European Parliament Takes On Blogs (Symbolically)

By nanne

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GROWING INTERNET CENSORSHIP IN TURKEY - Eurasia Daily Monitor

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Turkish press is senselessly digging democracy’s grave

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Hahaha writing about EU through Turkish perspective is of course more exciting:p Anything anytime possible to write about:D

Seconded

By nosemonkey on Blogging

Jon Worth on the futility of being an EU-focussed blogger.

The only thing I’d say he’s missed is that the EU is also insanely boring, which makes getting up the motivation to write about it even more tricky than the minute readership and constant feeling that your few good ideas are being nicked by people who are then getting paid for it…

Remind me, why do I blog about the EU?

By Jon

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Blogger arrests reach record high

By Alisa Zykova

Currently, blogging arrests are at a record high, the BBC reports. 64 bloggers have been detained from mostly China, Egypt and Iran since 2003 according to a University of Washington annual report. In 2006-2007, the number of arrested bloggers tripled to 36.

Blogging has a "political importance", since issues include exposure of corruption, human rights violations, "suppression of protests", criticism of public policies and questioning political entities. Arrests tend to multiply during times of "political uncertainty" such as during elections.

The Bloggers Glossary

By Daniel Scocco on Blogging Basics

If you think there is a term missing just let me know and I will update the glossary.

Chris Kelty: The Cultural Significance of Free Software

By Ethan

Anthropologist Christopher Kelty is visiting Harvard from Rice, discussing his book “Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software” at the Berkman Center today. The book is an ethnography and “analytic history” of free softare, focusing on the cultural importance of the free software movement. He’s interested, in particular, in the ways that free software has “modulated” and informed other sectors, like citizen journalism.

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Bloggers to AP: You're Dead to Me

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Researchers' 'Facebook' launched

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Web 2.0 fails to produce cash

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Twitter’s Crisis: Two Questions

By Dan Gillmor

CNET: Announcing the Totally Unofficial Build a Better Twitter Contest:

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'Political Facebook' to help undecided EU voters

Yahoo!: Aiming for mobile Internet leadership

Why Brussels public affairs practitioners should be helping Google

By fhbrussels

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Academic Blogs: Purposes and Benefits?

By Maximilian Forte

In an article by Andy Guess in Inside Higher Ed titled, “Blogs and Wikis and 3D, Oh My!” (09 May, 2008), there is an interesting section featuring discussions of the nature, purposes and benefits of academic blogging, and some of the lingering suspicions that surround them. I will post a few extracts that I think are worth considering, though one may need to read the complete piece to get a greater sense of the context and a sense of who are the speakers quoted in the article.

Volokh has the characteristics of most successful academic blogs: Its contributors are scholars and experts in a given field, and they use that expertise to provide on-the-spot analysis and running commentary on issues that matter. They interact with readers who comment on posts and build on (or push against) each other’s insights. Not unlike peer review … except on a potentially wider scale, and in public.

…

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When to publish blog posts for increased popularity

By Jean Yves Chainon

Yahoo-Microsoft Drama::Takeover Tiff Best Thing to Happen to Yahoo

Microsoft made what appeared to be its last bid for Yahoo at $33 per share, and Yahoo wanted $37. Microsoft walked away.

What a weird way for this entire drama to end — if it is indeed over. Most people expect this to be a very bad week for Yahoo on Wall Street, with Silicon Alley Insider’s Henry Blodget predicting Yahoo’s stock will “drop at least to the low 20s.”

First Major U.S. Exhibition in 20 Years for Abstract Expressionism at The Jewish Museum Jackson Pollock, Convergence, 1952, oil on canvas. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.

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10 Essential Legal Points for Bloggers

By Daniel Scocco

Every day, millions of bloggers post content online. Millions more people read and comment on blogs. With all that communication, some interesting legal issues are bound to arise. This article looks at 10 major legal points that bloggers must know and offers some suggestions about how to work with them.

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Finding Balance::'Blog Till You Drop' Phenomenon Overblown; Disconnecting Is Key

In Jennifer Woodard Maderazo

The New York Times recently published a story , “In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop,” that created a lot of buzz. The story told about bloggers who were literally working themselves to death. As if it were a quickly advancing trend, the Times’ Matt Richtel declared, “a growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.” The gist: The 24/7 news cycle of bloggers is killing them......

Blogging to death

Blogosphere on fire over NY Times story

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Digital preservation: The uncertain future of saving the past

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New York Times: Blogging is Dangerous

Lightning speed replacement for Internet in near future

By Carolyn Lo

Internet & Democracy project releases study of "Iran's online public"

From the Internet & Democracy project blog...

found @ haha.nu.

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Inspiration: Fouad Mourtada is Free!

It is with great joy that we break this story.  This is a huge victory for digital activism. Thank you to all the people who supported the campaign, both online and offline!

CASABLANCA, March 18 - Fouad Mourtada was released from Oukacha Prison at approximately 8:00pm local time today, having received a royal pardon.

Continue reading ""The Cute Cat Theory" »

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While I check out my tons of emails, here are some links.

A Water Conference is taking place in Istanbul Yıldız Technical University.  Looks like it has much leftist orientation but could still be interesting....

Another campaign revolving around headscarf issue. There is an explanation in English... 

Welcome to Germany Meets Turkey - A Forum for Young Leaders. A program organized by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) and the Robert Bosch Stiftung in cooperation with the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC).

 Richard Bailey's notes from Euroblog2008:

The five minute warning

By Richard Bailey on Students

I'm at Euroblog 2008 in Brussels, with two points to make. The first was the need for SAS (short attention span) communications in education and in public relations....

Note on netiquette

By Richard Bailey on Web/Tech

The conference is called EuroBlog, so it's not surprising we're encouraged to blog live during the event (as it happened the WiFi connection wasn't consistent enough to allow me to do this.)....

Thoughts from a small island

By Richard Bailey on Academic

The title of this post pays tribute, of course, to Bill Bryson. The English Language was one striking theme of Euroblog 2008, and I recommend Bryson's biography of the language, Mother Tongue...

Continue reading "50 Most Powerful Blogs- Euroblog 2008 notes - Activities in cyberspace etc..." »

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I am off to Brussels on 12 March. I will be attending

EuroBlog 2008: Brussels March 13-15

The Euprera EuroBlog2008 Symposium, Social media and the future of PR: New ideas, new research, new business, takes place in Brussels on March 13-15.

• Programme

I am working on my presentation entitled as "Introducing New Media to new Public Relations Students". I have been investing on cybercultural issues for a while but there will be a new angle here. How new media can be integrated into educational practices.

Like all my previous trips, I am anxious. I feel better the moment I arrive. But before that there are always details to deal with and these make me exhausted. Throughout this week, I had to get up early and in addition to lecturing in three courses, i have attended two very important workshops/brainstorming sessions for new projects and one regular meeting for an ongoing project, all of which lasted more than three hours. There were the administrational stuff, trip related issues, emotional ups and downs, usual evening card tournament sessions, readings and football related high tensioned moments.

after coming from the morning workshop, before i could have a nap, my parents showed up. i am always tense when I drive with dad, and after five months i had my another small accident. well, there is not even material cost involved this time but this was a blow to my driving pride (!).

anyway, before leaving the apartment for some socially necessary engagements,  i leave you with some posts from a Public Relations focused blogger:

Continue reading "Getting ready for EuroBlog 2008..." »

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Choices for Turkey in a Digital Age

In today's Turkish Daily News, Berkman Faculty Co-Founder Jonathan Zittrain and Executive Director John Palfrey have an op-ed on choices for internet filtering and free expression that Turkey may face in the digital age.

We admit to a clear commitment: We think that a free and open Internet is, on balance, a very good thing for democratic societies.  We work closely in partnership with technology companies like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Lenovo, and others that are leading the digital revolution.  It's our view that these companies, and citizens around the world, have benefited from the lightly-regulated environment in which they have operated, for the betterment of global society.

In Turkey, the Internet has been largely free from government controls.  Free expression and innovation have found homes online, in ways that benefit culture and the economy.

But there are signs that this freedom may be nearing its end, just as the benefits to be reaped are growing.

Action Alert: Sign the Petition to Free Fouad Mourtada

What? e-petition protesting the 3 year prison sentence of Fouad Mourtada, who posted a joke profile of the Moroccan King’s brother on Facebook.
When? Now!
Where? on the Help Fouad web site at http://helpfouad.com/7437/index.html
How? go to the above URL and sign the e-petition
Why? to show the international opposition to this injustice
Who is organizing the action? The Committee to Help Fouad

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Why blog? Self-interest as motivation...

By Philip Young

An obvious question for people taking my Intro to Weblogs module is "Why blog?" The obvious answer from my perspective is "Because you get more out of it than you put in." In PR Strategy we are looking at persuasion, and recognising that self-interest is one of the most powerful forces PR can harness.

Source Camps Replication Materials

a new resource - http://replication.tacticaltech.org

Continue reading ""World wide webs: Diasporas and the international system" »

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Before the emerging technologies, check out Aslı Telli Aydemir's summary of web freedom in Turkey. unfortunately it is in Turkish...

The Language of the Nude: Four Centuries of Drawing the Human Body at the Crocker

Michel Corneille the Younger, Apollo and Thetis, n.d. 

Continue reading ""The 10 Emerging Technologies of 2008" »

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I haven't done a round up of my friends lately and i missed some of the posts. Idil had several posts on her European trip and ideas on love affairs (!), Murat and Metin turned up nearly all Americana in the mean time and here comes a piece out of blogosphere: A friend and a colleague I met recently, Barış Ursavaş, composes and sings songs as a hobby and he just released a video in Youtube and it is my turn to promote!

back to blogosphere, Jake has his Aksel now: Say Hello to Aksel Olson

"We had our first child"

And congratulations to Murat in his Amerikan Turk Post No 1000

Nice to have Jess back:

Turkey Jerky

and back again to Jake's blog. In fact, Jack is a good observer of Turkish daily lives. one should have a look at his blog regularly:

Carsi

I loved this graffiti that I noticed the other day. It combines the international symbol for anarchy with the Turkish word Çar?? (pronounced Charsha), which means “downtown” or “city center”. I thought it was hilarious.

Haha In the comments, you will see someone says what this Çarşı means. And for more Çarşı graffitti check out here.

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harvard faculty cast vote on open access

The U.S. presidential primaries in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. are not the only votes to watch today. The New York Times reports that arts and sciences faculty at Harvard are weighing in today on a proposed measure that would make all scholarly articles available for free online immediately upon publication.

Profile: Social Edge

Social Edge is the global online community where aspiring and practicing social entrepreneurs connect with others in the social benefit sector to network, learn, inspire, and share resources.

Website:
http://www.socialedge.org/

Make some noise for those who can’t be heard Great double billboard from Amnesty New Zealand.

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Ethan Zuckerman and Erkan. A high point in Erkan's cyberlife, that takes place in a traditional Turkish food restaurant.  

 Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School had organized a fantastic 2-day conference in Istanbul last week. I had attended the event as the conference liasion. I have met several great cyberactivists as well as professors affiliated with the Center. Ethan is the co-founder of Global Voices Online in addition to many other projects. I will talk about other finds from time to time...

Here is a fragment he writes from the Istanbul conference:  

"Im in Turkey this week participating in a Berkman conference on internet and democracy - its a meeting of activists from almost twenty countries, talking about ways that activists can use the internet to promote democratic movements. Many of the sessions are off the record or under Chatham Rules, to protect the identity of people speaking here. But the first speaker this morning is Sami ben Gharbia, the leader of Global Voices Advocacy and a leading Tunisian free speech advocate, and hes not exactly a shy guy. :-)  Samis presentation is on video advocacy and mashups, with a focus on advocacy in Tunisia. While Sami and other Tunisian activists have worked hard on other free speech campaigns around the world, this presentation focuses specifically on activism in Tunisia, specifically around the legislative and presidential elections of 2004 and the World Summit on Internet and Society in 2005...."

Ethan Zuckerman,

Turkey at the Edge

From Berkman Center Executive Director John Palfrey...

The people of Turkey are facing a stark choice: will they continue to have a mostly free and open Internet, or will they join the two dozen states around the world that filter the content that their citizens see?

Over the past two days, Ive been here in Turkey to talk about our new book (written by the whole OpenNet Initiative team), called Access Denied. The book describes the growth of Internet filtering around the world, from only about 2 states in 2002 to more than 2 dozen in 2007. Ive been welcomed by many serious, smart people in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, who are grappling with this issue, and to whom Ive handed over a copy of the new book the first copies Ive had my hands on.

And a huge round-up on the cyberworld:

Continue reading "Erkan meets Ethan Zuckerman and many other cool and geeky people!" »

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Internet Censorship's First Death Sentence?

Yahoo! and the future of the Internet

By Official Google blog

The openness of the Internet is what made Google -- and Yahoo! -- possible. A good idea that users find useful spreads quickly. Businesses can be created around the idea. Users benefit from constant innovation. It's what makes the Internet such an exciting place.
So Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.

Osocio blog: The poster above is made by Shepherd Farey from Obey Giant and is made for bring awareness to the Obama Campaign. The poster was available in a limited edition of 350.

Comparing Yahoo's And Microsoft's Services; Who Stays? Who Goes? We Need Your Input!

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Mert Alemdar is having trouble with an online shopping site, www.indirimtv.com

Mert is a blogger with a sound knowledge of cyberculture and his long and detailed post is worth reading.

Di's Social Orientation Class - Day 1and A little of this, a little of that

and of course a big congratulations for Di's new job:

The most delicious thing just happened ...

Jake on How I’ve Changed and An Oriental Children’s Story III

Sean Jeating'sLiterary afternoon

Jess mentions the blog party here: Back to work....

Brussels - London - Berlin - London - Brussels - London - Brussels

I’m on the road for 10 days, doing all kinds of website work and running training courses. I’ll blog when I can, but don’t expect any detailed analysis of European politics in the next few days… Plus I’m in Berlin now, my favourite city in Europe, so that makes me in a good mood at least.

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Before and After::How Google, Wikipedia Have Changed Our Lives -- For Better and Worse

A lecturer in the U.K. made headlines this month when she banned her students from using Wikipedia and Google for research assignments in her classes. The professor, Dr. Tara Brabazon, said that students “don’t come to university to learn how to Google.” I’m sure they don’t, but I can imagine the fear that the ban struck in the hearts of her students............

In If Only Women Spent Less Time Cooking

"Funny Maggi campain. Agency: Mccann Erickson, thanks to Rene for this.

Introduction to Wireless Networks

By Shirl Kennedy

Introduction to Wireless Networks (PDF; 580 KB)
Source: The Book of Wireless (O’Reilly Media)
This is a sample chapter of a new book from O’Reilly’s No Starch Press:
The Book of Wireless — A Painless Guide to Wi-Fi and Broadband Wireless

Broadband wireless networks bring us closer to the Internet’s ultimate destiny of interconnecting everyone, everywhere. But wireless networking can be a bit geeky and nerve-wracking without a proper guide. Let’s face it: Networking can be hard.

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Information overload in the Facebook-ABC presidential debates?

MANCHESTER, N.H.--It sounded like a good idea at first: let Internet users be part of, virtually speaking, the Democratic and Republican presidential debates on Saturday evening by posting comments on a special Facebook message board.

But it turned out to be one of those ideas that may be better in theory than in practice. During the East coast broadcast of the debates, Facebook users posted around 35,000 "Soundboard" messages, meaning that at perhaps 50 characters each, that's some 1.75 million characters to read during an approximately three-hour period. All of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, by contrast, is only 700,000 characters....................

In Top 10 Worst Logos: In case you can’t tell - it is a Japanese house in front of the rising sun. what else could it be?

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Watched Gimme Shelter recently. Quite powerfull stuff. Triggered a sort of nostalgia for some times I wasn't even born. Skimmed thru Hells Angels and Sonny Barger's website, too. I liked the opening scene, thought about Mick Jaggers' dance moves etc.

 I could not yet escape from a feeling of dizziness, melancholy and disappointment. A current of nostalgia undergoes this mixture of feelings. I just received a postcard from Katherine and Frederick who are now married and settled in San Diego. Although I am quite a new media person, these tangible cards have their affect on me. Hence comes the evening melancholy. I have been in my office since noon and can finally do some work on dissertation. All gone, and i am alone, having tons of coffee and planning to write more fragments. But these overwhelming feelings force me to write these first and think about those fragments later.

Well, no need to hide. The blog party had become a turning point in some of my relations. the event itself was enjoyable and i can certainly state that my most of closest friends showed up. Even the Malta collective who protested me for having a party instead of playing cards did show up in the end. However, some people, some circles en masse did not show up and did not even provide an excuse. That part was a big disappointment of which I could recover yet...

Anyway, speaking of films, by the way, Gregory's Girl (1981),  Freaks (1932), Hotaru no haka (1988), Rendition (2007), Inventing the Abbotts (1997) are some of the notable movies I watched recently. 

Continue reading "party aftermath, films, overwhelming feelings...." »

Posted by erkan at 05:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Recovering the hangover, I would say that the party was enjoyable in the last analysis.

Araf has housed another key event in my life. I celebrated my 30th birthday there and now we had the blog party. Gradually, I realized that this event was more important than an ordinary birthday celebration- in fact apart from the 30th one I never intended to have my birthday celebration. Therefore, those who promised but not showed up without an excuse will be punished severely:) [I am just planning to butcher my Facebook friend list]

It was an interesting event as most of my regular blog readers could not make it as they don't happen to live in Turkey. And those who could come, at least half of 'em have never seen the blog:p In any case, i was very delighted to see most of my closest friends were there. Erkan is grateful who could come and expecting the others for "the Millionth party" :)))

p.s. Photos will appear gradually.  

Posted by erkan at 02:29 PM |