I didn’t expect an article this long to reach millions in today’s 3-second attention span economy. I’ve read every single quote and comment. To be honest, I’m overwhelmed. I’ve never felt this much warmth on this platform. And I’m just deeply, sincerely grateful. Thank you, truly. I’m not much different from anyone else who just entered this space. The only real difference is that I’ve bled more. I’ve lost more. As a Christian, my faith gave me this habit of constant reflection, and forced me to look in the mirror and face the rot inside me. It gave me a way out when I was drowning, and eventually, that became my redemption. Crypto was meant to be about anarchy. It was meant to be the middle finger to the gatekeepers in suits who think they’re better than us. That spirit feels dead lately, but I still believe in it. I have to. This space changed my life, and I’ll keep building here until the wheels fall off. But I’m not going to pretend I had some perfect journey. In my early years, I got absolutely fucked by Ponzis. I couldn't control my greed and lost most of my early Bitcoin (thank you, MMM). I was just a naive kid. Every time I think about this part, I want to apologize to my mom. She had zero clue what I was actually doing. I was literally sneaking out every other night to act as a middleman in Vancouver’s nightlife. I was sourcing and flipping Moutai, whiskey, and expensive cigarettes to rich Chinese university students. I was the one brokering the VIP tables and getting people through the door. Honestly, I was just really good at getting rich kids to come to parties. I know people look down on that kind of "job." It isn't something people proudly say like "I worked at Google." But I’m proud of it. I was literally making an entry-level Google salary as a teenager just by being a better hustler than the adults. Without that hustle, I wouldn't have anything I have today. That revenue stream was the only reason I could keep buying back into Bitcoin. I was sitting on a level of wealth I had to hide from my parents for years. No parent in their right mind would let an underage kid handle that amount of wealth. I’ve never known what it’s like to get rich quick overnight. For me, it was always a long, grueling season. The closest I ever came to “getting rich overnight” was thanks to Cryptokitties. Watching my kitties flip every day for weeks while ETH was mooning... that was the first time I actually felt like I’d made it. But the scariest thing is when God gives you a "trial card" to see a world you aren’t ready for, only to snatch it back and throw you to the bottom. In late 2018, when prices had dumped to a devastating low (again...), I had to go right back to the middleman business to get more bullets. But that time, I was different. My faith had shifted my perspective. I wasn't just chasing a high anymore. I knew, with everything in me, that crypto was the destiny I was meant to build. If you're at your lowest right now, don't let the ego stop you. I've been in those dark times too. Nothing is "too tacky" when you are grinding to fund your vision. Whether you're hauling inventory, flipping goods, or doing the gritty backend work no one else wants to touch - do what you need to do. Tell those who try to shame you to fuck off. Because when you finally make it one day, they will all come back to you acting like they were your biggest fans from the start. The people judging you from the sidelines aren't the ones who are going to change your life. You are. Keep building. I'm right here with you.

Tragic accident: Woman falls into open manhole in Midtown Manhattan: A 56-year-old woman tragically lost her life Monday night after stepping out of her parked Mercedes-Benz SUV and falling into an uncovered manhole at West 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue. She fell about 10 feet and was rushed to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Con Edison is investigating how the manhole was left open. My deepest condolences go out to her family and loved ones. This is a heartbreaking reminder to stay alert on city streets, especially at night. (Video: AI)

A journalist spent $11,000 on a forgotten island nobody wanted. Everyone thought he was insane. Brendon Grimshaw walked away from a newsroom career in Yorkshire, signed the papers four minutes before midnight on the last night of his Seychelles holiday, and inherited a dead patch of land called Moyenne. The place was a wasteland. Coconuts so tangled they couldn't even fall to the ground. No wildlife worth mentioning. Just silence. So he got to work. Alongside his friend René Lafortune, Brendon spent the next 39 years planting trees one by one. By hand. No machines. No crew. Just two men and a vision. 16,000 trees later, Moyenne looked nothing like the barren rock he'd bought. Then came the animals. He reintroduced more than 120 giant Aldabra tortoises, a species teetering on extinction. Around 2,000 new birds found their way back to the island. Today, two-thirds of all the fauna in the Seychelles call Moyenne home. Word got out. Tourism exploded across the region in the 80s, and developers came knocking. A Saudi prince reportedly slid $50 million across the table for the island. Brendon said no. "I don't want the island to become a favorite vacation spot for the rich," he said. "Better let it be a national park that everyone can enjoy." In 2008, that's exactly what happened. Moyenne became the smallest national park on Earth. Lafortune died in 2007. Brendon stayed on the island until his own death in 2012. He's buried there, next to his father, surrounded by every tree he ever planted. He took a dead island and gave it back to the world. Source: BBC / Silverback Digest / Story Seychelles

Google just turned Android into an AI delivery vehicle at its #TheAndroidShow# event. New Gemini-native laptops. The phone OS is becoming a system-wide intelligence layer. The cursor is now an agent. It was a big day of releases, and I/O isn't even here yet. The most notable drops: 1. Googlebooks — a new laptop line built from the ground up for Gemini Intelligence. Hardware partners: Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo. Runs Android phone apps. Supports custom widgets. Ships with "Magic Pointer," a Gemini-built cursor. Launching in the fall. 2. Gemini Intelligence — a system-wide AI layer for Android devices that automates tasks across apps. Demos: snap a photo of a hotel brochure -> Expedia booking. Speak a grocery list -> shopping cart built. Coming to Galaxy + Pixel this summer, and Wear OS, Android Auto, glasses, and Googlebooks by year-end. 3. Other features and tools — Create My Widget: vibe-code your own widgets in natural language. — Rambler: Gboard dictation that strips filler words and switches languages mid-sentence. — Gemini in Chrome on Android: experimental auto-browse for tasks like booking tickets. — Autofill with Gemini: opt-in form-fill across apps. — Instagram features (Ultra HDR, native stabilization, night mode) come to Android via a Meta partnership. Mindy Brooks, Google VP of Product Management, framed it like this: "Android transitions from an operating system into an intelligence system."

House leadership just tried to rush through a major expansion of unconstitutional government surveillance. FISA Section 702 is the authority that lets the government collect massive amounts of communications – and then search that data for Americans’ emails, calls, and text messages without a warrant. It was set to expire on April 20, and for weeks, leadership had been pushing for a “clean” extension of this program – keeping it in place for 18 more months with no reforms. At the same time, they were negotiating with members of Congress who were demanding a warrant requirement and other protections for Americans. Then late Thursday night, leadership suddenly changed course. Just before 11 p.m., House leadership dropped new legislation to reauthorize FISA 702 for five years. They claimed it included a warrant requirement, but that wasn’t true: Their phony “warrant requirement” would have done nothing to stop unconstitutional warrantless searches of Americans’ communications. Then, without giving members time to read or understand the new language, leadership tried to rush it through in the middle of the night – teeing up a vote around 1 a.m. to swap it in and push it toward passage before the public could catch on. Thankfully, the vote failed. They then tried to fall back to their “clean” 18-month extension. That failed, too. But both votes were close – close enough that a small shift could have changed the outcome. In votes like that, outside pressure matters. Over the past few days, so many of you spoke up – calling your representatives and making clear that warrantless surveillance of Americans is unlawful and unacceptable. Thank you. That kind of pressure makes all the difference. But the fight isn’t over. After those votes failed, Congress passed a short-term extension to buy more time to negotiate, pushing the program through April 30. That gives leadership another chance to try again – and a short window to keep up the momentum. What happened in the wee hours was a shameful attempt to mislead the public with fake reform and trade it for five more years of surveillance powers, rushed through at a time when most people weren’t paying attention. It didn’t succeed – but it came close, and it’s a reminder that this kind of attention matters. They’re going to try again, and keeping engaged is how we give ourselves – and allies in Congress – the best chance to force real reforms. Thanks to all of you at home. We’ll keep you informed as this fight continues.