Wednesday, August 31, 2022

House of Felici and Chow: It Might Be Our Data, But It's Not Our Breach

A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night.

—  Chanakya, 370-280 π.X., Indian teacher & philosopher


“You keep going until you get it right, then you keep going until you can’t get it wrong.”


Luciano of Felici Expresso luncheon


House of Chow dinner


Stephanie Hunter McMahon (Cincinnati), Using the Tax System to Ease Some of the DobbsHardship, 176 Tax Notes Fed. 1105 (Aug. 18, 2022):

Tax Notes Federal (2022)Through Dobbsthe Supreme Court has ensured that many women throughout this country won’t have access to abortion in their home states. Even before Dobbs, however, many states had extremely limited access to this medical care. For many women to exercise their fundamental human right to abortion and attendant healthcare, it has been necessary that they travel sometimes hundreds of miles and often pay significant sums. That cost is an economic hardship in addition to the other hardships imposed by states that refuse to recognize a woman’s right to an abortion.



'Ring Nation' Is Amazon's Reality Show for Our Surveillance Dystopia

Deadline
 Meta finds new way of tracking users across websites
The Guardian
 Amazon, Oracle shrug off lawmaker fears of abortion data sales
techxplore.com
 Zoom's Auto-Update Feature Came With Hidden Risks on Mac
WiReD
 A Single Flaw Broke Every Layer of Security in MacOS
WiReD
 Michigan plot to breach voting machines points to a national pattern
WashPost
 On TikTok, Election Misinformation Thrives Ahead of Midterms
NYTimes


 How Frustration Over TikTok Has Mounted in Washington
NYTimes
 A New Jailbreak for John Deere Tractors Rides the Right-to-Repair Wave
WiReD
 Workplace Productivity: Are You Being Tracked?
NYTimes
 How thieves are using cell phones to see what's inside your car
The Hacker News
 Sloppy Software Patches Are a Disturbing Trend
WiReD
 Sloppy Use of Machine Learning Is Causing a Reproducibility Crisis in Science
WiReD
 You can lose health data de-centrally as well
Debora Weber-Wulff
 Buying real estate in the metaverse is 'dumbest' idea ever
Mark Cuban
 What do ordinary computer users NOT care about? Breaking up Big Tech
Lauren Weinstein
 It's Potentially Illegal: As Crypto Crashed, Coinbase Stopped Some Notifications
Mother Jones
 It Might Be Our Data, But It's Not Our Breach
Krebs on Security
 How Russia Took Over Ukraine's Internet in Occupied Territories
NYTimes
 Why Is Web3 Security Such a Garbage Fire? Let Us Count the Ways
PCMag
 The Danger of Posting Selfies
NowIKnow
 Quote of The Day
Edward Snowden
 CRYPTO-GRAM
Bruce Schneier PGN excerpted
 Re: "Dr. Birx ADMITS She 'Knew' COVID...
Steve Lamont
 Re: Tesla faces new probes into motorbike deaths, false advertising
Steve Bacher
 Re: What about Signal or Whatsapp, etc. vs. voice callsignal or Whatsapp, etc. vs. voice calls privacy/security?
John Levine
 Re: Tech giants, including Meta, Google, and Amazon, want to put an end to leap-seconds
Arthur T.
 Re: Chinese Hackers Backdoored MiMi Chat App to Target Windows, Linux, macOS Users
via geoff goodfellow
 Re: Rainwater everywhere on Earth unsafe to drink due to *forever chemicals*, study finds
Craig S. Cottingham
 Re; Doug Jones's review
Mark Brader
 Info on RISKS (comp.risks)

Scarred McLaren Vale - Oscars

A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night.

—  Chanakya, 370-280 π.X., Indian teacher & philosopher


So much overdevelopment has taken place since 1996 and even 2015 when we traveled through Barossa, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale … traffic lights 🚦 had to be installed to help  ‘wombats to  cross’ the busy main road. 




Tatachila winery and Oscars somehow stayed the same. While 

Unfortunately, spots like St Francis Winery are now surrounded by noisy highways

Hollywood Oscars  is Mediterranean-inspired family-owned restaurant blends casual dining with a diverse menu, in rustic surrounds of exposed brick, vibrant artwork and friendly service. Using fresh local produce, there’s a dish for everyone from gourmet pizzas, pasta and salads to an extensive a la carte menu; think starters like classic Port and orange chicken liver paté, with flatbread, crudites, cornichons and apple-pear chutney. For the main, twirl your fork around gamberi fettuccine – pan-fried prawns, pine nuts, chilli, spring onion and tomato in a rosé sauce, finished with baby spinach and Parmesan; or slow-cooked lamb shank, in tomato, garlic and red wine sauce.



Tender beef rump scaloppine in creamy mushroom sauce, finished with a hint of truffle oil, served with duck fat roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables.


On the Internet Nobody Knows You Are a Wild Dog or Dragon 


Forty-six application, five interviews, two callbacks, zero offers — Bill Deresiewicz on the academic job market in the  humanities  


What We’ve Learned From The Octopus About Kinds Of Intelligence

All these behaviors—as well as many more observed in the wild—suggest that octopuses learn, remember, know, think, consider, and act based on their intelligence. This changes everything we think we know about “higher order” animals, because cephalopods, unlike apes, are very, very different to us. - Nautilus



Longtime readers know of my obsession withinterest in Hamilton (see links below). Religion News Service, Why Alexander Hamilton Gave His Heart to Jesus at a Texas Church This Weekend


The whiteboard, the secret lover and Berejiklian’s first fling with leadership


New York Times Op-Ed:  New York’s Hottest Club Is the Catholic Church, by Julia Yost (Senior Editor, First Things):


As senior churchmen seek to make Catholicism palatable to modernity, members of a small but significant scene are turning to the ancient faith in defiance of liberal pieties. The scene is often associated with “Dimes Square,” a downtown Manhattan neighborhood popular with a pandemic-weary Generation Z — or Zoomer — crowd, but it has spread across a network of podcasts and upstart publications. Its sensibility is more transgressive than progressive. Many of its denizens profess to be apolitical. Others hold outré opinions, whether sincerely or as fashion statements. Reactionary motifs are chic: Trump hats and “tradwife” frocks, monarchist and anti-feminist sentiments. Perhaps the ultimate expression of this contrarian aesthetic is its embrace of Catholicism.


New York Times Op-Ed:  The God I Know Is Not a Culture Warrior, by Tish Harrison Warren (Priest, Anglican Church; Author, Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep (2021) (Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year)):

Two Sundays ago, my church had a baptismal service. Baptisms at our church are a mixture of solemnity and unbridled glee, often full of laughter and tears of joy. Those who were being baptized or, in the case of infants, their parents, took vows to put their trust in God’s grace and love and to renounce spiritual darkness, evil and “all sinful desires that draw” us from the love of God. After the baptism, the kids in our service ran forward, giggling, trying to get sprayed with the baptismal water that our priest, Ryan, slung over the congregation as he called us to “remember your baptism.”


Investors Bought a Quarter of Homes Sold Last Year, Driving Up Rents Pew Charitable Trusts 


How Prince Charles Sought Revenge Against Princess Diana and the Palace Vanity Fair 


Sharks are ‘walking’ on land to survive the climate crisis: Species of carpet shark can spend up to 2 HOURS out of waters using its paddle shaped fins to escape warming in Pacific Ocean Daily Mail


A new ‘devil’ of a problem for Planet Earth: vanishing humans.



Last Day of Winter: 100 days of Labor: Albanese sets out his government’s key priorities for an Australian ‘culture change’

I know good government can change lives. I’ve lived that. That's why we will never take our eyes off the big prize - the future. This is our chance to secure a new generation of prosperity and fairness for all Australians.

Albo on Twitter … what do we want?


To Residents of the Little Italy 🇮🇹 and Beyond


Rabbitohs boy, who came out of the womb red and green, used the speech to highlight some of Labor's achievements so far, and a couple of the election promises it has fulfilled as well.

But, a lot of the focus was, unsurprisingly, also on this week's Jobs and Skills Summit with key union and business figures already beginning to gather in Canberra, though a couple were in the audience there.

The Prime Minister again slightly played down expectations for the summit saying that nothing would be fixed overnight, but that progress on industrial relations and some of the big economic issues facing our nation was the main goal.

Anthony Albanese marks 100 days in government with National Press Club address — as it happened


“Government has a responsibility to plan for the future, to build for the long-term, to implement the reforms that arm people with every chance to fulfil their potential.

“Not change for the sake of it, reforms that help people lead better lives.”



Albanese lists the government’s election platform of cleaner and cheaper energy, better skills and training, cheaper childcare and a future made in Australia as his key priorities.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will use a landmark speech on Monday to pledge support for a “culture change” to improve conditions for working women as part of a shift in the government’s focus to a reform agenda.

In a speech to mark 100 days since the 21 May election, Albanese will tell the National Press Club that while the government is still in the “recovery” phase in the wake of the pandemic, he wants to move to “reform and renewal” over the course of the next term.

“After a wasted decade, we are not wasting a day,” Albanese will say, according to excerpts of his draft speech.

PM to focus on women, childcare, energy and skills in major speech to the National Press Club as he calls for post-pandemic ‘reform and renewal’

“Government has a responsibility to plan for the future, to build for the long-term, to implement the reforms that arm people with every chance to fulfil their potential.

“Not change for the sake of it, reforms that help people lead better lives.”

Albanese lists the government’s election platform of cleaner and cheaper energy, better skills and training, cheaper childcare and a future made in Australia as his key priorities.

“But we will never take our eyes off the big prize, the future, the chance to secure a new generation of prosperity and fairness for all Australians.”

On Sunday, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said the government was “realistic” about the areas of consensus that could be reached between business and unions.

“We know that people have a range of views, and we’re not looking for unanimity. We’re just looking for those areas of broad common ground so that we can move forward together”

100 days of Labor: Albanese sets out his government’s key priorities for an Australian ‘culture change’


Foreign policy and the Albanese government’s first 100 days


Tuesday, August 30, 2022

The highly executives working for their Australian employers from Europe

 God created sex. Priests created marriage.

—  Voltaire, 1694-1778, French philosopher & writer


The highly executives working for their Australian employers from Europe

As a dreary winter draws to an end, many workers are invariably dreaming of a European summer. But what if you could mix work and play? Several companies are testing it out.


Nearly every morning for the past three months, Kelly Pillay started her day by wandering to one of the local cafes dotting her neighbourhood, finding a small table outside and simply watching the residents of Rome go by as she sipped on a coffee.

She would then open her laptop and begin responding to client and colleague emails.

It was a “stinking hot” 37 degrees most days, and the Wi-Fi could be unreliable at best, but Pillay made it happen. After all, she was working remotely in one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Pillay, principal at financial planning firm KLI Group, spent 12 weeks working and travelling through Europe.


Kelly Pillay (Her real name …)

She, her partner – who has family in Italy – and her young daughter landed in Munich and moseyed through Zurich and Milan before settling in Rome. She worked flexibly, taking about half of the time she spent in Italy and elsewhere in Europe as annual leave.

The flexibility meant Pillay could log on early, finish late, take long weekends and match her schedule to the European summer.

“I’ve had no issues,” she says. “Indeed, in some ways it’s been good. It means work [at the firm was] continuing 24 hours.

“That email that comes in at 4.30pm [Australian time, so it would have been answered the following day], usually that’s flicked along to me, and I’ll pick it up while everyone’s sleeping.”

Pillay’s clients were happy to accommodate her European sojourn. She spent a lot of time discussing her plans with them and made herself available for in-person meetings before her departure.

Some asked to see her for an in-person meeting before she left, but most were content to communicate digitally or consult others in the office.

But although she plans to make an annual habit of this, Pillay says she wouldn’t work from abroad forever. KLI has been offering staff the ability to work from anywhere for up to six months since borders opened in March.

Pillay missed the camaraderie and ease of communication at her office at KLI. Plus, she simply doesn’t believe her role could be performed remotely for too long.

The world’s your oyster

KLI is one of several companies giving staff the ability to work interstate or abroad for extended periods.

Airbnb, Atlassian, CanvaIndebted and several major consulting firms now have “work-from-anywhere” policies.

Deloitte rolled out its policy this year, allowing staff to work from 10 different countries for up to eight weeks. The idea is to allow staff with family and friends overseas to reconnect, says Tina McCreery, chief human resources officer at Deloitte.

So far, 280 staff have taken advantage of the policy, and most have headed to India to spend time with loved ones. The policy is now open only to staff who are residents or have citizenship in the country to which they are travelling. Staff with Australian passports only can still work from New Zealand.

“After being in lockdown and borders were closed for so long, we just had so many people who wanted to spend a longer period of time [away] and really reconnect with family and friends,” McCreery says.

“We’ve got a really diverse workforce and for a number of our very diverse workforce, family is incredibly important culturally.”

The highlight, she says, has been seeing LinkedIn posts showing staff and their elderly parents reunited, or babies introduced to grandparents for the first time.

“We’ve even found for some of our people, if they don’t have family here and they’ve got young kids, their ability to go and actually spend time – say in India, for instance – they’ve got that whole support network around them. It actually gives them time out to spend time as parents and couples.” 

Implementing the policy meant prioritising communication and ensuring staff and managers were on the same page about crossovers and how the flexibility would work.

Deloitte limits the length of time employees can spend working overseas to the maximum length of time before workers’ tax situations change.

The professional services firm hasn’t monitored productivity or attrition rates among those who have taken advantage of the policy. But McCreery says, anecdotally, the beneficiaries show a greater sense of loyalty and gratitude to the company.

Baguettes and the beach

Claire Forster, business director at communications company FleishmanHillard, is working from the French island of Ile de Ré. Her family has a house there, and she’s starting about 7am to have a few hours overlap with Sydney.

She works until about 2pm, snacking on the fresh pastries and baguettes she picks up from the local boulangerie every day.

Staff at FleishmanHillard can work from abroad for up to three weeks a year.

”It’s a really good way of being able to extend [a] trip, and have a bit more time with friends and family while still working,” Forster says. “It’s the best of both worlds, really.”

Her team was prepped for meetings during the overlap periods, and they do “mini handovers” at the beginning and end of the working day to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

Paul Bradbury, chief executive at FleishmanHillard parent company TBWA Australia and New Zealand, says: “We introduced ‘homeland leave’ to help our people make up for the valuable time they lost with family and friends through lockdowns and border closures, matching their annual leave with up to three weeks of working remotely at their destination.”

Nearly a third of employees have taken advantage of the leave policy.

Forster says, although it would be impossible to implement full-time, shorter stints abroad are a great thing for her work.

“It’s really good, giving teams that mental break and having that change of scenery and being able to see friends and family while being able to keep in touch with work and feel that you’re still giving it your all.”

Lucy Dean writes about wealth management and personal finance, based in The Australian Financial Review's Sydney newsroom. Connect with Lucy on Twitter. Email Lucy at l.dean@afr.com