At the recent XOXO conference, I spoke about that burning feeling I get right in my upper abdomen when I’m overwhelmed with excitement or inspiration or drive to do something.
I mentioned that I’ve been feeling this a lot over the last few years, even as I too am witnessing what many of us think about as “the web” rotting right in front of our eyes. Working outside of that rot pile, and perhaps motivated by it, there are so many people who are excited about the potential for a better web.
XOXOians have incredibly powerful sticker game
![A wooden table covered in stickers, a hat, and other various handouts. From top left to bottom right: Microformats sticker. National Writers Union zine on generative AI policy platform. Zine titled “Why the boss won’t listen and what you can do about it” from hear me out. Card reading “Never frame a Smallbü pudding on Wikipedia @ XOXO 2024 (and Tom Lum was there too)”, from the XOXO Sideshow. Octothorpe card. Mintlodica sticker of a curled up kitty, in a blue-light pink gradient. Sticker from @featherdragonart with a dragon doing two thumbs up, with the text “FDA approved”. Cardboard notebook holder with other various art supplies inside from Outpost Publishing Collective. Tiny holographic sticker of a cube that says “hear me out”. Small frog on a skateboard sticker. Anti NFT Aktion sticker, with two overlapping black and red mice that are right-clicking. A black and white shiba sticker. A large sticker that says “Social justice warrior feminzai thundercunt” in handlettering. 404 Media sticker. Tiny pin that says “I like your game” in pink and green text, with “I like you” in pink and the rest in green. Business card that says “I ran into Tom Lum at [handwritten:] XOXO ‘24 and all I got was this joke business card”. Surreal illustration of a bearded man with two sets of eyes and an offset mouth. A green sticker that says “eat your veggies”. A Charlie Jane Anders sticker for the book I can read the ransom notes left by my own heart. Molly White’s XOXO badge. Mozilla Firefox sticker. Tiny pin that says “TOOT!”. Yellow warning diamond sticker that says “operationalized shitposting”. Sheet of green DoNotReply.cards stickers that say things like “Do post about how view source changed everything” and “Do post your support of independent artists and creators”. Sheet of stickers featuring various cats as nigiri. IndieWebCamp sticker. Sticker that says “No *you’re* intimidating.” Sticker that says “Really just like this” with a smiling daisy. Button pin for the National Writers Union. Web3 is Going Just Great sticker with the logo of a monkey and a flaming earth. [citation needed] sticker. Black rectangular sticker that says “hire curious people and cultivate trust” with the hear me out logo. Diamond sticker with an illustrated bear with glasses, that says “Serious bear country”. Printed square paper that says “POV: You just asked your boss for a raise” and has an illustration of a laughing man with a moustache going “hyuck hyuck hyuck”. Another IndieWebCamp sticker. Holographic sticker of a fist with “RAGE” tattooed on the knuckles. Sticker of a frog with a crown. Sticker of a frog surrounded by strawberries, with a strawberry on its head. 404 Media hat.](https://storage.mollywhite.net/micro/48cf7f02a2fdfced374d_stickers.jpg)
So much fun meeting so many people I’ve admired on the internet for years and years at XOXO, and so many more new people worth admiring!
If you’re here too, come say hi. I have stickers!
![Two stickers. One is the logo of Web3 is Going Just Great (a sad Bored Ape in front of a flaming earth), with pixelized text reading Web3isGoingJustGreat.com. The other is a [citation needed] sticker, styled like it is on Wikipedia.](https://storage.mollywhite.net/micro/609489acfb841f17674a_stickers.jpg)
US prosecutors not mincing words in their reply to Ryan Salame’s filing, which they describe as a “shameless and self-serving attempt to renege on his guilty plea in the aftermath of his sentencing.”
They claim that the only representations made to Salame involved conclusions of investigations into his conduct, and they say that in a later meeting they explicitly told Salame’s lawyers that a guilty plea by Salame would not halt any investigations or prosecutions of his partner, Michelle Bond.
Convicted FTX executive Ryan Salame has filed a document in his case alleging that the US government has reneged on their (verbal) promise not to pursue campaign finance charges against his partner, Michelle Bond.
Bond was previously under investigation for campaign finance issues pertaining to her 2022 Congressional campaign in New York’s District 1.
Public Citizen just released a must-read report on the cryptocurrency industry’s spending this election cycle.
Nearly half of all corporate money contributed this cycle has come from cryptocurrency backers!
archive spelunking find
“your computer would run faster if it were painted red”
This was one of the best podcast episodes I’ve listened to in a long time. Put it on if you’re feeling despair about the state of the internet and tech industry.
the dataviz in this Paradigm (crypto VC) poll about crypto voters is really something
thanks, ChatGPT
![Assistant: Certainly! Here’s a smoother transition to tie your points together: [TODO: smooth transition]](https://storage.mollywhite.net/micro/f531113b1f348c386c7a_Screenshot-2024-08-15-at-5.33.11---PM.png)
