My week of Monday 10 to Sunday 16 August 2020 was less productive than the previous, but as you know there seems to be a regular tide in such matters. But my health is good, and that’s what counts these days. Oh, and it’s not a shag.
It turns out that the bird in the featured image is not an Australian pied cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius) or pied shag, which is what I’d assumed, but an Australasian darter or Australian darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae), and definitely a female one.
Articles, Podcasts
None. Rather than spend my Saturday in Sydney indoors making a podcast, I spent some time relaxing, both outdoors and indoors. However…
- On Thursday I posted a lengthy thread (Threadreader, Internet Archive) about the Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Systems of National Significance Consultation Paper​ that’s part of Australia’s new Cyber Security Strategy, which I wrote about last week.
- I’ve started compiling an archive of all my stories at Authory, and you can subscribe to get all my new stories via email. It’s proving to be remarkably easy. Not everything is there yet, but so far I’ve loaded my stories for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Crikey, CRN Australia, New Matilda, SBS, the Sydney Morning Herald, and of course ZDNet.
Media Appearances
- One of my photos of food and money being handed out to international students in Sydney’s Thaitown has been used to illustrate a story at New Mandala, Moral economies: the politics of donation in Thailand under COVID-19. I wonder if they realise that Sydney is not in Thailand? Fascinating article though.
Corporate Largesse
None. I’m tempted to drop this section until there’s actually some largesse to reports, but another part of me says that the null report is also significant for transparency.
Recommendations
- Hiroshima, being John Hershey’s original 1946 account of the first atomic bombing and its aftermath. An astounding piece of journalism.
- A Brief History of the Codpiece, the Personal Protection for Renaissance Equipment.
- Hungry Hens, a 24/7 livestream of a chicken coop where you can feed the chickens.
- And to finished, a nice little profile of Sydney’s Thaitown in the Nikkei Asian Review, Inside Sydney’s ‘Little Bangkok’.
The Week Ahead
It’s week 22 of the Quarantimes at Bunjaree Cottages at Wentworth Falls, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be heading down to Sydney this week.
Monday will be a writing day, and then on Tuesday I’ll record another episode of The 9pm Edict podcast. I’ll also announce my spring podcast plans for September. No, really.
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On Wednesday I’ll drop in to the United States Study Centre (USSC) panel The trajectory of American politics, power and prestige: A conversation with Tom Friedman, and then the publication launch for Spy vs Spy: The New Age of Espionage.
On Wednesday lunchtime I’ll be the guest on EFA Talks for Electronic Frontiers Australia, with yet another conversation about the Cyber Security Strategy. That’ll be on Zoom and free to watch.
And the rest of the week will be what it will be.
Further Ahead
One of the conferences has been confirmed!
- AusCERT 2020 Cyber Security Conference, online, 15–18 September 2020. I’m now confirmed to be covering this event, with the main conference presentations happening 17–18 September.
- Australian Cyber Conference, Melbourne, 27-29 October 2020 (TBC).
- Australian Cyber Conference, Canberra, 14–16 March 2021 (TBC).
[Photo: A female Australasian darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae) on Sydney Harbour, photographed on 16 August 2020.]