Rob Pegoraro
@robpegoraro.com
D.C.-based freelance technology journalist covering, and often vexed by, computers, gadgets, and other things that beep. May or may not be notable. He/him. Read: PCMag, Fast Company, etc. Write: [email protected]
Pinned
Rob Pegoraro
@robpegoraro.com
· Jan 16
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🔎 disclosures: robpegoraro.com/disclosures
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🔎 disclosures: robpegoraro.com/disclosures
📷 photos: flickr.com/robpegoraro
🤳 less-edited photos: instagram.com/robpegoraro
🧾 resume: linkedin.com/in/robpegoraro
➕ B-sides, outtakes, other extras: patreon.com/robpegoraro
Abel wants all his buddies around the Twin Cities to stay warm.
January 15, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Abel wants all his buddies around the Twin Cities to stay warm.
Another thing I don't know about that long Verizon outage is what caused it. But it's not too late to round up the usual suspects:
• yet another case of AI gone awry
• fiber-seeking backhoe hungry again
• squirrel vs transformer
• North Korean/Russian/Iranian hackers
• DNS, it's always DNS
• yet another case of AI gone awry
• fiber-seeking backhoe hungry again
• squirrel vs transformer
• North Korean/Russian/Iranian hackers
• DNS, it's always DNS
January 15, 2026 at 5:19 AM
Another thing I don't know about that long Verizon outage is what caused it. But it's not too late to round up the usual suspects:
• yet another case of AI gone awry
• fiber-seeking backhoe hungry again
• squirrel vs transformer
• North Korean/Russian/Iranian hackers
• DNS, it's always DNS
• yet another case of AI gone awry
• fiber-seeking backhoe hungry again
• squirrel vs transformer
• North Korean/Russian/Iranian hackers
• DNS, it's always DNS
I can get a random person hitting me up on X today with a tech-support question. But somebody doing PR in the tech industry? That is a bit of a self-own.
(Question was about why his coworker's iPhone had Verizon service and his did not when they were sitting at the same table. My honest answer: 🤷.)
(Question was about why his coworker's iPhone had Verizon service and his did not when they were sitting at the same table. My honest answer: 🤷.)
January 15, 2026 at 4:08 AM
I can get a random person hitting me up on X today with a tech-support question. But somebody doing PR in the tech industry? That is a bit of a self-own.
(Question was about why his coworker's iPhone had Verizon service and his did not when they were sitting at the same table. My honest answer: 🤷.)
(Question was about why his coworker's iPhone had Verizon service and his did not when they were sitting at the same table. My honest answer: 🤷.)
Verizon should have unlocked your phone automatically two or so years ago, so you should be able to go to a prepaid wireless store and buy a SIM card, pop out the Vz SIM in your phone, and insert that to get mobile broadband again. (Your phone number will remain offline until Vz is back online.)
January 14, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Verizon should have unlocked your phone automatically two or so years ago, so you should be able to go to a prepaid wireless store and buy a SIM card, pop out the Vz SIM in your phone, and insert that to get mobile broadband again. (Your phone number will remain offline until Vz is back online.)
Monday: Verizon gets the FCC to drop its requirement to unlock phones it sells after 60 days, which will impede subscribers hoping to augment or temporarily replace its service via eSIMs.
Today: massive, nationwide Verizon outage.
The writers of this season are laying it on a little thick...
Today: massive, nationwide Verizon outage.
The writers of this season are laying it on a little thick...
FCC Unties Verizon From 60-Day Phone-Unlocking Rule
The waiver lets Verizon enforce the same unlocking policy as its rivals: pay off the phone first.
www.pcmag.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:10 PM
Monday: Verizon gets the FCC to drop its requirement to unlock phones it sells after 60 days, which will impede subscribers hoping to augment or temporarily replace its service via eSIMs.
Today: massive, nationwide Verizon outage.
The writers of this season are laying it on a little thick...
Today: massive, nationwide Verizon outage.
The writers of this season are laying it on a little thick...
Is your phone new enough to be in the 60-day lock?
January 14, 2026 at 10:04 PM
Is your phone new enough to be in the 60-day lock?
Your second meal looks like an entire class of service better than what Seth got on BA.
January 14, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Your second meal looks like an entire class of service better than what Seth got on BA.
Sometimes starting to write an e-mail with questions for a possible subject matter expert only makes you realize that you should have started writing a different message to a different potential expert.
January 14, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Sometimes starting to write an e-mail with questions for a possible subject matter expert only makes you realize that you should have started writing a different message to a different potential expert.
Looks like another case of AI content moderation gone awry: One admin, who had his own account locked, says members would post old photos of school sports teams and comment "on things like how cute the child was or about their uniform, which he believes AI wrongly identified as child solicitation."
Arlington-focused Facebook group with 25,000 members is removed, angering moderators
Arlington-focused Facebook group with 25,000 members is removed, angering moderators | ARLnow.com
Moderators are crying foul over the removal of a popular, longstanding Facebook group where Arlingtonians have shared memories of growing up in the county. "I Grew Up in Arlington," a 15-year-old group...
www.arlnow.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Looks like another case of AI content moderation gone awry: One admin, who had his own account locked, says members would post old photos of school sports teams and comment "on things like how cute the child was or about their uniform, which he believes AI wrongly identified as child solicitation."
The FCC chairman testifying to his own utter detachment from the reality of American media. Seems bad!
Carr just said in one of the wildest lies I have ever heard in a hearing room that “Disney and Comcast are providing almost 100 percent” of the programming that Americans get. Even if he meant on broadcast, that’s insane. Never Fox, of course! Just the evil woke ones. #FCCOversight
January 14, 2026 at 5:37 PM
The FCC chairman testifying to his own utter detachment from the reality of American media. Seems bad!
You seem to think being deliberately obtuse adds value to this platform. Wrong.
January 14, 2026 at 4:47 PM
You seem to think being deliberately obtuse adds value to this platform. Wrong.
A tiny bit of good news for Nats fans: MASN is officially dead, with streaming available throughout DC, VA, MD and DE as well as a bit of PA and WV and most of NC at $99.99 a season or $19.99 a month with subscriptions available in February. (Value to be gained from viewing the onfield product TBD.)
Nationals Streaming Coming in 2026 | Washington Nationals
Beginning this season, fans can watch Nationals.TV on cable, satellite or in the MLB App.
www.mlb.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:03 PM
A tiny bit of good news for Nats fans: MASN is officially dead, with streaming available throughout DC, VA, MD and DE as well as a bit of PA and WV and most of NC at $99.99 a season or $19.99 a month with subscriptions available in February. (Value to be gained from viewing the onfield product TBD.)
Which is much less than convenient to me as a Northern Virginia resident with decades of experience in flight delays between D.C.-area and NYC-area airports.
January 14, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Which is much less than convenient to me as a Northern Virginia resident with decades of experience in flight delays between D.C.-area and NYC-area airports.
This certainly looks like an attempt at Nixon-grade intimidation of the press. How will the Post's editorial page spin it as a good thing?
FBI executes search warrant at Washington Post reporter’s home
The search came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:24 PM
This certainly looks like an attempt at Nixon-grade intimidation of the press. How will the Post's editorial page spin it as a good thing?
You and Jason are making me cranky all over again about United moving IAD's LHR daytime flight to EWR.
January 14, 2026 at 3:15 PM
You and Jason are making me cranky all over again about United moving IAD's LHR daytime flight to EWR.
Can't even take decent avgeek photos with this post-midnight timing. Such jerks!
January 14, 2026 at 4:13 AM
Can't even take decent avgeek photos with this post-midnight timing. Such jerks!
I had missed this last week--for the obvious reasons of CES and not subscribing to Matt Stoller's newsletter--but it is hilarious that the guy wraps up a post about the need to bring back posted prices by saying he's looking to hire a freelance reporter without posting a salary or rate.
The One Simple Thing That Makes the U.S. Economy Unmanageable
We used to be able to answer the question "How much does that cost?" But prices in America are not only high, but increasingly hidden. Fortunately, there's pushback.
www.thebignewsletter.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:13 PM
I had missed this last week--for the obvious reasons of CES and not subscribing to Matt Stoller's newsletter--but it is hilarious that the guy wraps up a post about the need to bring back posted prices by saying he's looking to hire a freelance reporter without posting a salary or rate.
A publishing giant on the scale of Condé Nast letting the trademark for one of its most storied magazines lapse is hilarious. And somewhat comforting to all of us who struggle to manage our cognitive load. (via @kottke.org)
Gourmet Magazine
Gourmet is a worker-owned publication about food and the people who make and consume it.
gourmetmagazine.net
January 13, 2026 at 8:32 PM
A publishing giant on the scale of Condé Nast letting the trademark for one of its most storied magazines lapse is hilarious. And somewhat comforting to all of us who struggle to manage our cognitive load. (via @kottke.org)
Put down whatever you're doing and read this essay from @lopatto.bsky.social while it's outside the Verge paywall. She is a damn good writer, especially when faced with self-serving nonsense from tech CEOs: "I never want to hear any moral grandstanding from these boys ever again."
Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards
Once you’ve traded your principles for proximity to power, do you even run your own company?
www.theverge.com
January 13, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Put down whatever you're doing and read this essay from @lopatto.bsky.social while it's outside the Verge paywall. She is a damn good writer, especially when faced with self-serving nonsense from tech CEOs: "I never want to hear any moral grandstanding from these boys ever again."
I have my SPJ membership card--which says right at the bottom "not a press pass." Not sure what I'd do if some event insisted on something somehow more "official."
January 13, 2026 at 4:31 PM
I have my SPJ membership card--which says right at the bottom "not a press pass." Not sure what I'd do if some event insisted on something somehow more "official."
I saw this Apple announcement and thought "iLife, but for your work life?" Then I threw out my back reaching for the mouse. 👨🦳
Introducing Apple Creator Studio, an inspiring collection of creative apps
Apple Creator Studio is a collection of powerful creative apps for making music, video editing, creative imaging, and visual productivity.
www.apple.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:31 PM
I saw this Apple announcement and thought "iLife, but for your work life?" Then I threw out my back reaching for the mouse. 👨🦳
See you at OuroborosCon!
January 13, 2026 at 2:27 PM
See you at OuroborosCon!
Once again irked by an event's media-registration UX requiring an upload of a "press credential" or "supporting document." A link to my author page at a client should suffice, given that a) standardized press credentials don't exist in the U.S., and b) a PDF of the author page usually works anyway.
January 13, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Once again irked by an event's media-registration UX requiring an upload of a "press credential" or "supporting document." A link to my author page at a client should suffice, given that a) standardized press credentials don't exist in the U.S., and b) a PDF of the author page usually works anyway.