Winding Down for the Holidays

Today is my last full day of work before taking a short break for the holidays. I expect I’ll still be checking in on some things next week, but the majority of big projects should be taken care of.

Sophia is under the weather again — this time it’s been a bit more intense. Sleep has been difficult for all of us this week. However, it’s probably a good thing to get this out of the way before the Christmas festivities begin. I’m really looking forward to getting fully into the spirit of things.

The end of the year is always a time for looking back and reflecting on how things have gone. Many of my favourite podcasts are producing shows of this kind right now — I enjoyed last week’s Vergecast — and mine are no different. We just published our annual Annies episode of Connected yesterday, where we talk about what happened in each month of the year and grade it using proprietary scale technology.

I’ve also been spending some time on my Yearly Theme for 2026. I feel like I’ve got it set now, and while we’re not going to be publishing a traditional Themes episode of Cortex this year, I will share what my Theme is. I’m just working out the way I want to do it.

Another thing that happens towards the end of each year is the giving of awards. Each year on Upgrade we host the annual Upgradies, where we honour developers, content creators, and more. While Jason and I decide the winners, we always want to hear what our listeners are enjoying too, so we have an open nominations form. Please take a look and submit some of your own!

Before I wrap up today, I have a couple of videos for you:

• F1 have published a video detailing more about how the 2026 cars are expected to perform based on regulation changes. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this unfolds next year, and learning all the new terms and strategies that may be on display. I can’t believe the season has only been over for a couple of weeks and I’m already wishing for the next to begin.
• This morning I watched a video Hank Green made about AI water use. It was really interesting to learn more about how this actually works, where the water comes from, and how it affects different places in different ways. It’s definitely helped me understand things a little more. The ending of this video is the best moment for me — it’s a bit of a shocker.

I hope you have a really great week ahead. I’m getting ready now to record the Upgrade Holiday Special, which is always an episode I enjoy.

Merry Christmas!