The 9pm Edict Stilgherrian

Google’s Pixel 7a is here (as is Google I/O), but is the Pixel 7a a worthwhile phone? How is Australia's Federal budget fighting scammers and cybercrime? Are blue skies already turning grey at Bluesky Social? I was on this week's Vertical Hold: Behind The Tech News and this is an updated version.

"Australian technology news podcast Vertical Hold dives into the big stories of the week. Joined by Australia's leading tech journalists every Friday, co-hosts @adam_turner and @alexkidman channel-surf through the headlines in search of the big picture," they write.

Google’s I/O brought us lots of AI, no Pixel Fold down under and… Time Travel?

Well, no, Google didn’t bring us time travel, but in this week’s show, we’re using the power of time travel to tell the story of the Pixel 7a, discuss the Pixel Tablet and more with EFTM’s Dan Tyson and Review.org’s Adam Smith!

It’s also budget week, and the tech side of the budget wanted to talk all about the criminals. No, not the ones we may or may not have elected*, but instead criminals of the cyber kind.

So Stilgherrian dropped by the Vertical Hold studios to talk all things Cyber, as well as why the skies over at Bluesky might not be that blue…

*Allegedly, in case you’re a lawyer reading this.

Vertical Hold can be found in all the podcast apps or at:
https://verticalhold.com.au

Full podcast details at:
https://the9pmedict.com/edict/vh428/

Please consider supporting The 9pm Edict at:
https://the9pmedict.com/tip/
https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

In the first Pubic House Forum episode of the The 9pm Edict since 2018, I was joined by Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist Cathy Wilcox and satirist Mark Humphries at Sydney's Royal Exhibition Hotel in Surry Hills with an enthusiastic live audience.

There's also a video version of this episode on YouTube.

In this episode we begin with our audience rating Anthony Albanese's first year as prime minister on a scale of 1 to 5, and end by getting ChatGPT to ask the questions. They were terrible.

We also talk about the late Barry Humphries (no relation to Mark, he claims), Elon Musk and Twitter and SpaceX, so-called "firming strategies", the Doug Anthony All Stars, Doug Anthony, Alan Seale, car parking considered as a superpower, Kyle Sandilands, Gerard Henderson (briefly), how many ducks you'd need to form a herd, and Farmer's Union Iced Coffee.

Full podcast details and credits at:
https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00197/

Please support this podcast by throwing a few dollars into the tip jar at:
https://the9pmedict.com/tip/
https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

Another Public House Forum episode is scheduled for 27 May 2023. Stay tuned.

Is a cow a thing? Is the ocean a thing? We ponder these and other important questions with Justin Warren, "consultant, freedom of information tragic, hexagon enthusiast, and creator of the CyberRating™ labelling scheme". He's also chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia, but I'm sure they'll disown him.

In this episode we talk about robodebt and ministerial responsibility, cyber weapons, the little-known capital punishment round in the Eurovision Song Contest, Australia's online safety regime, how privacy is the opposite of transparency, and even a bit about Mastodon.

Full podcast details and credits at:
https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00195/

Please support this podcast by throwing a few dollars into the tip jar at:
https://the9pmedict.com/tip/
https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

In the news this week we've been reminded that so-called "superbugs" are going to kill millions of us, so I thought we should talk once more with infectious disease physician Dr Trent Yarwood.

In this episode we talk about antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, but also some interesting research relating to Alzheimer's disease, the nature of research journalism, Victoria's plans to put everyone's health records in one big database and matters of medical privacy, the human genome project, and even a little xenodocheionology, the lore of hotels and inns.

Full podcast details and credits at:
https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00196/

Please support this podcast by throwing a few dollars into the tip jar at:
https://the9pmedict.com/tip/
https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

As the war in Ukraine continues, Russian disinformation is becoming somewhat unhinged. Joining me to explore that further is Elise Thomas, freelance journalist and OSINT analyst with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

In this episode we also talk about Russian disinformation operations in Africa, the future of open-source intelligence, the Russian bureaucracy in occupied Ukraine, and why the French are Nazis. We even touch upon the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. And how could we not talk about Elon Musk and all the changes at Twitter?

Full podcast details and credits at:
https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00194/

Please support this podcast by throwing a few dollars into the tip jar at:
https://the9pmedict.com/tip/
https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

Happy New Year! The Premier of NSW once dressed as a Nazi and people are losing their minds. It's the perfect start to 2023.

We also talk about the demise of conservative dating site The Right Stuff, Prince Harry's willy, Bill Gates' opinion of cryptocurrency, and some stories from the early days of interactive computers.

Full podcast details and credits at:
https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00193/

Please support this podcast by supporting my current crowdfunding campaign, The 9pm Hardware Refresh 2023, by 26 January:
https://stilgherrian.com/refresh2023

If you miss that deadline, you can always throw a few dollars into the tip jar at:
https://the9pmedict.com/tip/
https://skank.com.au/subscribe/