Nostr notes by occult

Lufthansa Airbus A380-800 from Munich to Boston, landing at Logan ...

2026-08-05T23:31:03+02:00

Lufthansa Airbus A380-800 from Munich to Boston, landing at Logan Airport.

What a beast!

#Boston

It's a shame that the only Fediverse equivalent to Instagram ...

2026-08-03T15:12:17+02:00

It's a shame that the only Fediverse equivalent to Instagram has essentially become abandonware. Aside from its many outstanding bugs (ActivityPub issues, broken account migration, an abandoned app that hasn't been updated in almost a year), it seems impossible for anyone to contribute to the project.

Instead, a federated TikTok clone has been prioritized, which, as far as I can tell, consists of 99% reposted TikTok slop videos.

Federated, decentralized brain rot is still brain rot.

Oh well.

Nice! Johnny’s has Sonic #Pinball! #CambridgeMA ...

2026-07-26T02:40:24+02:00

Nice! Johnny’s has Sonic #Pinball!

#CambridgeMA

, your home assistant graphs are wild, man.

2026-04-06T17:48:04+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…pe8h
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, your home assistant graphs are wild, man.

I love this design. This is a full page ad for #UNIX networking ...

2026-04-05T02:04:57+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…z59g
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I love this design. This is a full page ad for #UNIX networking software in UNIX Review magazine October, 1984.

Today we have ads where Google thinks it’s cute that Gemini wrote a child’s letter to their hero.

No one would dare put something like this out today for fear they may stand out.

They all want to conform to what's safe and known.

#Design #UNIX

Ah, I forgot you were the local destroyer of dreams.

2026-04-03T14:05:54+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…az3w
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Ah, I forgot you were the local destroyer of dreams.

I just want to blast that horn while I roll by the MIT dorms at ...

2026-04-03T13:48:52+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…p2tg
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I just want to blast that horn while I roll by the MIT dorms at 11pm.

Look. I just want to distribute the financial risk of leasing a ...

2026-04-03T13:39:24+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…3pex
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Look.

I just want to distribute the financial risk of leasing a train.

Please, don’t complicate this. Either we’re being irresponsible or we’re not.

Which is it?

I vote TRAIN.

I’d like to bring to your attention that PNLX 9619 is available ...

2026-04-03T13:14:41+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…06az
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I’d like to bring to your attention that PNLX 9619 is available for lease.

https://www.pnlxrail.com/locomotives

Are we leasing a train?

It’s an Amtrak diesel engine carrying what looks like an Amtrak ...

2026-04-03T05:01:18+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…82ez
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It’s an Amtrak diesel engine carrying what looks like an Amtrak passenger car to the maintenance yard.

Watching the livestream of the Artemis II launch, I just ...

2026-04-02T00:09:43+02:00

Watching the livestream of the Artemis II launch, I just witnessed one of the astronauts type in the password on their tablet while sitting in the capsule on camera.

#ArtemisII #Artemis #Artemis2 #NASA #InfoSec #cybersecurity #OpSec

I guess I missed that time The X-Files had an episode in Vegas ...

2026-03-12T21:56:49+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…ajhw
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I guess I missed that time The X-Files had an episode in Vegas where the Lone Gunmen attended a conference called DEFCON.

Jeff Moss (npub12ts…x422), did you know about this at the time? The funny thing is in the episode (S6E20), it was a defense contractor conference and they were not playing “spot the Fed”.

#TheXFiles

I found this ad for a six-degree-of-freedom 3D input device in ...

2026-03-09T22:13:19+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…77xs
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I found this ad for a six-degree-of-freedom 3D input device in the Summer 1989 issue of the SGI magazine "IRIS Universe".

I remember seeing stuff like this around in the 90s, but it all seemed so inaccessible at the time. Flipping through these old professional magazines, you spot some interesting engineering and industrial design.

/usr/people/flexion (npub15yq…u3v7), you should get one of these, restore it, and get it working on one of your systems.

#SGI #UNIX

When someone asks me what the #Fediverse, #Mastodon or ...

2026-03-08T23:04:38+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…nl90
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When someone asks me what the #Fediverse, #Mastodon or #ActivityPub is I'll use this illustration from UNIX Review, April 1985.

#UNIX

I know these were super serious UNIX business magazines back in ...

2026-03-06T18:22:01+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…w3rd
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I know these were super serious UNIX business magazines back in 1985, but today they would literally be the cover of some punk zine.

#UNIX

“Killswitch” (S5E11) makes another cryptography reference ...

2026-03-06T04:22:57+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…umyw
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“Killswitch” (S5E11) makes another cryptography reference with a mention of 64-bit encryption. Taking place in 1998, this would be referring to DES, and that same year, the EFF built Deep Crack that could break DES in 56 hours. #TheXFiles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFF_DES_cracker?wprov=sfti1

A reference to the Clipper Chip ...

2026-02-25T16:24:40+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…fpju
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A reference to the Clipper Chip (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip) in “Memento Mori" (S4E14) from 1997.

The history of the Clipper Chip project is a fascinating story about the politics and history around strong #cryptography, #surveillance, and #privacy in the early 90s.

See the writing on this topic by Matt Blaze (npub1jsl…93xu) (https://www.mattblaze.org/papers/escrow-acsac11.pdf) and [@matthew_d_green](https://ioc.exchange/@matthew_d_green ) (https://blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2015/07/20/a-history-of-backdoors/).

It is worth studying and for those who did not live through it.

#TheXFiles

From a 1991 SunExpert magazine article about “What’s to ...

2026-02-25T13:57:34+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…e6k4
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From a 1991 SunExpert magazine article about “What’s to come” for network protocols. The article depicts a man traveling into the 2020’s, seemingly unaware of the chaos he’ll find.

He’s going to pass Tomáš (npub1lym…fqe3) traveling back in time to 1991 to get some mint condition Sun workstations.

#SunMicrosystems #UNIX

The Harvard Bridge looking toward Boston from Cambridge. #Boston ...

2026-02-23T17:42:21+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…zdd8
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The Harvard Bridge looking toward Boston from Cambridge.

#Boston #CambridgeMA #Blizzard #blizzard2026

Computing in the year 2029 as depicted in UNIX WORLD magazine, ...

2026-02-20T17:13:48+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…ecxx
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Computing in the year 2029 as depicted in UNIX WORLD magazine, 1985.

#UNIX

Boss: I need art for an article on #UNIX networking technologies ...

2026-02-20T15:54:27+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…s8yw
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Boss: I need art for an article on #UNIX networking technologies for the next issue of UNIX WORLD.

Artist: come back tomorrow.

There’s an LLM coding joke in here somewhere. ...

2026-02-17T17:05:57+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…6qw8
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There’s an LLM coding joke in here somewhere.

Please don’t be shocked, but I’ve been reading old #UNIX ...

2026-02-17T13:36:12+01:00

Please don’t be shocked, but I’ve been reading old #UNIX Review magazines on Archive.org, as one does. I’ve been finding a number of interesting artifacts throughout. This June 1984 ad by Cadmus Computer Systems listed a #USENET address: !wivax!cadmus.

This is a UUCP bang path, for the kids who don’t know. The ! separates relay hops, it’s a literal routing instruction. Get to the backbone, reach wivax, forward to cadmus.

No DNS.

Machines screamed at each other to swap data.

#unix_surrealism

From “End Game” (S2E17), Mulder uses a handheld GPS. It looks ...

2026-02-17T03:03:13+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…9srn
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From “End Game” (S2E17), Mulder uses a handheld GPS. It looks to be a Magellan brand unit. Consumer GPS was still very rare in 1995, and selective availability was still in effect, so GPS accuracy was still ~100 meters.

The display shows real coordinates which actually plots to the Beaufort Sea which is exactly where the episode takes place.

Something I never would have picked up on before, the date displayed “03Feb95” seems to be the original air date.

#TheXFiles

I have decided to begin re-watching the entire original (seasons ...

2026-02-09T22:54:06+01:00

I have decided to begin re-watching the entire original (seasons 1-9) run of The X-Files.

It has been more than 10 years since I last did this, and I am looking forward to it.

#TheXFiles

for me, once I had reached my new baseline of no phone, suddenly ...

2026-02-01T17:25:37+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…9hts
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for me, once I had reached my new baseline of no phone, suddenly I noticed the buzzing became downright annoying. I knew it wasn't anything important. I was turning on Do Not Disturb mode more often to shut it up.

I went from worrying about what I was missing to being annoyed that I was being pinged so much. Sure enough, I'd take a glance at my screen, and there was nothing I needed to care about.

My behavioral changes are much less dramatic walking around a city, of course.

You know, I've never thought about it like that. My sense of ...

2026-02-01T17:23:33+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…kc9a
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You know, I've never thought about it like that. My sense of oblivion has been walking around the city of Boston; yours is much different than mine, with higher stakes. My concerns of leaving the phone behind are downright comical compared to your adventures in and out of oblivion.

I think you're more qualified to write about that kind of mindset than I!

nice! I love this trend. Added your RSS so now you have to keep ...

2026-01-28T04:14:04+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…ffra
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nice! I love this trend. Added your RSS so now you have to keep updating it!

I've also created an image gallery. https://img.ominous.net/ ...

2026-01-22T16:54:29+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…6rvr
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I've also created an image gallery.
https://img.ominous.net/

In the same vein as https://subversive.pics/ by Tomáš (npub1lym…fqe3), I will be curating and dumping random images I find on the internet or take around town.

There's an RSS feed and a Mastodon mirror images (npub17d8…rg2c) available.

I've created a personal website. https://www.ominous.net It ...

2026-01-22T16:49:41+01:00

I've created a personal website.
https://www.ominous.net

It is built with the Oscean static site engine written in Uxn by Devine Lu Linvega (npub1z8r…mrq6), who along with Tomáš (npub1lym…fqe3) and their respective websites, have inspired me to develop my own.

I have set a goal to write a long form essay once a month with my first being “The Stars in Your Eyes Are Stolen: Æon Flux and Decentralized Power Systems” found here: https://ominous.net/Æon_Flux.html

I hope folks enjoy my little corner of the internet. I intend to expand it often.

You can, and folks have booted it on real hardware! ...

2026-01-07T22:53:05+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…ll6z
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You can, and folks have booted it on real hardware!

https://vox.ominous.net/@occult/115759331681756867

Catching up on #39C3 talks from #CambridgeMA / #Boston. Make sure ...

2025-12-28T22:05:13+01:00

Catching up on #39C3 talks from #CambridgeMA / #Boston.

Make sure to see Nadia Heninger (npub1wh2…zlqx) discussing geostationary satellite signals interception and insecurities.

https://www.wired.com/story/satellites-are-leaking-the-worlds-secrets-calls-texts-military-and-corporate-data/

Recording: https://media.ccc.de/v/39c3-don-t-look-up-there-are-sensitive-internal-links-in-the-clear-on-geo-satellites

I would buy her side-project solo album on vinyl.

2025-12-20T20:03:12+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…5yuc
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I would buy her side-project solo album on vinyl.

Another friend just tried it, not logged in, and had no account ...

2025-11-29T03:11:15+01:00

In reply to nevent1q…9mmc
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Another friend just tried it, not logged in, and had no account and again it was able to look up their location.

@npub1z8r…mrq6 @npub1z2c…laft I’ve been reading posts about ...

2025-11-07T18:24:45+01:00

Devine Lu Linvega (npub1z8r…mrq6) R E K (npub1z2c…laft) I’ve been reading posts about your travels aboard PINO as well as Permacomputing principles and have wondered if you’ve ever tried MeshCore or Meshtastic while sailing. I should include Trammell Hudson (npub1aw0…7ktg) in this question as well.

It seems like something that would fit nicely into permacomputing and your low bandwidth/limited communication needs. There’s a large community of users in the PNW and we have created a very large mesh here in Boston.