Rob Pegoraro<p><strong>Weekly output: Android 16, Mark Vena podcast, CISA communications-security advice</strong></p><p>I hope this finds you well and with family this holiday season, by which I mean I hope that family tech support has not been too strenuous whether you’re the provider or the recipient of it.</p><p>Patreon readers got an extra post this week: a look at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/data-centers-be-118320929?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the massive dent that data centers will put into Virginia’s electric grid</a> in coming decades if current trends continue.</p><p>12/18/2024: <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/latest-android-16-preview-tips-improved-app-response-location-security" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Latest Android 16 Preview Tips Improved App Response, Location Security</a>, PCMag</p><p>This short post covered the second developer preview of Android 16, moving forward on an earlier development cycle than previous releases of Google’s mobile operating system.</p><p>12/18/2024: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPFLDioy0Ks" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ep 105 SmartTechCheck Podcast — Expected CES Trends, Intel CEO departure, new incoming FCC leader</a>, Mark Vena</p><p>My major contribution to this episode of my tech-analyst pal’s podcast was trying to unpack the agenda of incoming Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr.</p><p>12/19/2024: <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-feds-have-some-advice-for-highly-targeted-individuals-dont-use-a-vpn" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Feds Have Some Advice for ‘Highly Targeted’ Individuals: Don’t Use a VPN</a>, PCMag</p><p>I’ve been impressed for the past few years by how the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/at-black-hat-feds-push-tech-firms-to-adopt-radical-transparency" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">offers specific and actionable advice</a> even if it may upset some vendors. CISA stuck to that pattern with the guidance it issued to people high enough in government or politics to draw the attention of Chinese state-sponsored hackers who have burrowed deeply into U.S. telecom infrastructure–guidance that included the seemingly counter-intuitive advice not to use a VPN for privacy protection because that only transfers the privacy risk from your current sources of connectivity to a single company. I think CISA’s right about that, certainly in the context of most PCMag readers. And in my own case: My major use case for VPNs these days is to evade geoblocking restrictions, like when I’m <a href="https://robpegoraro.com/2018/07/14/another-part-of-the-world-where-i-need-to-use-a-vpn/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">trying to read GDPR-incompliant U.S. news sites</a> from somewhere in the EU.</p><p><span></span></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/android-16/" target="_blank">#Android16</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/brendan-carr/" target="_blank">#BrendanCarr</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/china-hacks/" target="_blank">#ChinaHacks</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/chinese-hacking/" target="_blank">#ChineseHacking</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/cisa/" target="_blank">#CISA</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/cybersecurity/" target="_blank">#cybersecurity</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/encrypted-messaging/" target="_blank">#encryptedMessaging</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/fcc/" target="_blank">#FCC</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/infosec/" target="_blank">#infosec</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/salt-typhoon/" target="_blank">#SaltTyphoon</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/vpn/" target="_blank">#VPN</a></p>