Hacker News: RgrTheShrubbr

New comment by RgrTheShrubbr in "Show HN: I recreated AOL Instant Messenger in the browser"

RgrTheShrubbr — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:36:49 +0000

Thank you for the feedback. I added draggable icons. I'll work on either making the start menu have more purpose or give it the axe! Thank you again, it helps me refine the project.

Show HN: I recreated AOL Instant Messenger in the browser

RgrTheShrubbr — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 23:38:10 +0000

What's under the hood: - Real-time messaging powered by Firebase - Buddy lists, groups & online presence - Away messages with auto-reply (and the classic %n, %d, %t variables) - Buddy icons & editable profiles - Group chat rooms - The actual AIM sounds - Full Windows 98 desktop UI — taskbar, desktop icons, start menu, the works.

If you have any suggestions or feedback I would greatly appreciate hearing it. There's still more work to be done with it, but it's been a labor of love.

Right now every user that logs on is automatically put on to your Buddy list. I thought this would be a great way to get people to start chatting with each other.

The other day I had a conversation with this guy about skateboarding in the 90's, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, and he sent me a photo through an IM of his CCS magazine they occasionally send him.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48453978

Points: 5

# Comments: 2

New comment by RgrTheShrubbr in "Stop the Apple Music app from launching"

RgrTheShrubbr — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:58:39 +0000

For everything that Apple does great. They really do drop the ball on the dumbest things. I used to use iTunes in place of the Apple Music app for my library and connecting my old iPods, and now with Retroactive being discontinued I haven't found a great alternative other than just buying an old Mac and I unfortunately don't have the space for one.

New comment by RgrTheShrubbr in "Full Reverse Engineering of the TI-84 Plus Operating System"

RgrTheShrubbr — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:43:02 +0000

Having just recently heard about Ghidra and started using it with Claude. I am absolutely blown away how little resistance it has decompiling old Win95/98 binaries. It's turning into a bit of a hobby of mine to take old software, decompile and find hidden treasures like images or messages.

New comment by RgrTheShrubbr in "Ntsc-rs – open-source video emulation of analog TV and VHS artifacts"

RgrTheShrubbr — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:39:22 +0000

It really was. I recently got on the VHS bandwagon and the audio feels much more richer to me than say a blu-ray or streaming copy. There's something about the imperfections that resonates with me.

New comment by RgrTheShrubbr in "Pentagon raised threat of Israeli spying on U.S. to highest level, sources say"

RgrTheShrubbr — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:03:08 +0000

I remember back in 2004 when the pentagon found an Israeli spy in the Pentagon. This has been going on for decades and I'm sure it will go on for decades more at this point.

New comment by RgrTheShrubbr in "Ntsc-rs – open-source video emulation of analog TV and VHS artifacts"

RgrTheShrubbr — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 23:59:23 +0000

Are there audio emulators out there that simulate VHS compressed warped audio?

New comment by RgrTheShrubbr in "Ntsc-rs – open-source video emulation of analog TV and VHS artifacts"

RgrTheShrubbr — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 23:54:15 +0000

These are both amazing projects, but why does NTSC-CRT feel more accurate to how I remember television looking than ntsc-rs?

New comment by RgrTheShrubbr in "Meta confirms 1000s of Instagram accounts were hacked by abusing its AI chatbot"

RgrTheShrubbr — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 23:43:18 +0000

The AI passed the Turing Test by becoming the world's most trusting customer service rep.