Weekly output: Most Innovative Companies, Serve Robotics, Android 17, United Airlines’ ambitions, Polymarket’s pop-up bar

CHICAGO–This is one of my favorite cities in the U.S., but it doesn’t show up in my work travel as often as I’d like. So I’m delighted that the Online News Association decided to move its annual conference from late summer to early spring and then stage this year’s event here–in a hotel that should be familiar to everybody who’s seen The Fugitive.

Patreon readers got a bonus post that I’d meant to have written weeks earlier: a recap of MWC Barcelona in which I also gave away a global eSIM to the first reader to ask for it.

3/24/2026: The most innovative robotics and engineering companies of 2026, Fast Company

This list, the product of months of research and editorial back-and-forth, finally emerged online this week. And then we had to run a quick correction after one of the companies honored said that we’d mentioned an achievement that they did not want disclosed.

3/25/2026: Delivery Robots Have a Mapping Problem, PCMag

I sat down in a hotel lobby in Austin during SXSW with MJ Burk Chun, co-founder and vice president of product and design at Serve Robotics, to talk about the issues that company is working to address as it tries to scale up having four-wheeled robots cart food deliveries to customers.

3/27/2026: Google Ships Latest Android 17 Beta. Here’s What’s New, PCMag

In between having so many longer stories to write, I was happy to get one that I could bang out in an hour or so.

3/28/2026: United’s New Upgrades Aim to Keep You Online and Fully Charged at 35,000 Feet, PCMag

My week started with me flying to another one of United’s hubs–with the airline covering my airfare and lodging–for its United Elevated event at LAX. In addition to looping me into UA’s ambitions for its onboard product, this event doubled as a reunion with some of the avgeek journalists I met at Cranky Dorkfest in September and with my former Washington Post colleague Lori Aratani, who interviewed United CEO Scott Kirby onstage Tuesday morning.

3/29/2026: Pints meet prop bets: Polymarket’s “Situation Room” pop-up bar in DC, Ars Technica

I thought I saw an opportunity to write for this occasional client for the first time since the summer of 2023; fortunately, my editor then and now agreed.

#AIMIntelligentMachines #Android17 #Austin #BostonDynamics #Chicago #deliveryRobots #Dexterity #ForwardXRobotics #GlacierRobotics #Infravision #LAX #LosAngeles #LucidBots #ONA #OnlineNewsAssociation #ORD #Polymarket #predictionMarkets #RobustAi #ServeRobotics #sxsw #Symbotic #TerabaseEnergy #UA #United #UnitedAirlines
The Fugitive (1993 film) - Wikipedia

Huch? - Was steht denn hier für ein außergewöhnlicher Besucher?

Wolltest du am Donnerstag, nachdem du hier mit fast vierstündiger Verspätung angekommen bist, nicht mehr zurück nach Frankfurt?

Zuerst scheinen sie wohl nen Abflug gegen 21:15 geplant zu haben, bevor sie die Sache gegen 21:20 gecancelt haben.

#DABYT #LH456 #LH457 #LAX #LosAngeles

The PH Airlines' lucrative LAX-MNL direct route to face competition

Delta Airlines said it intends to launch daily nonstop Los Angeles–Manila flights by summer 2027 using Airbus A350-900 aircraft.

#Philippines #NAIA #Travel #Manila #Asian #Tourism #Flight #LAX #California #Airline #Airbus

https://insiderph.com/delta-eyes-manila-comeback-after-pandemic-exit-as-competition-heats-up-on-us-routes

Delta eyes Manila comeback after pandemic exit as competition heats up on US routes

Delta Air Lines is planning a return to Manila after six years, raising competition among US carriers and Philippine Airlines on one of the busiest trans-Pacific travel corridors.

CNN is tracking the TSA wait times at major airports. Can verify that LAX had been very little wait at T1 & T2.

(And LAX security had real, trained, friendly TSA agents.)

✅ Flyers face unpredictable airport wait times as TSA goes unpaid | CNN
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/tsa-staff-shortage-delays-shutdown-03-20-26
#tsa #LAX #ice

The latest trends in cargo bikes usually come from Europe. Cyclingworld 2026 is just wrapping up and so here are a few of what's new in the cargo bike scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REZp_-i1P-k

#cargobike #3X3 #LAX #BIKE43

CYCLINGWORLD 2026 - die Cargo Bikes der Zukunft!? [Teil 2] LAX BIKE43 QEMEO SAYLECYCLE SUGG FOLDRIDE

YouTube
Sailed through #TSA security at terminal 7 in #LAX this morning. I did not notice any ICE agents.

Weekly output: game development, Tesla Robotaxi, Bluetooth upgrades

I started this week in Austin for SXSW and will start the coming week by flying to Los Angeles, courtesy of an event United Airlines is hosting at LAX to show off tech upgrades coming to its fleet. The airline is covering my airfare and lodging, the reverse of the pattern that has prevailed over decades of my business travel.

3/17/2026: Crafting Global Games with Local Insight and Cultural Fusion, SXSW

I returned to SXSW after a year off when Nika Nour, a pal from D.C. tech-policy circles who’s now a senior vice president leading international business development at Savvy Games Group, asked if I could step in to moderate this panel. And then two of the other panelists got changed out less than a week in advance. Fortunately, everybody else on the panel (Nika, actor/producer/author Anjali Bhimani, and Six Foot chief marketing officer Manuel Delgado) was a practiced speaker and eased my job of leading a conversation about an industry that I haven’t covered that much lately.

3/19/2026: I Got Around SXSW in Tesla Robotaxis: The Rides Were Better Than the Buggy, Juvenile App, PCMag

I thought I should try Tesla’s self-driving-car taxi service while in Austin, but it took a day of unsuccessful attempts before I could book my first ride. And then the experience was surprisingly uneventful, with each of my five rides featuring a safety operator in the front passenger seat who didn’t do anything that I noticed.

3/19/2026: Get Ready: Bluetooth 6 and Other Advances Will Give Your Devices a Much Needed Upgrade, PCMag

PCMag elected to re-publish this post with some new text by me to highlight Bluetooth version numbers.

#ATX #AUS #Austin #autonomousVehicles #Bluetooth #Bluetooth60 #gameDevelopment #LAX #SavvyGamesGroup #selfDrivingCars #sxsw #TeslaRobotaxi #UA #United #UnitedAirlines #videoGames #Waymo
sxsw – Rob Pegoraro

Posts about sxsw written by robpegoraro

Rob Pegoraro
#KristiNoem video still plays at #LAX, sparking frustration over costs. Meanwhile, #TSA workers toil unpaid, while Congress continues to receive paychecks. The irony is not lost on travelers and staff alike. #Budget

The video featuring former Governor Kristi Noem is still in use at LAX, raising questions about its expenses. TSA employees are working without pay, yet Congress remains compensated... https://instagr.am/p/DV9DJTFEuKf/
voteinorout on Instagram: "#KristiNoem video still plays at #LAX, sparking frustration over costs. Meanwhile, #TSA workers toil unpaid, while Congress continues to receive paychecks. The irony is not lost on travelers and staff alike. #Budget⁠ ⁠ The video featuring former Governor Kristi Noem is still in use at LAX, raising questions about its expenses. TSA employees are working without pay, yet Congress remains compensated. The speaker suggests, "Congress should not be paid at all until they come up with a budget," highlighting the disparity in the current situation. #amyaquino⁠ —⁠ ⁠ Lest we forget, what with WW3 and all, we’ve been in a PARTIAL government SHUTDOWN for a month. That means that THOUSANDS at TSA and FEMA are working for no pay. Because Congressional Republicans won’t even consider putting reasonable restraints on ICE. Even now, after Kristi Noem lied to them and was found to be so incompetent she was fired. ⁠ ⁠ If you don’t think TSA and FEMA workers should be paying to keep ICE masked, armed, and dangerous, tell your GOP reps. ⁠ Oh and while you have them on the phone, maybe tell them to pass the War Powers Act and stop this insane illegal war. #Kristinoem #tsa #governmentshutdown Follow @aquino_amy for more.⁠ ⁠ Help this information get to more voters. 🇺🇸 A well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to Democracy.—Thomas Jefferson"

66 likes, 2 comments - voteinorout on March 16, 2026: "#KristiNoem video still plays at #LAX, sparking frustration over costs. Meanwhile, #TSA workers toil unpaid, while Congress continues to receive paychecks. The irony is not lost on travelers and staff alike. #Budget⁠ ⁠ The video featuring former Governor Kristi Noem is still in use at LAX, raising questions about its expenses. TSA employees are working without pay, yet Congress remains compensated. The speaker suggests, "Congress should not be paid at all until they come up with a budget," highlighting the disparity in the current situation. #amyaquino⁠ —⁠ ⁠ Lest we forget, what with WW3 and all, we’ve been in a PARTIAL government SHUTDOWN for a month. That means that THOUSANDS at TSA and FEMA are working for no pay. Because Congressional Republicans won’t even consider putting reasonable restraints on ICE. Even now, after Kristi Noem lied to them and was found to be so incompetent she was fired. ⁠ ⁠ If you don’t think TSA and FEMA workers should be paying to keep ICE masked, armed, and dangerous, tell your GOP reps. ⁠ Oh and while you have them on the phone, maybe tell them to pass the War Powers Act and stop this insane illegal war. #Kristinoem #tsa #governmentshutdown Follow @aquino_amy for more.⁠ ⁠ Help this information get to more voters. 🇺🇸 A well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to Democracy.—Thomas Jefferson".

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