My week of Monday 9 to Sunday 15 August 2021 was a productive one, with the weather already starting to feel like it’s spring. This time two years ago it was snowing. And four years ago I was in Canberra.
The latest lyrebird news from Bunjaree Cottages is that there’s at least two of them. One of them has been nicknamed Cyril and he’s become very comfortable with being near the houses. He strolled across the path in broad daylight just five metres in front of me yesterday. Later I found fresh scratchings just three metres from the laundry door.
There are reports that he can now reproduce my tuneless whistling, the sound of raindrops in a water tank going “Plink!”, and the sound of the solar power system’s low battery voltage alarm.
Podcasts
- The 9pm National Plan to Plan to Have a COVID-19 Plan with Upulie Divisekera and Dr Trent Yarwood, recorded on Tuesday afternoon.
The 9pm Edict is supported by the generosity of its listeners. You can always subscribe for special benefits or throw a few coins into the tip jar. Please consider.
Articles
- Why Australia’s Online Safety Act is an abdication of responsibility, ZDNet, 12 August 2021. This also triggered an editorial discussion of “abdication” versus “abrogation”, and we decided to go with what was in Justin Warren’s quote. You’ll see when you read it.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to get a compilation of new stories by email each Sunday morning, when there are some.
Media Appearances
- I spoke about Apple’s plans for tackling child abuse material on this week’s Vertical Hold podcast, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3/Flip 3, Apple’s big privacy flip, Paramount+ down under: Vertical Hold Ep 341.
- My photo of the Burwood Hotel was used to illustrate an article at Concrete Playground, Three More Greater Sydney LGAs Are Being Placed Under Tighter Lockdown Restrictions.
- My photo of a protest by union members in Sydney has been used to illustrate a Chinese Wikiwand article on strikes.
Videos, Corporate Largesse
None.
Recommendations
- “How do current discussions around disinformation leave out or misinterpret history? What’s the difference between a useful historical comparison and a bad one? And why should policymakers care?” This episode of The Lawfare Podcast explains why comparisons to the Nazis aren’t all bad: With Disinformation, The Past Isn’t Past.
- Did you know that there is such a thing as a hedgehog influencer? Looks That Quill: The Dark Side of Hedgehog Instagram.
- Implantable Microchips and the Spectrum of Fake News, a great backgrounder on the ting seeds of truth that fuel the conspiracy theories.
- What is the point of Prime Ministers if they’re like this?, being another fine polemic from Dave Milner.
- 7355 River Terrace, West Olive, MI 49460 is a perfectly ordinary Midwestern mansion, until you get to photo 28 and beyond. Worth taking the journey at the proper pace.
The Week Ahead
This will be week eight of the current COVID-19 lockdown for Greater Sydney, but on Monday I’m heading down to Sydney for my second vaccination and other health-related appointments.
On Tuesday afternoon I’m recording an episode of the Edict on climate change and the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with climate and clean tech author and analyst Ketan Joshi.
If you’re a podcast supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC to cash in, I’ll need them by 4pm AEST that day.
On Wednesday I’ll be editing and posting that podcast, and for the rest of the week I’ll be trying to get some writing done for ZDNet.
Further Ahead
- The 9pm Edict with Liz Buchanan, 24 August 2021 and posted the following day.
- UTS:ACRI WEBINAR: The Hugh White thesis — Ten years on, online, 25 August 2021.
- The 9pm Edict livestream recording, 31 August 2021. I’m wrapping up the Late Winter Series 2021 with an evening livestream, though I have yet to decide what form it will take.
- APNIC 52 conference, online, 14–16 September 2021.
- Australian Cyber Conference, Melbourne, 15–17 November 2021 (TBC).
- linux.conf.au 2022, online, 14–16 January 2022 (TBC).
[Photo: Wolli Creek, Sydney, photographed from the air on 11 August 2017. Four years ago. I was departing Sydney Airport for Canberra on Virgin Australia flight VA640, a ATR 72-600 registration VH-VPI, for a meeting that afternoon at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. A totally different time in so many ways.]