My week of Monday 25 to Sunday 31 October 2021 was the calm before a few very busy weeks, what with a podcast series to produce, conferences to cover, and the final weeks of Parliament for 2021. I’m especially looking forward to some travel, namely catching an XPT to Orange in the Central Tablelands.
I know that last week I said I’d write up some thoughts about how my everyday behaviour might return to something more like the Beforetimes, but the Muse wasn’t with me.
Podcasts
- The 9pm Double-Length Rights and Freedoms Philosophical Dreamscape with Justin Warren, recorded on Wednesday afternoon, being the first episode in the Spring Series 2021. A long episode but it explores some interesting ideas.
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Articles
- Updated: Australian cyber-related legislation before parliament, plus current inquiries, posted Monday night after a bunch of new internet consultations and legislation dropped.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning.
Media Appearances
- My Carnegie Endowment paper The Encryption Debate in Australia: 2021 Update was cited in the Interpreting India podcast episode The Encryption Debate with Matthew D. Green, as were all the other papers in the series. Probably because Interpreting India is a Carnegie Endowment podcast.
Photos
- I have updated my Waratah sequence 2021 for another week. The photos span 61 days now, and the flower in question is clearly in its decline.
Videos, Corporate Largesse
None. However you can subscribe to my YouTube channel for when new videos do appear.
Recommendations
- Series two of Marc Fennell’s magnificent audio documentary Stuff The British Stole has begun. You should listen to it. Seriously.
- Josh Taylor summarises all the action this week: What is the Australian government doing to crack down on big tech, and why?.
- The Radical Capitalist Behind the Critical Race Theory Furor. As The Nation writes, “Turns out the Koch network bankrolled the astroturf backlash against teaching kids about racism”.
- “At some point, potentially soon, we may see widespread use of augmented reality technology. But Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, or Meta — whichever you call it — has shown it shouldn’t be part of it,” writes Cameron Wilson in Crikey.
- We Asked A Bunch Of Teens What They Think Of Facebook’s “Metaverseâ€.
- Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’ are legally people, US court rules. Yes, they’re a thing.
The Week Ahead
Monday and Tuesday are about geek-work for a couple of clients, as well as the administrivia associated with the start of a new month. There might even be a ZDNet article, but I’m already thinking I’m trying to pack too much into those two days.
Update 2 November 2021: I was right. On Monday I added in a trip to Penrith for a precautionary COVID-19 test, and I’ve had trouble finding the enthusiasm for reading legislation and government discussion papers. I’ll only get a selection of these things done.
On Wednesday I’m heading down to Sydney for a health-related thing and to record an episode of the Edict with the wonderful Mark Humphries, who’s been on the pod previously in 2016, 2020, and June 2021.
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On Thursday and Friday I’m covering NetThing 2021, Australia’s internet governance forum. It bills itself as “an annual event for the discussion of public policy issues pertaining to the internet in Australia”.
On Saturday I’ll edit and post the podcast. I’ll be a sloth for the rest of the weekend.
Further Ahead
- Stilgherrian goes to Orange to record a podcast with Fr Karl Sinclair (@FrKarlSinclair), who’s been on the Edict in 2015 and 2020, 8–11 November 2021.
- Podcast recording with author and columnist John Birmingham (@JohnBirmingham) who’s been on the pod several times before, 12 November 2021.
- FrogID Week, 12–21 November 2021.
- Wild Pollinator Count, 14–21 November 2021.
- Australian Cyber Conference, Melbourne, 15–17 November 2021 (TBC).
- The Sydney Dialogue, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 17–19 November 2021 (TBC).
- Podcast recording with apace archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman (@drspacejunk) who’s been on the pod before in 2018 and 2020, 23 November 2021.
Annual Communications Industry Boat Cruise & After Party, Sydney Harbour, 2 December 2021. I haven’t included a link because it’s invitation-only. I’m still not sure whether joining a group of random people will be a good idea, so I may cancel this.I did indeed cancel this.- NSW local government elections, 4 December 2021.
- linux.conf.au 2022, online, 14–16 January 2022 (TBC).
- APRICOT 2022 / APNIC 53, 28 February to 4 March 2022 approx (TBC). The host country is Bangladesh. The conference will still be run online only, but I wonder if we’ll be travelling again by then.
[Photo: NSW TrainLink XPT power car number 2002 photographed at Sydney Central station on 10 April 2018. I’ll be taking an XPT to Orange in the Central Tablelands in the coming weeks.]