2026-01-28 Wednesday - RESOLVED - Possible Corrupted Download - Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool 64-bit

I first noticed this issue on 2026-01-07, Wednesday. 

My original LinkedIn post, alerting Microsoft to the issue: 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7414853161020055552-HGbj

Note:

• Expected: 
• Version: 5.138
•  Filename: Windows-KB890830-x64-V5.138.exe
• Actual: 
•  Version: 5.137 (?)
• Filename: Windows-KB890830-x64-V5.137.exe.exe

I reported this to Microsoft on or about 2026-01-16, Friday.

Today (2026-01-28, Wednesday) - the problem still had not been corrected. 

So, I escalated (yet again) 

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=9905  

 This is complete asshatery. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2026-01-28 13:30 Wedneday UPDATE: 

 As of approximately 13:30 (Central Time) 

After I escalated (yet again) - it has now been resolved. 

[Thank You to Jason Geffner (Principal Security Engineer, Senior Director, Microsoft) for his assistance in getting this communicated to the proper team]

Folks who may have assisted? 

Simon Christiansen, Principal Software Development Engineer, Defender for Endpoint at Microsoft

2026-01-22 Thursday - The Sounding Stones of Interviewing

 

[image credit: Cao135 on pixabay.com]

During the hypergrowth phase of AT&T Solutions Systems Integration Division, I found one question to be the most useful.

(these were face-to-face interviews, with candidates that had senior level IT expertise and experience, in our HQs in Chantilly Virginia)

"Go to the whiteboard and draw a systems integration diagram, showing as much detail as you can - for the domain of [x]" (with [x] being a domain reflected in their resume experience).

These candidates were being evaluated for customer-facing consulting leadership roles. Their ability to think on their feet, ask questions, and the depth of their knowledge - all were critical to the positions being staffed.

There was no trick question.
No right answer.

It was a conversation.
A dialogue.

They were free to ask questions, and probe/challenge the request - to explore the boundary space.

Out of hundreds of candidates interviewed - a number were hired.
Only two impressed - with depth, breadth, detail, and comprehensive insights.

When interviewing such candidates - the interviewer acts as a sounding stone [1] - discerning the resonance between fact and fiction - for the tone that does not ring true.

The experience and intuition of the interviewer, the expertise & confidence of the candidate - and their ability to persuade and influence - dynamic in the moment of the human-to-human communications flow.

No AI can assess that. 

 

Footnotes: 

1. The Resonating Sound of Stone 

2026-01-16 Friday - TOGAF is a Bloated Toxic Relic of the Past

 

[image credit: Goodfreephotos_com on pixabay.com]

You may know that I am deeply skeptical of the output quality claims of LLM/GenAI assisted code generation practices - more so, the risks of it being unable to maintain such generated code. And, I am absolutely against the vibe coding trend (in which the user does not examine the code, and lacks the skills to debug it) - as I deem that to be irresponsible.

But, it is undeniable that those trends will only accelerate the amount of solutions/code being produced.

The world has changed since 2022-2023.
Enterprise Architecture must adapt, or die.

The business needs/expectations/requirements for agility and increased velocity - are not going to continue to countenance time-consuming and lengthy EA governance processes.

TOGAF is a bloated toxic relic of the past - and is unsuitable for going forward. The entire edifice of any Enterprise Architecture team that promotes blind rote adoption of TOGAF should be torn down.

"Thank you for your attention to this matter." 🤣 

 

 

 [my companion post on LinkedIn]