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The issue of online security is never far in the background these days: high-profile TV presenters in court for downloading child pornography [link]; Julian Assange holed-up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London; or attacks by Anonymous on Melbourne IT (AAPT) records that allegedly made some of the ISP's users' private information public. 

While we can all applaud the apprehension of criminals through police monitoring; and we might be swayed by Assange's assertions that corporate and government secrets are forms of conspiracy and that such conspiracy is a bad thing; we may not be so pleased by our browsing history; or worse, our medical history; or our employer's HR records being made available to a cyber bully or blackmailer.  

 

 

Thanks to computer and communications technology we live in exciting times. The bounds of technological possibilities seem limitless. The changes decade by decade have already been unprecedented. Where is all this going?

Or see a youthful one from the past [31st October 1986]  here...

 

 

 

The first version of this article was written back in 2005 as a contribution to a strategic planning exercise.  I was arguing for putting those things like marketing and so on, that we ultimately wanted to be seen, in the Cloud as this would save money.   But I stressed that the Cloud is not secure so it was imperative that we retained our 'physical corporate information infrastructure'.

I predicted that in future:  'Corporations will need to look to ways in which they can split their computing requirements between the internal systems and the Cloud';  and 'We can expect the development of new software systems to facilitate (e-mail attached) document passing between secure corporate environments and the Cloud';  implicitly, because e-mail is not secure.

The article was slightly updated in 2010, when I opened this website. I added some now outdated and since removed comments on that experience. 

I've left the main content here, essentially unchanged since 2005, because it's still relevant; and it's always good to see one's predictions fulfilled. 

 


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Travel

China

 

 

I first visited China in November 1986.  I was representing the New South Wales Government on a multinational mission to our Sister State Guangdong.  My photo taken for the trip is still in the State archive [click here].  The theme was regional and small business development.  The group heard presentations from Chinese bureaucrats and visited a number of factories in rural and industrial areas in Southern China.  It was clear then that China was developing at a very fast rate economically. 

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Fiction, Recollections & News

A Twisted Pigs Tale

 

This is a little exercise in creative writing.  The brief was to reimagine the Three Pigs from a different perspective.   The original is a parable about the virtues of forward thinking, providence and hard work, so that only the most abstemious pig survives the metaphorical wolf.  I thought it was a bit tough on the middle pig who is just trying to find a balance between work and play.   So here is my version:

 


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Opinions and Philosophy

In Defence of Secrecy

 

 

Julian Assange is in the news again. 

I have commented on his theories and his worries before.

I know no more than you do about his worries; except to say that in his shoes I would be worried too.  

But I take issue with his unqualified crusade to reveal the World’s secrets.  I disagree that secrets are always a bad thing.

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