August’s theme of low productivity continued through my week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 August 2020, though I did managed to get something written. And I mapped out my podcast plans. And I enjoyed some sunshine now that spring seems to have arrived.
Podcasts
- “Announcing ‘The 9pm Spring Series 2020′â€, being a promo for The 9pm Edict. In September and maybe beyond there will be weekly episodes of the Edict with special guests. See below for the draft guest list.
The 9pm Edict is supported by the generosity of its listeners. Please subscribe for special benefits or throw a few coins into the tip jar.
Articles
- Do intelligence agencies need restructuring for the digital disinformation age?, ZDNet, 26 August 2020. My first story for ZDNet in 20 days. Revenue has been a little thin this month.
- Added to my archive of stories at Authory are my contributions for the ABC, CSO Online Australia (although there’s still a few glitches), and DirectorTech. You can subscribe to get all my new stories via email.
Media Appearances
- My paper on Australia’s encryption laws was cited in Australia’s encryption laws: practical need or political strategy? by Kieran Hardy. I’m glad it’s being used.
- My photo of international students in Sydney’s Thaitown being handed food and money was used to illustrate Institute of Development Studies article Impact of Covid- 19 on inequalities in the world of work. I really do like seeing my photos being useful.
Corporate Largesse
None. One day things will be back to normal.
Recommendations
- China Secretly Built A Vast New Infrastructure To Imprison Muslims, a remarkable investigation by BuzzFeed.
- Two Thailands: Clashing Political Orders and Entrenched Polarisation. Quite a good backgrounder on a country whose politics I find fascinating.
- New Video Shows Largest Hydrogen Bomb Ever Exploded, the Soviets’ so-called Tsar Bomba from 1961.
- And for something happier, Waratah blooms after the bushfires. “Waratahs are a ‘resprouting’ species and the main method of regeneration in the wild is sprouting from a massive underground structure called a lignotuber. This structure is a modified stem and can be a metre or more in length and depth, and possibly weigh up to a quarter of a tonne.â€
The Week Ahead
It’s week 24 of the Quarantimes at Bunjaree Cottages at Wentworth Falls and it’s going to be busy!
On Tuesday I’ll be watching Long histories – short memories: the Transparently Secret ASD in 2020, a speech by Rachel Noble, the newish director-general of the Australian Signals Directorate. There may be a ZDNet story if she says anything new and interesting.
That night I’m listening to A conversation with former National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton, via the US Studies Centre.
On Wednesday I’m recording the first episode of The 9pm Spring Series 2020 with author and reprobate John Birmingham, who of course was on a previous episode. Expect this new one on Friday evening.
(The guests pencilled in after that have all be on the pod before too. Melbourne’s Fiona Patten MLC, on Public House Forum 4 and her own more recent Probe episode. Science communicator Dr Upulie Divisekera on Public House Forum 4. Space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman on a Probe episode. And Fr Karl Sinclair, who was on Public House Forum 1 back in 2015 when he was still a seminarian.)
The 9pm Edict is supported by the generosity of its listeners. Please subscribe for special benefits or throw a few coins into the tip jar. Yes I know I’ve already said this, but August has been a very lean month for revenue, and the more you contribute the more special episodes there’ll be.
I’m dropping into Disclosure, an experimental security conference, which is early Thursday Australian time. I’m hoping this will generate a ZDNet story.
On Friday there’s another USSC US Politics Web Series, their monthly review leading up to the presidential elections. This one includes the (in)famous political strategist Mark Textor.
Further Ahead
- AusCERT 2020 Cyber Security Conference, online, 17–18 September 2020. I’m on the Speed Debate panel again this year, as I was in 2018, 2016, and 2015 (but there’s no recording of that earliest one).
- Australian Cyber Conference, Melbourne, 27-29 October 2020 (TBC).
- Australian Cyber Conference, Canberra, 14–16 March 2021 (TBC).
[Photo: The Bank of China branch in Chinatown (Haymarket), Sydney, photographed 30 August 2020.]