My week of Monday 22 to Sunday 28 January 2024 wasn’t very productive but it ended today with a lovely summer evening in Katoomba. And I’ve posted a picture. Oh, I was on the radio on Thursday though.
I should probably mention that in Australia it is traditional — or at least was traditional — for the period from Christmas on 25 December to Australia Day on 26 January to be the standard four-week holiday season. Schools were closed. Even factories closed so that everyone could enjoy the summer.
Things are more flexible these days, but politics and the media still take a break, and everything is still much quieter than in other parts of the year.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #2. Australia sanctions a Russian hacker, the ACSC offers cybersecurity advice for business leaders, and more.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning. That will include a link to The Weekly Cybers if you don’t mind clicking through.
Media Appearances
- On Thursday I did ABC RN Drive‘s Big Tech spot, Big Tech: How Artificial Intelligence is interfering in the US election. If you want to read more about all this, check out New Hampshire investigating fake Biden robocall meant to discourage voters ahead of primary and Most Top News Sites Block AI Bots; Right-Wing Media Welcomes Them.
Podcasts, Videos, Photos, Corporate Largesse
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
There will be at least three more special-guest episodes of The 9pm Edict before the end of February, and probably a solo episode, or an episode with Snarky Platypus.
Recommendations
I think this week’s Elon Musk narrative speaks for itself..
- In a weird effort to improve his image, Elon Musk visits Auschwitz after uproar over antisemitic messages on X. OK then.
- The New York Times called it his rehabilitation tour. Heh. That link jumps the NYTimes paywall.
- Elon Musk claims X has less antisemitic content than peers, following visit to Auschwitz.
- On the other hand, Rolling Stone reckons, ‘Aspirationally Jewish’ Elon Musk Hosts the Most Antisemitic Content on His Platform.
- But that still didn’t stop him from asserting that Diversity-based hiring is antisemitic.
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk says protectionism is the only thing stopping China’s cheap EVs from demolishing the competition, so at this point I’ll remind you that one of the B-list bingo card predictions by Snarky Platypus and myself was “Chinese electric vehicle becomes top seller in Australia”.
- Tesla warns of slowing growth before new model launch next year.
- Elon Musk’s Net Worth Drops $18 Billion As Tesla Stock Slides.
- “Bernard Arnault, the billionaire chairman and CEO of global luxury goods company LVMH — the entity behind dozens of luxury goods brands like Louis Vuitton and Sephora — is now the richest man in the world, passing Elon Musk.”
In other news:
- So at The Conversation, The Solar System used to have nine planets. Maybe it still does? Here’s your catch-up on space today. But at SpaceAustralia.com, friend of the pod Rami Mandow writes Why Planet Nine Might Not Be There. We report, you decide.
- After Three Years on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends.
- Icon of the Seas: World’s largest cruise ship sets sail from Miami, and it’s hideous.
- The 100 best images from 2023 as captured and selected by the NASA HQ PHOTO team.
- Some excellent mapping work, via the Bloomberg CityLab newsletter. MapLab: Mapping Gaza’s destruction.
- Would you like a recipe for peacock neck sausage?
- Excessively farting passenger forces American Airlines flight to turn around.
The Week Ahead
Monday through Wednesday will be about trying to focus on client work. Careful watchers will probably know that while I plan to do such work most weeks, I rarely manage to clock up more than a few hours, and instead spend many hours in bed. This week will see a properly-planned attempt to change that.
Thursday is a day of administrivia.
I haven’t planned in detail past that, because it will depend on my energy levels. I’ll update this paragraph if and when that changes, although I suspect a bit of socialising will happen on Saturday.
Further Ahead
- NEW: 2024 Democracy Primer, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra and online, 6 February 2024.
- Public hearing as part of the Senate inquiry into the Optus network outage, Canberra, 9 February 2024. No, I won’t be going to Canberra, but this is bound to be a fun event for those who are into the joys of Senate committee hearings, so I’ll be watching the livestream.
- Lunar Comedy Gala 2024, Chatswood NSW, 17 February 2024. I’ll be staying in Sydney overnight because…
- NEW: Mardi Gras Fair Day, Sydney, 18 February 2023. Yes, I have been persuaded to go to Fair Day for the first time since 2002. I am guessing that very little has changed.
- Aaron Chen’s Funny Garden, Sydney, 27 April 2024. He’s now so mainstream that he’s doing four nights at the State Theatre. Good for him.
- He Huang Tiger Daughter versus the World, Chatswood NSW, 5 May 2024.
- Nina Oyama is Coming, Marrickville NSW, 12 May 2024.
[Photo: St Canice’s Catholic Church, Katoomba, photographed in the beautiful evening light of 28 January 2024.]