Spring was well under way in my week of Monday 31 August to Sunday 6 September 2020. The wattle was flowering. Birds of so many species were doing what birds do. And my mood improved and productivity rose as the sunlight hours lengthened.
Podcasts
- “The 9pm End of Civilisation with John Birmingham”, being The 9pm Edict episode 115 recorded on Wednesday with, yes, John Birmingham. This is the first of five episodes in The 9pm Spring Series 2020.
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Articles
- Why both Huawei and BTS share the cyber stage with powerful nations, ZDNet, 4 September 2020. It’s based on a fascinating presentation by The Grugq. Recommended.
- Added to my archive of stories at Authory are a few non-podcast items at Corrupted Nerds, the longer essays from stilgherrian.com, and some random independent things that I’m posting directly on Authory. And that’s everything back to around 2011, I think. You can subscribe to get all my new stories via email.
Media Appearances
- On Tuesday I spoke about the Australian Signals Directorate on ABC Adelaide.
- On Wednesday I spoke about the battle between Facebook, Google, and the Australian government on 1395 FIVEaa Adelaide.
Corporate Largesse
None. If you’re in a big corporation, why not send me some of the lovely merch that you can’t hand out at conferences any more?
Recommendations
- The Cold War Bunker That Became Home to a Dark-Web Empire, being the story of Herman-Johan Xennt and CyberBunker.
- In China, the ‘Great Firewall’ Is Changing a Generation.
- And for something more reflective, this upscaled and colorised film from 1902 of the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn (Wuppertal Suspension Railway) in Germany. I continue to be amazed at how well this video technology works. You can find more examples at the Museum of Modern Art.
The Week Ahead
It’s week 25 of the Quarantimes at Bunjaree Cottages at Wentworth Falls, though I’ll be making one of my now semi-regular trips to Sydney late in the week.
On Tuesday I’m recording a podcast with space archaeologist Dr Space Junk aka Dr Alice Gorman, who’s previously been on a Probe episode. If you have TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC you’ll need to get them to me by midday AEST.
This week’s livestreams of interest, neither of which are likely to lead to stories but meh.:
- Monday: Launch of Man of Contradictions: Joko Widodo and the Struggle to Remake Indonesia, from the Lowy Institute. To register, click on the Zoom link not the “Register” link.
- Wednesday: The End of Orthodoxy: Australia in a post-pandemic world, a chat with Senator Penny Wong at The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne.
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).
- ASPI Presents: In conversation with Michael Outram APM, Commissioner of the Australian Border Force, online, 24 September 2020.
- NetThing, online, 1–2 October 2020. There are also physical sites for this conference.
- Australian Cyber Conference, Melbourne, 27-29 October 2020 (TBC).
- Linux.conf.au 2021, online, 23–25 January 2021.
- Australian Cyber Conference, Canberra, 14–16 March 2021 (TBC).
[Photo: Wattle flowers on Railway Parade just east of Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, photographed 6 September 2020.]