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: rob@robpegoraro.com
Good evening from Lisbon, where #WebSummit opened with an Olympics vibe - a parade of flags of attendees' countries. Among the opening speakers, Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas risked getting booted from X with this celebration of wokeness: "A country cannot work without social justice."
November 10, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Good evening from Lisbon, where #WebSummit opened with an Olympics vibe - a parade of flags of attendees' countries. Among the opening speakers, Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas risked getting booted from X with this celebration of wokeness: "A country cannot work without social justice."
A new low in inscrutable hotel UXes: The eight unlabeled buttons on this wall-mounted panel control at least two arrays of lights, maybe three, as well as this room's powered window blinds and shades, and I may have them all figured out before I check out Friday.
November 10, 2025 at 10:19 AM
A new low in inscrutable hotel UXes: The eight unlabeled buttons on this wall-mounted panel control at least two arrays of lights, maybe three, as well as this room's powered window blinds and shades, and I may have them all figured out before I check out Friday.
The folks at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society brought pocket-sized zines with coaching about phone app permissions to #MozFest. Love this work. asml.cyber.harvard.edu/permissions-...
November 9, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The folks at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society brought pocket-sized zines with coaching about phone app permissions to #MozFest. Love this work. asml.cyber.harvard.edu/permissions-...
Chelsea Manning gave a good, philosophical #MozFest talk - began as a monologue on our "pocket rectangles," then critiqued Wagner's total work of art idea, bench-deprived train stations, and more. "Allow yourself to do the most defiant and powerful thing," she said. "Allow yourself to be bored."
November 9, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Chelsea Manning gave a good, philosophical #MozFest talk - began as a monologue on our "pocket rectangles," then critiqued Wagner's total work of art idea, bench-deprived train stations, and more. "Allow yourself to do the most defiant and powerful thing," she said. "Allow yourself to be bored."
The Mozilla Festival has one of the most picturesque venues I've ever seen for a conference (with a non-trivial risk of getting lost in one or another of Poble Espanyol's alleys).
November 7, 2025 at 8:09 AM
The Mozilla Festival has one of the most picturesque venues I've ever seen for a conference (with a non-trivial risk of getting lost in one or another of Poble Espanyol's alleys).
Hola desde Barcelona! I'm here through Friday to cover the Mozilla Festival (with the organizers providing a travel stipend). It is such a treat to have this city as part of my business travel twice in a year. schedule.mozillafestival.org/schedule
November 6, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Hola desde Barcelona! I'm here through Friday to cover the Mozilla Festival (with the organizers providing a travel stipend). It is such a treat to have this city as part of my business travel twice in a year. schedule.mozillafestival.org/schedule
NYC, your next mayor ranks as front-page news in Germany.
November 6, 2025 at 9:02 AM
NYC, your next mayor ranks as front-page news in Germany.
The Silver Line train to Dulles is an excellent advertisement for transit when it's leaving cars on the Toll Road behind while whooshing along at 70+ mph. Same goes for the train's views of planes landing on 19L.
November 5, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The Silver Line train to Dulles is an excellent advertisement for transit when it's leaving cars on the Toll Road behind while whooshing along at 70+ mph. Same goes for the train's views of planes landing on 19L.
A reasonable read of Virginia voters in 2025: Sic semper MAGA.
November 5, 2025 at 3:05 AM
A reasonable read of Virginia voters in 2025: Sic semper MAGA.
Good morning to my fellow poll workers! 🥱
November 4, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Good morning to my fellow poll workers! 🥱
It's embarrassing enough that this dialog even exists in macOS 26 Tahoe to remind Gen Xers of what memory management was like in System 6. But Calculator eating up 52.27 GB by itself? 🫠
November 3, 2025 at 11:43 PM
It's embarrassing enough that this dialog even exists in macOS 26 Tahoe to remind Gen Xers of what memory management was like in System 6. But Calculator eating up 52.27 GB by itself? 🫠
Another was about sending a message Tuesday: "It's how we set an example for the rest of the country, an example that we expect them to follow in 2026." Loudest cheers: after she asked the standing-room crowd "Are you ready to win?"
(Don't underestimate how angry people are in Northern Virginia.)
(Don't underestimate how angry people are in Northern Virginia.)
November 2, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Another was about sending a message Tuesday: "It's how we set an example for the rest of the country, an example that we expect them to follow in 2026." Loudest cheers: after she asked the standing-room crowd "Are you ready to win?"
(Don't underestimate how angry people are in Northern Virginia.)
(Don't underestimate how angry people are in Northern Virginia.)
One theme of Spanberger's speech was how Virginia has become unaffordable, especially in housing costs: "Everything, it's just a bit harder." She did not get into details of how to fix that beyond pledging to work every lever available (her site has some specifics, but not at, say, a Biden level).
November 2, 2025 at 11:36 PM
One theme of Spanberger's speech was how Virginia has become unaffordable, especially in housing costs: "Everything, it's just a bit harder." She did not get into details of how to fix that beyond pledging to work every lever available (her site has some specifics, but not at, say, a Biden level).
Saying "These past 10 months have been the hardest part of our lives in public service," Sen. Mark Warner tees off on the Trump administration, mocking their foreign policy as "Russia is our friend, Canada is our enemy!" and calling the cutoff of SNAP benefits
"the ultimate act of cruelty."
"the ultimate act of cruelty."
November 2, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Saying "These past 10 months have been the hardest part of our lives in public service," Sen. Mark Warner tees off on the Trump administration, mocking their foreign policy as "Russia is our friend, Canada is our enemy!" and calling the cutoff of SNAP benefits
"the ultimate act of cruelty."
"the ultimate act of cruelty."
Good evening from Falls Church, where Abigail Spanberger is holding a rally at the State Theatre that I decided to check out. (Newsrooms usually frown on staffers going to partisan political events, but as a self-employed journalist I don't have to pretend that I don't have opinions on politics.)
November 2, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Good evening from Falls Church, where Abigail Spanberger is holding a rally at the State Theatre that I decided to check out. (Newsrooms usually frown on staffers going to partisan political events, but as a self-employed journalist I don't have to pretend that I don't have opinions on politics.)
FYI, Arlington cyclists: The new two-way cycle track on Army-Navy Drive in Pentagon City is a serious upgrade. It will be more of one once the cycle track alongside Columbia Pike past the Air Force Memorial opens, but that looks several months out.
October 31, 2025 at 5:17 PM
FYI, Arlington cyclists: The new two-way cycle track on Army-Navy Drive in Pentagon City is a serious upgrade. It will be more of one once the cycle track alongside Columbia Pike past the Air Force Memorial opens, but that looks several months out.
I don't know how Tesla would effectively market itself in D.C. these days, but having its M Street NW showroom feature an implausible-to-park-in-Georgetown Cybertruck and a probably-inert Optimus robot does not seem like the way to do it.
October 28, 2025 at 1:15 AM
I don't know how Tesla would effectively market itself in D.C. these days, but having its M Street NW showroom feature an implausible-to-park-in-Georgetown Cybertruck and a probably-inert Optimus robot does not seem like the way to do it.
Quite the lineup of speakers at this Foundation for American Innovation event celebrating the open Web at Georgetown University's Riggs Library. luma.com/cfxt621v
October 27, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Quite the lineup of speakers at this Foundation for American Innovation event celebrating the open Web at Georgetown University's Riggs Library. luma.com/cfxt621v
I know the sound of a teardown way too well from living in Arlington. But it's really something different to hear those noises coming from the White House grounds.
October 27, 2025 at 7:28 PM
I know the sound of a teardown way too well from living in Arlington. But it's really something different to hear those noises coming from the White House grounds.
Voted in Arlington, with only a few minutes' wait at the early voting station by Court House.
October 25, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Voted in Arlington, with only a few minutes' wait at the early voting station by Court House.
You Had One Job, Arlington $3+ million new house edition.
October 24, 2025 at 6:59 PM
You Had One Job, Arlington $3+ million new house edition.
Yet another reminder of how far the Post has sunk landed on D.C.-area sidewalks, stoops and front lawns the morning after Darcy's scathing report: a typo in a large-type editorial headline that even spellcheck should have caught.
October 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Yet another reminder of how far the Post has sunk landed on D.C.-area sidewalks, stoops and front lawns the morning after Darcy's scathing report: a typo in a large-type editorial headline that even spellcheck should have caught.
Greetings from Axios' "Future of Defense" event in D.C., where that newsroom's politics reporter Brittany Gibson quizzed Trump administration border lead Tom Homan. She opened with a mention of reports about ICE grabbing U.S. citizens, asking about the criteria for ICE to make arrests. (1/5)
October 22, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Greetings from Axios' "Future of Defense" event in D.C., where that newsroom's politics reporter Brittany Gibson quizzed Trump administration border lead Tom Homan. She opened with a mention of reports about ICE grabbing U.S. citizens, asking about the criteria for ICE to make arrests. (1/5)
As it was foretold by Garry Trudeau in 1989.
October 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
As it was foretold by Garry Trudeau in 1989.
For my part, I broke out a 37-year-old concert t-shirt. (It still fits, because my dumbass 17-year-old self had the forethought not to buy a medium size.)
October 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
For my part, I broke out a 37-year-old concert t-shirt. (It still fits, because my dumbass 17-year-old self had the forethought not to buy a medium size.)