Week Wrap 557: Cyberpolicing, quizzing, and nostalgia for the Beforetimes

As expected, my week of Monday 25 to Sunday 31 January 2021 was effectively the start of the productive year. It was also another week which was dominated by La Niña, at least in its latter parts. Rain!

And for what I think is the first time, I started to miss that travel thing we had in the Beforetimes. That’s why I chose the photo for this post.

We’re now a full month into 2021, so we’ve all got nearly 10% of our stuff done?

Videos

  • The 8pm Quiz S01 E03, being the third and final pilot episode of my livestreamed pub-style quiz. It’s certainly the best of the three. All three episodes are in a YouTube playlist.

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Articles

You can always read my previous writing at Authory, or subscribe to get a weekly compilation of new stories by email each Sunday morning, if there are any.

Podcasts, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse

None of any of these things yet again, although this is likely to change as 2021 gets properly under way. You can always go back in time and listen to my podcasts.

Recommendations

  • Putin Has Created The Ultimate Bond Villain’s Lair, and it’s quite amazing.
  • Anatomy of our battle against COVID-19, a truly astounding visualisation of the virus’ progress through Australia over the last year.
  • Miss S, an HBO-Chinese re-make of the ABC TV series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, currently on SBS On Demand. (Non-Australians will have to look for it elsewhere.) No expense was spared in recreating 1920s Shanghai, although some local adaptations were needed to create a Miss Fisher with Chinese Characteristics. Some viewers will complain that Miss Su Wen Li isn’t as edgy as Lady Phryne Fisher, but this is set in the context of traditional Chinese values clashing with her Parisian ways. It’s Shanghai, not Melbourne, and I think it works. Also, the sets and costumes are just fantastic. Also, East Asian fight scenes!
  • Covid Performance Index, a global analysis by the Lowy Institute. For a brief introduction, try this episode of Coronacast.

The Week Ahead

Week 46 of my Quarantimes continues at Bunjaree Cottages at Wentworth Falls, although Monday is a day trip to Sydney for medical and other purposes. Like certain shopping. And a long lunch.

Parliament is back for 2021 on Tuesday, so that should generate more to write about. I should finally have my reviewers’ comments back too, so I can finish writing my brief for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

On Tuesday evening I’ll drop into the discussion of Future Law – Rules As Code – Writing Laws That Computers Understand by the Australian Society for Computers and Law (AUSCL). I expect to be writing about that on Wednesday.

On Thursday I’ll announce my plans for The 9pm Edict podcast and The 8pm Quiz for the next couple of months.

Friday is a day for learning about the Biden administration, with the Lowy Institute’s panel The Biden era with David Ignatius and Amy Walter at 1100, and the first of this year’s US Studies Centre’s US Politics and Policy Web Series at 1300.

Further Ahead

In the calendar:

[Photo: Approaching Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) on 4 September 2019, a photo that for me generates some nostalgia for the Beforetimes. Soon, I hope, soon…]