justin․searls․co

After 15 years of sugar-coating it, I'm upgrading from kid gloves to… regular gloves, I guess?

The truth is and has always been:

  1. That the best way to get better at programming computers is to spend time programming computers
  2. That a lot of people don't do this, but expect the same salaries as those that do
  3. That one highly-competent developer can often run laps around entire software teams at the typical company

I'm done pretending this isn't true.

The Wrong Programmers

I'm as big a fan of searching for environmental and systemic explanations when expectations are missed, but that doesn't mean that sometimes the blame lies with the skill of the people doing the job. Decided I'm going to stop pretending as if that's never the case.

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.

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

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-

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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:

Show those show notes…