My week of Monday 8 to Sunday 14 July 2024 was far less busy than I’d planned, because both of the podcast guests I’d booked in went down with throat infections. Still, I finally posted an episode recorded a couple weeks back, and started planning a Queensland expedition for October.
Podcasts
- The 9pm Half-time Bingo Card Update 2024 with Snarky Platypus, recorded back on 29 June and finally posted this Monday.
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Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #26. Australia and allies blame China for APT40 cyber espionage, dating apps agree to a code of conduct, and experts ask whether Australia needs an infowar militia.
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
- I love it when my work is cited in academic papers, and I’m pleased to see my 2018 piece Blaming Russia for NotPetya was coordinated diplomatic action was cited again, this time in The Global Cyber Norms Debate, a chapter of Building Bridges in Cyber Diplomacy.
Photos, Videos, Corporate Largesse
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled. I really should add some new photos or videos to the archive.
Recommendations
It’s another week of Musk being Musk.
- Elon Musk says Neuralink will test brain implant on second patient in ‘next week or so’.
- “Elon Musk has saved himself a cool $US500 million ($AU740 million) after a US court ruled that he paid the correct severance pay to the more than 6,000 Twitter staff he fired in 2022.” reports B&T.
- ‘Deceives users’: Elon Musk’s X found in breach of EU online content rules, reports Al Jazeera. “The company could be fined up to 6 percent of its total worldwide annual turnover if the findings are later confirmed.”
- The New York Times uses the headline Elon Musk’s Plan to Put a Million Earthlings on Mars in 20 Years, but seriously some hand-waving and a few computer-rendered illustrations are not a “plan”. However the article does contain this sentence: “In a post on X after this article was published, Mr. Musk said he had not volunteered his sperm and that no one at SpaceX had been directed to work on a Martian city.”
- Elon Musk endorses Trump in presidential race, calls him “tough”.
- And finally from SFGATE some fantastic snark, I drove a Cybertruck around SF because I am a smart, cool alpha male.
In other news:
- John Birmingham’s first great novel is now three decades old! And for a limited time you can get the the new ebook of He Died With A Felafel In His Hand: 30th Anniversary Edition. Now with incriminating footnotes! as a half-price special offer. Actual printed books will be available next week, apparently.
- This was one of Australia’s best public health promotions ever. First Nations superhero ‘Condoman’ was a world leader in HIV prevention. Aunty Gracelyn Smallwood made it happen.
- It still has to actually happen, but South Australia locks in federal funds to become first grid in world to reach 100 per cent net wind and solar.
- Woman allegedly tries to shove bag of meth inside miniature dachshund’s anus.
The Week Ahead
After a focus on client work (hah!) on Monday and Tuesday, the rest of the week will be about catching up on podcast recordings — because so many people were sick last week.
On Wednesday morning I’m recording the rescheduled episode with Dr Miranda Bruce, who worked on the World Cybercrime Index. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by midday AEST this Tuesday 16 July. This one will be posted late next week
On Thursday it’s the rescheduled episode with Barbara Minchinton, author of the new book Madame Brussels: The Life and Times of Melbourne’s Most Notorious Woman. Check the Wikipedia entry. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC, please let me know by midday AEST this Wednesday 17 July. This one will be posted in about two weeks’ time.
There’s The Weekly Cybers as usual on Friday afternoon.
Then on Friday night I’m recording a podcast with Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous. The UK election will feature, of course, but if you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 8pm AEST this Thursday 18 July. This episode will be posted first, probably some time on the weekend, because it’s the most likely to get stale quickly.
Further Ahead
- NEW: Is Australia prepared to defeat information warfare?, Social Cyber Institute, online, 25 July 2024.
- Opening of Sydney Metro Chatswood-Central-Sydenham, 4 August 2024. I was originally going to leave exploring the new Metro line to another day but I have been persuaded to join friends on a Metro-based pub crawl.
- TechLeaders 2024, Hunter Valley, 10–12 August 2024.
- The Sydney Dialogue, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Sydney and online, 2–3 September 2024 (TBC).
- NEW: Queensland expedition, flying to Cairns on 13 October 2024, taking the Spirit of Queensland train to Brisbane on 16 October, then visiting the Gold Coast on 20 October before flying back to Sydney on 21 October. I’m still fleshing out the details but there’s bound to be opportunities to catch up for drinks and such.
- Australian Internet Governance Forum (auIGF) 2024, formerly known as NetThing, Melbourne and online, 28–29 October 2024 (TBC).
[Photo: A Pontiac Parisienne 1968 photographed in Katoomba Street, Katoomba, on 12 July 2024. Its registered tare weight — that is to say its empty weight — is 1,800 kg.]