Jack Rusher

Former kernel hacker and Bell Labs/AT&T Researcher, currently making art and technology in Berlin.

https://jackrusher.com

Public Key

npub1s8hvkjsp07szpxfpjm4vhrvakra2ln5g4v8kn2tkgvdrfepcdl5qg5zg6y

NIP-05 Address

jack_at_berlin.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsgrmktfgqhlgpqnysed6kt3kwmp740e6y2krmf49myxx35usuxl6qpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsydpwk7

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1s8hvkjsp07szpxfpjm4vhrvakra2ln5g4v8kn2tkgvdrfepcdl5qg5zg6y

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Last Notes

2026-03-23 00:53:57 UTC

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I went the opposite way in number a few years ago: a one-arm pull-up for my 50th :) 🎂

2026-03-08 06:54:36 UTC

“The LLM generated what was described, not what was needed.”
https://blog.katanaquant.com/p/your-llm-doesnt-write-correct-code

2026-02-19 12:29:52 UTC

This c. 1325 portrait of Saint Maxima really wants to become a reaction meme.
#uffizi
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/116/097/298/712/713/020/original/0fc996e9f9ffc4e0.png

2026-02-16 11:31:42 UTC

I made a #Clojure port of this gorgeous coordinate free technique for drawing circular arc splines in PGA2D using #geometer. It will be included in the examples for the library…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m317-cYs8q4
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/116/080/083/086/067/385/original/818d20f82faa4a97.png

2026-02-05 16:17:45 UTC

Using PGA2D to illustrate using Coxeter groups to create Platonic solids via reflections.
#clojure #geometer
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/116/018/922/193/224/292/original/29fa8d147b67969b.mp4

2026-02-03 19:59:33 UTC

That feeling when you want to find the circle at the intersection of two spheres and the code is:
(cga/meet sphere1 sphere2)
;; => circle
#clojure #geometer
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/116/008/469/985/402/890/original/5e3b936576dface2.png

2026-01-19 14:36:36 UTC

Fun video, if you subscribe to a very unusual definition of fun. :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eME0sLAQQA
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/115/922/265/434/609/861/original/ed2a9036f8b1f211.png

2025-12-28 11:24:34 UTC

@npub1z8r…mrq6 if you haven’t got a muscle up before you next visit Berlin, I’ll be happy to work with you on these weight compensated rings at my place. It’s a great way to get the form dialed in 😊
(NB my form here is purposely bad to target some muscles I was rehabilitating in my left shoulder after surgery a few years ago)
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/115/796/939/035/729/749/original/199ee49eab3d68d2.mp4

2025-12-24 17:08:48 UTC

I live in Germany, have facility with the language, &c, but there are still certain common words that make me laugh. One example, from the DIY store earlier today, is “eisenware” (/eye-zen-var-uh/ literally “iron wares”, screws/washers/&c), which just sounds to my ear like the most Lord of the Rings thing outside of Tolkien.

2025-12-09 14:45:14 UTC

Does anyone in Berlin have a computer controlled knitting machine and a little time to talk about it with me? Particularly interested in repurposed machines running some variant of AYAB.

2025-12-02 08:50:05 UTC

What living my values would look like in terms of technology: running BSD or Plan9 on a modular, repairable laptop[1], carrying a minimalist phone and a dedicated camera, only SMS and Signal for messaging, only open/federated social media, Bandcamp, &c.
Ways I violate those values: Mac, iPhone, iMessage, Telegram, WhatsApp (!), still have an Instagram account (!), Spotify, &c. 😔
1. This statement from @npub1sl7…lnx3 resonates, for example, though I want RISCV rather than Cortex https://mntre.com/open-hardware.html

2025-11-13 15:40:11 UTC

Somewhere between HR Giger and a Mayan Temple, #clojure + @npub1k5u…hg3t, 2021.
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/115/543/140/669/494/251/original/f6089277d1584d07.png

2025-11-06 20:23:17 UTC

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It’s funny to hear it because it’s like 80% Romance language stuff that I can understand and 20% absolute WTF 😆

2025-11-05 11:45:52 UTC

Do I have any Gen-Z/young Millennial followers who are really into music? I have questions!

2025-09-24 12:52:35 UTC

“[T]he true Tools for Thought we still wish existed will never come from Apple, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, or any other large player in the software or hardware space. They can’t.”
https://systemstack.dev/2025/09/humane-computing/

2025-09-12 14:40:00 UTC

I need some geek emotional support. This is the day I’m letting an excellent domain name I originally registered on 2003-09-12 expire…

2025-08-11 06:41:28 UTC

“The enjoyment of one's tools is an essential ingredient of successful work.”
#DonaldKnuth

2025-08-06 08:29:33 UTC

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It’s always great fun to play music with @npub1m99…kwx6 ! A talented and sensitive player with great ears.
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/114/980/878/619/086/445/original/3123b378b21be704.jpeg

2025-08-05 16:01:53 UTC

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It has just occurred to me that this is the first gig I will play since moving to Berlin, which is somewhat surprising in retrospect because I have been playing out consistently since I was a teenager…

2025-08-04 16:23:04 UTC

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“Better late than never”, mon ami 😘

2025-07-31 13:33:10 UTC

I’ll be playing a ten minute set of improvised music at this event, in the extremely unlikely event that you are interested in that kind of thing 😊 https://mastodon.social/@flpvsk/114941509571818032

2025-07-24 19:25:40 UTC

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Are you practicing false grip pull-ups?

2025-07-18 18:02:50 UTC

Scaffolding, #clojure, 2025.
https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/114/875/548/969/105/125/original/59d31e54bf2318bd.png

2025-07-07 08:57:07 UTC

I’m making a list of maker spaces (things like 3D printer, laser cutter, CNC, hand tools, &c) in Berlin, especially focused on Kreuzberg/Neukölln/Schöneberg/Mitte. Do you have any recommendations for me?

2025-03-26 09:30:49 UTC

Some cute stack language ideas from 1970:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POP-2
/cc @npub1z8r…mrq6 @npub1868…kehq

2025-03-26 08:37:01 UTC

https://media-proxy.berlin.social/media_attachments/files/114/227/824/677/657/646/original/e7daa3893d18b117.jpeg

2025-03-23 09:02:43 UTC

(🧵 of memes we quote ~every day)
Human: We named a color after you 😊
Salmon: Cool! A shiny silvery blue?
Human: …
Salmon: Why is it pink? WHY IS IT PINK?!

2025-03-06 10:08:16 UTC

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So glad to see this! 😊 I took the pre-med anatomy and physiology courses at university because it seemed to me that, as a corporeal entity, I should try to put together the owner’s manual that didn’t come with my body. This, combined with many kinds of physical culture and a few semesters of massage school, have served me very well over the decades since.

2025-03-05 18:46:23 UTC

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I really liked these back in the day. The firmware was OpenBoot, which you could start as a Forth REPL with which to check on the hardware, &c.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Firmware

2025-02-26 13:19:10 UTC

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I did L-sits and dips between two of the big chairs in the observation car when we were on the train to Strange Loop together 😀

2025-02-21 10:31:39 UTC

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There’s a big skill component to the transfer from pull to dip. You might already be strong enough, but just haven’t found the perfect technique.
Btw I really prefer rings for muscle ups for shoulder health over the long term.

2025-02-04 10:00:02 UTC

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Re: memory neurons
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay-line_memory

2025-01-29 08:08:50 UTC

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If you want to know more about Pitts — and what happened to him — check out Dark Hero of the Information Age: In Search of Norbert Wiener The Father of Cybernetics.
(One of my mentors was very involved in these developments, was roommates with Pitts, &c, and he tells me this account is accurate.)

2025-01-28 08:04:51 UTC

Trying to figure out whether I need to give up on old fashioned linguistic rules…

2025-01-17 17:39:24 UTC

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And useful for so many things! :)

2025-01-17 17:24:12 UTC

(hilbert-curve 0 0 800 0 0 800 5)
#clojure
https://berlin.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/844/856/379/967/160/original/a8e03cec56ccf084.mp4

2025-01-10 17:03:45 UTC

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Let’s train together the next time we meet 😊

2024-12-23 16:12:17 UTC

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I’m also bummed that there’s no link to a website or an RSS feed, and that there aren't really anchors that I feel I can link to. Just a massive JS-filled download for a few paragraphs of text 😿

2024-12-23 16:02:16 UTC

“Don’t revere planning over doing. Craft’s truth emerges only through the friction of material engagement.”
This whole piece is very good.
https://ryolu.notion.site/how-to-make-something-great

2024-12-23 12:16:49 UTC

This tribute to M.C. Escher by Katsuhiro Otomo (of Akira fame) gets me every time 😍
https://berlin.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/702/090/136/340/409/original/958e6cc2e3b698a6.jpeg

2024-12-10 15:03:57 UTC

This is me today, as even the sexy new tool on the block (`uv`) cannot protect me from the absolute dumpster fire that is Python package management. How do you people live like this? https://berlin.social/@jack/113288014746839520

2024-12-09 17:24:09 UTC

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Videos from the talks are starting to appear on YouTube. Loads of cool work here from Anouk Wipprecht, building crazy techno-fashion wearables/appliances:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADLZeXsfpNk
(I think the aesthetics here would appeal to @npub1z8r…mrq6 but I don't know if there's enough bandwidth on the boat to watch a YT video right now.)

2024-10-25 14:42:48 UTC

💯 https://hachyderm.io/@uucidl/113366997444010084

2024-10-23 09:01:05 UTC

On a train to kikk (https://www.kikk.be) in Namur, Belgium. I'm hoping it reminds of good old days and nights spent at Resonate in Belgrade. Let me know if you'll be around!

2024-10-21 16:09:31 UTC

“In 3-8 years we'll have a machine with the general intelligence of an average human being. The machine will begin to educate itself with fantastic speed. In a few months it will be at genius level and a few months after that its powers will be incalculable.”
—Marvin Minsky, 1970

2024-10-18 08:03:58 UTC

This Lisp style guide from 1992 is:
1. Timeless good advice
2. Mostly not exclusive to Lisp
3. One of the best short form intros to the good parts of postmodernism a programmer could read
https://www.cs.umd.edu/~nau/cmsc421/norvig-lisp-style.pdf
https://berlin.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/327/383/390/784/175/original/ee2001743e381a0c.jpeg

2024-09-07 02:20:44 UTC

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It’s very early software, so there are bound to be some bumps along the way.

2024-09-06 14:15:52 UTC

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I have gotten distracted by many other tasks. Would you be so kind as to open an issue for documenting this?

2024-09-03 16:25:58 UTC

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Today, while walking home from picking up fresh produce from a farm share delivery point, I met two women outside my building on stilts. They amiably agreed to pose for a photo.
https://berlin.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/074/553/400/483/506/original/d6f188b951c0cd82.jpeg

2024-08-31 17:18:21 UTC

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Still happy for a doc PR after you get a nice workflow 😊

2024-08-31 17:04:26 UTC

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You can rsync over ssh 😊

2024-08-20 16:23:26 UTC

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Lem’s Cyberiad :)

2024-08-20 06:49:13 UTC

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https://ideolalia.com/essays/standing-in-the-shadow-of-giants.html

2024-08-08 14:41:43 UTC

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Later in the day, while walking home with groceries from the nearby market hall, I see two skinny 20-something lads struggling to hand transport a very tall potted plant. Once I’m close enough I see that it’s a very healthy, leafy, and productive Cannabis plant (newly legal to grow for personal use). After our paths cross, I smell it for the rest of the block.

2024-08-08 14:36:48 UTC

Periodic thread of what I think of as extremely Berlin moments:
Stopped at a red light on my bike while riding home from the gym yesterday, I hear a familiar beat slowly coming into audio focus behind me. Smiling, I look back to see a tall person of indeterminate gender piloting a speaker-laden cargo bike containing an extremely chill golden retriever. All three of us seemed to be bobbing our heads in unison to The Prodigy’s Firestarter.