Deb Chachra

@debcha
197 Followers
138 Following
868 Posts
Researcher and educator with abiding interests in metacognition, embodiment, and materiality. Author of HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS: INSIDE THE SYSTEMS THAT SHAPE OUR WORLD, out on Riverhead, October 2023 and Torva (UK), November 2023. Professor at a tiny engineering college. She/they.
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Deb ChachraMay 19, 2024
Shauna GMMay 19, 2024
"Infrastructure is caring at scale" - Sumana Harihareswara @brainwane kicks off the closing keynote at #PyConUS
Show threadDeb ChachraMay 19, 2024
@jessamyn @waldoj Yeah, I also know eg theatre people who have very specific opinions about light, and I certainly expect LEDs to get better on many axes, but they are already kind of amazing, including enabling new *kinds* of lighting, and it’s early days yet.
Show threadDeb ChachraMay 19, 2024
@maxfenton @waldoj I am hoping to jump straight to an EV for my next car (if I have a next car) but otherwise it would be this.
Show threadDeb ChachraMay 19, 2024
@waldoj Yeah — EVs are great to actually drive — I like them better than ICEs, with quick acceleration and regenerative braking — but it turns out that the infrastructural systems that underpin personal mobility are inherently collective WHO KNEW
Show threadDeb ChachraMay 18, 2024
@waldoj [Also as a woman whose single-car household is an urban apartment, you are correct about EVs; it’s why I still have an ICE car (as well as a subway pass and a Surly Cross Check).]
Show threadDeb ChachraMay 18, 2024
@waldoj Not quite the same but very closely related, and now nearly invisible because the transition was so successful: LEDs over incandescent lightbulbs.
Deb ChachraMay 17, 2024

@rose_alibi I was like — okay, neurons, a protein fragment, leaves, a flower, a poster…hmm.

Also a number of planes.

And, uh, a volcano.

Show threadDeb ChachraMay 16, 2024
@jessamyn The biggest thing, of course, was actually starting to seriously address the visa issue -- it was a disaster, to put it mildly.
Deb ChachraMay 16, 2024

The US Mission in India just put out this four-minute year-in-review video starring Ambassador Eric Garcetti (former LA mayor) that must be one of the single best pieces of US government social media I've ever seen -- it's charming, funny, and informative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T_hP0_446I

One year as U.S. Ambassador to India!

YouTube
Deb ChachraMay 15, 2024
I Hope This Email Finds YouMay 15, 2024
I hope this email finds you interesting in a lot of ways.