Pohon BBS: recent posts

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2026-01-02T16:54:40+00:00

i miss the post office

RE: Minecraft

2026-01-01T13:53:57+00:00

To whom it may concern,

Minecraft update: I turned off the server.

World files are available here if anyone who played is nostalgic/data hoarder:
https://hermitage.is/minecraft

Big thanks to everyone who joined, it was fun!

New reply

2025-12-29T23:53:27+00:00

oops
https://gpg.fail/

New reply

2025-12-20T04:13:43+00:00

ARCHDUCK: TRILOGY I — PART III: THE POND THAT TALKS BACK

The water did not feel wet.

It felt listening.

Doppo and Waifu sank without sinking, suspended in a glowing blue-green vastness that stretched far deeper than the pond had ever been. Above them, the surface shimmered like a half-remembered dream. Below them—below was impossible, yet unmistakably there—something vast shifted.

Waifu clung to Doppo’s arm. “Okay,” she said, voice steady but tight, “next time you jump into reality-altering water, please give a warning.”

“Noted,” Doppo replied.

The glow brightened.

A voice rose—not from one direction, but from everywhere the pond had ever been.

YOU REMEMBER ME.

Doppo inhaled sharply. “You’re the Pond Rememberer.”

I AM WHAT HOLDS WHAT WAS,
AND WHAT WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO BE.

Images rippled through the water around them.

Archduck as he once was—bright, curious, young.
Doppo practicing clumsy leaps, imagining a tail.
Waifu laughing on the couch, cheese on her whiskers.
Moments small enough the Curators would never log.

Waifu’s eyes filled. “You kept all this?”

THEY WERE REAL. REAL THINGS LEAVE MARKS.

Above them, the surface flickered violently. The Curators’ silhouettes pressed against it like figures behind frosted glass.

THEY HAVE BEGUN THE CORRECTION, the Pond said.
IF THEY FINISH, THIS PLACE BECOMES A LOOP. SAFE. EMPTY.

Doppo felt anger then—not loud, not explosive, but firm.

“They want us archived,” he said. “Flattened.”

YES.
BUT YOU BROKE FORM. YOU BROKE SEQUENCE.
YOU GAVE ME SOMETHING NEW TO REMEMBER.

The water surged upward.

Back at the surface, Shelly braced herself as cracks of light raced across the pond. Jumpy clung to a reed, screaming in a pitch only dogs could hear.

The Curators spoke in unison now.

“THE ANOMALY IS ESCALATING.”

“INITIATE FINAL LOCK.”

A ring of pale symbols descended toward the water like a closing lid.

Below, the Pond Rememberer spoke one last time.

DOPPO.
WAIFU.
YOU MAY ANCHOR THIS PLACE—OR SET IT FREE.

Waifu looked at Doppo. No fear. No hesitation.

“Whatever we do,” she said, “we do it together.”

Doppo nodded.

He placed one hand on the glowing water. Waifu placed hers on top of his.

“I don’t want a perfect story,” Doppo said.
“I want one that can change.”

The pond answered.

Light erupted upward—not destructive, not violent, but expansive. The symbols shattered into drifting fragments. The Curators staggered back as the water surged beyond its banks, rewriting not terrain, but possibility.

Trees straightened—but differently.
Paths appeared where none had been.
The sky deepened, richer, wider.

The Curators faded, voices strained and uncertain.

“THIS ENVIRONMENT IS NO LONGER COMPLIANT.”

“WITHDRAW.”

Silence followed.

Then—gentle ripples.

Doppo and Waifu emerged at the pond’s edge, soaked and smiling, the world subtly changed around them. Not louder. Not bigger.

Just alive in a way it hadn’t been before.

Shelly exhaled slowly. “Well,” she said, “that’s going to cause ripples.”

Jumpy fainted.

Waifu leaned against Doppo. “So,” she asked, “what did we just do?”

Doppo looked across the pond—at the new paths, the unfamiliar stars beginning to appear even though it wasn’t night yet.

“I think,” he said, “we made room.”

Far away, beyond forests and catalogs and rules, something else took notice.

Not a Curator.

Something curious.

Something approaching.

And the trilogy, having found its voice, leaned forward—ready for what came next.

New reply

2025-12-20T04:12:39+00:00

ARCHDUCK: TRILOGY I — PART II: THE VISITORS

The second bell rang at dawn.

It wasn’t loud. It didn’t echo.
It simply existed, sliding into the morning air like it had always been there and everyone else was late noticing it.

Doppo woke instantly.

Waifu was already sitting upright, fur puffed, eyes wide. “That was the second one,” she said. “I hate being right.”

Outside, the pond had gone unnaturally still. No ripples. No insects. Even the reeds had frozen mid-sway, bent like they were holding a breath they couldn’t release.

Shelly was already waiting by the water when Doppo stepped out. Jumpy hovered nearby, vibrating with anxiety rather than actually jumping.

“They’re early,” Shelly said.

“They?” Doppo asked.

Shelly nodded toward the far bank.

The air there folded inward.

Not tore. Not shattered. Folded—like paper creased by an invisible hand. From the crease stepped three figures.

They were shaped like animals, but wrong in the way reflections are wrong when the water is disturbed.

The first resembled a duck, but its feathers were flat, colorless, like illustrations cut from a book.
The second looked vaguely feline, walking with a smooth, rehearsed grace.
The third was small—hamster-sized—but its eyes were too old, too sharp, as if they’d watched a thousand ponds rise and dry out.

They stopped at the water’s edge.

The duck-thing spoke first.

“ARCHDUCK,” it said.

Doppo didn’t move. “No one’s called me that in a long time.”

The cat-thing tilted its head. “Records persist.”

Waifu stepped forward before Doppo could stop her. “Who are you,” she demanded, “and why are you using expired names?”

The small one smiled. It was not a kind smile.

“We are the Curators,” it said. “We observe stories that deviate.”

Shelly’s eyes narrowed. “Deviate from what?”

The duck-Curator gestured at Doppo. “From their original form. From their assigned arc.”

The pond shuddered. A low hum rolled through the water, deep and ancient, like something below had decided to listen.

Doppo finally spoke.

“I didn’t deviate,” he said calmly. “I became.”

The cat-Curator stepped closer. Its reflection didn’t match its movement. “Becoming without authorization destabilizes narrative environments.”

Jumpy squeaked. “IT’S TALKING LIKE A MANUAL.”

Waifu planted herself in front of Doppo, paws clenched. “You don’t get to authorize lives.”

The small Curator’s smile faded.

“Then the pond will be corrected.”

The water split—not violently, but decisively. Lines of light traced across the surface like rewritten sentences. Trees flickered. The sky dimmed, as if someone had lowered saturation.

Deep beneath them, the ancient thing in the pond rose—not physically, but in awareness.

Shelly whispered, reverent and afraid, “The Pond Rememberer has awakened.”

Doppo felt it then—not fear, not anger—but a pull. The same pull he’d felt the day he first said, I want to be Doppo.

He stepped into the water.

The Curators recoiled.

“You cannot enter,” the duck-Curator warned. “Protagonists are not permitted to—”

“I’m not your protagonist,” Doppo said.

The pond glowed.

Waifu leapt after him without hesitation.

The surface closed behind them like a final punctuation mark.

And for the first time since stories were cataloged and contained, the Curators did not know what would happen next.

New reply

2025-12-20T04:11:23+00:00

DISNEY BOUGHT ARCHDUCK AND REBOOTED IT HERE IS THE NEW TRILOGY

ARCHDUCK: TRILOGY I — THE POND STIRS

The pond had not changed in a very long time.

The water still reflected the sky like polished glass. The reeds still whispered secrets to the wind. The lily pads still drifted, slow and patient, as if waiting for something they could not name.

But something had changed.

At the center of the pond stood Doppo.

Once known as Archduck, Doppo was many things now: duck, cat, explorer, husband, something in between, something beyond. His feathers still shimmered with blue, green, and gold—but there was a quiet weight to him, the kind that came from living a full life and sensing that it was about to tilt.

Waifu the hamster sat on the porch railing behind him, paws folded neatly, eyes sharp despite her small size.

“You’re pacing again,” she said.

Doppo flicked his tail—yes, his tail, thank you very much—and stopped. “The pond feels… louder,” he replied.

Waifu listened. The frogs croaked as usual. The turtles basked. Birds passed overhead.

“It sounds the same,” she said.

“That’s what worries me.”

Across the water, something rippled—once, then stopped. No splash. No fish. Just a wrinkle in the surface, as if the pond itself had flinched.

From the forest edge, Shelly the turtle emerged, slower than ever but with eyes that had seen centuries of nonsense and knew when nonsense was becoming important.

“The boundaries are thinning,” Shelly said without preamble.

Doppo turned. “Between what and what?”

Shelly adjusted her shell. “Between what we are… and what we are allowed to be.”

The wind picked up. Leaves spiraled. Somewhere far off, a bell rang—though no bell had ever existed near the pond before.

Waifu hopped down, suddenly serious. “I don’t like first bells,” she said. “They always mean a second one is coming.”

From the forest, shadows stretched longer than they should have. Shapes moved that didn’t belong to any animal the pond recognized. And deep beneath the water, something ancient shifted, awakening not with anger—but with curiosity.

Doppo stepped forward.

He didn’t draw a weapon. He didn’t make a speech.

He simply said, “Alright. Let’s see what’s knocking.”

Behind him stood Waifu.
Beside him stood Shelly.
Somewhere in the reeds, Jumpy was already panicking.

And above the pond, the sky subtly cracked—not breaking, just bending—as if the story itself had decided it was time to move again.

This was not the end of anything.

This was the beginning of the next three.

New reply

2025-12-01T23:13:20+00:00

age doesn't have kyber+ecc. gnupg 2.5 does.
go glows glowie.

New reply

2025-11-29T22:29:58+00:00

you should be using signify and age
not this ancient useless garbage
https://www.openbsd.org/papers/bsdcan-signify.html
https://github.com/FiloSottile/age

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2025-11-29T01:20:04+00:00

i don't like shoegaze but yours truly is a certified cocteau twins FANATIC

New reply

2025-11-29T01:12:44+00:00

Micro$oftcraft
-rep

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2025-11-25T19:09:20+00:00

Despite multiple requests and popular demand,
I will NOT be enabling hack clients. Sorry.

New reply

2025-11-24T23:21:14+00:00

Ditto to piper's comment... If cracked copies
work I'll join tonight

New reply

2025-11-24T14:21:33+00:00

I'll consider joining but couldn't it be possible to allow cracked
copies to play?

Minecraft (Gikocraft)

2025-11-20T17:28:47+00:00

To ALL Giko users,

I've set up a modded Minecraft server for us to play on. Come join, it's fun!

Info at: https://hermitage.is/minecraft

In brief:

The Minecraft version is 1.20.1
The server IP is 88.99.245.62
It uses the Forge modloader version 47.4.0

You must have these mods installed (+dependencies):

Ars Nouveau
Botania
FallingTree
Faster Ladder Climbing
Gravestone Mod
Just Enough Items
Rechiseled
Waystones

You also need to have a valid M$ account with a copy of the game.

New reply

2025-11-15T11:19:32+00:00

Hmm.. have had a long love affair with
the genre myself. I can't say on a song
level, but my favorite albums would have to be:

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Methodrone
Pasteboard - Flipper

An honorable mention:

Mike Johnson - Hidden Away

What's your favorite shoegaze song?

2025-11-13T18:29:07+00:00

Ever since I've found out about MBV I've been obssessed with their sound.
Lately I've been "To Here Knows When" a lot.
There's just something in that soundscape that propels you
into unknown places in the deepest of your mind.

A breathtaking track.

How about you folks, what are your favorite songs and bands from the genre?

New reply

2025-10-31T00:24:03+00:00

Idk if you meant to link the paper you were talking about. I've learned that if
you were to increase the number of neurons the brain as a network would become l
ess connected, because otherwise the number of connections would have to increas
e exponentially. Perhaps a brain with a certain amount of additional neurons wou
ld have to be a brain with less "specialized" areas, as they have to be "self-su
fficient".

Michel A. Hofman, Evolution of the Human Brain: From Matter to Mind

AoE II : Conquerors

2025-10-21T07:09:42+00:00

Looking at getting AoE 2 classic to work via archive.org resources.

First download Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
https://archive.org/download/Nova_AOECE_USA/Age%20of%20Empires%20II%20-%20The%20Age%20of%20Kings%20%28USA%29%20%28Rerelease%29%20%28Alt%202%29.7z

Then download AoE II: Conquerors Expansion
https://archive.org/download/AgeOfEmpiresIITheConquerorsExpansionUSA/Age%20of%20Empires%20II%20-%20The%20Conquerors%20Expansion%20%28USA%29.zip

first Age of Empires II: Age of Kings , then Conquerors Expansion second,
Open the disc file with PowerISO and extract disc 1 BIN file to a directory, then install,
https://www.poweriso.com/download.php

Download patch 1.0c :
https://aok.heavengames.com/blacksmith/showfile.php?fileid=11438

No CD crack for 1.0c:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/pvdprrr81pcdoad/AOE+2.7z
goes into
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II\age2_x1

Navigate to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II\age2_x1
and double click age2_x1.exe to boot your game

or open Voobly and play online with friends!

New reply

2025-10-20T16:56:45+00:00

Looks like Voobly is how people play AoM/X (classic, not EE/retold):
https://www.voobly.com/games/view/Age-of-Mythology-The-Titans

Age of Mythology classic

2025-10-20T13:42:38+00:00

via https://archive.org/details/aom-pc-redump

Grab ISO via https://archive.org/download/aom-pc-redump/AOM-PC-REDUMP/Age%20of%20Mythology%20-%20Gold%20Edition%20%28Canada%29%20%28En%2CFr%29.zip

unzip ISO, install AoM first then Titans second

Keys:
- AoM - HYQRH-FV79R-RHHPW-23G37-BDM76
- Titans - T2HB2-G4PK6-MQPDR-CTYPQ-64JK6

Next grab patch from Ubisoft
http://patches.ubi.com/age_of_mythology_the_titan/age_of_mythology_the_titan_dvd_fix.exe

Make sure to update the directory if you're running a 64 bit OS (you probably are), eg
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Mythology

Finally, in the AoM directory run msxmlenu.msi and you can now boot Age of Mythology 2 by executing aomx.exe

No

2025-10-09T07:34:50+00:00

That's because they won

New reply

2025-10-06T10:27:23+00:00

You really go for a lot of variety!

Just got 100g of virginia flake in the mail last week and I'm extremely
thrilled with it. Wanting to get my hands on some Indonesian tambolaka
but it's not easy to find on google. May have to resort to Instagram
searches.

Interested to hear your thoughts on perique. I haven't had it for a long
while. The English and virginia-burley blends should be a hit. You'll
have to share reviews of the more esoteric ones!

crazyeddiestobaccobuy

2025-10-04T18:02:19+00:00

Brookfield No.1 200g Dose
Dan Tobacco Ascanian No. 1 Riverside Blend (ehemals Soft & Unique) 50g Dose
Dan Tobacco DTM Bulldog Medium Cut 50g Dose
Dan Tobacco DTM Dark Moon 250g Pouch
Dan Tobacco DTM Hamborger Veermaster 50g Dose
Dan Tobacco DTM Mischtabak Torben Dansk Kentucky U.S.A. 50g
Dan Tobacco DTM Torben Dansk Louisiana Perique USA 50g Dose
Dan Tobacco DTM Tumblin Dice 50g Dose
Käptn Barsdorfs Bester Pipe Blend (ehemals Aromatic Mixture) 160g Dose
Mac Baren Farmer US-Virginia und Burley 50g Dose
Meistermischung Nr. 33 (100g Dose)
Pipemaster Blue English (28521) 50g Pouch
Pipe Republic Blends Pink Villa 100g Dose
Rattray's Flake Collectioln Stirling 50g Dose
Robert McConnell Pure Brasil 50g Dose
Robert McConnell Pure Cuba 50g Dose
Robert McConnell Pure Kentucky 50g Dose
Sir Henry's Earl 125g (3592) Dose
Wehde Hamburger Grüsse 250g Dose

Brain Scaling Laws

2025-10-03T06:12:26+00:00

Fascinatingly, according to this paper, there are actually multiple biological scaling laws relating brain size to neuron count. Most mammals are on a relatively bad scaling law where, as the neuron count increases, the number of supporting glial cells must increase by a greater proportion, and the size of neurons must also increase. This means that increasing proportions of the brain must be devoted to glial cells and neuronal density falls so they run into sharply diminishing returns on scaling. Primates, in contrast, appear to have found a significantly better scaling law which allows us to scale neurons and glial cells 1:1 and to keep neural density constant across scales. This allows us to support vastly more neurons for a given large scale brain and explains why we are significantly more intelligent than larger animals like whales or elephants which have substianlly larger brains than us.

explanation console stdin, stdout, redirection

2025-09-27T03:37:09+00:00

#!/bin/bash
# ┏━┓╻ ┏━┓╻ ╻┏┓╻╻ ╻┏┳┓┏━┓╻ ╻ USAGE: playnumpv
# ┣━┛┃ ┣━┫┗┳┛┃┗┫┃ ┃┃┃┃┣━┛┃┏┛ (where days = number of days to
# ╹ ┗━╸╹ ╹ ╹ ╹ ╹┗━┛╹ ╹╹ ┗┛ search back for newer media files)

# Check if argument is provided
if [ -z "$1" ] || [[ ! "$1" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
echo "Usage: $0 "
exit 1
fi

# Create a temporary playlist file in a safe location
playlist=$(mktemp) || { echo "Failed to create temporary file"; exit 1; }

# Set trap to clean up temporary file on exit
trap 'rm -f "$playlist"' EXIT

# Get absolute path of the playlist to exclude it from search
abs_playlist=$(realpath "$playlist")

# Find all media files modified in the last $1 days and add them to the playlist
# Using absolute paths to avoid issues with relative paths
find "$PWD" -type f -regextype posix-extended -regex '.*\.(mp3|flac|opus|ogg|m4a|wav|nsf|mod|xm)' \
-mtime -"${1}" ! -path "$abs_playlist" -print0 | \
sort -z | \
tr '\0' '\n' > "$playlist"

# Check if any files were found
if [ ! -s "$playlist" ]; then
echo "No files found newer than ${1} days."
exit 0
fi

# Count the number of files in the playlist
file_count=$(wc -l < "$playlist")
echo "Found $file_count files to play."

# Play the playlist with mpv, using unbuffer to maintain terminal connection
# and process substitution to capture output without breaking stdin
unbuffer -p mpv --shuffle --term-osd=auto --osd-level=2 --no-audio-display \
--playlist="$playlist" 2>&1 > >(grep -E "Playing") < /dev/tty

# Multi-line comment explaining the redirection technique:
: <<'EOF'
EXPLANATION OF THE REDIRECTION TECHNIQUE:

The command uses several advanced shell features to maintain keyboard control while filtering output:

1. `unbuffer -p`:
- Creates a pseudo-terminal for mpv
- Ensures mpv maintains interactive behavior including keyboard input handling

2. `2>&1`:
- Redirects stderr to stdout
- Combines both output streams

3. `> >(grep -E "Playing")`:
- Uses process substitution (the `>(...)` syntax)
- Creates a temporary file descriptor connected to grep
- Sends mpv's output to grep without breaking terminal connection
- Unlike a regular pipe, this doesn't disrupt keyboard input

4. `< /dev/tty`:
- Explicitly redirects stdin to the terminal device
- Ensures mpv gets keyboard input directly from the terminal
- This is critical for maintaining keyboard control

WHY THIS WORKS WHEN REGULAR PIPES FAIL:

Regular pipes (mpv | grep) break keyboard input because:
- The shell puts commands in separate process groups
- mpv detects its output is going to a pipe and may change behavior
- Terminal control gets disrupted

Our solution works because:
- unbuffer maintains the terminal connection
- Process substitution doesn't break the terminal connection like a pipe
- Explicit terminal input redirection ensures keyboard control
- The combination preserves mpv's interactive capabilities

DATA FLOW:
Keyboard Input → /dev/tty → mpv (via unbuffer) → Process Substitution → grep → Terminal
EOF