Jack Rusher

Late blooming child prodigy. Ex-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

2026-09-08 13:53:50 UTC

It’s disgusting how hard it is to give decent UX for embedded YouTube videos without also exposing every user (whether or not they watch the video) to fingerprinting and tracking cookies. I’m going to need to change how I link to external videos on my website…

2026-07-10 08:01:01 UTC

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Fantastic work! What’s the situation with hardware support for audio interfaces under Linux/Wine these days?

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.