Jasvir Nagra
@jasvir.bsky.social
Advisor & builder. Formerly security @dropbox, product @instart & @google, authored Surreptitious Software, TL for Caja. I love good food, fine wine & great JS.
Pinned
I Am Not U
or I ≠ U The sequel to Quines Previously, we have played with Quines: programs that print their own source code. Self-reproduction.
www.linkedin.com
Quines say "say me"
Inequ say "see me"
Self-recognizing programs that read program text & ask: "Is that… me?"
Starts as byte checks & spirals into mirror tests, regex narcissism & CS slamming an UNDECIDABLE stamp on dreams.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-am-u...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
Inequ say "see me"
Self-recognizing programs that read program text & ask: "Is that… me?"
Starts as byte checks & spirals into mirror tests, regex narcissism & CS slamming an UNDECIDABLE stamp on dreams.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-am-u...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
Quines say "say me"
Inequ say "see me"
Self-recognizing programs that read program text & ask: "Is that… me?"
Starts as byte checks & spirals into mirror tests, regex narcissism & CS slamming an UNDECIDABLE stamp on dreams.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-am-u...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
Inequ say "see me"
Self-recognizing programs that read program text & ask: "Is that… me?"
Starts as byte checks & spirals into mirror tests, regex narcissism & CS slamming an UNDECIDABLE stamp on dreams.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-am-u...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
I Am Not U
or I ≠ U The sequel to Quines Previously, we have played with Quines: programs that print their own source code. Self-reproduction.
www.linkedin.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Quines say "say me"
Inequ say "see me"
Self-recognizing programs that read program text & ask: "Is that… me?"
Starts as byte checks & spirals into mirror tests, regex narcissism & CS slamming an UNDECIDABLE stamp on dreams.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-am-u...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
Inequ say "see me"
Self-recognizing programs that read program text & ask: "Is that… me?"
Starts as byte checks & spirals into mirror tests, regex narcissism & CS slamming an UNDECIDABLE stamp on dreams.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-am-u...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
I translated Ezra Pound’s 14-word metro poem into a Perl one-liner with Unicode emoji—and it literally prints trees: a tiny experiment in what translation really preserves (spoiler: not the words).
www.linkedin.com/pulse/ezra-p...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
www.linkedin.com/pulse/ezra-p...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
Ezra Pounds Forests
In a Station of the Metro with Perl and Unicode Last week I argued that translation isn’t moving words from one language to another — it’s swapping interpreters, and admitting you can’t keep everythin...
www.linkedin.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:46 PM
I translated Ezra Pound’s 14-word metro poem into a Perl one-liner with Unicode emoji—and it literally prints trees: a tiny experiment in what translation really preserves (spoiler: not the words).
www.linkedin.com/pulse/ezra-p...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
www.linkedin.com/pulse/ezra-p...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
I didn't realize today is National Nothing Day. Unfortunately, I didn't celebrate it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
National Nothing Day - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 17, 2026 at 1:36 AM
I didn't realize today is National Nothing Day. Unfortunately, I didn't celebrate it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
I translated a nursery rhyme into JS & learnt with translating poems, you gotta choose what is load-bearing.
From nonsense poems to haiku constraints to code-poetry...
Translation: It's staged word magic + citations.
Enjoy!
www.linkedin.com/pulse/untran...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
From nonsense poems to haiku constraints to code-poetry...
Translation: It's staged word magic + citations.
Enjoy!
www.linkedin.com/pulse/untran...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
Untranslatable
Lessons from what it means to translate a nursery rhyme into JavaScript “Poetry is what gets lost in translation” — Robert Frost This quote is widely attributed to Robert Frost but the attribution its...
www.linkedin.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:54 AM
I translated a nursery rhyme into JS & learnt with translating poems, you gotta choose what is load-bearing.
From nonsense poems to haiku constraints to code-poetry...
Translation: It's staged word magic + citations.
Enjoy!
www.linkedin.com/pulse/untran...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
From nonsense poems to haiku constraints to code-poetry...
Translation: It's staged word magic + citations.
Enjoy!
www.linkedin.com/pulse/untran...
#RecursiveRhymesOnReason
Fun with JS
const _=new Proxy([],{get:(b,k)=>k=="_"?(console.log(b.join` `),b.length=0,_):(b.push(k),_)})
_.Humpty.Dumpty.sat.on.a.wall._
_.Humpty.Dumpty.had.a.great.fall._
_.All.the.kings.horses.and.all.the.kings.men._
_.could.not.put.Humpty.Dumpty.together.again._
jsfiddle.net/jnagra/vg79m...
const _=new Proxy([],{get:(b,k)=>k=="_"?(console.log(b.join` `),b.length=0,_):(b.push(k),_)})
_.Humpty.Dumpty.sat.on.a.wall._
_.Humpty.Dumpty.had.a.great.fall._
_.All.the.kings.horses.and.all.the.kings.men._
_.could.not.put.Humpty.Dumpty.together.again._
jsfiddle.net/jnagra/vg79m...
Humpty Dumpty - JSFiddle - Code Playground
JSFiddle - Test your JavaScript, CSS, HTML or CoffeeScript online with JSFiddle.
jsfiddle.net
January 7, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Fun with JS
const _=new Proxy([],{get:(b,k)=>k=="_"?(console.log(b.join` `),b.length=0,_):(b.push(k),_)})
_.Humpty.Dumpty.sat.on.a.wall._
_.Humpty.Dumpty.had.a.great.fall._
_.All.the.kings.horses.and.all.the.kings.men._
_.could.not.put.Humpty.Dumpty.together.again._
jsfiddle.net/jnagra/vg79m...
const _=new Proxy([],{get:(b,k)=>k=="_"?(console.log(b.join` `),b.length=0,_):(b.push(k),_)})
_.Humpty.Dumpty.sat.on.a.wall._
_.Humpty.Dumpty.had.a.great.fall._
_.All.the.kings.horses.and.all.the.kings.men._
_.could.not.put.Humpty.Dumpty.together.again._
jsfiddle.net/jnagra/vg79m...
Sometimes we don’t know yet, sometimes the answer doesn’t fit in the universe & sometimes we can’t ever know.
Chaos, quantum dice, uncomputable monsters, Gödel’s ceiling - knowledge has weirdly beautiful limits.
I wrote on things we cannot know: medium.com/@jasvir/know...
Enjoy!
Chaos, quantum dice, uncomputable monsters, Gödel’s ceiling - knowledge has weirdly beautiful limits.
I wrote on things we cannot know: medium.com/@jasvir/know...
Enjoy!
Know It All: A Tour of Knowledge’s Limits
There are questions we don’t know yet, questions we can’t know ever, and questions where the answer literally can’t fit inside the…
medium.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Sometimes we don’t know yet, sometimes the answer doesn’t fit in the universe & sometimes we can’t ever know.
Chaos, quantum dice, uncomputable monsters, Gödel’s ceiling - knowledge has weirdly beautiful limits.
I wrote on things we cannot know: medium.com/@jasvir/know...
Enjoy!
Chaos, quantum dice, uncomputable monsters, Gödel’s ceiling - knowledge has weirdly beautiful limits.
I wrote on things we cannot know: medium.com/@jasvir/know...
Enjoy!
Do you think Pavlov's dogs like pavlova? Or are they just conditioned to think they do?
December 25, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Do you think Pavlov's dogs like pavlova? Or are they just conditioned to think they do?
Ok this meteor shower is gorgeous. I find it oddly romantic that a comet exploded around this part of the solar system ages ago and now once a year in December as earth blazes through it, we get shiny pretty things in the sky.
#GeminidMeteorShower
#GeminidMeteorShower
December 14, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Ok this meteor shower is gorgeous. I find it oddly romantic that a comet exploded around this part of the solar system ages ago and now once a year in December as earth blazes through it, we get shiny pretty things in the sky.
#GeminidMeteorShower
#GeminidMeteorShower
A joke for vexillologists - Is the US nervous about China because it's a red flag? 🚩
December 1, 2025 at 5:38 PM
A joke for vexillologists - Is the US nervous about China because it's a red flag? 🚩
The sky is solid uniform white today! It's like they forgot to finish rendering the screen in a game.
November 30, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The sky is solid uniform white today! It's like they forgot to finish rendering the screen in a game.
Soooo... I had a weird dream about a silly made up puzzle then woke at 5am trying to think of ways to solve it. And have now spent 4hrs on it.
How's your Saturday?
How's your Saturday?
November 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Soooo... I had a weird dream about a silly made up puzzle then woke at 5am trying to think of ways to solve it. And have now spent 4hrs on it.
How's your Saturday?
How's your Saturday?
Thanksgiving feels like a good day to think about Dining Philosophers.
November 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Thanksgiving feels like a good day to think about Dining Philosophers.
I think watching the World Cup Chess this year is the first time I've remembered the passionate enthusiasm sports fans have about about whatever their game is since maybe the 1990 rugby 7s.
It's so crazy all over the place. So fun!
It's so crazy all over the place. So fun!
November 24, 2025 at 7:51 PM
I think watching the World Cup Chess this year is the first time I've remembered the passionate enthusiasm sports fans have about about whatever their game is since maybe the 1990 rugby 7s.
It's so crazy all over the place. So fun!
It's so crazy all over the place. So fun!
What's the fastest thing humans' have ever made? Is it Voyager? It's moving at such a small fraction of the speed of light.
I guess we've made torches that make photons ...that move at the speed of light. But that feels like cheating.
I guess we've made torches that make photons ...that move at the speed of light. But that feels like cheating.
November 21, 2025 at 6:14 AM
What's the fastest thing humans' have ever made? Is it Voyager? It's moving at such a small fraction of the speed of light.
I guess we've made torches that make photons ...that move at the speed of light. But that feels like cheating.
I guess we've made torches that make photons ...that move at the speed of light. But that feels like cheating.
BABA IS YOU AND UNREASONABLE
November 20, 2025 at 4:31 PM
BABA IS YOU AND UNREASONABLE
Why are so many world leaders so friggin cartoonishly evil?
And not even in a fun Pinky and the Brain way. Just slimey evil.
It might be reflecting our revealed preferences.
And not even in a fun Pinky and the Brain way. Just slimey evil.
It might be reflecting our revealed preferences.
November 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Why are so many world leaders so friggin cartoonishly evil?
And not even in a fun Pinky and the Brain way. Just slimey evil.
It might be reflecting our revealed preferences.
And not even in a fun Pinky and the Brain way. Just slimey evil.
It might be reflecting our revealed preferences.
Are you telling me the one friggin night that I, a resident of the desert that always has clear skys, has a solar flare and the northern lights in the sky happens to happen - I also have clouds and rain?!?
Universe - you're an ass.
Universe - you're an ass.
November 13, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Are you telling me the one friggin night that I, a resident of the desert that always has clear skys, has a solar flare and the northern lights in the sky happens to happen - I also have clouds and rain?!?
Universe - you're an ass.
Universe - you're an ass.
You know we just don’t talk enough about the positive aspects of pollution. Like pretty sunsets. 😛
November 12, 2025 at 1:05 AM
You know we just don’t talk enough about the positive aspects of pollution. Like pretty sunsets. 😛
Nothing i have is planned. And a lot is coming. Things are going to be messy.
I mean they've always been messy but I know it now.
I mean they've always been messy but I know it now.
October 30, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Nothing i have is planned. And a lot is coming. Things are going to be messy.
I mean they've always been messy but I know it now.
I mean they've always been messy but I know it now.
Ok yes since I got apparently recognized - I was at IIW tonight. That still doesn't make Identity cool.
October 23, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Ok yes since I got apparently recognized - I was at IIW tonight. That still doesn't make Identity cool.
Every time I think I have a handle on how awesome @racket-lang.org is, I accidentally come across something they did a lustrum ago that is even more awesome.
I think it's going to take all evening to digest how cool this is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Ha...
I think it's going to take all evening to digest how cool this is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Ha...
(sixth RacketCon): Stephen Chang and Alex Knauth -- Type Systems as Macros
YouTube video by Racket
www.youtube.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Every time I think I have a handle on how awesome @racket-lang.org is, I accidentally come across something they did a lustrum ago that is even more awesome.
I think it's going to take all evening to digest how cool this is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Ha...
I think it's going to take all evening to digest how cool this is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Ha...
I wonder how many people knew Dumbledore liked candy enough to choose it for his passwords. Near as I can tell there's ~150 candy mentioned in @harrypotter.social - that's about 8 bits. Dumbledore talks about far fewer - about 3bits.
Dumbledore - more like dumbledumb amirite?
Dumbledore - more like dumbledumb amirite?
October 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
I wonder how many people knew Dumbledore liked candy enough to choose it for his passwords. Near as I can tell there's ~150 candy mentioned in @harrypotter.social - that's about 8 bits. Dumbledore talks about far fewer - about 3bits.
Dumbledore - more like dumbledumb amirite?
Dumbledore - more like dumbledumb amirite?
I wish there was a post from Google that would explain to me, a mildly technical person, why they wrecked chromecast - was it a legal issue that forced their hand, some technical problem, incompetence - I expected it from Google but am sad to have been so right.
October 18, 2025 at 9:44 PM
I wish there was a post from Google that would explain to me, a mildly technical person, why they wrecked chromecast - was it a legal issue that forced their hand, some technical problem, incompetence - I expected it from Google but am sad to have been so right.
Every once in a while you have to ask yourself, given the nonsense, why am I here and not there.
October 17, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Every once in a while you have to ask yourself, given the nonsense, why am I here and not there.
I worry I'm just contrarian.
I worried about AGI a decade ago & now find myself groaning internally about *how* people complain about it.
Reminds me adults complaining "there's data" that "comics & calculators are making kids dumber".
At least I've learnt to be mostly quiet.
I worried about AGI a decade ago & now find myself groaning internally about *how* people complain about it.
Reminds me adults complaining "there's data" that "comics & calculators are making kids dumber".
At least I've learnt to be mostly quiet.
October 16, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I worry I'm just contrarian.
I worried about AGI a decade ago & now find myself groaning internally about *how* people complain about it.
Reminds me adults complaining "there's data" that "comics & calculators are making kids dumber".
At least I've learnt to be mostly quiet.
I worried about AGI a decade ago & now find myself groaning internally about *how* people complain about it.
Reminds me adults complaining "there's data" that "comics & calculators are making kids dumber".
At least I've learnt to be mostly quiet.