I’m home from Germany, but not for long. Tuesday afternoon, I depart for CTIA’s Super Mobility Week show, and two days later I head over to Portland for XOXO. I thought about skipping CTIA’s show, but two nights’ hotel in Vegas and the extra air travel added so little to my trip costs that I decided to go ahead with it. (No, I’m not going to Apple’s event Wednesday in San Francisco; Yahoo and USA Today already have reporters covering it.) Check back next weekend to see if I still think this schedule was a good idea… I already have my doubts.

9/1/2015: What Politicos Don’t Know About Encryption Could Make Us All Less Safe, Yahoo Tech

I filed this somewhat overdue update on the encryption debate (hint: security experts say there’s nothing to debate) Monday evening over one of Canada’s maritime provinces. I’d complain about the WiFi cutting in and out, but it’s important to keep perspective: I wrote from a chair in the sky! With Internet access!

9/1/2015: The Best Wireless Carriers, The Wirecutter

Didn’t I just update this guide? Yes, I did. But then AT&T revised its prices, Sprint announced it would drop two-year contracts by the end of the year, and some new third-party research came out. I took advantage of the opportunity to redo our usage scenarios to reflect reports of higher average data consumption.

9/3/2015: Hands On: Samsung’s Gear S2 Brings Some Elegance to the Smartwatch, Yahoo Tech

I had about an hour to play with this interesting smartwatch Wednesday evening in Berlin. The lede popped into my head the next morning, in plenty of time for me to file before Samsung’s embargo expired.

9/6/2016: Four trends spotted at the IFA tech conference, USA Today

A few weeks ago, the folks at USAT asked if I could occasionally switch up my column from the usual Q&A format to address issues raised at tech-industry events like IFA. I said that sounded like a reasonable idea, and this is the result. Next weekend will probably see me again hold off on the Q&A to write about whatever I learn about the wireless industry at CTIA’s event.