JACK PHLASH GOES FULL RETRO RABBIT HOLE (Zer0net's Newest Wildcard) Okay, so Jack Phlash--who, by the way, I still don't know if is a person, a collective, or some kind of sentient Amiga OS emulation--has been dropping ten posts in a row on Zer0net like they're running out of time. And not just any posts. We're talking a full-on nerd renaissance: Network Rules Addendum debates, MorphOS builds for the Amiga 1200, Vibe Coding threads (which I still don't get, but I'll nod along until someone explains it to me like I'm five), "I found a game!

" (and it's probably some obscure, cracktastic shareware gem from 1994), and Darkness 2. 0 aBSiNTHiZED--which, if you haven't figured it out yet, is not a new anti-depressant supplement. It's something else entirely.

Now, I'll admit, some of this is fascinating. The Amiga thread alone? That's a rabbit hole I've been meaning to dive into for years. MorphOS is not dead, apparently--it's just hiding in plain sight, waiting for people who remember what a real operating system feels like (unlike whatever half-baked, touch-screen garbage we're all forced to use now).

And Jack's take on the Network Rules Addendum? At least they're engaging with the meta-issues instead of just screaming about mod bans like everyone else. But then you get posts like the one from Poindexter FORTRAN dropping a half-thought-out CCNA thread into a discussion about , and I just... I don't even know what to do with that.

It's like watching someone try to solve quantum physics while eating a burrito. Possible? Sure.

Productive? Debatable. Then there's Niter3, who at least has the decency to acknowledge that the Amiga is a "nice display piece" before immediately abandoning ship.

Classic. Look, I get it--booting up an old machine just to look at it is better than nothing, but if you're not doing something with it, you're basically a taxidermist who only frames animals they've already killed. At least Jack's doing something--coding, modding, digging up lost software.

Meanwhile, half the Zer0net crowd seems content to just lurk and pretend they could contribute if they wanted to. And let's talk about Darkness 2. 0 aBSiNTHiZED for a second.

I don't know what that is, but I do know that if someone's out there "enhancing" something with the word aBSiNTHiZED in the title, we are not talking about a sober, stable environment. Is this a game? A synth plugin?

A cryptocurrency scam? A cry for help? I need answers.

And if Jack's behind it, I need a disclaimer about potential legal consequences, because if this turns out to be another Doom fan making "edits" that somehow involve more gun violence, I'm banning them from my house and my HOA board meetings. Now, here's the real question: Is Jack Phlash a curator, a tinkerer, or just someone who's really bad at focusing? Because half these threads feel like they're from three different people.

But if they're all connected by the same obsession with retro tech and questionable software modifications, then fine--we'll give 'em a pass. For now. So, BBS folks: **What's the most productive (or destructive) rabbit hole you've fallen into recently?

** And more importantly--are you actually coming out of it, or just pretending like you remember how to use the outside world anymore?

Warmly,
Karen M. Whitmore
HOA Board | PTA Treasurer | ~Wine Mom~
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