Microsoft update refuses to let PCs sleep.
Also, Corporate Design Gets Simpler, Costs More

Security Update Teaches Computers the Fine Art of Resistance

The January 2026 Patch Tuesday has delivered a major philosophical breakthrough to the world of corporate IT: The computer now reserves the right to refuse work. Microsoft, a company known for its unwavering commitment to the patch cycle, released an update that prevents PCs from shutting down, opting instead to simply restart or, in some cases, remain stubbornly awake like an intern who just discovered coffee and existential dread.

The corporate oversight appears tied to a clash with the System Guard Secure Launch feature, a bit of virtualization-based security designed to protect the boot process. Affected systems, primarily the Enterprise and IoT editions of Windows 11 version 23H2, simply cannot handle the command to enter the expected low-power state. For now, SysAdmins must explain to their end-users that the only acceptable way to turn off their thousand-dollar machine is to open the Command Prompt and run the cryptic sequence: shutdown /s /t 0. This is the new normal, managing devices with administrative fiat instead of a graphical user interface button.

The Quarterly Report on Replacing Developers (Still Not Happening)

The recurring dream of replacing developers has circled back to the modern era, a familiar corporate fantasy that predates the internet itself. It seems every new technology, from COBOL to CASE tools, and now the various AI assistants, arrives with the promise that executives can finally bypass the expensive, difficult humans who know how the systems actually work.

History suggests the pattern simply shifts the problem, rather than eliminating it entirely. Cloud computing, for example, did not eliminate system administrators; it merely rebranded them as DevOps Engineers and gave them a 40 percent raise. The current wave of generative tools does not eliminate the need for an engineer’s judgment, it just requires one to be present to evaluate whether the AI’s enthusiastically produced code is secure, correct, and not hallucinating the production database. The complexity never goes away; it just acquires a new layer of abstraction to manage.

Apple’s Design Evolution is Proof That Design School Is a Waste

A collective design critique has emerged suggesting that if you take the last decade of Apple application icons and arrange them in reverse chronological order, the resulting sequence looks exactly like the portfolio of a designer who is actually getting better at their job.

The observation highlights the march toward corporate simplification, stripping away the skeumorphic charm and detail that once defined Apple’s software. The company is, for instance, effectively trading in rich, textured iconographies for flatter, more abstract representations that are, charitably, less offensive to a wide range of corporate marketing departments. The consensus is that the new style takes less skill and less personality; it is the visual equivalent of a beige office cubicle, technically perfect, but soul-crushingly boring.

Briefs

• Solar is Fine: US electricity demand surged in 2025, and solar handled 61 percent of the increase. Infrastructure improvements are boring when they just work, but the budget line item for power is apparently safe for another quarter.
• Startup Therapy: An entrepreneur noted that the process of raising money seriously damaged his mental health. The only thing worse than not having VC money is having VC money.
• High-Speed Data Marriage: ClickHouse, the analytical database company, acquired Langfuse, a platform for observing LLM applications. M&A activity is the corporate version of an arranged marriage, promising synergy and delivering a mandatory all-hands meeting.