The last theoretically full work week of 2022 is upon us, after a work week that was much fuller than usual by virtue of including two trips to Virginia’s Eastern Shore over four days. You can imagine my relief.

In addition to the stuff below, Patreon readers got an extra post: a look at two eSIM experiences, one my own and another that of a reader.

12/13/2022: Analysts Predict ‘Exodus’ of Twitter Users by 2024, PCMag

I wrote up an Insider Intelligence forecast that sees 14 percent of Twitter’s U.S. users heading for the exits by 2024. With Elon Musk’s recent bout of vindictive account suspensions and Sunday’s announcement of a control-freakish ban on linking out to “alternative social platforms,” that number may need to be revised up.

12/14/2022: Boom Supersonic Finally Picks Engine Provider, and It’s Not Who You Think, PCMag

The aviation startup that’s aspiring to restore supersonic commercial air travel finally revealed details about the engines for its planned Overture jet. For a more technical look at Boom’s news, please see this piece from Aviation Week’s Guy Norris.

12/15/2022: Microsoft Expanding ‘Airband’ Broadband Initiative Across Africa Via Satellite, PCMag

Writing this allowed me to note how two other U.S. tech giants, Facebook and Google, had recently given up on their own global-broadband initiatives.

12/16/2022: Getting in the media in 2023, PR Essentials Summit

I did this virtual panel with event host Ronjini Joshua and my fellow tech journalist John Biggs–who was much more pessimistic about the future of our profession than I am.

12/17/2022: Suspension of journalists’ accounts on Twitter… a violation of freedom of expression or concerns about privacy?, Alhurra

The Arabic-language, U.S.-government-backed news network quizzed me briefly in a phone call Friday about new Twitter overlord Elon Musk’s recent moves to ban journalists from Twitter for telling people about third-party sources of data about the location of Musk’s jet. (Speaking of which, you can follow the whereabouts of N628TS on Mastodon at elonjet@mastodon.social.) I hope the Arabic translation gets across my outrage over this outburst of control-freakery.

12/17/2022: Inside Rocket Lab’s Virginia Facility Ahead of First US ‘Electron’ Launch, PCMag

I wrote up my visit Friday to Rocket Lab’s facilities on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, during which Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck shared his thoughts about what led the company to Virginia, where it’s willing to “eat dirt” in rocket design, and its ambitions for its upcoming, larger Neutron rocket. I returned to Wallops for Sunday night’s attempt (my thanks to Ars Technica’s John Timmer for offering a lift so I wouldn’t be looking at seven hours of solo driving), and as you can read in the update atop the post, the attempt was for naught.