Tag: winter

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Weekly Wrap 325: Crossing a canal as winter ends

Glebe Park Canal: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 15 to Sunday 21 August 2016 was an interesting one. While the severe back pain continued, it’s slowly declining, and so is the stress. We’ll see how that all turns out.

Anyway, on with the details…

Articles

Podcasts

None. I’m planning to produce the next episode of The 9pm Edict in the first week of September.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

The Week Ahead

Yet another week in Sydney will make it 13 weeks in a row. I wonder when I should start considering Sydney as my home again? Sydney doesn’t feel like home again yet, but then nowhere does. That’s probably a topic for another time, however.

On Monday and Tuesday I’m covering the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit in Sydney, an event that always seems to be good value for me. On Tuesday night I’m recording some more short videos about security for ZDNet.

The rest of the week is the usual jumble of geek project work, writing for ZDNet, and a few other things, which I’ll juggle as I go along.

On Saturday Sunday I’m bumping out of the Ashfield apartment, leaving a well-fed cat in my wake, and migrating up to Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, where I’ll be for a few weeks. Sunday is unplanned.

Further Ahead

I’m going to CLOUDSEC Australia 2016 in Sydney on 1 September, the Palo Alto Networks Cyber Security Summit in Sydney on 22 September, the AISA National Conference in Sydney on 18-20 October, and the Ruxcon Security Conference in Melbourne on 22-23 October.

Update 24 August: Edited to reflect changes to the weekend plans.

[Photo: Glebe Park Canal. Crossing the canal at the western side of Centennial Park, Glebe, in Sydney at the end of a late winter day, 17 August 2016.]

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Weekly Wrap 316: Coughing as the Solstice approaches

Sydney, five minutes before dawn: click to embiggenMy week Monday 13 to Sunday 19 June 2016 was miserable. Why? Was it a cold? Was is a throat infection? Was it a gut infection? Was it all these things? Who can say?

I got nothing done, apart from some excellent lying in bed coughing. I do not recommend this as a way of life.

Media Appearances

Podcasts, Articles, and Corporate Largesse

None. For obvious reasons.

The Week Ahead

On Monday, I’ll be producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, and then celebrating in a private ceremony the Winter Solstice and the Full Moon. This will continue into Tuesday, because the Solstice itself is actually at 0834 AEST, well after the 0700 AEST sunrise.

The remainder of the week will see me in Sydney, working on the seemingly-endless tax compliance work, as well as the much-delayed geek-for-hire work. That’s enough for now, right?

[Photo: Sydney, five minutes before dawn, being the view of the Sydney CBD on 11 June 2016.]

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Weekly Wrap 266: The chasm of change yawns wide

Wi-Fi: No hardware detectedMy week of Monday 6 to Sunday 12 July 2015 was the first of two weeks I’ll be spending in Sydney — but it wasn’t just the geography that made it unusual.

I had intended to get a Pozible crowdfunding campaign under way for The 9pm Urgent Hardware Refresh, but I ended up doing quite a bit of work on the SEKRIT television project instead.

This is a Good Thing, because it’s fun and interesting work, and the pay is quite reasonable. But as the photo at the top of the post shows, my computer is dying fast. The Wi-Fi hardware fails regularly, and you can also make out the screen cracks. So that crowdfunding effort will have to happen quite soon. Like in the coming week.

Articles

Podcasts

None.

5at5

5at5 is on hiatus this week and next.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

  • On Tuesday evening, I went to Tanium’s open-house demo and drinks evening in Sydney, where of course there was free food and drink.

The Week Ahead

On Monday, I’ll be working on that crowdfunding campaign, as well as getting a haircut, and in the evening meeting with Leslie Nassar about yet another, different SEKRIT project.

On Tuesday, I’ll be doing further work on the crowdfunding project and, ideally, launching it. I’ll also be producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, which may extend into Wednesday. Otherwise, Wednesday is likely to be a day of research and writing, before I wander to Oracle’s drinks evening in Surry Hills. Thursday is also a day of writing, ideally culminating in a column for ZDNet.

Friday and the weekend are as yet unplanned. However there are many, many things that need organising, so I daresay they’ll be quite full days. Stand by. Also, and and all of this schedule may be disrupted by urgent work on the SEKRIT television project.

Update 13 July 2015: Edited to add The Saturday Paper reference, and indicate the flexibility of the schedule.

[Photo: “Wi-Fi: No hardware detected”, being an increasingly common sight on my rapidly-disintegrating MacBook Pro.]

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Weekly Wrap 265: You want entropy? We got entropy!

The dreadful Sydney winter continues: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 29 June to Sunday 5 July 2015 looks less productive than it actually was. But however you measure it, it was… interesting.

I didn’t publish any new media work this week. The ZDNet feature has been held over. The 9pm Edict podcast has been held over too, because I want to get the crowdfunding campaign locked in first. That campaign has been a little more difficult to conceptualise than I first thought.

And the rest of my time was full of end-of-financial-year tasks, and the stark realisation of how many different things I’m trying to do at once. So the list of media work actually generated this week is… also stark.

But that’s only because it doesn’t include the work I did on the SEKRIT television project.

Actually it’s not that SEKRIT. There have been hints.

Articles

None published, but I did complete that ZDNet feature which is expected to appear very soon.

Podcasts

None.

5at5

Only one edition of 5at5 was published this week, on Tuesday. To save me having to tell you this, you could just subscribe.

Actually, there won’t be any editions of 5at5 in the coming week, because I’ll be doing things that don’t lend themselves to spotting interesting things.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None. Just like it tends to dry up at the end of the financial year, it takes a while to start flowing again in the new year. It will indeed start to flow next week.

The Week Ahead

It’s going to be hectic. Damn hectic. But at least my mood should be improved by being in Sydney for the duration, rather than freezing to death in the Blue Mountains.

On Monday, I’ll be setting up the crowdfunding campaign, dealing with a pile of urgent administrivia that’s turned up like an unwanted distant relative who just expects to be a houseguest, and doing the laundry.

On Tuesday, I’ll be reviewing scripts for the SEKRIT television project, then popping in to Tanium’s Sydney office for drinks. The SEKRIT project will continue on Wednesday. If all goes well, the crowdfunding campaign will launch on Tuesday or Wednesday.

On Thursday, I’ll probably write something for ZDNet.

Friday is dominated by the SEKRIT television project and very long meeting, after which my brain will collapse. TGIF. And then I’ll have a well-earned break.

[Photo: The dreadful Sydney winter continues , being another view of the Sydney skyline from Rydges Camperdown hotel on 30 June 2015. I can sit and watch this sky for hours.]

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Weekly Wrap 264: The endless war on entropy continues

Another dreadful Sydney winter day: click to embiggenMy week of Monday 22 to Sunday 28 June 2015 was a disaster area. This Weekly Wrap is appallingly late as a result. And that’s why I chose a pretty picture.

While the cold weather and dreary mood didn’t help, because that meant I was fighting a cold most of the time, the main problem was that my computer is dying. And that leads to…

Podcasts

Articles

None published, but a bunch of work was done on a ZDNet feature that will appear very soon.

5at5

Only one edition of 5at5 was published this week, on Wednesday. To save me having to tell you this, you could just subscribe.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None. It tends to dry up at the end of the financial year.

The Week Ahead

Well most of it’s gone, of course. But I’ve been doing all the end-of-financial-year administrivia, planning that crowdfunding campaign, mapping out July, and coming to terms with the many, many things that need to change this financial year.

On Friday I’ll be doing some work on a certain SEKRIT television project. Well, it’s not that SEKRIT, but I’ll make a formal announcement when the time is ripe. On Saturday I’ll be migrating to Sydney for a week or so. And on the weekend I’ll also be finalising the plan for that crowdfunding campaign, and recording an episode of The 9pm Edict. Busy!

[Photo: Another dreadful Sydney winter day, being the view of the Sydney skyline from Rydges Camperdown hotel on 30 June 2015.]

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Weekly Wrap 263: Cold, but productive and entertaining

The View from Level 16My week of Monday 15 to Sunday 21 June 2015 was yet another reasonably productive one, though the cold weather meant that I spent more time than ever before in the warmth of the Blue Mountains City Library in Katoomba.

This week also saw a significant reduction in my stress levels, for a variety of reasons. I’ll write more about that later in the week.

Articles

Podcasts

  • The 9pm Planet of Fascist Delusions, being The 9pm Edict episode 45. I think that podcast production expands to fill the time available for it. This episode soaked up 17 hours, spread over two days.

5at5

There were five editions of 5at5 this week, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. That’s more than 25 things for you to read! To save me having to tell you this, you could just subscribe.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

The Week Ahead

My week will begin with the Winter Solstice — sorry, I’m running late — the week began with the Winter Solstice, which happened at 0238 AEST on Monday morning. I celebrated the Solstice as I often do, by reflecting on many things overnight, so Monday is a bit slow. Household chores, administrivia, some research, and the like. In the evening I’ll plan my writing for ZDNet.

Tuesday to Thursday will be writing days, with a couple of stories for ZDNet, as well as that goddam ebook. Friday will be devoted to certain activities related to the end of the financial year. The weekend will see the production of another episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, interspersed with a modest social life. That episode will be completed and posted on Monday 29 June.

That seems a bit thin. But my ponderings over the Solstice will trigger further actions, trust me. There is much that I want to change in the coming months.

[Photo: The View from Level 16, being the UBS offices on level 16 of Chifley Tower, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney, photographed on 19 June 2015.]