As someone who is coming to increasingly believe that 99% of the world problems are caused by powers seeking to intentionally divide us one from the other, I cannot tell you how much joy this brings me to see. I wish you great success in this effort, however small it might appear to be in the scheme of things.

Pro tip: Send it to Nintendo with a picture of Mario to receive a Cease and Desist letter in exchange.

> A official-looking legal letter [...] Surprise someone

Having received actual legal letters before, my personal experience is that I would much rather receive normal looking holiday cards to encourage me in continuing whatever I was doing, rather than being surprised by official-looking letters.

It might be different if this service offered help in other ways, but currently it seems like a practical joke of dubious taste.

On a few occasions I’ve called the phone number on a professional vehicle’s “how’s my driving?” bumper sticker to report the driver for good driving. It’s always a fun experience.

This reminds me of how my father (a lawyer) sent fake subpoenas to invite people to his brother's bachelor party. Most found it hilarious but it freaked a few people out. I suspect that this would have the same problem.

As a business owner, I can tell you certain letters have a look to them before opened and can trigger anxiety and “heart skip a beat.” A letter looking like its from a law firm is going to trigger concern and even calling an attorney. Not fun to then have the rug pulled out. Reminds me of the terrible pranksters who worry people and then say “it’s just a prank.”

It's a clever concept, but I'm leery of having someone send a letter on my behalf to someone.

You all haven't trademarked the idea, have you? I think I'll just write a few of these up myself and send them out.

One often overlooked aspect of owning a trademark : once you have it, you have to defend it. Not a surprise David Chang's lawyers are trying to enforce it. They have to

Cool idea! It sounds like you're offering it for free, with the option for a donation. How are you going to deal with the influx of what I imagine will be hundreds of free requests? Won't that get pretty expensive fast?

I tried to donate the $3 but Ko-Fi won't let you donate less than $5. I'm trying to donate the $5 but the blue Pay Now button does literally nothing. Will try again later :) Please continue.

Something similar that I once created was https://spread-the.love which is a service that sends a random person somewhere on the planet a positive SMS.

Of course the SMS is discontinued because of costs but the idea still exists.

I think something like Keep and Persist would roll off the tongue better, though it is not perfect English. I can't think of another verb that would still rhyme and fit better. Overall well meant idea, but I echo others sentiment that this could really freak some people out. I'm trying to decide whether I'm in that group or not. Probably yeah.

It would be nice to have a pdf copy of the letter downloadable for those who are outside of the USA.

"A happy person tells one; an unhappy person tells nine."

Little efforts like this help even things out

You make my day! instantly brought to mind the many people I care about. It's one of the simplest yet most meaningful, and impactful ways to express respect, appreciation, influence, and encouragement to those closest to us.

Love the idea!

But! I don't love the idea of sending PII for friends and family to an unknown source in order to facilitate this.

You can ask your friendly neighborhood LLM for a template and go to town!

"I'd like to create a positive spin on "Cease & Desist" letters for the holidays that I could send to friends. Let's call them a "Continue & Persist" letter.

How can I make something cute and uplifting that I could send to friends for the holidays. I guess I need some personalization options like name, and one thing I'd like them to continue doing (optional).

Can you help me create an official looking, but fun form letter that I can fill in the send to people? Thank you!"

---

[Your Name or Family Name]

Department of Holiday Joy & Encouragement

[Your Address or City, if desired]

[Date]

OFFICIAL NOTICE

Re: Continue & Persist Order

Dear [Recipient's Name],

In the spirit of the holidays and in recognition of your outstanding contributions to the world, the Department of Holiday Joy & Encouragement has issued this Continue & Persist order for you.

This order officially requires you to continue being your amazing self and persist in spreading joy and kindness throughout the year. Please note the following specifics of your order:

1. You must continue to [something wonderful they do, e.g., make everyone laugh, inspire others, or bake the best cookies]. Your efforts in this area have been truly exceptional and have brought countless smiles.

2. Under no circumstances are you to cease being the incredible [friend/parent/artist/etc.] that you are.

3. This order is valid indefinitely and cannot be revoked (even if you try to protest with modesty).

Failure to comply with this order will result in an overflow of love, gratitude, and probably more letters like this one.

We at the Department of Holiday Joy & Encouragement commend your contributions to making life brighter and sincerely hope you have the happiest of holidays.

Warm regards,

[Your Name or Family Name]

Director of Holiday Cheer

What a brilliant idea! It's a shame this is USA-only - would be nice to get that added to the HN title.

I can see why they would have this restriction, but there IS a payment option, so they could offer it with whatever feels is required. Still, all the best US cousins!

As a startup founder, my journey is super lonely.

There is seldom a flutter of thanks—-rarely does anyone come to me saying, “Splendid!”

Yet, the day continues, operated by a calendar.

The lack of thanks does not make me anxiouz, but I continue on my journey because I signed up—to create. Create something out of thin air, something out of my figment of imagination.

But there are moments where I am vulnerable, alone. In those moments, I look for a post-it where it says, “Continue and Persist.”

Thanks for creating this. I’ll wait for this. Maybe someone, someday.

If I have a friend doing... stuff, he/she already has my support and they kinda know it, you know. This is superficial, 7 yrs old kid's approach. Plus, as others mentioned already - it's none of your business to meddle around with their or mine contact data. No, thanks. Real communication with real people for me.

@adnanaga the e-mail you specified for contact on the site does not work: continue@boondoggle.io gmails says it is miss-configured.

I was wondering for EU, could I get the document template.

This is brilliant. This is one of the best things I’ve seen all year.

My father was diagnosed with liver cancer about a month ago, and I have had a rough time of it since. I needed this positivity in my life.

Thank you for reminding me of the good in the world; sometimes we all need a dose of that.

If I can buy you guys beers, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d love to help build some future boondoggles. :)

Email is in my profile. (The irony of my domain being owlpost.lol is not lost on me haha)

https://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2007/03/second-lifes-resp...

Our legal dept (person) did this in 2007 and it made me so happy.

Make sure and watch the video -- excellent satire on the "local ambulance chaser ad". These guys are having a lot of fun.

if it's free, you're the product, better yet, you're giving away your friends and families adresses for free. I like the idea though^^ might send a few on my own

Love the idea, it's similar to the formal letters of http://www.bureauofcommunication.com/

Regarding data privacy, but from a different angle, here you are not getting the consent from the actual person receiving the letter, you are getting the consent from someone else, does that allow you to use their information when the consent is not coming from the affected party?

I think the rules are you have to put a Show HN: in the title when you self post

I have to say I'd be absolutely delighted to receive a letter like this. Not just the indicator that I'm doing something right (already huge for me, given the degree to which I struggle with people pleasing), but also the humor and extra care/time involved. Feels like it would strike enough of the right nerves to be quite moving even. Definitely agreeing with others that we could use more of this in the world (well, I could definitely use more of it, at least.)

Two words: Climate Change

The video is a gem ! Love what you're doing ! Can I send you a Continue and Persist Letter?

Long long ago i and friends would smoke a ton of weed and write letters that we never send. They went something like...

Dear sir, you must feel privilaged to receave a letter from someone as important and distingushed as me. It was well earned and deserved i assure you (which is the best kind of assurance) It of course pains me greatly to see my greatness overshadowed but there is joy in being reduced to an observer in awe.....

Ill let myself out

Very funny, completely American, mostly unrelatable for the rest of the world. Please continue and persist.

Can I opt out of receiving letters from this service please?

Where's the usual hardcore libertarian complaining about the "All This For Free!" nomenclature?

Thank you for creating this wholesome, weird thing!

@continueandpersist.org please continue and persist :)

This is amazing! The promo video is very funny! CONGRATS!!

This is just marvellous. Well done

Cool that they have an office in the capital of the north east corner of the GTA.

Hypothetically, if I had to violate someone's personal privacy like this, I think I'd be leaning toward doing it for someone I don't like. And even then, I would never.

Achtung! Halten! Verboten!

The negation of ‘cease and desist’ is ‘continue or persist’.

Really great idea, but why free? At least take like $5 or something.

stripe integration on ko-fi seems broken.

i sent an email to ko-fi thru 2 different channels, with loom, cc'd boondoggle...

hope everyone comes back to donate once it gets fixed.

This will freak some people out ;)

This is an excellent idea!

Illegitimi non carborundum.

Smells like a way to collect addresses to me.

I love this so much.

ThePersistence

In 2024, Chang's company, Momofuku, drew criticism after sending cease and desist notices over the use of their trademark "chili crunch."[65] In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Momofuku argued that the trademark was not intended to stifle any competition surrounding the sauces, stating that "When we created our product, we wanted a name we could own and intentionally picked 'Chili Crunch' to further differentiate it from the broader chili crisp category."[66]

On April 12, 2024, Chang issued a public apology regarding the issue on his podcast, The Dave Chang Show, stating that Momofuku had not intended to upset with their legal actions, and noted that Momofuku would no longer attempt to enforce the trademark.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Chang

Oh, wow.

I mean, I love the sentiment. It's a cute idea.

But something that on first look looks ike another legalese quagmire on my desk would raise my blood pressure way beyond what my doctor tells me is healthy. By the time I realised this was meant as an encouragement, the damage would already have been done.

Maybe show appreciation in something that masquerades less as yet another fire to put out.

get agitated and change something

This would freak me out but I like the concept

Umm, proceed and persist sounds better imo.

@adnanaga looking at you as a future AJ. And @chan you as the DOPE(Department of pentagon efficiency). I mean the "bar" is too low now. All you need to do is Pass the bar. Pun intended. Love it guys.I just posted a continue and persist letter to you guys. You guys made me smile and laugh. So Thank You on this Thanksgiving day

fight milk!

[dead]

Damn that's so wholesome. Thank you