Tag: zdnet

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Weekly Wrap 384: International diplomacy, and a skink

SkinkThe week of Monday 2 to Sunday 8 October 2017 was short and full of pain, a bit like Woody Allen. Monday was a public holiday, and the rest of the week was packed with media tasks.

Articles

Both articles relate to the launch by foreign minister Julie Bishop of Australia’s first International Cyber Engagement Strategy on Wednesday. There might be a third story next week.

Podcasts

None by me, but I’m the guest on the next episode of the Covert Contact podcast. It was recorded on Friday, and will appear on Monday — which may be Tuesday Australian time.

Media Appearances

  • This week Australia’s federal and state governments agreed to merge the state-held facial biometric databases for things like drivers licenses into the federal system. I spoke about that on ABC Adelaide on Wednesday afternoon, and ABC South East NSW on Thursday morning. I probably won’t have time to post the audio though.

Corporate Largesse

  • On Wednesday, there were nibbles to be eaten at that cyber policy launch.

The Week Ahead

Monday and Tuesday will be a confused mix of planning, administrivia, story pitches, geekery, shopping, and other errands up here in the Blue Mountains.

Wednesday and Thursday will be spent in Sydney. Mostly it’s to cover the national conference of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA), but that’s up against the grandly named Everything IoT Global Leadership Summit, so I might pop over to that for a while too.

Friday 13 October is clearly going to be a day of writing. The weekend is unplanned.

Further Ahead

I think I’ll have to drop my plan to cover Ruxcon in Melbourne on 21–22 October, because it’s only two weeks away and there isn’t actually a plan. If I do get the energy for crowdfunding, it should probably go towards other things.

At this stage, there’s nothing special through to the end of the year. Now is your chance to fix that.

[Photo: Skink, being a 25cm-long skink of unknown species photographed at Bunjaree Cottages on 6 October 2017.]

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Weekly Wrap 383: Pain in, but not because of, Melbourne

Sydney Harbour, after David MooreThe week of Monday 25 September to Sunday 1 October 2017 was made of Melbourne and back pain. One was good, the other less so.

Articles

Podcasts

None.

Corporate Largesse, Media Appearances

  • On Monday, in the wake of political SMS messages having been sent as part of Australia’s ludicrous same-sex marriage survey, I spoke about the law relating to these matters on ABC Adelaide and ABC Canberra. I probably won’t post these.
  • On Wednesday night, I spoke about the Digital Manipulation of Democracy for the Victorian Fabians in Melbourne. Video recordings of this event will be posted soon. Stay tuned.

Corporate Largesse

  • On Tuesday, there was of course food and drink at SINET61, held at the Four Seasons Sydney.
  • On Wednesday night, Victorian Fabians bought me dinner at the Captain Meville Hotel. They had of course covered my flights to and from Melbourne, and accommodation at the Jasper Hotel, but I was not paid for the gig.

The Week Ahead

Monday is a public holiday, and here I am writing for you. On Tuesday, I’m skipping the iappANZ Summit 2017 because I need to rest my back. I’ll be reading instead.

Wednesday sees a day trip to Sydney, where foreign minister Julie Bishop is launching Australia’s first International Cyber Engagement Strategy. I previewed the strategy last week, but will be writing further for ZDNet I’m sure.

Thursday onwards is unplanned, but I know I have some geekery to perform.

Further Ahead

Events I’m covering or speaking at include:

If there’s anything I should add in there, please let me know.

[Photo: Sydney Harbour, after David Moore. Sydney Harbour photographed from Virgin Australia flight VA859, a Boeing 737-800 registration VH-VUQ, on 30 September 2017. The style is similar to David Moore’s famous “Sydney Harbour from 16,000 feet” (1966) and related photos, but nowhere near as wonderful.]

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Weekly Wrap 382: Spring springs, Melbourne looms

Laneway GirlThe week of Monday 18 to Sunday 24 September 2017 saw a solid surge into spring. It’s frightening.

Friday 22 September was the hottest September day ever recorded in Sydney and across much of NSW. That night, at least up here in the Blue Mountains, the overnight minimum was so far above average that it was a degree warmer than the average maximum for that day.

The planet is not broken.

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm End of the World, But More So”, being The 9pm Edict episode 68, was finally produced on Thursday night. You can also listen to it on SoundCloud and Spreaker. Be warned, the pace of the news cycle means that some of it has already been overtaken by events.

Articles

I’ve also part-written a piece for ZDNet that’ll appear on Monday.

Corporate Largesse, Media Appearances

None, but that changes next week.

The Week Ahead

Monday sees me on a day trip to Sydney for routine back maintenance. Beforehand, I’ll finish a yarn for ZDNet. En route and afterwards, I’ll work on my presentation for Wednesday night.

On Tuesday, I’ll catch an early train to Sydney to cover the first day of SINET61, the second annual joint conference of the Security Innovation Network and Australia’s Data61. I’ll stay in Sydney overnight.

On Wednesday, I’m flying down to Melbourne. That evening I’m speaking at Digital Manipulation of Democracy, part of the Victorian Fabians’ Spring Series of events on “Digitisation and Democracy”.

I’m staying in Melbourne through to Saturday afternoon. On Thursday evening, I’m talking about cybers or tech or something on ABC Melbourne. That’s probably at 1930 AEST, but check Twitter on the day. The rest is unplanned, but I’ll think of something. Or you will.

Further Ahead

Events I’m covering or speaking at include:

If there’s anything I should add in there, please let me know.

Update 28 September: Edited to reflect cancellation of ABC Melbourne spot.

[Photo: Laneway Girl. A mural outside a nightclub on Earl Street in Sydney’s Kings Cross, photographed on 9 September 2017.]

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Weekly Wrap 379: Six weeks at winter’s end

Dawn at Wentworth FallsThis Weekly Wrap covers six weeks, Monday 24 July to Sunday 3 September 2017, because it was a Bad Time. Quite a bad time, clearly. But let’s focus on the good bits.

Articles

Podcasts

None, but I’ll announce my latest alleged plans in the next few days. Heh. Yeah, right.

Media Appearances

  • On Monday 24 July, I spoke about exploding batteries on ABC Melbourne.
  • On Wednesday 16 August, I speculated about Australia’s new cyberwar unit on ABC Adelaide.
  • On Tuesday 22 August, I spoke about a bunch of things on ABC Melbourne.

I probably won’t get around to posting the audio from these, but we’ll see.

Corporate Largesse

  • My flights from Sydney to Canberra and return on 11–12 August were provided by Australian consulting firm IBRS.
  • There was plenty of free food and drink at the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit on 21–22 August, as well as vendor swag. Crowdstrike: Branded webcam privacy covers. Cylance: Branded USB-to-various recharge cable. Thales: A branded lens kit for mobile devices, with macro and fisheye lenses; another of the excellent Thales pens. Trustwave: One of those credit card sized multi-purpose tools.

The Week Ahead

All I’ll say for now is that I’ll definitely be down in Sydney on Thursday for a couple of medical things. The rest I’ll make up as I go along. As always, watch for the details on Twitter.

Further Ahead

Events I’m covering or speaking at include:

If there’s anything I should add in there, please let me know.

[Photo: Dawn at Wentworth Falls, looking east from Wentworth Falls railway station on the chilly morning of 21 August 2017.]

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Weekly Wrap 368: Plodding through winter, thoughtfully

Approaching the BridgeMy week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 June 2017 was steadily more productive than the last, despite appearances.

I did foreshadow last week that I’d be recording the pilot episode of a new podcast. I’ve put that back a few weeks, for various reasons, but as you’ll see below there will be a podcast soon.

Articles

Podcasts

None.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

  • On Thursday morning, I met with some people from Bitdefender and their external PR firm, and they bought me a coffee.

The Week Ahead

I’ll be working on the SEKRIT editorial project and writing for ZDNet, with a break mid-week to celebrate the Winter Solstice. At some point I’ll probably pop down to Sydney, but I haven’t set a date yet.

Further Ahead

The next episode of The 9pm Edict podcast will be recorded and streamed live on Thursday 29 June 6 July from stilgherrian.com/edict/live/, starting at 2100 AEST. You still have time to support this podcast with a one-off contribution.

I’m covering the Data + Privacy Asia Pacific conference in Sydney on 12 July; the 5th International Conference on Cybercrime and Computer Forensics (ICCCF) on the Gold Coast from 16 to 18 July, I hope; the national conference of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) in Sydney from 10 to 12 October; and Ruxcon in Melbourne on 21 to 22 October.

If there’s anything I should add in there, please let me know.

Update 26 June 2017: Edited to reflect schedule changes.

[Photo: Approaching the Bridge. The approaches to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, off-camera to the right, photographed on 30 October 2012.]

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Weekly Wrap 367: Too much rain, too little evidence

Central Station in the rainMy week of Monday 5 to Sunday 11 June 2017 wasn’t bad at all, despite the rain. Most of the achievements were in the background, however.

Articles

Podcasts, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

Monday is a public holiday for the Queen’s Birthday, but I’ll be working on the SEKRIT editorial project. That work will continue on Tuesday, after which the project should not be SEKRIT. Wednesday will be devoted to administrivia.

Thursday will be spent in Sydney. So far I’ve scheduled a meeting, two medical appointments, and a bunch of errands.

On Saturday, I’m recording the pilot episode of a new podcast. I’ll tell you more about that in about a week.

Further Ahead

I’m covering 5th International Conference on Cybercrime and Computer Forensics (ICCCF) on the Gold Coast from 16 to 18 July, I hope; and the national conference of the Australian Information Security Association (AISA) in Sydney from 10 to 12 October.

If there’s anything I should add in there, please let me know.

[Photo: Central station in the rain, photographed on 9 June 2017. The view is from a NSW TrainLink V-set (#purpletrain) standing on platform 7 looking towards platform 8.]