Christian Göbel | Lightnews

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · 7d

This took me less than an hour based on code I had written nearly ten years ago, but trying to fix the pdf landscape issue took all night.

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · 7d

That said, the rest went flyingly. Program takes Multimarkdown script created with Scrivener, inserts citations form bibtex library, builds tex file and formats citations with the .csl file created by the LLM based on journal specifications, then produces pdf and docx files.

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · 7d

LaTeX is the final boss for LLMs. Changing a conversion script so that one table in a document is presented in landscape mode broke the machine. The output is eerily similar to how I feel when I need to do this by hand.

LLM output, model seemingly telling itself to "stop being silly" and to "focus", interspersed with gibberish.

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · 7d

LaTeX is the final boss for LLMs. Changing a conversion script so that one table in a document is presented in landscape mode broke the machine. The output is eerily similar to how I feel when I need to do this by hand.

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · 20d

Sounds like a good speech. Keeps options for cooperation open, but not at any price(“our response will be unflinching, united and proportional“); provides vision of world trade without the US, which fits the title, expresses that patience with US not honouring agreements is wearing thin.

Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 20d

Ursula von der Leyen's speech at Davos is underway now. Will she continue the conciliatory tone towards Trump her spokespeople delivered yesterday?

Judging by the title, I'd expect so: "How can we cooperate in a more contested world?"

Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 20d

Ursula von der Leyen's speech at Davos is underway now. Will she continue the conciliatory tone towards Trump her spokespeople delivered yesterday?

Judging by the title, I'd expect so: "How can we cooperate in a more contested world?"

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Dec 10

Can‘t say the writing wasn‘t on the wall.

skeet from 9 months ago: I wouldn't be surprised if the
US position in the "peace talks" is that unless Ukraine gives it access to minerals, the US will actively support Russia against Ukraine - and work out a deal with Russia to split the loot. If Ukraine accepts the deal, Europe will be responsible for enforcing it.

Elke Papelitzky @elkelitzky.bsky.social · Dec 8

My department is hiring an associate professor in contemporary Chinese politics. Come and join me in Oslo! www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Associate Professor of Chinese politics (290742) | University of Oslo

Job title: Associate Professor of Chinese politics (290742), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Tuesday, February 3, 2026

www.jobbnorge.no

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Dec 7

I absolutely agree. We have a repair network, but nothing the scale of the Barn. And non-profits for teaching specific skills. Funding is definitely an issue.

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Dec 7

It’s such a good show. How wonderful it would be if a place like that actually existed, where you not only could get things repaired, but also learn one or more crafts. The skills of the craftspeople are beyond belief.

Fergus Ryan @fergus.bsky.social · Dec 2

Our new ASPI report 'The Party’s AI' is out now. It shows how China’s LLMs, vision models and “AI+” governance architecture are hard-coding censorship and control into the future of AI.

www.aspi.org.au/repo...

Cover of ASPI’s “The Party’s AI”. A lone man stands on a road where tanks should be, but they’ve been erased, mirroring how Chinese LLMs censor sensitive images. For more, see Chapter 1.

John Paul Helveston @jhelvy.bsky.social · Nov 30

Online survey research is screwed. LLM-enabled agents can take surveys just like humans.

Here's a video I made where the Comet browser agent takes a simple survey and gets around nearly all my bot detection checks.

The crisis is here already...more in this 🧵

www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Je...

Comet browser fills out a survey with bot detection questions

YouTube video by John Helveston

www.youtube.com

Cherie Wong 王卓妍 @chercywong.bsky.social · Nov 30

While Hongkongers are mobilizing to get beds, student's textbooks, curtains, baby formulas, missing pets to survivors of the Tai Po Hung Fuk fire, western-centric discourse are quick to paint us as "backwards, unscientific, unsafe"...

and I have zero patience for this racist bs.

Yuen Chan @yuenchan.bsky.social · Nov 30

State-backed Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao has taken down an investigative report published on 28 Nov which cited industry sources saying building maintenance works effectively controlled by cartel, rife with corrupt practices in tender process, widespread cost and corner-cutting in materials.

Screenshot of a page of the Ta Kung Pao newspaper with picture of fire-hose on Wang Fung Court tower, bamboo scaffolder at work alongside Chinese text. Headline reads: Revealing dark dealings behind maintenance work scaffolding.

Wing Kuang @wingkuang.bsky.social · Nov 30

I’ve been monitoring online discussions from Hong Kong about why HKers consider blaming bamboo scaffolding is a gov spin, and I think many AUS media have got it WRONG.

They think it’s a spin NOT because they see bamboo scaffolding as a tradition that distinguishes HK from China.

Kiwi Ting @kiwiting.bsky.social · Nov 29

Multiple local new sources in Hong Kong are reporting that the police have begun arresting activists calling for independent inquiries and accountability for the Tai Po fire 😡

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Nov 29

It does make sense if you are utterly devoid of compassion and feel compelled to seize this tragedy as an opportunity to showcase your internalisation of Beijing’s fear of incipient collective action.

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Nov 26

天朝物產豐盈，無所不有，原不藉外夷貨物以通有無

Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Nov 26

China is making trade impossible – Robin Harding in FT: ‘There is nothing that China wants to import, nothing it does not believe it can make better and cheaper, nothing for which it wants to rely on foreigners a single day longer than it has to.’ www.ft.com/content/f294...

www.ft.com

Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Nov 26

China is making trade impossible – Robin Harding in FT: ‘There is nothing that China wants to import, nothing it does not believe it can make better and cheaper, nothing for which it wants to rely on foreigners a single day longer than it has to.’ www.ft.com/content/f294...

www.ft.com

Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Nov 23

📊 In this blog post, I use my visits database to look at Xi Jinping’s changing dominance seen through diplomatic patterns in MFA data: the third term really is different. sensehofstede.nl/xi-jinpings-...

Xi Jinping’s changing dominance seen through diplomatic patterns

Since Xi Jinping has begun his third term, much has been written about him delegating more responsibilities to a new crop of trusted subordinates, both domestically and abroad. This is an important de...

sensehofstede.nl

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Nov 23

Thank you for this tribute. He must have been an amazing mentor. A long time ago, I spent a whole day with him cafe-hopping in snowy Lund, and I will never forget his kindness, wisdom, brilliance and curiosity. I am very grateful for that day, and think about it often.

𝑪. 𝑫𝒂𝒂𝒆́ @christinedaae.bsky.social · Nov 23

I lied. Put your clothes back on. We’re going to talk about how there are actually female scholars within Confucianism who contributed significantly to Chinese literature, philosophy, and history, and their accomplishments are worthy of note and should be studied just as much as the men

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Nov 22

Stellar, important and painstaking work tracing China's external investments worldwide on a project-by-project level, more than 33k in total. The dataset and very good visualisations available on china.aiddata.org. Can't believe this isn't getting more attention here.

Mike Tierney @miketierneyir.bsky.social · Nov 22

Interesting conversation on China's lending and investments in the US, UK, and EU. With AidData's Brad Parks, David Culver, and Sailor Miao (all @wm.edu alums). Foreign aid nerds, see Brad's comments on U.S. now emulating China: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ZL...

Tracking China's Global Influence: A Conversation with CNN and W&M's AidData

YouTube video by William & Mary

www.youtube.com

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Nov 13

In a nutshell

Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · Nov 13

Leib Littman at CloudResearch notes that acquiescence bias is often exacerbated on some opt-in online panels typically used for consumer research, where fraudulent respondents have an incentive to say "yes" and route themselves into more surveys.

Sheena Chestnut Greitens @sheenagreitens.bsky.social · Nov 13

Delighted to share a new @carnegieendowment.org report on China’s Foreign Police Training: A Global Footprint. Over 50 entities in China have provided training to at least 138 countries, forming a major pillar of Beijing’s drive to reshape global security:
carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

China’s Foreign Police Training: A Global Footprint

New data reveal how China’s foreign police training programs have become an integral part of Beijing’s strategy to remake global security.

carnegieendowment.org

Cameron D. Campbell 康文林 @camerondcampbell.blog · Nov 11

New edited volume just dropped! Quantitative History of China: State Capacity, Institutions, and Development edited by Chen Zhiwu, myself, and Ma Debin is now able as a free PDF/ePub download. 1/2
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Quantitative History of China

This Open Access book showcases a collection of new findings concerning China's political, social, and economic history based on large historical datasets.

link.springer.com

Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · Nov 7

Independent Chinese-language film festival in US canceled after pressure campaign – Nikkei Asia: ‘said that he did not feel he was in physical danger but that the relentless messages forced him to shut down the event.’

Indie Chinese film festival in US canceled after pressure campaign

Organizer's reports of harassment echo other allegations of transnational repression

asia.nikkei.com

Christian Göbel @christiangoebel.bsky.social · Nov 6

Tang Dynasty

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