My week of Monday 7 and Sunday 13 October 2024 was so productive I’ve gone on a holiday. Yes, I made a podcast about Indonesia and Thailand, as well as The Weekly Cybers and such, but today I flew to Cairns for the start of a week and bit in Queensland.
And I’m feeling lazy, so this week’s Wrap is slightly smaller than usual.
Podcasts
- The 9pm Indonesia and Thailand Crash Update with Erin Cook, recorded on Wednesday and posted on Thursday. Check out her excellent newsletter at Dari Mulut ke Mulut.
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Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #39. Australia’s massive new cybersecurity legislation package, a move to keep NBN in public hands, the continuing push for social media ages bans but with hints of a rollback strategy, 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.
Photos
So much for returning to weekly uploads. My excuse is that I’ve just started my holiday.
Media Appearances
- My photo of the Hope and Anchor Tavern in Hobart was used in a blog post, Oldest Pubs in Sydney, which also shows some other old pubs.
It just occurred to me that maybe I should categorise the use of my photos under Photos rather than Media Appearances. Oh well, I’m not going to change it today.
Videos, Corporate Largess
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
Recommendations
Well the first headline says it all, and we’re still 23 days out from the US election.
- Musk Is Going All In to Elect Trump, writes The New York Times.
- Elon Musk takes @America handle from X user to promote Donald Trump, reports Disruptionist. “The original @America user was a critic of both Musk and Trump.”
- Elon Musk is piling onto all the hurricane disinformation, hampering relief efforts, reports Politico.
- Or as Marina Hyde puts it at the Guardian: “Hurricane Milton has left two worlds in its wake. Elon Musk lives in one of them. The other is called reality.”
- Another Musk reality was the Tesla event. The Guardian headlined it: Elon Musk unveils Tesla Cybercab self-driving robotaxi. However Al Jazeera had it better: Tesla’s robotaxi event was long on Musk promises, short on details.
- Elon Musk’s X to be reinstated in Brazil after complying with Supreme Court demands.
- And finally in Australia, eSafety commissioner ends heated fight with Elon Musk’s X over Sydney church stabbing posts.
In other news… nothing. I’ll skip this section this week.
The Week Ahead
This entire week is occupied by my Queensland expedition with Snarky Platypus, and we begin in Cairns.
On Monday we’re going on a Great Barrier Reef tour and on Tuesday it’s the packaged-up Kuranda Scenic Railway wildlife experience. The evenings are as yet unplanned, and I suspect we’ll keep it that way.
Early on Wednesday morning we’re boarding the Spirit of Queensland train to Brisbane. The journey takes 25 hours and 20 minutes, allegedly, and we arrive in Brisbane on Thursday morning.
Brisbane’s itinerary has yet to be decided, however there will be drinks open to all comers on Thursday evening at Netherworld in Fortitude Valley, probably from 5.30pm AEST, and we’ll sketch out Friday and Saturday in the coming days.
No matter what we decide, The Weekly Cybers will appear as usual on Friday afternoon.
On Sunday morning we’ll take the train to the Gold Coast and wander around there for a bit.
Further Ahead
- Queensland expedition wraps up, Monday 21 October 2024, with a relaxing morning on the Gold Coast and an afternoon flight back to Sydney, where I’ll stay the night before taking the train back to the Blue Mountains on Tuesday.
- Competition in cyberspace and the future of US security leadership, US Studies Centre, Sydney, 25 October 2024. It’s a conversation with Admiral (ret) Mike Rogers, the former director of the US National Security Agency and former commander of US Cyber Command. I’ll actually head down to Sydney for this one rather than waiting for the video.
- Sydney Days, 26 October to 18 November 2024 (TBC). The dates have yet to be finalised, but I have another opportunity to base myself in Sydney for a while. Other than that it’s business as usual.
- Australian Internet Governance Forum (auIGF) 2024, formerly known as NetThing, Melbourne and online, 28–29 October 2024 (TBC).
- Victoria expedition, 6–9 December 2024. Includes a friend’s birthday event on the Mornington Peninsula Friday 6 to Sunday 8, heading to Melbourne for social things on Sunday night before flying back to Sydney on Monday evening. This trip will almost burn off the last of my frequent flyer points from the Beforetimes, when I used to do a lot more travelling.
[Photo: A row of Virgin Australia’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft lined up ready for duty at Sydney Airport on 13 October 2024.]