Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 15/09/2026Want to make ASCII art with wild abandon? Alex Yang says to try Vim: 161
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 28/07/2026I found the podcast a couple of months ago and binged the first seven episodes. When Saul told me the next episode would be about computers, I jumped on the opportunity to sponsor it. Give it a listen: magworld.pw/episodes/com... 020
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Every order of magnitude has a quality of its own. @recurse.com alum Saul Pwanson has a podcast called Mag World to help you build intuition around orders of magnitude. 2/3 100
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 28/07/2026The computer in the Apollo spacecraft had 4K of memory, which is about four LinkedIn posts. The computer I use today has 500,000 times more memory than my first computer, which is hard to wrap my head around. 1/3 131
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockJake Lazaroff @jakelazaroff.com · 17/07/2026there is a straight line from my @recurse.com batch in 2023 to speaking in front of ~400 people—including many personal and professional heroes—at @localfirstconf.com. plus three years of learning, making friends (both online and off) and having a blog that i'm actually proud of. apply for a batch! 1427
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 17/07/202615 years + 3,000 alums later, what started as a 6-person experiment is now a community of curious, kind programmers: engineers, artists, scientists, hobbyists, all united by a love of programming. If 6 or 12 weeks to focus on what truly interests you sounds appealing, apply! www.recurse.com/apply 14918
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcockchris s @r1pvanw1nkl3.com · 20/05/2026the recurse center (@recurse.com) helped me fall back in love with programming as a tool for self expression, introduced me to dozens and dozens of kind and intelligent people, and then promptly found me a job when i needed one. and this was all free? 091
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Sorry you're having such a rough day :( 010
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcockeva khoury @evakhoury.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Happy 15th birthday to the Recurse Center < 3 0272
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 15/05/2026I've been a happy Zulip user for 13 years. It remains one of my favorite pieces of software (OSS or otherwise), and I'm thrilled to see it set up for long-term stability and success. Thank you to Tim and the rest of the team for their many years of hard work that got the project to this place. 050
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 12/05/2026We’ve kicked off our annual alum reunion, Never Graduate Week 2026! Hundreds of RC alums gather at our Brooklyn hub to give talks, run jams, collaborate on projects, and so much more. Welcome everyone and thank you for coming! Stay tuned for more across the week. 0111
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 08/05/2026Next week is one of the best weeks of the year. It's Never Graduate Week, our annual Recurse Center alumni reunion. And this year RC turns 15, so we're having a birthday bash (the cake will have electronics...). Alums: check out the full schedule and make sure to RSVP: www.recurse.com/ngw 0112
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 28/04/2026A puzzle where every piece is a phone. A joyful moment from pairing jam demos at the Recurse Center. The demo was almost thwarted by all the iPhones trying to share contact details with each other. @recurse.com 071
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 21/04/2026What's it like being an unschooler? What are the weirdest projects people have done at the Recurse Center? What surprises people about our admissions criteria? I talked with Samuel Arbesman about these questions and more. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/23Kr... YouTube: youtu.be/URxJxTu1WBY 093
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 16/04/2026Everyone's ragging on Allbirds' pivot to AI but it seems like a shoo-in to me. 010
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 16/04/202615 years in and there's still no place else like the Recurse Center. Courses are rigid and don't provide community. Founder residencies are just about building startups. Working alone is lonely. Only RC provides community, lightweight structure, and freedom to follow your curiosity. @recurse.com 0103
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 12/03/2026In 2020, the big question was when it would be safe to eat at restaurants again. Today, in the age of AI, the equivalent question is when it will be safe to use em dashes again. 120
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026Without it, you could legally download binaries of any software or email them to your friends (and the entire industry would likely look very different). That's why the Franklin has more than earned its place in our vintage computing lab at the Recurse Center (@recurse.com). 4/4 070
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026Unsurprisingly, Apple sued, and the Third Circuit ruled in their favor. This case (Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp) is still the foundation of US copyright for compiled software. 3/4 181
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026They could do this because it wasn't yet clear if you could copyright compiled binaries. After all, a binary is just a bunch of 1s and 0s, basically math, and you can't copyright math! (Source code was already established as being copyrightable.) 2/4 160
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 04/03/2026This computer is the reason you can't download all software for free. The Franklin Computer Corp was a computer manufacturer founded in the early 1980s. Their flagship product was a clone of the Apple II, one of the most popular personal computers of the day. 1/4 1214
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 16/01/2026Conspiracy theory: Banks and airlines discovered LLMs years ago and this explains their captchas. 140
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 15/01/2026"How did you spend your time off of work?" If you're lucky enough to have a chunk of time when you don't need a job, you want to make it count. Come learn how three Recuse Center alums chose to spend their time off. How to Make Your Time Off Count: luma.com/zfhxstgy 056
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 14/01/2026Someone really should write this and then never change it. 220
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 13/01/2026"Choosing learning over autopilot" A thoughtful, a concrete approach to coding rigorously with LLMs by an RC alum now at Netflix: anniecherkaev.com/choosing-lea... 061
Reposted by Nick Bergson-Shilcocknolen @itseieio.bsky.social · 13/01/2026unicode braille characters are 2x4 rectangles of dots where you can arbitrarily set any of the dots. That's 8x the pixels you normally get in the terminal! anyway here's a proof of concept terminal SVG renderer using unicode braille: 516321
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockHenry @henryfellerhoff.com · 08/01/2026Wrote about being halfway through the recurse center, beyblades, and bad musical instruments: www.henryfellerhoff.com/blog/halfway...henryfellerhoff.comHalfway through the Recurse CenterThe last six weeks have gone by in a flash - here's what I've been working on! 031
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockPeter Bhat Harkins ✔️ @push.cx · 08/01/2026Heh, sounds delightful. I had a very fun moment at Recurse Center where I was showing code to someone to discuss. He leaned in to look closer, “Is that Inconsolata?” and I said “Yeah, wow, good eye” and he said “I made it.” 071
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 08/01/2026What companies (in any domain) have done the following? Around for decades Profitable and growing Privately held, run by founders Expanded into new areas while maintaining a core mission Maintained positive, good brand Punch above their weight 410
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 06/01/2026Tech hiring in 2021: Awesome, this candidate is an 8/10. Let's hire! Tech hiring now: Unfortunately, this candidate is a 9/10. We'll pass. 020
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 18/12/2025We very much welcome current profs at RC! We've had several professors do RC and return to their day jobs. Happy to answer any questions you have! 020
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockMax @maxbittker.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Nice handle @recurse.com 092
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockJustin @just-be.dev · 03/12/2025@recurse.com's local host last night was awesome. Great talks, wonderful company. Frederic Kettelhoit's Komucha lang (github.com/fkettelhoit/...) was particularly inspirational. Love me a lang with an effect system.github.comGitHub - fkettelhoit/kombucha: Minimal & malleable language for symbiotic end-user programmingMinimal & malleable language for symbiotic end-user programming - fkettelhoit/kombucha 0132
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 20/11/2025you're telling me a duck typed this code? 2365
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 12/11/2025New Yorkers hate dogs 🚫🐕 (we have the data) It's pairing jam day at RC and Chris, Brittney, Wilson, and Tajairi made a 311 noise complaint heat map of NYC. 151
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 16/10/2025🌱 Interested in coming to RC? Have any burning questions? Join us to learn more about what attending is like! You'll get to ask questions and hear directly from faculty and current Recursers about their experiences. We’re hosting an info session on Tues, Oct 21 at 5:15 ET. ⬇️ 143
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockFractal Kitty @fractalkitty.com · 10/10/2025A fellow Recurser, Ivan Savov, just finished a book on Stats and has a post on it with some freebies: minireference.com/blog/noBSsta... #stats #recurseCenter #RC #mathminireference.comNo Bullshit Guide to Statistics prerelease – Minireference blog 072
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 16/09/2025🟢 This month we held Breakpoint: An Evening of Projects and Demos! 10 Recursers and alums demo'ed their work, including games, camera-based apps that read your feelings and scramble your face, a NY shadow-henge finder, a Chinese idiom finder, a fractal painter, custom programming language, & more! 2182
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 16/09/2025📝 Interested in applying to RC? Join us to learn & ask questions about what attending is like: spending 6 or 12 weeks sharpening your programming skills and following what excites you in a collaborative community! We’re hosting an info session Mon, Oct 6th from 12:30-1pm ET RSVP: luma.com/mn3kjnkjluma.comRecurse Center Info Session · Zoom · LumaThinking about applying to a Recurse Center (RC) batch? If you want to spend 6 or 12 weeks building what excites you (compilers! games! languages! research!… 066
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 22/08/2025🦠Watch Peter Whidden's first public talk on Mote: an interactive ecosystem simulation! Mote uses a custom GPU-based physics engine to model hundreds of thousands of organisms, leading to fascinating emergent phenomena: a sandbox that is part game, part research. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hju0...youtube.comLocalhost: Peter Whidden's Mote: An Interactive Ecosystem SimulationYouTube video by Recurse Center 3319
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 25/08/2025Thinking about applying to a Recurse Center (RC) batch? If you want to spend 6 or 12 weeks building what excites you (compilers! games! languages! research! machine learning! art!) within a community of thoughtful, curious peers, come join our info session this Thursday! lu.ma/86a0fqdnlu.maRecurse Center Info Session · Zoom · LumaThinking about applying to a Recurse Center (RC) batch? If you want to spend 6 or 12 weeks building what excites you (compilers! games! languages! research!… 01210
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockBrianna @mc.horse · 24/07/2025This is a thoughtful post that echoes conversations I've had IRL with colleagues and friends. Also: "You should use AI-powered tools to complement or increase your agency, not replace it." ^ This is where I've landed for my own work so far.. Should help me do & think *more* deeply, not less. 162
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 23/07/2025We spent two months talking with RC alums and thinking deeply about how LLMs are changing programming and learning. Here’s what we learned, and how we're currently thinking about AI at RC: t.co/ddFj486ch8t.cohttps://www.recurse.com/blog/191-developing-our-position-on-ai 01611
Nick Bergson-Shilcock @nicholasbs.bsky.social · 18/07/2025This is one of my favorite projects anyone has ever done at RC. 1110
Reposted by Nick Bergson-ShilcockRecurse Center @recurse.com · 18/07/2025Join us on August 13 for Localhost! 🦠 Peter Whidden will present Mote, an interactive ecosystem simulation with hundreds of thousands of organisms. His custom GPU physics engine models many simple behaviors at a massive scale, producing fascinating emergent phenomena. RSVP below ⬇️ 632251
