David Hsu
@dhsu.bsky.social
Professor studying cities, infrastructure, climate, energy, long bike rides, the Boston Celtics, & the drop serve. Personal account representing only me. Likes, reposts ≠ endorsements.
Last week I walked the East River waterfront in Lower Manhattan, a portion of the city I worked on in NYC government 20 years ago. Visited the new seawall, the new Seaport area, and Edison’s Pearl Street Station site on Fulton Street.
October 28, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Last week I walked the East River waterfront in Lower Manhattan, a portion of the city I worked on in NYC government 20 years ago. Visited the new seawall, the new Seaport area, and Edison’s Pearl Street Station site on Fulton Street.
If you thought it was expensive then:
October 28, 2025 at 11:53 AM
If you thought it was expensive then:
... following all of these earlier.
October 13, 2025 at 10:13 AM
... following all of these earlier.
The work winning this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is science-fiction-like-materials-wizardry, but this insight about people from one of the winners (also a UCB alumnus!) is particularly profound: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
October 8, 2025 at 7:43 PM
The work winning this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry is science-fiction-like-materials-wizardry, but this insight about people from one of the winners (also a UCB alumnus!) is particularly profound: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
Very satisfying to overhaul the bike I ride everyday. Everything wore out at once, so I replaced the front rim; tires; grips; brake pads, levers, and cables; and chain. Rides like a dream now!
September 14, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Very satisfying to overhaul the bike I ride everyday. Everything wore out at once, so I replaced the front rim; tires; grips; brake pads, levers, and cables; and chain. Rides like a dream now!
Goodbye for a couple of days.
September 9, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Goodbye for a couple of days.
One of my students just happened to be in the MIT archives when I sent it to him, and he looked up his yearbook photo:
August 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
One of my students just happened to be in the MIT archives when I sent it to him, and he looked up his yearbook photo:
A good argument for suppressing or summarizing notifications on your phone.
July 17, 2025 at 4:06 PM
A good argument for suppressing or summarizing notifications on your phone.
More Brandeis from the Adolphis Mason biography. Despite him being a member of the Boston elite in good standing, I especially enjoy when he tells them about civic engagement and political power:
May 22, 2025 at 10:17 AM
More Brandeis from the Adolphis Mason biography. Despite him being a member of the Boston elite in good standing, I especially enjoy when he tells them about civic engagement and political power:
Brandeis recognizing the need to act against legal and academic doctrines that justified and defended the interests of the powerful. Reading about then always reminds me of now:
May 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Brandeis recognizing the need to act against legal and academic doctrines that justified and defended the interests of the powerful. Reading about then always reminds me of now:
Setting the stage for Progressives (the first time):
May 21, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Setting the stage for Progressives (the first time):
The cycle of history. While reading about the 1890s in Adolphus Mason's biography of Louis Brandeis:
May 21, 2025 at 1:54 PM
The cycle of history. While reading about the 1890s in Adolphus Mason's biography of Louis Brandeis:
Sometimes I find it a bit obsequious and cheerleading -- I'd prefer more critical and sharper feedback, as my friends and family know -- but I suspect that most users like it more than I do:
April 22, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Sometimes I find it a bit obsequious and cheerleading -- I'd prefer more critical and sharper feedback, as my friends and family know -- but I suspect that most users like it more than I do:
Happy Earth Day! Celebrate our planet today as immortal, fleeting, massive, varied, mysterious, and beautiful.
Here are two pictures from a beach where I once sat and slept for a whole day, just looking; thinking about how small we are; and appreciating the warm breeze.
Here are two pictures from a beach where I once sat and slept for a whole day, just looking; thinking about how small we are; and appreciating the warm breeze.
April 22, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Happy Earth Day! Celebrate our planet today as immortal, fleeting, massive, varied, mysterious, and beautiful.
Here are two pictures from a beach where I once sat and slept for a whole day, just looking; thinking about how small we are; and appreciating the warm breeze.
Here are two pictures from a beach where I once sat and slept for a whole day, just looking; thinking about how small we are; and appreciating the warm breeze.
I documented my own personal hype cycle with ChatGPT so far after using it for coding the last few weeks.
AI might give us obscure code but only natural stupidity can choose Comic Sans.
(Base image thanks to Jeremykemp at English Wikipedia.)
AI might give us obscure code but only natural stupidity can choose Comic Sans.
(Base image thanks to Jeremykemp at English Wikipedia.)
April 17, 2025 at 8:25 PM
I documented my own personal hype cycle with ChatGPT so far after using it for coding the last few weeks.
AI might give us obscure code but only natural stupidity can choose Comic Sans.
(Base image thanks to Jeremykemp at English Wikipedia.)
AI might give us obscure code but only natural stupidity can choose Comic Sans.
(Base image thanks to Jeremykemp at English Wikipedia.)
I agree that cognitive decline does go with air pollution, and that everyone seems whackadoo. A minor caveat is that air quality has generally been getting better in the US over many years, until wildfires. This blew my mind though: www.epa.gov/clean-air-ac...
April 15, 2025 at 9:33 PM
I agree that cognitive decline does go with air pollution, and that everyone seems whackadoo. A minor caveat is that air quality has generally been getting better in the US over many years, until wildfires. This blew my mind though: www.epa.gov/clean-air-ac...
I hope that you are entertained. Is this progress?
April 14, 2025 at 7:20 PM
I hope that you are entertained. Is this progress?
My new results after a solid day of meticulous data inspection and code checking ....
April 10, 2025 at 9:53 PM
My new results after a solid day of meticulous data inspection and code checking ....
Not FTW: it is a sign that it is time to quit for the day when you inexplicably cannot get data for states that start with "W". I should have quit two hours ago for all of the progress that I haven't made.
April 10, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Not FTW: it is a sign that it is time to quit for the day when you inexplicably cannot get data for states that start with "W". I should have quit two hours ago for all of the progress that I haven't made.
These books are great but I also need to take breaks while reading them.
April 7, 2025 at 3:30 PM
These books are great but I also need to take breaks while reading them.
This is some pretty hopeful thinking ... from a week ago. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/b...
April 7, 2025 at 12:28 PM
This is some pretty hopeful thinking ... from a week ago. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/b...
At least Huntsville Utilities named the cause and effect: popular.info/p/trump-exec...
April 2, 2025 at 9:27 PM
At least Huntsville Utilities named the cause and effect: popular.info/p/trump-exec...
