Weekly Wrap 284: Busy, with a bit of Law

Stilgherrian speaking at the Law via Internet Conference 2015Monday 9 to Sunday 15 November 2015 was a busy week. But apart from speaking briefly at a conference, and taking part in a couple of media briefings, it was mostly about things being done in the background.

In fact, this Weekly Wrap is so late, and there’s no new media objects for you to consume — apparently that’s how alleged adults speak these days — so unless you’re some kinda of weirdo, you can probably stop reading now.

Podcasts

None, but I did a lot of pre-production for my Future Tense documentary, so there’s that. This episode is now scheduled for broadcast on Sunday 29 November.

Articles

None. That’s a bit poor.

Media Appearances

5at5

Should 5at5 eventually reappear, you’ll know about it if you subscribe.

Corporate Largesse

  • On Wednesday, I went to a briefing by Raytheon|Websense over a well-catered morning tea at the rather noice Black by Ezard at The Star.
  • Also on Wednesday, I went to a lunchtime briefing by Kaspersky Lab at the Hilton Sydney. In the Kaspersky Lab goodie bag was: a Kaspersky Internet Security Multi-Device license; a Fitbit Charge activity tracker (which I’ve started using, and about which I’ll write at another time); a Kaspersky 8GB OTG USB drive; a Kaspersky-branded folding Bluetooth keyboard; Kaspersky-branded stationery, including a Moleskine Squared Notebook 9 x 14cm, business card holder, and pens; and two small packets of mints.

[Photo: Stilgherrian speaking at the Law via Internet Conference 2015 at the University of New South Wales, 10 November 2015. Also pictured (left to right): Paul Chadwick, journalist and director of Guardian Australia; Lesley Hitchens, Dean of Law at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS); and Martin Felsky, chair of the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII). Photo by Jesse Taylor.]

Weekly Wrap 283: It’s raining progress, but mostly in audio

Central Station in the rain: click to embiggenSpring this year seems to have a certain momentum. My week of Monday 2 to Sunday 8 November 2015 was yet another continuation of the steady progress in the eternal battle against entropy.

I won’t go into details, lest I jinx it. But apart from the handful of completed items listed below, I made solid progress on the documentary I’m producing for ABC Radio National’s Future Tense, and on developing the audio rig I plan to use for future work.

Most remarkable of all was the fact that I didn’t have to do any work on the weekend — well, apart from this Weekly Wrap.

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm Live Animal Experiments 1”, being The 9pm Edict episode 52, was recorded live and streamed onto the internet on Thursday night. Being able to produce this audio material live is a significant milestone, and I’ll talk about that more in the coming week.

Articles

Media Appearances

5at5

Should 5at5 eventually reappear, you’ll know about it if you subscribe.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

Monday morning is about bringing my various geek-related jobs up to date, including quoting for two new jobs. The afternoon is devoted to Future Tense production, kicking off with an interview recording at midday.

On Tuesday, I’ll be catching the 0606 train to Sydney, then a bus to the University of NSW, because I’m on a panel at the Law via Internet (LvI) Conference 2015. I can only stay at the conference up until lunchtime, however, because I’ll be doing Future Tense production in the afternoon. I’ll then stay in Sydney overnight, because…

On Wednesday, I’m going to briefings by Raytheon/Websense and Kaspersky Lab, over morning tea and lunch respectively, before returning to Wentworth Falls in the late afternoon.

On Thursday, I’ll be writing for ZDNet, then continuing with the radio production. My aim is to complete the program by Friday, and then spend the rest of Friday mapping put all my production work for the rest of the year. The production will almost certainly continue into the weekend.

Update 11 November 2015: Edited to reflect schedule changes.

[Photo: Central Station in the rain, photographed on 4 November 2015.]

Weekly Wrap 161: The black dog and the prodigal umbrella

Sydney Harbour, viewed through a dirty window in the AMP Tower: click to embiggenMy week Monday 1 to Sunday 7 July 2013 was another complicated one, as already explained. That’s why this post is very late, of course.

Once I’d gotten the bigger chunks of work out of the way, I pulled the pace back a bit — which I think you’ll agree was sensible.

I was also pleased to see the return of the prodigal umbrella. The excellent umbrella I was given by Verizon Business in Singapore had been left at a noodle bar months ago — but the owners remembered it and me. We were reunited last Wednesday. Also, pho was served.

Podcasts

None.

Articles

Media Appearances

  • On Friday, I was interviewed for a segment on Channel TEN’s The Project. However it didn’t air until Monday 8 July, so it’ll get its own blog post shortly, and be included in next week’s wrap.
  • On Sunday I was a guest on Reckoner episode three, as already explained.

Corporate Largesse

The Week Ahead

It’s almost over, so I’ll just mention that I’ll be writing for ZDNet Australia tomorrow, Friday, and I’ll be returning to the Blue Mountains on Sunday, probably.

[Photo: Sydney Harbour, viewed through a dirty window in the AMP Tower, photographed on 2 July 2013.]

Patch Monday: Is Facebook the Antichrist of privacy?

ZDNet Australia logo: click for Patch Monday episode 41

Has Facebook gone too far? Is it out of control? Another change to its privacy settings and a new 5800-word privacy policy have triggered concerns by US authorities and European privacy organisations. In Sydney the death of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff has been dubbed another “Facebook murder”. Is regulation needed?

In this week’s Patch Monday podcast, I cover Facebook privacy from two angles.

First, security and the risk to you and your employer. Paul Ducklin is Sophos’ head of technology for Asia Pacific. His research shows that half the time people will befriend anyone who asks — exposing all their personal details to strangers. Criminals wanting to steal your identity or probe your business have it easy.

Second, the policy implications. David Vaile, who heads up the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre at the University of New South Wales thinks Facebook’s privacy model is “dangerous”. He foresees a time when personal information is considered as valuable and vulnerable as financial information — and any IT systems that hold that information will need network security as strong as the banks.

You can listen below. But it’s probably better for my stats if you listen at ZDNet Australia or subscribe to the RSS feed or subscribe in iTunes.

Please let me know what you think. Comments below. We accept audio comments too. Either Skype to stilgherrian or phone Sydney +61 2 8011 3733.

Live Blog: SoGikII

I’ve decided at the very last minute to do a liveblog from SoGiKII: Law, Communication Technologies and Culture Conference… right now!

If you can’t see the CoveritLive tool immediately below, then you’re not using a compatible browser. Anything written without attribution will be from me.

Feel free to add questions and comments. The Twitter hashtag for the event is #sogikii.