The Control Panel still exists in Windows 11. | Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge
Microsoft first started trying to get rid of the Control Panel in 2012, with the launch of Windows 8. More than a decade later, it's still working on migrating all the old Control Panel items into the modern Settings app in Windows 11. While there have been hints that the Control Panel might finally go away, the reality is a lot more complicated for Microsoft.
"We're doing it carefully because there are a lot of different network and printer devices & drivers we need to make sure we don't break in the process," explains March Rogers, partner director of design at Microsoft. I could be wrong, but I think this is the first full explanation we …
Microsoft is making a change to the way file deletions are handled by OneDrive, and it is one that users really need to be aware of. The company says that files which are deleted from the cloud storage services will no longer be moved to the Recycle Bin in Windows or Trash in macOS. On the face of things, this seems like something of a strange move, and there is certainly an extent to which this is the case. What is important, however, is to be aware of the change because it means users need to adopt a different approach… [Continue Reading]
There are a variety of ways to run your SQL Server databases and instance on Azure. In this video we explore the differences between Azure SQL, SQL Server Managed Instance, and running SQL Server in a VM that you manage yourself.
Your tool set isn't just a collection of utilities — it's the environment you live in every day, and it's shaping you whether you realize it or not. In today's episode, I explore two principles that senior engineers consistently apply to their workflows, regardless of which specific tools they're using. As our industry goes through one of the most rapid periods of change in the last 20 years, the engineers who thrive won't be the ones chasing every new tool — they'll be the ones who obsess over reducing friction in the work they do most often.
Honor the Grief: Many engineers are experiencing a real sense of loss as the deep cultural connections to languages, communities, and hand-written code begin to shift. Recognizing and processing that grief — rather than letting it turn into reflexive rejection of new tools — is essential to thinking clearly about what comes next.
"We Shape Our Tools, Then Our Tools Shape Us": Your tools aren't neutral. A bad monitor height, a faulty keycap, or a clunky deployment process all shape you back — draining focus, breaking flow, and compounding over time. The most senior engineers treat this relationship as a first-class concern.
Principle 1 — Tools Are Your Environment: There's a spectrum from "tool" to "environment," and most of what you work with sits somewhere in between. Your terminal, your desk, your claude.md file — all of these are environment. Sharpening your tools means shaping your environment, and shaping your environment is sharpening your tools.
Friction Is the Lever: You don't need a dramatic overhaul to change your behavior. Tiny reductions in friction — a two-letter alias, a key binding to run tests, setting your shoes out the night before — have an outsized effect on how often you actually do the things you want to do. James Clear's Atomic Habits framework applies directly to engineering workflows.
Principle 2 — First Order Thinking: Borrowed from Adam Savage's concept of "first order retrievability," the idea is simple: identify what you do most often and invest in making that better. Not faster, not just automated — better. If you do something a hundred times a day, even a small improvement compounds dramatically.
Invest in the Fundamentals: Your standups, your one-on-ones, your specifications, your prompting skills — these are the repetitive, high-frequency activities where your biggest growth opportunities live. Stop assuming you've "arrived" on the basics just because nobody is giving you negative feedback.
Episode Homework: Look around your workspace right now — physical and digital. Identify one thing you do repeatedly where friction is slowing you down or discouraging follow-through, and make one small change to reduce that friction today.
No matter what you're building, SerpApi is the web search API for your needs. If you're building an application that needs real-time search data—whether that's an AI agent, an SEO tool, or a price tracker—SerpApi handles it for you. ● Make an API call and get back clean JSON. ● They handle the proxies, CAPTCHAs, parsing, and all the scraping so you don't have to. ● They support dozens of search engines and platforms, and are trusted by companies like NVIDIA, Adobe, and Shopify. ● If you're building with AI, they even have an official MCP to make getting up and running a simple task. Get started with a free tier to build and test your application before you commit. Go to serpapi.com.
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In The Secret Life of Data, authors Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert explore how the information we generate every day—email addresses, phone numbers, browsing habits, even biometric data—circulates through vast digital systems that shape our lives in ways we rarely see. Their book examines the hidden infrastructures of data collection, surveillance, and algorithmic decision-making, revealing how these systems influence culture, power, and identity in a networked world. Internet governance scholar Laura DeNardis speaks with Sinnreich and Gilbert.
AI Agents can be powerful tools for an organization - but are they a security risk? Richard talks to Niall Merrigan about his experiences dealing with the various ways that LLMs can be attacked, starting with prompt injection. While some attacks are humorous, others can be very serious, especially in the context of agents, where the right prompt can cause an agent to use its capabilities to access or affect data outside its expected behavior. This has already led to several well-publicized CVEs, including the ServiceNow Privilege Escalation advisory. New tools have emerged to help restrict prompts and keep agents on task - but as with all things security, this is another set of tools you need to get familiar with!
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