Orthanc
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orthanc.nz
Orthanc
@orthanc.nz
1.4K followers 650 following 12K posts
Semi-professional bad influence, secret santa imp, comfort food influencer, and all around good guy, He/Him, Orthanc of the Bluesky.

Tāmaki Makaurau
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orthanc.nz
The "what about second breakfast" scene from lord of the rings but with the text "We've had spinoff series. But what about second spinoff series?"
January 6, 2026 at 8:20 AM
orthanc.nz
I mean, not what I was aiming for for, but I guess it fits
Brain rot
January 1, 2026 at 8:40 PM
orthanc.nz
Well that's the first book of the year finished.

A cosy little romance with just a little kidnapping. Just a smidge.
Concert & Cons by Jaide Dee. The book is pink and purple stage lights with the silhouette of a woman. I'm holding the book in the sun in front of a green garden.
January 1, 2026 at 2:11 AM
orthanc.nz
Always makes me think of this comic (I don't really know the original source)
Comic tagged as originally by @acloudguru Set in an IT meeting with the dialogue Welcome back to SECURITY THEATRE! Today a gripping drama.. Should we enable S3 server side encryption? Tech 1: Well it protects us if someone..... Steals our hard drives from AWS? Tech 2: plus we can check off this "encryption requirement". Tech 2: Let's do it! This has been SECURITY THEATRE!! Techs (offscren): Bravo! I feel very safe.
January 1, 2026 at 1:14 AM
orthanc.nz
Look what arrived today @witchnwords.bsky.social

Much excitement
Hedg Witch and Concert & Consequences both by Jaide Dee.
December 31, 2025 at 4:32 AM
orthanc.nz
They must have just put this up. When I checked before it was "we're shutdown for the holidays"

I'm guessing they're only just getting people back online.
Manage My Health has identified a cyber security incident involving unauthorised access to our systems. The matter is under active investigation and containment steps have been taken. We are working with our partners and relevant authorities and will provide further updates through formal statements as information is confirmed.
December 31, 2025 at 2:02 AM
orthanc.nz
6 bags down. Lots of gears and workings to keep me amused. I assumed it was going to be pneumatic, but the pistons are screws and turned by the cogs on the base.
Partially completed lego excavator. At the top are two large pistons that will eventually connect to the arm, there are large tracks and the back half is rows of cogs linked up to drive the pistons.
December 30, 2025 at 11:49 PM
orthanc.nz
Two bags in (of 16) and time to take a break, buf it's looking excavatorish
The frame of the base of the excavator, without tracks yet but with the mounts for them. Sitting on top of the rest of the bags.
December 29, 2025 at 12:52 AM
orthanc.nz
I may have over ambitioused my lego and perhaps should have picked a more useful holiday project
The box for a large lego technic EC500 excavator set. 2359 pieces
December 28, 2025 at 11:34 PM
orthanc.nz
I'm not exactly an amateur when it comes to cyber security and safety stuff. But this is signed by a lot of people who I have immense respect for in the field www.hacklore.org/letter

These are the things to actually focus on being secure online.
Keep critical devices and applications updated: Focus your attention on the devices and applications you use to access essential services such as email, financial accounts, cloud storage, and identity-related apps. Enable automatic updates wherever possible so these core tools receive the latest security fixes. And when a device or app is no longer supported with security updates, it’s worth considering an upgrade. Enable multi-factor authentication (“MFA” aka "2FA"): Prioritize protecting sensitive accounts with real value to malicious actors such as email, file storage, social media, and financial systems. When possible, consider “passkeys”, a newer sign-in technology built into everyday devices that replaces passwords with encryption that resists phishing scams — so even if attackers steal a password, they can’t log in. Use SMS one-time codes as a last resort if other methods are not available. Use strong passphrases (not just passwords): Passphrases for your important accounts should be “strong.” A “strong” password or passphrase is long (16+ characters), unique (never reused under any circumstances), and randomly generated (which humans are notoriously bad at doing). Uniqueness is critical: using the same password in more than one place dramatically increases your risk, because a breach at one site can compromise others instantly. A passphrase, such as a short sentence of 4–5 words (spaces are fine), is an easy way to get sufficient length. Of course, doing this for many accounts is difficult, which leads us to… Use a password manager: A password manager solves this by generating strong passwords, storing them in an encrypted vault, and filling them in for you when you need them. A password manager will only enter your passwords on legitimate sites, giving you extra protection against phishing. Password managers can also store passkeys alongside passwords. For the password manager, use a strong passphrase since it protects all the others, and enable MFA.
December 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
orthanc.nz
It's only Christmas eve and I'm afraid it's all going to custard
December 23, 2025 at 10:51 PM
orthanc.nz
If she hasn't i would have recommended blocking them, that's really not a healthy posting pattern.

The people in that us "repost everything they see about Trump" bubble are very prone to sharing disinformation and are actively targeted with it.
1125 likes, 11 posts, 1116 reposts over the last 21 days
December 23, 2025 at 6:36 AM
orthanc.nz
I think the take away from today's experiment is that chisels don't work so well with plywood

Right hand side was trying to chisel out the gaps. Left was using the chisel marks for a guide then sawing
A rough plywood cog. The gaps on one side are pretty clean, where as the other side are messy with wood breaking away
December 21, 2025 at 10:53 PM
orthanc.nz
Also, lol wat? You branching out linguisticly?
Bluesky post composer replying to this post with a warning "the post you're replying to was marked as being written in Danish by it's author. Would you like to reply in Danish?"
December 21, 2025 at 7:51 PM
orthanc.nz
Speaking of, I went to make sure I had libby notifications on and I found this, a few people waiting now
Libby app showing a suspended hold on Hedge Witch by Jaide Dee. I'm first in line, one copy is in use and 2 people are waiting. I wonder who this Jaide Dee is, she must be a pretty amazing author.
December 20, 2025 at 12:00 AM
orthanc.nz
Been a while since I had a current ish picture of me as my avatar, but feeling festive so let's see how it sticks
Greying blond man wearing sunglasses and a blue shirt with a motife of santa doing various things by the ocean and beach, standing in front of a giant Christmas bauble.
December 18, 2025 at 3:24 AM
orthanc.nz
And finally the lovely card, and even the envolpe makes me smile.

I feel so spoiled #SecretSantaAoNZ
Front of the envelope featuring dog and cat Christmas stickers. Back of the envelope with more Christmas stickers, sealed with a good doggo wearing a scarf sticker. A happy red card with Merry Christmas in white writing. Inside of the card reading "Miri Kirimete @orthanc. Hope you have the holiday season you want. Even elves need a secret santa! 🦋SecretSantaAoNZ
December 17, 2025 at 1:11 AM
orthanc.nz
And tasty bits too, just what's needed after a hard day's elfing #SecretSantaAoNZ
Lewis Road creamery short bread fingers and peppermint and cocoa biscuit Whittakers on the good doggo wrapping paper. That's some good sleuthing Santa, I really like mint chocolate but I hardly ever have it because I'm the only one who eats it.
December 17, 2025 at 1:07 AM
orthanc.nz
I said I'd be slow, drawing out the joy for me, hopefully not too much of a torture for #SecretSantaAoNZ

Look at all the pretties, so many cool stickers to stick on all the things 😁.

(more in the alt text)
Sheets of stickers all on a wooden board. Clearly visible are some sponge bob ones that are silly and fun. The cool egg doing weird things that always amuses me but I can never remember the name of. Snoopy and coffee and just soo many other people goodies. Space disco stickers, because how could we not love dancing space people. It's just so me and makes me giggle. Australian animal stickers in aboriginal designs, beautiful nz native bird stickers. Two goslings fist bumping labeled goose bumps that just tickles my funny bone. And a unicorn with no fucks left to give. Even more shiny stickers. I feel so treated. Owl waking up with coffee themed ones, which given how much I need taht kick seems on brand, particularly today. Hello kitty stickers. A loading bar made of gradually emptying coffee cups which is so going on the laptop. Hedge hogs, Snoopy, Woodstock, just so many.
December 16, 2025 at 11:00 PM
orthanc.nz
First up, some coffee that smell so good, particularly when I've only had one this morning #SecretSantaAoNZ

And the most lovely papercut that feels very Christmasy.
Fire cracker coffee. Roasted in beautiful Petone, Aotearoa. A fair trade and living wage brew. The back of the coffee bag showing the origins, a mix of Peru, Guatemala, Ethiopia and Colombia. This isn't smellovision, so you'll just have to trust me it smells fantastic. A black paper cutout of a pōhutukawa flower sitting on a wooden board. It's a lovely geometric shape that appeals to me but so recognise as the flower.
December 16, 2025 at 9:44 PM
orthanc.nz
Going to be one of those that opens a bit slowly. But I'm so excited for this.

I feel very spoiled already #SecretSantaAoNZ
A NZ post bag sitting on a wooden board. A present wrapped with red wrapping paper featuring a good doggo in a santa hat, an envelope addressed to me and some fire cracker coffee sitting on top of some paper sheets.
December 16, 2025 at 9:33 PM
orthanc.nz
Not sure the difference is really visible in the before and after, but I sanded these and the feel a lot nicer now.
A roughly cut out wooden cog. Three wooden cogs, the edges are slightly rounded where they've been sanded.
December 14, 2025 at 4:15 AM
orthanc.nz
It's date night, show me what you are wearing

This George's good loincloth.
Brendon Frazer as George of the jungle swinging in on a vine, looking happy and waving wearing a leapord print loincloth.
December 14, 2025 at 1:45 AM
orthanc.nz
Tonight's dinner for one, Moroccan Lamb, couscous and harissa yoghurt.
Ā large bowl with cous cous and lifts of vegetables with lamb and sauce on top and a smaller bowl of pink tinted yoghurt to the side.
December 11, 2025 at 5:15 AM
orthanc.nz
My #SecretSantaAoNZ has had to hide amongst the other presents under the tree to camouflage until opening day.
A NZ post envelope with the return address #SecretSantaAoNZ under a Christmas tree with a couple of other presents
December 11, 2025 at 4:22 AM