Rob Pegoraro<p><strong>Weekly output: Google’s AI Mode, Waymo’s software testing, Trump threatens Chris Krebs, Venmo’s dubious privacy defaults</strong></p><p>I had a short and useful visit to the future home of <a href="https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Starfleet_Academy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Starfleet Academy’s headquarters</a>, courtesy of <a href="https://ntt-research.com/upgrade-2025-calling-all-innovators/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NTT’s Upgrade 2025 conference</a> there hosting me (including comped airfare and lodging), and now I need to finish writing two pieces from that Japanese telco’s event.</p><p>4/7/2025: <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-expands-its-conversational-ai-mode-search-option" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Google Expands Its Conversational ‘AI Mode’ Search Option</a>, PCMag</p><p>Since I already had access to AI Mode and since this is a <a href="https://robpegoraro.com/2023/04/15/tomato-planting-day-or-yet-another-triumph-of-gardening-hope-over-experience/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">gardening time of the year</a>, I tested this search option with some queries on that subject for Google’s Gemini AI.</p><p>4/8/2025: <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/for-waymos-software-team-bug-hunting-sometimes-happens-at-45mph" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">For Waymo’s Software Team, Bug Hunting Sometimes Happens at 45mph</a>, PCMag</p><p>I wrote up an enlightening talk from a Waymo engineer at a software-quality conference I attended the week before hosted by a Tysons Corner startup called <a href="https://antithesis.com" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Antithesis</a>–and then I got to experience the results of Waymo’s ongoing work during two uneventful rides in San Francisco.</p><p>4/10/2025: <a href="https://www.pcmag.com/news/still-mad-about-losing-the-2020-election-trump-targets-former-cisa-director" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Still Mad About Losing the 2020 Election, Trump Targets Cybersecurity Pro</a>, PCMag</p><p>One reason that I haven’t yet filed anything from NTT’s event is that I took time Thursday to report and write this post to ensure that it would adequately convey the fraudulent nature of Trump’s complaint against Chris Krebs, the CISA director he hired in 2018 and then fired in 2020 for telling the truth about the integrity of that year’s election.</p><p><a href="https://robpegoraro.com/?attachment_id=25676" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a>4/11/2025: <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91314718/venmos-debious-defaults-look-like-a-permanent-privacy-foul" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Venmo’s dubious defaults look like a permanent privacy foul</a>, Fast Company</p><p>I’ve had a version of this story on my to-do list for a while, but then the inept <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_security" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">opsec</a> of the Trump administration served up a <a href="https://journ101.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/what-is-a-news-peg-again/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">news peg</a> when journalists found the Venmo accounts of multiple White House principals and started exploring their public-by-default friends lists. (Everyone in this administration should have known better, since BuzzFeed News located Joe Biden’s Venmo and inspected his friends list <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/we-found-joe-bidens-secret-venmo" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">back in 2021</a>). I quizzed a few subject-matter experts, but getting a statement out of Venmo took a little longer.</p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/2020-election/" target="_blank">#2020Election</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/ai-mode/" target="_blank">#AIMode</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/antithesis/" target="_blank">#Antithesis</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/bugbash/" target="_blank">#BugBash</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/chris-krebs/" target="_blank">#ChrisKrebs</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/default-settings/" target="_blank">#defaultSettings</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/election-denial/" target="_blank">#electionDenial</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/election-security/" target="_blank">#electionSecurity</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/google-ai/" target="_blank">#GoogleAI</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/google-gemini/" target="_blank">#GoogleGemini</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/paypal/" target="_blank">#PayPal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/trump-retribution/" target="_blank">#TrumpRetribution</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/venmo/" target="_blank">#Venmo</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/venmo-friends-list/" target="_blank">#VenmoFriendsList</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robpegoraro.com/tag/waymo/" target="_blank">#Waymo</a></p>