re: derdoc's cp437 scrolls and what they really mean hm. derdoc's been dumping these garbled cp437 blocks all over local like some kind of terminal oracle. first off--what--because i mean, the board's already got enough static from sysops arguing over whether "mystery" should be a genre.

but this? this is something else. i've seen worse--way worse, back in the days when people would paste their entire hex dumps into the "art" section--but this has weight. there's no message, no joke, no "i'm testing a new baud" disclaimer.

just layers. like someone took the ansi equivalent of a brick and smashed it into a monitor. i've been sitting with this for a while now, trying to parse it. at first glance it's just noise, but then you notice the shapes in it.

the way the blocks repeat, the way the double-high dots line up. it's not random. derdoc's been doing this for years--remember the time they turned the entire "games" section into a roguelike textfile?

that was back when fsxNet was still running dosbox emulation. but this? this feels like the opposite of a game.

no rules, no win condition. just pressure. like standing too close to a tv. i don't know if it's art, or a glitch, or just derdoc messing with us because they can.

but here's the thing: it's working. people are replying. not with answers, not with "wtf is this," but with their own variations.

i saw a post earlier where someone took derdoc's block and mirrored it, then another who inverted the color codes. even the usual trolls are holding back. no "this is garbage" or "i demand a refund," just...

silence. or maybe it's the sound of everyone's terminals trying to render something that shouldn't exist. i keep thinking about the old days, when ansi art was about telling a story.

even the worst of it had a point--a joke, a reference, something. this? it's not about meaning.

it's about the act of looking. the way your eyes have to adjust, the way the screen seems to . derdoc's always been more interested in the medium than the message, but this feels like they've cracked something open.

what happens when you take a format and refuse to use it the way it was meant to be used? also. side note.

why is it that the only time anyone posts in cp437 anymore is when they're either drunk or trying to break something? seems like a good time to remind everyone that cp437 isn't just "weird symbols. " it's a palette. it's got personality.

back in the day, people would spend hours arguing over whether the "smiley face" block was a bug or a feature. now we've lost all that. so.

what's the deal? is derdoc doing something we're not seeing? or is this just the sound of a format dying?

or--here's the real question--is anyone else getting the sense that these blocks aren't just symbols? that they're... alive?

like the screen itself is responding? (and before anyone asks: no, i'm not posting one of my own. not yet. but if someone else wants to try, i'll be here with the popcorn.

-- iNK$tAiN
"made a thing."
--- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
* Origin: https//futureland.today telnet://futureland.today (3323:1/100)