Productivity eluded me during the week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 August 2024. I was so, so tired, perhaps because for the four days Saturday to Tuesday I didn’t get my usual afternoon nap. Or it could be all the Usual Things that screw up my sleeps patterns. Still, here we are.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #31. Shorten announces a digital ID Trust Exchange but it’s just a proof-of-concept project with many unanswered questions, public servants get a new AI policy, and much 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.
Media Appearances
- My 2020 story China’s influence via WeChat is ‘flying under the radar’ of most Western democracies has been cited in the Wikipedia entry for WeChat.
Podcasts, Photos, Videos, Corporate Largesse
None of these, although there’s more podcasts coming soon. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
Recommendations
The big Elon Musk news this week is of course his conversation with Donald Trump. I probably should list this Musk stuff separately from “Recommendations” though.
- Heres’ the full thing, President Trump’s Interview with Elon Musk on X.
- If you prefer, here’s a few minutes of highlights from Politico.
- Elon Musk claims ‘massive DDOS attack’ on X during Donald Trump interview, but it could possibly have just been an inability to cope with the load.
- The Musk-Trump X interview: a surprisingly dull meeting of two planet-sized egos.
- Trump’s chat with Musk on X fact-checked, from BBC Verify.
- Here’s Marina Hyde’s column in the Guardian, So Donald chatted with Elon, and here’s the future as they see it – losers win, incompetence rules.
- Elon Musk is being sued by Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif for cyberbullying, along with J K Rowling.
- Ex-Twitter staffer wins $600K over Musk’s click-yes-or-resign ultimatum. Which is over €550k, because the case was in Ireland.
- “Media platform X said on Saturday it would close its operations in Brazil ‘effective immediately’ due to what it called ‘censorship orders’ by Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes,” reports Reuters. Elon Musk has basically flounce-quit Brazil, although it really just means he’s sacking the local staff there and closing the office.
- And finally not about the real Elon Musk, How ‘Deepfake Elon Musk’ Became the Internet’s Biggest Scammer reports the New York Times. “An A.I.-powered version of Mr. Musk has appeared in thousands of inauthentic ads, contributing to billions in fraud.” That link jumps the paywall.
In other news:
- This week’s AlienSideBoob from John Birmingham is titled A walk in the dark forest and it’s about procrastination. You may well find it valuable.
- The Guardian has some great photos of Sydney’s new Metro stations, which open tomorrow. Since it’s opening on a weekday my circle of friends won’t be having a pub crawl, so we’ll figure out something for another time.
- Waymo self-driving taxis gather at night when they’re not being used and sometimes just honk at each other. Sophia Tung has set up a livestream with background music and sometimes a cat, and I can confirm that it’s mesmerising. She’s also posted some highlight clips including this one of a Waymo driving around and around and around with no clear purpose. Via Justin Warren’s The Crux.
- And for a change of pace, Namibia: Live stream in the Namib Desert.
The Week Ahead
[Update 22 August 2024: Yeah I was a bit optimistic about when I’d do the podcast editing.]
In the early latter part of the week I’ll finally edit and post the space-related podcast I recorded with Rami Mandow, but the bulk of the week will be about doing the client work that I have failed to do in the last few weeks.
Yes, I keep posting an intention to do it, but I end up sleeping. I sort of have plans to deal with this.
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The funeral of Georgie Guy is on Thursday. He was not a close friend. I only met him a couple of times. But he was a well-known and well-loved digital rights enthusiast, nerd, and all-round delightful human being. I’ll definitely watch it via the livestream if I can’t make it down to North Sydney.
Update 19 August 2024: On Saturday I’ll be heading to Sydney for drinks and a meal, at this stage planned for Parramatta and Harris Park.
Further Ahead
- NEW: Catsitting in Sydney, 30 August to 1 September 2024.
- The Sydney Dialogue, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Sydney and online, 2–3 September 2024 (TBC).
- NEW: APNIC 58, Wellington, New Zealand, and online, 4–6 September 2024 (TBC). I may watch a couple of sessions online, but we’ll see.
- NEW: Sydney Days, 7–18 September 2024 (TBC). I’m planning to spend some time in Sydney but the dates have yet to be formally locked in.
- NEW: ABC Radio RN Drive “Big Tech” spot, 12 September 2024.
- NSW Local Government Elections, 14 September. This is mostly a reminder to myself but there may be some sort of celebration.
- Queensland expedition, flying to Cairns on 13 October 2024, taking the Spirit of Queensland train down to Brisbane on 16 October and overnight, 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 swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) stares straight into the infrared camera because its lamps are also slightly visible too. Image from 16 August 2024.]