91–100 of 106 posts
My brain jumped to "curse" and "legal recourse," not "recursion." And I'm a software developer. Hacker School seems fine. I think you guys are over thinking it.
But I agree, it sounds like a New Age retreat. Learn to be a witch at the Recurse Center.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And the verb recurse is used in the name as an adjective when we already have a perfectly good adjectival form of the word— recursive —that is also more immediately familiar. People who consider recurse an ugly back-formation (preferring to recur ) will wince, cringe, and decry the gramatical turpitude all at once. But enough criticism—here's an attempt at something constructive: How about "Recursity"? The .com addre…
Sounds like they're trying to stick to a name with more lasting weight and a sense of authority. A name like Recursity may be trendy (a portmanteau ending in the letter 'y'), but I suspect ten years from now it will look very tacky.
"We were able to get recurse.com, which is short, pronounceable, and easy to spell." And so many businesses end up with names because of this. I feel them on this. Everyone sitting around, throwing out their ideas for names, someone at their laptop checking domain registrations at the same time till something sticks.
That scene you just described happened many times over the course of the past few months :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also present this as Exhibit A for how much of a knuckle dragger most border agents are. You really do have to pick your words carefully with them as most of their job is "gut instinct" and most aren't really that well educated or informed (even as much as knowing all of the countries).
I certainly can't speak for everyone's experience with the border officials, however I'm sure that their jargon might create some difficulties for you. As far as "knowing all the countries," I've been across some borders where I've had to explain their own visas to them. For example, the type of visa and residence permit I had while I lived in China (specifically relating to multi-entry vs. single entry.) I've been h…
> tourist visa does not require a declared itinerary
FWIW, I've recently applied for a visitor visa (B1/B2) and was asked for an itinerary:
"Your travel itinerary and/or other explanation about your planned trip."
http://www.ustraveldocs.com/jp/jp-niv-typeb1b2.asp
And you need to get interviewed at the consulate. Now that I have a multi-entry visa I might be able to enter with less hassle, but I could still be asked for such details at the border.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Are there not instructors? Is there not some form of curriculum? Are members not evaluated in some way? There are no instructors, there is no curriculum, and members are not evaluated. It is not a bootcamp.
So it's like a commune?
(I haven't updated the name retroactively yet!)
I like the new name! another reason that I would consider: try to explain to the immigration office that you are going to "Hacker School" first of all, they will freak out and then ask for your student visa.
1) consular offices start with the assumption that you're going to overstay and can deny you a visa for no particular, objective reason, 2) similarly, immigration officers can deny you entry even if you have a valid visa, 3) you're not technically doing anything illegal by attending Hacker School on a tourist visa (as opposed to, say, working or attending a university).
I'm surprised that applicants volunteer such information. Why not just say you're visiting NYC as a tourist?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I certainly can't speak for everyone's experience with the border officials, however I'm sure that their jargon might create some difficulties for you. As far as "knowing all the countries," I've been across some borders where I've had to explain their own visas to them. For example, the type of visa and residence permit I had while I lived in China (specifically relating to multi-entry vs. single entry.) I've been h…
I agree with you, I don't feel that US border agents are uneducated or stupid. But in my experience, they are often rude/unpleasant/hostile. I've traveled to and transited via Japan, Canada and several European countries and never faced anything like it. > tourist visa does not require a declared itinerary FWIW, I've recently applied for a visitor visa (B1/B2) and was asked for an itinerary: "Your travel itinerary an…
I love Hacker School (the entity, not the name) but Recurse Center is a strange choice. "Recurse" does not bring to mind the word "recursion" by itself, and while "School" is a meaningful word, "Center" isn't. It has no umph as a phrase. The reason for the change is completely sound, but the new name is just a little strange to me.
We were mainly torn between choosing a name that was completely meaningless and one that was mostly meaningless, but which had some connotations to programming. We opted to do the latter. All the meaningful, descriptive names we could come up with -- like "Programming Retreat" -- are too generic and/or have the same problems as "Hacker School." (We also wanted to make sure we could get the .com, and we wanted to avoi…