culture, ZDNet Australia, 30 August 2013.

Podcasts

None, though I did more background work on Corrupted Nerds, and things will appear in the coming few days.

Media Appearances

On Monday, I gave my guest lecture at the University of Sydney, Algorithms and the Filter Bubble, Take 2A in the morning, and Take 2B in the afternoon. They’re slightly different.

Corporate Largesse

Also on Monday, I met up with Kim Carter, the PR Manager of the Australian Direct Marketing Association. Oddly enough, they know all about data mining. She paid for the coffee.
Also on Monday, I went to the program launch for the Sydney Opera House’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas, which is on 2 to 4 November. There was food and drink.
On Thursday night, I went to Text100’s (in)famous Christmas in August event, where they previewed their clients’ goodies for the holiday buying season. There was food and much, much drink.

The Week Ahead

It’ll be another busy one. Monday is dedicated to a spring clean of various projects, something I’m looking forward to.

Tuesday is a trip to Sydney for a 1000 interview recording in the CBD, and to cover a lunch event by the Trans-Tasman Business Circle featuring Westpac’s chief information officer Clive Whincup. I’m reporting on the latter for Technology Spectator.

Wednesday is a day of interview recordings, research and writing back up in the Blue Mountains.

On Thursday it’s back to Sydney for more interview recordings and a lunch briefing by AVG Technologies, and I’ll probably stay in Sydney over night because on Friday I have an 0800 interview recording in the CBD — after which it’s all a bit unplanned.

[Photo: Sydney Harbour from Potts Point, taken from a room at the DeVere Hotel on Friday 30 August 2013.]