diff --git a/clients/nntp_client.py b/clients/nntp_client.py
index bb8e51c..71b6fb7 100644
--- a/clients/nntp_client.py
+++ b/clients/nntp_client.py
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import ssl
 import email.utils
 from collections import namedtuple
 
+import os
+
 class BBJNews(object):
     # this module isnt exactly complete. The below description claims
     # `all of its endpoints are mapped to native methods` though this
@@ -74,22 +76,23 @@ class BBJNews(object):
           If you set this to False, anonymous network usage is
           guaranteed.
         """
+        host = "news.tildeverse.org"
         self.host = host
         self.port = port
         self.tls = https
-        self.group = "tilde.team"
+        self.group = "local.test"
 
         self.user_name = None
         self.user_auth = None
         self.send_auth = True
         self.user = {
             "user_id": "",
-            "user_name": "",
+            "user_name": "anonymous",
             "is_admin": False,
             "color": 0,
         }
         self.instance_info = {
-            "instance_name": "",
+            "instance_name": "TEST nntp TEST",
             "allow_anon": True,
             "admins": [],
         }
@@ -120,12 +123,11 @@ class BBJNews(object):
 
 
     def connect(self):
-        self.conn = nntplib.NNTP(self.host, self.port)
+        self.conn = nntplib.NNTP(self.host, self.port, usenetrc=False)
         if self.tls:
             context = ssl.create_default_context()
             self.conn.starttls(context)
 
-
         # TODO: reconnect automatically
 
 
@@ -147,6 +149,19 @@ class BBJNews(object):
         See raise_exception() for details on how this function reacts
         to various failure conditions.
         """
+
+        if endpoint == "get_me":
+            return {"error": False, "data": self.user.copy(), "usermap": {}}
+
+        return {
+            "error": {
+                "code": 0,
+                "description": "unsupported endpoint",
+            },
+            "data": None,
+            "usermap": {},
+        }
+
         headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
         if params.get("no_auth"):
             params.pop("no_auth")
@@ -222,8 +237,9 @@ class BBJNews(object):
             "admins": (list) // usernames of those who have admin rights on the server
         }
         """
-        response = self("instance_info")
-        self.instance_info = response["data"]
+        # TODO
+        #response = self("instance_info")
+        #self.instance_info = response["data"]
 
 
     # unsupported
@@ -321,14 +337,12 @@ class BBJNews(object):
           )
         """
         self.conn.login(user_name, user_auth, usernetrc=False)
-
-        if check_validity and not self.validate_credentials(user_name, user_auth):
-            self.user_auth = self.user_name = None
-            raise ConnectionRefusedError("Auth and User do not match")
+        # TODO: catch
 
         self.user_auth = user_auth
         self.user_name = user_name
-        self.user = self("get_me")["data"]
+        #self.user = self("get_me")["data"]
+        self.user['user_name'] = user_name
         return True
 
 
@@ -440,7 +454,7 @@ class BBJNews(object):
             self.user_name = params["user_name"]
         if params.get("auth_hash"):
             self.user_auth = params["auth_hash"]
-        self.user = dict(params)
+        self.user.update(**params)
         return self.user
 
 
@@ -486,6 +500,8 @@ class BBJNews(object):
         #       :lines - the number of lines in the body (deprecated)
 
         response, overviews = self.conn.over((first, None))
+        with open("overview_cache.bbj.json", "wt") as f:
+            json.dump(overviews, f)
 
         if False:
             # build up a map of message references
@@ -546,11 +562,14 @@ class BBJNews(object):
               print(usermap[author_id]["user_name"])
               print(message["body"])
         """
+        return {}, {}
+
         response = self("thread_load",
             format=format, thread_id=thread_id, op_only=op_only)
         return response["data"], response["usermap"]
 
 
+    # POST
     def thread_create(self, title, body):
         """
         Submit a new thread, and return its new object. Requires the
@@ -558,15 +577,20 @@ class BBJNews(object):
         120 chars in length, else UserWarning is raised. Body must
         also not be empty.
         """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
         response = self("thread_create", title=title, body=body)
         return response["data"]
 
 
+    # POST
     def thread_reply(self, thread_id, body):
         """
         Submits a new reply to a thread and returns the new object.
         Requires the thread's id and a non-empty body string.
         """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
         response = self("thread_reply", thread_id=thread_id, body=body)
         return response["data"]
 
diff --git a/clients/urwid/main.py b/clients/urwid/main.py
index 6bcb99e..7da00db 100644
--- a/clients/urwid/main.py
+++ b/clients/urwid/main.py
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ Please mail me (~desvox) for feedback and for any of your
 "OH MY GOD WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS"'s or "PEP8 IS A THING"'s.
 """
 
-from network import BBJ, URLError
+import sys, os; sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
+
+#from network import BBJ, URLError
+from nntp_client import BBJNews as BBJ, URLError
 from string import punctuation
 from datetime import datetime
 from sys import argv, version
@@ -2599,9 +2602,10 @@ def main():
         exit()
 
     try:
-        network = BBJ(get_arg("host", "127.0.0.1"),
-                      get_arg("port", 7099),
-                      get_arg("https", False, False))
+        #network = BBJ(get_arg("host", "127.0.0.1"),
+        #              get_arg("port", 7099),
+        #              get_arg("https", False, False))
+        network = BBJ(https=get_arg("https", False, False))
     except URLError as e:
         # print the connection error in red
         exit("\033[0;31m%s\033[0m" % repr(e))