Posts by debcha@saturation.social
(DIR) Post #AR4Yyuxb8ppZYZsPo0 by debcha@saturation.social
2022-12-28T14:00:28Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Hello, Saturation folks—thanks for having me, and especially @clive for the suggestion! A very brief #intro for those who don’t know me: I’m an engineering professor, and I write and think a lot about materiality, embodiment, and metacognition. Right now I am deep in edits in a book, HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS. And for folks who do know me, an invitation and a favour—might I ask you to throw up a sentence or two about who I am and what I do? Thanks again—I’m excited to be here!
(DIR) Post #AR4Yywi4dWbKz0d2sy by debcha@saturation.social
2022-12-28T14:19:48Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
[A note: I knew that I didn’t want to try to replicate my Twitter experience on Mastodon, and a big piece of that was that I wanted to have a meaningful Local feed (and community) in addition to my personal feed. So, while I expect to make Saturation my full-time, public home in the fediverse, I’m planning on hanging out here in the Local space for at least a few weeks to get to know the community better before I migrate over my followers etc.]
(DIR) Post #Aj6jXcE8WfK6I3boKO by debcha@saturation.social
2024-06-17T15:20:07Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
I got to write about my favourite bees, and what we can learn from them about adaptive reuse, for UNTAPPED:https://www.untappedjournal.com/issues/issue-11/deb-chachra-need-more-than-fewer-better-thingsAnd thanks to @robcruickshank for the great bee photos!
(DIR) Post #AkFShluMTGxTsHJkBc by debcha@saturation.social
2024-07-24T02:40:12Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I took the train from Seattle to Vancouver a couple of weeks ago and, as we crossed the border, the Amtrak conductor said, “We are now leaving the cold, rainy Pacific Northwest and entering the warm, sunny southwest corner of Canada!” and it might be my favorite geography joke ever.
(DIR) Post #AkFSho1saIA0SAqmBM by debcha@saturation.social
2024-07-24T02:40:12Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
When I lived in Seattle it was fun to tell people that even though I had grown up in Canada, it was the farthest north I’d ever lived. And then I moved to London and it was REALLY fun to tell people I was living further north than ever before.
(DIR) Post #AkFShq6CtAoIsAtGCm by debcha@saturation.social
2024-07-24T02:40:12Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
[I grew up in Toronto, if you’re wondering.]
(DIR) Post #AoUCmwTpqPdkeNLJC4 by debcha@saturation.social
2024-11-28T00:40:13Z
2 likes, 1 repeats
I made a quilted winter cover for the AC in my living room (in lieu of taking it out), and also a very silly joke.
(DIR) Post #Av3NK9AMlQUSWOSl6m by debcha@saturation.social
2025-06-12T11:57:48Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird “But our innovation can scale and reach more people!” So can this — you’re leaving out the part about prioritizing spending as little money as possible over actually improving education.
(DIR) Post #Av3OKRzcrmE4rk9EBc by debcha@saturation.social
2025-06-12T12:09:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Ed-tech ‘innovations’ almost always remind me of that old joke, “well, we lose money on every one we sell, but we make it up in volume!” — “it’s an ineffective learning experience, but we can make it scale!”
(DIR) Post #Awcp607PvEkRszFRc8 by debcha@saturation.social
2025-07-29T12:15:34Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird @llewelly I was already predisposed to it from my own research (there is a joke that every time tech tries to revolutionize personal mobility, they end up reinventing the bus) but Steven Higashida wrote the book on it and made me an absolute convert to (free) city buses: https://www.stevenhigashide.com/better-buses-better-cities
(DIR) Post #AzCVNWcUIPJa6p1Um0 by debcha@saturation.social
2025-10-14T13:08:31Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@overholt When I went to register at my hotel, they scanned my ID and somehow their computer spat out a different surname than my actual name, the name on the ID, or the name on the reservation. “Are you also Debbie Othername?” No, what the fuck, you’re literally holding my passport? “Oh, we’re in the middle of a new system and it glitches sometimes.” Anyhow, we hope you enjoy your trip to Mars, John Underholt!
(DIR) Post #B05TGwqrJCqu6Y0ano by debcha@saturation.social
2025-11-09T15:59:45Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Also, a lot of private infrastructure networks were made public and consolidated — like both the water supply and the MTA in New York! — because they work badly as for-profit network monopolies and much better as unified networks and public services. And yes, we would be better served by building (community-owned) power plants and *then*, if we still want them, private data centres. [I wrote a whole book about this, HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS.]
(DIR) Post #B0m1WT3t6gFoQp1lI0 by debcha@saturation.social
2025-11-30T14:16:03Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird When I was working (hard!) on my book, someone said to me, “no one else cares about your book as much as you do.” And like yes! that’s the point! that’s WHY I’m pulling an all-nighter to squeeze in one last round of edits, because I notice and care and think it’s worth doing and we are all trying to bridge that gap between ourselves and others by caring and THAT IS THE POINT.
(DIR) Post #B1DDzBnmnltU18sN3w by debcha@saturation.social
2025-12-13T17:12:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Sitting here in a coffee shop mumbling to myself because neither of these. Something like AM-yeh-lance? The ‘yeh’ is _very_ short, and the ‘a’ in ‘lance’ is halfway to a short ‘e’.
(DIR) Post #B1QMPSM1D19pZQP2kS by debcha@saturation.social
2025-12-20T01:18:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird I recently moved back to Canada after a long time in the US and rediscovered Moritz Icy Squares — they are made with coconut oil and so melt at about 22C (vs ~35C for cocoa butter), which explains why they are a winter treat in Canada and why they could not easily be shipped around the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ischoklad
(DIR) Post #B1WtGmsEHLCmVZSRH6 by debcha@saturation.social
2025-12-23T04:54:34Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird Just in case you missed it, I think that you especially might appreciate that there is also a version of the book that’s geared towards younger readers. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/744291/an-immense-world-young-readers-edition-by-ed-yong-illustrated-by-rebecca-mills/[A mild disclaimer: Ed and I know each other slightly, I respect him and his work enormously, and the blurb he wrote for my own book still simultaneously humbles and uplifts me every time I come across it.]
(DIR) Post #B1vEEkWKolShSi7mEK by debcha@saturation.social
2026-01-03T22:42:37Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird You can also buy fabric markers for temporary markings — some are water-soluble but I think you want the kind that fade with light exposure. You can draw directly on the Aida cloth and then stitch over your drawing (and then the markings will disappear). Might be worth investigating?