My week of Monday 20 to Sunday 26 February 2023 was much like other recent weeks: a gentle plod through work with little excitement to report. I am, however, looking forward to a little adventure next weekend.
I also had a COVID-19 vaccination booster, bringing the total number of shots to five. It was on Thursday, it was the Moderna Bivalent Spikevax, and on Saturday afternoon and Sunday I had aching joints and muscles and more afternoon fatigue than usual. Worth it but.
Crowdfunding update
I placed the order! As I explained last week, the camera I’m getting, thanks to all you generous supporters, is the Sony ZV-E10 with its 16-50mm kit lens and the GP-VPT2BT shooting grip.
But thanks to the joys of the global supply chain, it won’t be available until mid-March. I’m OK with that. It’s a popular product!
More importantly, the date for the first Public House Forum recording and livestream is now confirmed: Saturday 1 April, a week after the NSW state election, at a pub in the Sydney CBD or near Sydney Central station. Guests include satirist Mark Humphries and Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist Cathy Wilcox.
The second Public House Forum is now pencilled in for Saturday 29 April. Stay tuned.
Articles
- Digital developments from Canberra 26. This week, after two and a half years, the government finally responded to an inquiry into telco data retention. There’s also science, esafety, an inquiry into the Australian business registers, and more. I’ve decided that I’ll post these around close of business on Friday afternoon and just accept that I might miss some late evening and weekend announcements.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning.
Podcasts, Videos, Photos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None of any of these things. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear.
Recommendations
The Musk-Twitter saga continues this week with the company still falling apart thanks to a billionaire’s random whims.
- Elon Musk keeps laying off Twitter employees after saying cuts were done, reports The Verge. “Meanwhile, he is still giving aggressive deadlines to make sweeping changes, like revamping how ad targeting works in a week.”
- “Slack is gone, Jira is busted, and other woes inside Elon Musk’s Twitter,” according to Casey Newton. He’s one of the journalists who wrote New cracks emerge in Elon Musk’s Twitter.
- And finally a reminder. Did Elon Musk Warn that ‘Woke Mind Virus’ Is Destroying Civilization? Yes. Yes he did.
And in other news:
- Always interesting, the ASIO Director-General’s Annual Threat Assessment.
- Perun’s video was particularly good this week: Russia’s Grand Strategy and Ukraine – Is Putin’s war already a strategic failure? Note that it was recorded before we learned of US president Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv.
- “Your third-favourite badly-cropped JPEG of an animal”, LazerPig, has also posted A brief update on the Ukraine War. It’s essentially a response to Perun’s video from a few weeks ago, Russian Strengths & Capabilities in Ukraine – Why Russia is still a threat in 2023. It’s less shouty than most of LazerPig’s previous videos, but that’s apparently down to a roast chicken.
- How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice.
- Surveillance tech that ‘predicts crime before it happens’ used in 40% of Australian stores. This is an excellent piece from Cameron Wilson about a technology that’s surprisingly little known.
- Please enjoy this one-minute video of two juvenile quolls playing.
- Please also enjoy this video of the Hellcorder, the world’s first recorder-based guitar amplifier.
- From Adam Something, a glorious takedown of a really dodgy-looking urban development proposal in Telosa – America’s $400 Billion Dystopia.
- If like me you’re a fan of the Taskmaster franchise, this over-obsessive collection of all Taskmaster facts is just for you.
- And finally, The long and satisfying 28,000-year history of the dildo.
The Week Ahead
Monday is a mix of bookkeeping, a press conference, and podcast pre-production.
On Tuesday I’m recording a podcast with infectious diseases physician Dr Trent Yarwood, who’s been on The 9pm Edict several times before, in August 2021, January 2022, and August 2022. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please get them to me by 7pm AEDT tomorrow, Monday 27 February.
The APRICOT 2023 / APNIC 55 conference is running Monday through Thursday in Manila, Philippines. I’ll try to catch some of the sessions online, because this is always an excellent event. To be honest, though, in recent months I’ve skipped most of the conferences and seminars I’ve listed here, and this week I’ll be particularly busy.
On Thursday I’m flying down to Melbourne, my first flight in a little over three years, to spend a few days there doing various things.
On Saturday afternoon you’re welcome to join me for lunch and drinks at a Melbourne CBD pub to be decided later in the week. Watch for this post to be updated on Friday, or check my Twitter or Mastodon accounts on the day, or just ask.
Update 1 March 2023: On Friday I’m recording a podcast with digital rights troublemaker and hexagon enthusiast Justin Warren who’s been on the Edict several times. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC, please get them to me by 12 noon AEDT this Friday 3 March. The finished podcast will be posted some time next week.
On Saturday afternoon you’re welcome to join me for lunch and drinks at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow on Bourke Street in the Melbourne CBD. I’ll be there for a few hours from about 1pm, and then probably wander somewhere else.
My initial reason for the Melbourne visit is going to the Australian International Airshow at Avalon Airport on Sunday. The day’s flying program looks great. This also means that the next Weekly Wrap will be late, but I’m sure you’ll cope.
I’ll remain in Melbourne until Tuesday afternoon.
Further Ahead
- Australian Cyber Conference 2023, Canberra, 20–22 March 2023. I’m pretty sure I won’t be going, but I’ll leave it here for reference.
- NSW state election, 25 March 2023. I’ll definitely do something special for this one.
- The 9pm Public House Forum 7 livestream and recording, Sydney CBD venue TBA, 1 April 2023.
- The Sydney Dialogue, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, online, 4–5 April 2023.
- The 9pm Public House Forum 8 livestream and recording, 29 April 2022 (TBA).
- Coronation of Charles III, 6 May 2023, although I have no idea what I’ll actually do about it.
- Truth, Trust and Hope, “a global dialogue on disinformation and the erosion of public understanding and trust in science”, Nobel Prize Outreach, Washington DC and online, 24–26 May 2023.
[Photo: I’m very much looking forward to my first flight in just over three years, so I’ve posted this image. However this photo is of a departure from Melbourne, not an arrival, and it dates from 13 October 2019. For the spotters, I was on Virgin flight VA869 which departed MEL at 1820 AEDT, which means it was on a Boeing 737-800.]