My fortnight from Monday 4 to Sunday 17 March 2019 was a difficult one. The terrorism at the mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, which ended the week didn’t help. No one needs that in their world, least of all the victims of course. I won’t dwell on that here. That’s not because I have nothing to say. It’s because I have too much to say.
For mine, though, almost the entire fortnight was lost to illness. A very nasty cold — what some people might be tempted to call “the flu” but nearly all such labelling is wrong. To make things worse, it conceded with the start of my attempt to recalibrate my meds to reduce insomnia, and putting out my neck worse than I’ve done in decades.
Needless to say, it was a remarkably unproductive time. But even so…
Podcasts
- The 9pm Recycled Edict 1, the first of the least-worst-of episodes of The 9pm Edict, 4 March 2019. It’s frightening how little has changed since 2010. It’s also on Spreaker and SoundCloud.
The subscribe-to-Edict thing is back up and running. If you want to support this podcast with actual money, you can now subscribe to make regular contributions for extra benefits. You can still make a one-off-contribution too. That’d be very handy in such an unproductive month. Please consider.
Articles
- Australia’s Huawei ban a ‘resolved’ question: Payne, ZDNet Australia, 14 March 2019.
- ASD reveals rules for keeping vulnerabilities secret, ZDNet Australia, 15 March 2019. A brief but fascinating peek behind the curtain. I understand that we can expect more such little revelations in the coming months.
Media Appearances
- On Monday 11 March I recorded a few spots about cybercrime for ABC Illawarra. I understand that these will get broadcast on Thursday mornings in a regular “true crime” spot.
Corporate Largesse
- On Monday 11 March I went to an update on Australia’s International Cyber Engagement Strategy at the Lowy Institute, where a light lunch was served.
The Week Ahead
Things must remain flexible, because I’m still not 100%. But I do know that Monday will be about sliding back into work mode as well as the shopping, and I’ll be trying very hard to write on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
I know you’ve heard this before but on Thursday, Nick Fryer and I will be finally recording the next joint episode of The 9pm Edict podcast. It will be posted that night.
Thursday is the Equinox and a Full Moon, so I’m hoping that’s significant in some way.
Further Ahead
I hope to spend some time in Canberra in the next few weeks, but I still haven’t figured out any dates yet. If there’s any event I should be there for, please let me know.
Same for Melbourne.
I’m pencilling in some of the year’s conferences and other events. This is a very partial list. Please let me know if there’s anything I should add.
- Safe Encryption Australia Forum, Sydney, 27 March 2019 (TBC).
- Offensive cyber and the people who do it: an address by ASD Director-General, Mike Burgess, Sydney, 27 March 2019.
- The ethics of data science conference, Sydney, 27–29 March 2019 (TBC).
- AusCERT 2019, Gold Coast, 28–31 May 2019.
- Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, Sydney, 19–20 August 2019.
- Australian Cyber Conference 2019, Melbourne, 8–10 October 2019. The excellent Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) Conference is now rolled into this event.
[Photo: Spider versus Centipede. Some species of common house spider makes short work of a centipede at Bunjaree Cottages on 28 February 2019.]