@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]
@robpegoraro.comToday's thoroughly relatable tech-support request from my mom: How do I get rid of all the Kalshi stuff on my Facebook feed?
@robpegoraro.comTech journalists: How many times this year have you received a correction request from a publicist that specifies the new wording they/their client wants to see in the piece? (If anybody's unclear about this: Specifying replacement language is not a prize you get to claim for flagging an error.)
@robpegoraro.comOn further inspection, it looks like Aer Lingus only uses passkey authentication for Avios transactions; for a regular login, the site ignores that option outright.
@robpegoraro.comThe site, although increasingly airlines are indistinguishable from credit cards.
@robpegoraro.comSpeaking of passkeys, I see Aer Lingus supports them... in a wonky way. If you click on the link they e-mail you to set up two-factor authentication and then add 2FA, their site will next invite you to add "facial or fingerprint recognition"--they don't call a passkey a passkey.
@robpegoraro.com[puts on flameproof suit] Alright, I'll have a look at the comments.
@robpegoraro.comIt is slightly maddening to see that I can add passkey authentication to low-value accounts like Yelp and yet not to far more significant accounts--like this one. I'm not saying Yelp shouldn't have bothered, but there is an industry-wide imbalance of attention.
@robpegoraro.comMy other thought on this: While I'm sure that you use complex passcodes on devices, a lot of non-technical users will not. They'll use their birthday or the number of their street address, and their security posture will be much worse as a result.
@robpegoraro.comIt's been almost 13 years since Apple introduced Touch ID, and I am not aware of any reports of that--or of Android and Windows biometric security--being hacked to steal somebody's biometric data.
@robpegoraro.comVulcan is important enough to Amazon's plans that ULA built a separate integration facility at Cape Canaveral for Leo launches, with Amazon's name on the side. But that rocket has also had problems with its solid rocket booster nozzles not staying intact in flight; ULA says it's fixed that issue.
@robpegoraro.comA surprisingly optimistic update on Amazon's progress with its Leo satellite-broadband service from @sciguyspace.bsky.social; even without Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, they expect to step up their launch cadence significantly by putting ULA's smaller Vulcan rocket to work with Leo deliveries.
@robpegoraro.comEvery site that does passkey login has some kind of account-recovery mechanism. But you can also create more than one passkey on more than one service.
@robpegoraro.comIf everybody supported passkeys, I wouldn't need to write this piece in the first place.
@robpegoraro.comThat's a real failure to grasp the concept...
@robpegoraro.comThe competition for passkeys increasingly is not username + password (where a password manager makes that UX about as seamless as a passkey login) but username + password + inconveniently-delivered two-factor authentication code (where the passkey UX is soooo much better). (gift link)
@robpegoraro.comIf the breadmaker can work overnight in a CES-overpriced hotel room... could work!
@robpegoraro.comIt's crazy how much joy I get from baking. If the tech-journalism thing doesn't work out for me, that's all I'm going to do (besides cooking and gardening).
@robpegoraro.comTY for the breadscrolling recommendation!
@robpegoraro.comQ: How can we make the giant Trump mug-shot banners on the DOJ building look even more egregious? A: Have a spotlight aimed at them at night.
@robpegoraro.comReally have to wonder how many White House enemies lists I'm now on: ✅ journalist ✅ poll worker ✅ covid vaccination-clinic volunteer ✅ and now, "SI" refusenik What else?
