My week of Monday 20 to Sunday 26 March 2023 saw some of my SEKRIT consulting work emerge into the daylight, and a usually straightforward train journey turn into a four-hour expedition.
On Saturday I’d planned to join a friend in Chatswood to watch the coverage of the NSW State election. Trackwork meant that the two trains that’s I’d need would be Wentworth Falls to Blacktown, and thence to Chatswood, as opposed to the usual change at Central. But then there was a signals failure at Homebush, causing chaos.
I’d joined the suburban train at Blacktown as planned, but it became more and more delayed until we eventually reached Lidcombe, where the service was cancelled. We were told that the only trains to Central would now be those that run from Lidcombe through Bankstown and Sydenham.
However I chose to avoid the crowd and take a different route. I took a third train back to Parramatta, caught a bus to Castle Hill, and then took the Metro to Chatswood.
Four trains and a bus, total elapsed time 4 hours 3 minutes. Whew!
Public House Forum date change
I’ve had to postpone the Public House Forum recording and livestream episodes. As listed below, the new dates are Saturday 29 April and Saturday 13 May, both at 1pm AEST.
The first recording will be in Sydney, and location of the second has yet to be decided.
Sorry to change things only a week out. However my original choice of venue became unavailable due to a sudden adverse building inspection, and then the Sydney CBD venues I knew about were either unavailable or quoting a price well outside my budget. The date change will give me a chance to scout out appropriate locations.
Other than the dates, however, it’s all as previously advertised — because cartoonist Cathy Wilcox and satirist Mark Humphries are truly lovely people.
Please let me know if you’re coming.
Articles
- Digital developments from Canberra 29. While nuclear submarines and the Indigenous Voice dominated the news these last two weeks, there’s also news of cybersecurity, Nazis, hypersonics, and more.
- Some of my editorial consulting work for Lockstep has been published. May I introduce you to this appetiser about their Data Verification Platform model. Much more will be revealed in the coming weeks. You are more than welcome to join the mailing list.
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
- On Saturday one of my tweets was used by the Guardian in their story Sydney trains hit by widespread delays and cancellations on election night. This amuses me, because while I did tweet about the delays, this specific tweet was from 11 March. Also, they say that “passengers voiced frustration”, which for most people is undoubtedly true, but for mine I wasn’t frustrated and didn’t voice it. I just stated the facts.
- My 2018 ZDNet article Blaming Russia for NotPetya Was Coordinated Diplomatic Action was cited in the European Repository of Cyber Incidents report (PDF) on that malware.
Podcasts, Photos, Videos, Corporate Largesse
None of these things. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear.
Recommendations
Just a couple nuggets from the Musk-Twitter saga this week.
- Elon Musk Values Twitter at $20 Billion, reports the New York Times. They also remind us that: “The billionaire bought the social media company for $44 billion in October and took it private.”
- Antisemitic tweets soared on Twitter after Musk took over, study finds, surprising nobody.
And in other news:.
- From RAND Corporation, Is Australia’s Defense Strategy Based on a Mistaken Assumption? It’s a powerful argument.
- From Adam Something, How Suburbs Destroyed America. Most of what’s said in this video also applies to Australia.
- The podcast Behind the Bastards has done a fascinating six-part series titled “A Complete History of the Illuminati”. It starts here. I find it a bit shouty, and the main host needs to sort out his room ambience and stop over-driving his limiter, but the content makes up for these flaws.
- Chinese startup invents long-distance kissing machine. I took a photo of what I’d look like to the other person if I used this machine. Be grateful that ‘I will not be posting’ve deleted it.
The Week Ahead
The week begins in Sydney, where I’m doing the usual variety of things before returning to the Blue Mountains later in the day. The rest of the week sees the continuation of my editorial consulting work which, as I’ve said above, is starting to emerge into daylight. One particularly interesting document should be dropping later in the week.
On Thursday night I’ll finally be doing some video livestream tests using my new equipment. If you check my Twitter and Mastodon feeds that night you might see an invitation to help me see how well they work.
Further Ahead
- The Sydney Dialogue, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, online, 4-5 April 2023.
- NEW DATE: The 9pm Public House Forum 7 livestream and recording, Sydney venue TBA, Saturday 29 April 2023, 1pm. Guests include Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist Cathy Wilcox and satirist Mark Humphries. Please click through to book a free ticket, just so I know how many people might be coming and I can tell the pub.
- Coronation of Charles III, 6 May 2023, although I have no idea what I’ll actually do about it.
- AusCERT Cyber Security Conference, Gold Coast and online, 9–12 May 2023 (TBA).
- NEW DATE: The 9pm Public House Forum 8 livestream and recording, 13 May 2023 at 1pm (TBA). This is also World Cocktail Day.
- 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: “Sis I’m gon kill you,” a threatening message at the entrance to a block of flats on Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, Sydney, photographed in 26 March 2023.]