Dr. Rebecca Robinson
@rerob.bsky.social
Historian of early China @ umontreal
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
All this impending snow.
Reminds me that now we enter into the 24th of 24 micro-seasons: “Greater Cold” #大寒 - the coldest period of the year. Yet also, a period anticipating the beginning of spring and the warmth of the coming lunar new year.
[Kawase Hasui, Evening Snow at Terashima Village, 1920]
Reminds me that now we enter into the 24th of 24 micro-seasons: “Greater Cold” #大寒 - the coldest period of the year. Yet also, a period anticipating the beginning of spring and the warmth of the coming lunar new year.
[Kawase Hasui, Evening Snow at Terashima Village, 1920]
![Woodblock snowscene of Tokyo about a century ago.
Kawase Hasui, Evening Snow at Terashima Village, 1920, from Twelve Scenes of Tokyo (Tôkyô jûnidai)]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rkgmcmrlwobvdajgjmxlvfya/bafkreif4d6ed7me5yiyrd2vxlyfxrv3r6ke3mnzh6hubf5dhbsoqmwy4ji@jpeg)
January 21, 2026 at 3:55 PM
All this impending snow.
Reminds me that now we enter into the 24th of 24 micro-seasons: “Greater Cold” #大寒 - the coldest period of the year. Yet also, a period anticipating the beginning of spring and the warmth of the coming lunar new year.
[Kawase Hasui, Evening Snow at Terashima Village, 1920]
Reminds me that now we enter into the 24th of 24 micro-seasons: “Greater Cold” #大寒 - the coldest period of the year. Yet also, a period anticipating the beginning of spring and the warmth of the coming lunar new year.
[Kawase Hasui, Evening Snow at Terashima Village, 1920]
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
I promise you, GenAI is not “the bad one.” It’s just one bad one among a whole host of bad ones.
So while an emerging trend is to insist that there’s a difference between GenAI and other forms of machine learning that are called AI (and that difference is real!) it makes people think that only the former is harmful.
January 17, 2026 at 11:28 PM
I promise you, GenAI is not “the bad one.” It’s just one bad one among a whole host of bad ones.
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
Friendly reminder
December 13, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Friendly reminder
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
When the Hong Kong fire occurred, initial international media coverage focused on bamboo scaffolding. This Orientalised and exoticised the tragedy, obscuring the fact that it was not just an accident, but an outcome shaped by long-term neglect and inequality, writes @tingguowrites.bsky.social.
The Distance Between Us | Made in China Journal
A week after the devastating fire that claimed at least 159 lives in Hong Kong on 26 November, people were still queuing daily for hours until after midnight to join the mourning. As flowers, gifts, a...
madeinchinajournal.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:22 PM
When the Hong Kong fire occurred, initial international media coverage focused on bamboo scaffolding. This Orientalised and exoticised the tragedy, obscuring the fact that it was not just an accident, but an outcome shaped by long-term neglect and inequality, writes @tingguowrites.bsky.social.
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
Vulgar Marxism implies a Clean Edit Marxism, a Kidz Bop Marxism, a Marxism (Taylor's version)
(all flavors of Marxism are, according to managers, NSFW)
(all flavors of Marxism are, according to managers, NSFW)
November 25, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Vulgar Marxism implies a Clean Edit Marxism, a Kidz Bop Marxism, a Marxism (Taylor's version)
(all flavors of Marxism are, according to managers, NSFW)
(all flavors of Marxism are, according to managers, NSFW)
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
oh you’re a nihilist? name zero things that matter
October 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM
oh you’re a nihilist? name zero things that matter
There is a new Pynchon novel coming out next week and I will finish my chapter before that. There is a new Pynchon novel coming out next week and I will finish my chapter before that. There is a new Pynchon novel coming out next week and I will finish my chapter before that. There is a new Pynchon n
September 30, 2025 at 5:09 PM
There is a new Pynchon novel coming out next week and I will finish my chapter before that. There is a new Pynchon novel coming out next week and I will finish my chapter before that. There is a new Pynchon novel coming out next week and I will finish my chapter before that. There is a new Pynchon n
New office skeletons
September 16, 2025 at 8:59 PM
New office skeletons
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
Please enjoy some jellyfish
September 13, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Please enjoy some jellyfish
Academics, take a look - we are all on this list
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
September 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Academics, take a look - we are all on this list
My new academic year resolution and calendar of commitments
September 5, 2025 at 1:23 PM
My new academic year resolution and calendar of commitments
I'm rewatching Tron (1982) and I feel like all today's AI bros must have seen it and thought Dillinger was the good guy
August 31, 2025 at 12:44 AM
I'm rewatching Tron (1982) and I feel like all today's AI bros must have seen it and thought Dillinger was the good guy
This book was truly a delight. It has sausage dogs, stalker ghosts, ancient archivists, and even Pompeian penises!
August 30, 2025 at 9:46 PM
This book was truly a delight. It has sausage dogs, stalker ghosts, ancient archivists, and even Pompeian penises!
Tom Clancy's Satanic Verses
August 28, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Tom Clancy's Satanic Verses
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
“Spending as little tuition as possible on educating students, and (instead) investing in start-ups ... This is why I say the University of Chicago’s leadership and trustees run it as a tax-free technology incubator.”
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
The Crisis of the University Started Long Before Trump
The University of Chicago is in crisis. Under extraordinary financial strain, it has diminished its faculty-student ratio and hired hundreds of “lecturers”: teachers whom it pays little and whom it do...
www.compactmag.com
August 14, 2025 at 10:06 PM
“Spending as little tuition as possible on educating students, and (instead) investing in start-ups ... This is why I say the University of Chicago’s leadership and trustees run it as a tax-free technology incubator.”
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
www.compactmag.com/article/the-...
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
3 crucial roles for the university: to preserve, transmit, and create knowledge.
This isn’t an impoverished regional school – this is the University of Chicago. Devastating.
August 13, 2025 at 9:20 PM
3 crucial roles for the university: to preserve, transmit, and create knowledge.
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
The final statement by Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, written months ago in anticipation of his likely death, posted on Twitter/X by a friend. Israel assassinated him tonight along with his reporting team in an airstrike in Gaza.
August 10, 2025 at 11:39 PM
The final statement by Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, written months ago in anticipation of his likely death, posted on Twitter/X by a friend. Israel assassinated him tonight along with his reporting team in an airstrike in Gaza.
So it *does* have the depression of a PhD student after all
Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:
‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments
Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."
www.businessinsider.com
August 9, 2025 at 6:25 PM
So it *does* have the depression of a PhD student after all
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
Sharon I bloody died Sharon. Sharon they sent me to bloody heaven. Where are the bloody flames Sharon. Sharon it’s all bloody choir music up here Sharon. Sharon for fucks sake all the white is bloody blinding me up here Sharon
July 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Sharon I bloody died Sharon. Sharon they sent me to bloody heaven. Where are the bloody flames Sharon. Sharon it’s all bloody choir music up here Sharon. Sharon for fucks sake all the white is bloody blinding me up here Sharon
I feel personally attacked
July 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I feel personally attacked
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
Read books. Say no.
June 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Read books. Say no.
It doesn't always come through, but sometimes the inspiration that comes from last minute panic is *chef's kiss
June 20, 2025 at 1:12 AM
It doesn't always come through, but sometimes the inspiration that comes from last minute panic is *chef's kiss
Reposted by Dr. Rebecca Robinson
The new AF1 arriving from Qatar
May 14, 2025 at 1:11 AM
The new AF1 arriving from Qatar