Deb Chachra

@debcha.bsky.social

11656 Followers 352 Following

Engineering professor. Author of HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS (on Riverhead in the US+, on Torva in the UK+). Interested in embodiment, materiality, metacognition, and systems. All enthusiasm is 100% genuine. debcha.org

A head of iceberg lettuce, wrapped in plastic packaging which is emblazoned with a large red maple leaf and the words PRODUCT OF CANADA.
Menu listing food specials illustrated with country flags. The menu item next to the US flag is called ‘The Tariff Burger’.
Three small panels of iridescent blue stained glass, in small irregular polygons.
A stained glass panel sitting in a window. It’s made of rectangular panels of coloured glass, mimicking an old-school television test pattern.
A stained glass panel sitting in a window. It’s made of rectangular panels of coloured glass, mimicking an old-school television test pattern.
A grey tabby lying on her side on a grey ottoman. She is snoozing while bathed in coloured light, also visible on the wall behind her.
Sunken train tracks with trees on either side, dramatically lit by a sunset through clouds. In the distance, a stadium and what looks like a giant World Cup soccer ball.
A butter tart (with pecans) on a small white plate in front of a white and blue coffee mug with the text “I LOVE THE SMELL OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE MORNING” and a drawing of a suspension bridge.
Map of North America with coloured overlays showing traditional territories of indigenous/First Nations peoples.
Xerus Well-Known Member Nov 1, 2021 #310 Does anyone remember this cartoon? Two clams see a third clam with sunglasses. Clam one asks, "Who is that CLAM?" The second clam replied, "That's CLYDE. The CLEVER CLAM from CLEVELAND. Clyde took out a suitcase and a shower popped out soaking Clyde, while he started gargling soap. When the shower stopped, Clyde made a huge toothy smile. His suitcase went back to normal, and Clyde picked it up and started scooting away. Clam 2 said, "The CLYDE, he's CLEAN." And Clyde made two cute jumps and went away.
A fossil of a gingko leaf, with its characteristic fan shape, black against rough grey stone. The museum label below it reads: Ginkgo sp. ~69 MILLION YEARS AGO Late Cretaceous, Horseshoe Canyon Formation Horseshoe Canyon, Alberta ORIGINAL TMP 1984.014.0006
A grey-blue sky over grey-blue water. On the water’s edge, in the mid-ground, is a processing facility with cranes and lights. The brightest element of the scene is a light yellow pile of sulphur.
Huge tubular wind turbine components are standing on end. A crane is next to them. In the foreground are smaller components.
A rust-spotted white button on the knit collar of a black jacket. The button reads: I WILL DO MY BEST TO FUCK UP ANY BIGOT WHO FUCKS WITH YOU
Mass market paperback edition of THE SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE (in glittery, boxy grey-blue letters] by TRACY KIDDER
View of a number of totem poles inside a high-ceilinged, glass-walled atrium. Outside are trees and a blue sky.
The Doctor going into the TARDIS, flipping over a sign to read DO NOT DISTURB on his way in.
Leroy, a grey tabby cat sleeping on a grey armchair.
Four panel b&w Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. In panels 1-3, Calvin has a watering can and addressing himself to a few flowers in the ground, with increasing stridency: “SO YOU WANT SOME WATER, HUH? WELL, IVE GOT A BIG CAN OF IT HERE.” “ITS UP TO ME TO DECIDE IF YOU GET WATER OR NOT! I CONTROL YOUR FATE! YOUR VERY LIVES ARE IN MY HANDS!” “WITHOUT ME YOU'RE AS GOOD AS DEAD! WITHOUT ME, YOU DON'T....” In the fourth panel, it is pouring rain. Calvin looks nonplussed.
A tabby cat lies on a grey cushion on a black plastic chair, gazing imperiously at the camera. In the background are bookshelves and many books.
A grey tabby is asleep on her side, nestled against (and partly occluded by) the large comfortable cushions of a grey armchair.
Screenshot of Wikipedia entry for Jake Paul, timestamped 10:37 pm. The sentence “Anthony Joshua is his daddy.” is circled in blue.
A woman (Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley), in a mechanical exoskeleton (the Power Loader), in a still from the movie ALIEN.
The cutest, tiniest little round-eared rabbit you have ever seen.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a3/Escher%27s_Relativity.jpg
“Fun-size” box of Smarties, oblate spheroids of milk chocolate with pastel-coloured candy shelll, bearing a passing resemblance to M&Ms. Also a roll of Rockets, biconcave discs of deliciously chalky candy.
A large tabby cat is lying supine on a hardwood floor. An illustration of an electric guitar, in hot pink, is superimposed, so it appears that she’s playing it.
Front of a coffee bean bag Graphic with stylized line drawing of a helmeted astronaut. HALFWIT COFFEE ROASTERS windy city coffee pros being total pros so you don't have to be we got you WWW. HALFWITCOFFEE.COM
A panel from the comic book TANK GIRL: Against a backdrop of sunset in a desert, Tank Girl is pensively pulling on a pair of motorcycle boots. A voiceover panel reads: I CAN'T LET THINGS BE THIS WAY. WE CAN BE WONDERFUL. WE CAN BE MAGNIFICENT. WE CAN TURN THIS SHIT AROUND.
Line drawing of a plane, plan view, with clusters of red dots on the wingtips, tail, and central fuselage. There are no red dots on the nose, cockpit, or engines.
Before asking the question of how technology can affect democracy, I'm going to ask: What is democracy for? In a developed, post-industrial country at the start of the twenty-first century, one of the main functions of a democratic political system is to help us collectively manage living in a complex, global society. Our daily lives take place in a network of technological, socio-technical, and social systems that we barely notice, except when things go wrong.
Screenshot of an Instagram post by user Lee Ramsden. In the foreground is a golden-yellow door opening outwards; a sign reads “PANIC BAR TO OPEN”. Through the open door is visible the deck and railing of a ship. Beyond that is calm blue ocean to the horizon, and a clear blue sky. Visible in the distance are several wind turbines.
A black and white cartoon line drawing: a group of men in business attire, as well as one woman, are sitting around a conference table. The woman is looking at the man at the head of the table, who is speaking. The caption reads: "That's an excellent suggestion, Miss Triggs. Perhaps one of the men here would like to make it."
A window unit air conditioner, mostly hidden behind a small colorful quilt. The quilt is composed of colorful rectangles in the once-familiar TV test pattern.
Black and white graphic of a fist holding lightning bolts, with the words MAINTENANT OU JAMAIS! above and MAÎTRES CHEZ NOUS below.
Six prints on cream paper: a graphic image of a raised fist holding a handful of lightning bolts, under the words LA LUZ and surrounded by a rectangular border. Everything is black except the lightning bolts, which are yellow.
Sign which reads: WARNING IF YOU DON'T SCHEDULE TIME FOR MAINTENANCE, YOUR EQUIPMENT WILL SCHEDULE IT FOR YOU.
On a cluttered bookshelf, a print for the London Underground that shows a grey surface and a hellishly bright underground around the train.
A tabby cat lies on a hardwood floor, with a hot pink guitar hand-drawn over the photo so it looks like she is playing it with her paws.
Excerpted text from the piece linked in the main post, beginning with “What’s the best non-famous app you love on your phone?”
A large outdoor swimming pool, with trees in the background and high-rise towers in the distance. The scene is lit with golden pre-dawn light shading to a deep blue sky.
Two individuals are seated and gesticulating in front of a blue Book People banner. Photo by Eva Barbarossa.
Flyer for the event described at the link, including a photo of the cover of HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS and headshots of Deb and Austin.
A plate of Sunday roast including a Yorkshire pudding, pork with crackling and a baked apple (sitting atop a moun of roast potatoes and vegetables), broccoli, and a small jug of gravy.
Pink and grey flyer for the book event that reiterates the details in the text and also features circular headshots of Deb (a dark-haired smiling woman) and Austin (a dark-bearded smiling man), as well as an image of the cover of HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS.
A white fence encloses the front lawn of a white-painted house, and is entirely filled with red poppies. Neighboring brick townhomes are visible in the background.
Flyer showing the covers of the twelve non-fiction titles for the '2024 Mass Book Awards Nonfiction Longlist'.
A man in a red shirt is pointing at a watermelon surrounded by a large laboratory apparatus of some sort. The caption reads, “why is there a watermelon there?” A second man, nearly hidden by the equipment, is responding, “I’ll tell you later.” [a virtual high-five to you if you recognize the source]
A tabby cat lies on a black stereo amplifier on a bookshelf. Not visible: all the cat hair that, by now, is surely coating the electronics inside.
Glowing molecular cloud in space with many bright reddish and blueish stars.