justin․searls․co

Ever hear of Eternal September? It's about how frustrated Bluesky users are by the mass migration of bad-faith trolls from X and sanctimonious scolds from Mastodon.

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2020s parody of Tales from the Crypt but it's called Tales From The Crypto with a vtuber waifu as Elvira and the stories are all about finance bros getting rolled send tweet

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Every time a new model hits, I ask it to write a Searls of Wisdom newsletter based on writing samples and an outline.

Every model has been SO bad at emulating my writing that it makes me literally angry. Just here to report that OpenAI's o3-mini-high is no different. D-

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Ultra Narrow View

Vertical monitors for folks working on documents have been a thing for decades — now that Apple Vision Pro supports an 8K-ish ultra wide screen orientation for Mac Virtual Display, I'd love to see custom aspect ratios that allow you to create only as big of a Mac window as you need.

Why Sam Altman is the wrong man for the job

This is the first of what I hope will become a habit of long-form video excerpts from the podcast. This one comes from a section in v30 about DeepSeek and the ramifications it may have for OpenAI and the extent to which it condemns Sam Altman's ideology on how to run a startup.

What this patch has to do with me

This is a copy of the Searls of Wisdom newsletter delivered to subscribers on February 9, 2025.

It's taken me a while to figure out what to write for you that would tie a bow around January 2025. My take on the cultural and political realignment we seem to be experiencing? A deep dive into the video workflows I've been developing as an outgrowth of my Breaking Change podcast? Reflections on the distinct misery of feeling like one's life has regressed in some way, and the counter-productive ways American men react to the sensation of going backwards?

None of those felt quite right.

So I sat on the newsletter and waited for inspiration to strike. Then, out of nowhere, an unextraordinary patch for a developer tool I don't use got merged and—through a convoluted series of coincidences—will likely stand as one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.

I'll explain what I mean by that, but first, here's a picture of my brother and me at brunch in a boat-themed restaurant literally named Boathouse and seated at a table built into an actual fucking boat:

I'm on a boat

What this patch has to do with me

If you're not a programmer, fear not: I don't intend to get too lost in the technical weeds here. That said, some amount of exposition is necessary to convey why the aforementioned pull request matters.

Turns out, there's more to it…

20%? Sign me up!

Why freak out about tariffs and the economy when random signs on the side of the highways in Florida are able to offer such amazing investment returns?

Imagine the entrepreneur who started a UPS franchise 15 years ago with earnest hopes of connecting with the local community by offering services like private mailboxes and consultative shipping options.

Now imagine that person's life as a subcontractor of a subcontractor of Fulfillment by Amazon bound by an ironclad franchising agreement.

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The Baby Store

Why I didn't have kids, despite the fact a lot of men seem weirdly OK with pretending they have zero regrets.

This clip is from v30 of Breaking Change.

I appreciate the tinfoil hat set, but what's with all these RFID-blocking wallets? Car's fob won't unlock the doors because my wallet is close enough to block it.

Where can I get an RFID-boosting wallet?

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TIL (the hard way) that in Florida, joint vehicle titles with "AND" between the names require both parties for every significant transaction. "OR" titles are also available and allow either party to be a self-actualized adult.

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Breaking Change artwork

v30 - Mall of the Gulf of America

Breaking Change

If you're here for the spicy, good news: you're gettin' it spicy.

I am usually joking, but I mean it this time: I'm going to stop doing this podcast if you don't write in to podcast@searls.co. Give me proof of life, that's all I need. I won't even read it on air if you don't want!

If you're not bored yet, click the links:

🌶️

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