Tag: wentworth falls

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Weekly Wrap 245: Technology old and new, plus fatigue

The Future is Coal: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 9 to Sunday 15 February 2015 was hectic. I must learn that the long commute to Sydney, two hours each way, doesn’t mix with doing so to be there before 0900 and starting to return after 1700. Not two days in a row, anyway.

Still, I did get quite a bit done, even if all of the outputs haven’t appeared yet.

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm Sleepless Necessary Remedial Action”, being The 9pm Edict episode 36. This one was quicker to produce, at eight and a half hours. It’s also the longest episode of the Edict ever.

Articles

5at5

There were three editions of 5at5 this week, on Monday, Thursday and Friday. The two missing days where when I had very early starts and very late finishes and, probably more importantly, a conference to pay attention to during the day. Hmmm. You might want to subscribe so you receive them all as they’re released. Subscribe. Just subscribe.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

  • On Tuesday and Wednesday I went to the APIdays Sydney at Australian Technology Park, where I was amply fed and watered.

The Week Ahead

On Monday, I’ve been catching up on all manner of loose ends, including blog posts. Tuesday through Wednesday are writing and production days, though I’ll work out the exact sequence of events as I go along.

On Tuesday, I’ll be re-planning the rest of February, as well as doing shopping and other errands, as well as doing some research and organising some story pitches for those people we call “editors”.

On Wednesday I’m doing a day trip to Sydney to run some errands in Parramatta and the CBD, meet some people, and finally see the sleep physician to get this treatment program started. I may blog about that last point, because some people have expressed interest.

On Thursday I’ll be writing for ZDNet Australia, and perhaps someone else.

On Friday, I’m heading into Sydney on another day trip — for errands and a meeting and then, in the afternoon, NICTA’s Techfest at Australian Technology Park, and then an appointment to rearrange my back and neck.

Saturday is unplanned. Place your bids now.

Sunday is the start of the Tech Leaders Forum, formerly known as Kickstart. This year it isn’t being held on the Gold Coast, but in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, at the Fairmont Resort. The event continues on Monday.

Update 17 February 2015: Edited to include changes to the schedule.

[Photo: The Future is Coal, a standard 45-car coal train passing through Wentworth Falls, photographed on 15 February 2015.]

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Weekly Wrap 242: Insomnia revelations, and more

Section of data collected during a sleep studyMy week of Monday 19 to Sunday 25 January 2015 continued the unproductive period, as my intestinal troubles went through their final stages, and then after that I really couldn’t be bothered putting in the effort.

Given that the early part of January was so exhausting, Monday through Wednesday ended up being mental health days. This lack of productivity will now haunt me for the next two months. Such is life.

On Thursday I discovered something interesting: that the cause of my endless insomnia is actually severe sleep apnoea. It’s probably also responsible for a large chunk of my depression. A sleep study showed that I was experiencing a disturbance to my respiratory functions every 90 seconds through the night, roughly, and doing rather a lot of loud snoring. So that’s something to take on board. There’ll be more to come on this soon, because I’ll be starting a treatment program next week soon.

Articles

None. But I did start work on a feature for ZDNet Australia that’ll appear next week.

5at5

There was only one edition of 5at5 this week, on Friday. You might want to subscribe so you receive them all in the future. Subscribe. Just subscribe.

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

None. But the PR industry will be returning to its usual levels of largesse in the coming week, I suspect.

The Week Ahead

The main theme will be returning my productivity levels to some semblance of normality, and wrapping up all the things that need to be completed this month. This week also sees me based back at Bunjaree Cottages in Wentworth Falls, after my sojourn in Lilyfield since late December.

It’s Australia Day on Monday, but despite the public holiday I’ll be working on the ZDNet feature. That work continues into Tuesday. On Wednesday I’ll file that feature, and then head into Sydney for a lunchtime media briefing by Check Point Software, Dimension Data and L.E.K Consulting, followed by an appointment with a sleep physician to start the treatment program.

On Thursday, I’ll be writing my usual column for ZDNet Australia, and on Friday and/or Saturday I’ll be producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, finally.

The weekend is unplanned, mostly, but I’m hoping it’ll be a quiet one.

Update 27 January 2015: Updated to reflect the cancellation of Wednesday’s trip to Sydney.

[Photo: A section of the data produced during the sleep study, showing disruptions to airflow and snoring. Yes, I was the patient.]

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Weekly Wrap 235: More scallops, less disruption

Wentworth Falls awaits tonight's storm: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 1 to Sunday 7 December 2014 was reasonably pleasant. Not much output, but I absorbed three “webinars” (ugh!) and one very fine lunch, and tried to de-stress as much as possible.

Articles

5at5

It was a full week for 5at5, with emails being sent on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday — although it appears that Friday’s didn’t get delivered properly. I’ll be chasing up that little problem tomorrow. Either way, you should subscribe so you receive them all.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

The Week Ahead

On Monday, it’s a morning of administrivia and mapping out my work between now and Christmas — well, at least as much as it can ever be planned. In the afternoon and evening I’m producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, including setting up a subscription drive.

On Tuesday, I’m heading down to Sydney for a lunchtime briefing by Symantec, as well as running some errands. While I’m in transit, I’ll be doing research and writing some story pitches. I’ll also finish the podcast and post it on Tuesday evening, to coincide with the subscription drive kicking off.

Wednesday has been set aside for writing, but don’t know what yet, nor for whom. I’m assuming that one of the story pitches will be successful.

On Thursday, I’m writing my column for ZDNet Australia, then heading down to Sydney for VMWare’s end-of-year drinks — and I daresay some further social life after that. Whether I stay in Sydney overnight will depend on whether certain people have decided to pay me or not.

Friday is scheduled to be a day off, because at some point on the weekend I’ll be doing a big chunk of systems administration, and I’m trying to have at least one day a week without work-related thoughts. I’m rarely successful in that, but that’s another story. But when that work will be done, and what personal and social activities will also happen on the weekend, is still to be determined.

Update 1840 AEDT: Edited to reflect a slight change of plans, finishing the podcast on Tuesday rather than Monday.

[Photo: Wentworth Falls awaits tonight’s storm, photographed at Wentworth Falls railway station on 4 December 2014. There have been thunderstorms every day this week. Sydney is becoming a sub-maritime tropical climate.]

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Weekly Wrap 227: No snow, no productivity

Waratah in the snow: click to embiggenI am not impressed with my week of Monday 6 to Sunday 12 October 2014. While I did produce a podcast, and also caught up with a friend and visited a part of Sydney that I hadn’t previously explored, it was still less productive that I’d hoped.

There are reasons. I’ll tell you about them another time. Soon.

For completely unrelated reasons, I’ve decided to run an old photo, not a new one. Exactly two years and one day ago, it was snowing at Wentworth Falls. One year and a week ago, the place was under threat from bushfires. Welcome to Australia. It’s a stupid place.

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm Mental Health Awareness Week”, being The 9pm Edict episode 30, 7 October 2014. It’s not actually about mental health or, indeed, awareness.

Articles

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

There’s only one firm fixture in my week so far.

On Wednesday I’ll be in Sydney to host Data Retention: the European experience, a conversation with Privacy International’s legal director Carly Nyst. The event is being presented by Electronic Frontiers Australia in conjunction with the Australian Privacy Foundation and Privacy International. Book here.

Other than that, I have a column or two to write for ZDNet Australia, and I’ll be producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, but the exact order of play is yet to be determined. Like you care.

[Photo: Waratah in the snow, photographed at Bunjaree Cottages two years ago on 12 October 2012.]

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The 9pm Humanity, with added confusion

The Internet of Trees: click to embiggen

This episode of The 9pm Edict heads into a eucalypt forest in search of the internet, and encounters a dog.

You’ll hear about the National Broadband Network’s fibre-to-the-node trial, Russell Brand, Bertrand Russell, the 20th anniversary of a sarin nerve gas attack in Japan, the 25th birthday of the internet in Australia, the 60th birthday of nuclear power stations, Hillary Clinton and the mangoes, Google co-funder Larry Page’s threat to kill 100,000 people, and the arsehattery of Village Roadshow co-CEO Graham Burke.

And there’s the dog, of course.

And a cat. Sort of.

But don’t forget the dog.

Continue reading “The 9pm Humanity, with added confusion”