November 23, 2008
November 11, 2008
"Turkish Website Blocking Statistics as of 01 November 2008
November 03, 2008
A society of informers. How Turks complain about the web?
According to an official site that is in charge of web controls, as of 1 Nov 2008, Turkish citizens filed 25.159 complaints. 12.515 were accepted. Rough translation of the graph above (counter clockwise, from the top) that demonstrates the categories of complaint: Obscenity (55,2%), peadophily (11,9), Other (0,8), gambling (5,3), prostitution (10,6), illegal drug finding help (0,4), drug abuse (0,6), encouraging suicide (2,0), betting (0,5), insulting Atatürk (12)
Index on Censorship on Internet censorship in Turkey
Index on Censorship: ‘There are more people working on censoring the Internet than developing it’
Yigal Schleifer is a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor
The successes of Harun Yahya show just how easy it is to shut down web discussion in Turkey, writes Yigal Schleifer
Turkish Internet users woke up on 24 October to find that access to Blogger, the popular blog-hosting site owned by Google, had been blocked by a court order, because of illegal material (streams of football games) found on a handful of blogs.
Continue reading "A society of informers. How Turks complain about the web?" »
October 29, 2008
Blogger ban is temporarily lifted while Turkey cannot make it to the "Top 10 Countries Censoring the Web"- yet
Top 10 Countries Censoring the Web
When the World Wide Web was created in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee (not to be confused with the Internet itself, which is the core network developed many years earlier), its main objective was to enable the free exchange of information via interlinked hypertext documents.
Almost 20 years later, that objective has been accomplished on most parts of the world, but not in all of them. Some countries are trying hard to keep an iron hand over the flow of information that takes place on the Web. Below you will find the most controversial ones. [Click the title to see who are top countries]
October 28, 2008
"The internet is changing our brains
The internet is changing our brains
More evidence, as if we needed it, that we need to make more of an effort to balance our work and personal lives.
October 26, 2008
Facebook activities against the Blogger ban!
[this post will be developed with news and more announcements...]
A facebook group against the Blogger ban (in Turkish)
Another group against censorship.
Another one:
Blogger / BlogSpot Yasağı Kalksın
A Facebook cause: Stop Internet Censorship in Turkey!.
A group I had founded:
Net freedom in Turkey!
Some related news:
Continue reading "Facebook activities against the Blogger ban!" »
October 24, 2008
Turkey is not a country to live like a civilized human...
Blogger is censored today. There is no access to Blogger accounts from Turkey....
Personally, I am now looking for an opportunity to leave this country...
World's largets blog hosting service banned in Turkey
Earthtimes (press release), UK - 4 hours ago
Ankara - A court in south-east Turkey on Friday banned Turkish internet users from accessing Blogger, the world's largest free blog hosting service.
"The First Annual Savage Minds Awarding of teh Excellents
Savage Minds, the most significant multi-authored anthropology blog starts anthropology blog awards!
The First Annual Savage Minds Awarding of teh Excellents almost has a full slate of candidates (only a couple of nominations came in by email). I’m shooting for 6 nominees in each category. We need a few more before we can move on to voting, if you aren’t already exhausted by certain other campaigns that seem to be going on, and on. Clearly we need good nominees for the Article category… get out there and read, people. And please feel free to distribute this call widely… awards will involve Pansies, and nobody wants to miss that.
And the nominees so far are:
click here to see the current nominees.
October 20, 2008
"Global Survey: Blogging journalists, two cultures collide
Global Survey: Blogging journalists, two cultures collide
In a recent survey, 200 blogging journalists from 30 different countries were interviewed about the effects of blogging on the process of journalism. According to the survey, respondents came from all sectors of the news industry; almost half worked in the newspaper industry, and one third were online-only or freelance........
Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:Why I Blog The truths of blogging are provisional, its ethos collective and messy, says Andrew Sullivan. It brings writer to reader in a way that is visceral, even brutal...
Continue reading ""Global Survey: Blogging journalists, two cultures collide" »
October 12, 2008
"Preparing the EU for the future internet
Preparing the EU for the future internet
Source: European Commission
+ Commission Communication on future networks and the internet
Full Document (PDF; 84 KB)
+ Indexing broadband performance
Full Document (PDF; 157 KB)
+ Internet of things
Full Document (PDF; 75 KB)
Continue reading ""Preparing the EU for the future internet" »
October 07, 2008
the AAA way in Open Access!
Open Access or Faux Access?
The headline on Monday’s announcement seemed impressive: “AAA Creates ‘Open Access’ to Anthropological Research.”
The announcement starts off by calling the new policy of the American Anthropological Association “a groundbreaking move” that would provide “greater access for the global social science and anthropological communities to 86 years of classic, historic research articles.” The problem, critics say, is that the emphasis should have been on the word “historic,” because those 86 years worth of articles aren’t the most recent 86 years. Rather the association will apply its new policy for its flagship journal, American Anthropologist, only 35 years after material was published. The association has created open access to the scholarship of the ’50s and ’60s.
October 04, 2008
"Chris Kelty on academic practices and the blogosphere
Money for Money and the study thereof.
Bill Maurer, of Mutual Life, Limited fame will lead a new institute at University of California, Irvine called the The Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion which has been funded in part by a $1.7 million grant from the Gates foundation. A recent workshop launched the whole thing, with lots of interesting looking panels, and some papers and pointers to more resources. For those interested in the anthropology of money,
Marc Quinn: SIREN 2008 (detail)
Statuephilia: Exhibition by Contemporary Sculptors Opens Today at the British Museum
Marc Quinn's Golden Fetish
Marc Quinn’s golden sculpture of Kate Moss has finally been made public at the British Museum as part of its Statuefilia exhibition. As expected, Quinn’s statue of Moss is in a similar pose as his bronze sculpture of the British model titled Sphinx. Apparently the golden version of Kate Moss was to be titled Siren, but has been renamed Aphrodite. According to the museum the piece is the largest gold sculpture to be made since the days of ancient Egypt. Quinn created the sculpture with over two millions dollars worth of gold. It has been suggested that the piece will earn six times that once sold.Continue reading ""Chris Kelty on academic practices and the blogosphere" »
October 03, 2008
"Principles for sound Internet policy: Internet for Everyone
Principles for sound Internet policy: Internet for Everyone
The Internet For Everyone project is a set of motherhood-grade principles for Internet access in the US; they're collecting signatories to present to Congress:
Access: Every home, business and civic institution in America must have access to a high-speed, world-class communications infrastructure.
Skype Cannot be Trusted, Period
As Salon notes in “Skype sells out to China“, the eBay-owned service has collaborated with a Chinese company to enable spying on the allegedly encrypted messages that Skype users send each other to and from, and within, China. This disgusting sellout should surprise no one.
Continue reading ""Principles for sound Internet policy: Internet for Everyone" »
September 23, 2008
Google's phone; Technorati's State of Blogosphere report...
Technorati’s State of The Blogosphere 2008 Is Out
Almost one year passed since the last State of the Blogosphere report, but the new one is finally here. Not only that, but apparently this one is bigger and more comprehensive. So big they are breaking it down in 5 parts, one released each day of this week.
The first part of the report is titled “Who Are the Bloggers?”.................
Continue reading "Google's phone; Technorati's State of Blogosphere report..." »
September 15, 2008
academia.edu
A new toy to play with.
Dr. Richard Price has just launched a website, www.academia.edu, which does two things:
- It displays academics around the world in a 'tree' format,
according to what university/department they are affiliated with.
- It enables an academic to have an easy-to-maintain academic
webpage.
September 12, 2008
"4 Ways You Can Help Free Moroccan Blogger Mohammed Erraji
Action Alert: 4 Ways You Can Help Free Moroccan Blogger Mohammed Erraji
Written by Amine on September 12, 2008 – 6:13 am -
As you may have been following through the DigiActive Twitter Feed, Moroccan blogger Mohammed Erraji was arrested last Friday, September 5th following the publication on the online news site Hespress.com of an article entitled “The King Encourages His Subject’s Dependency” (English) He was sentenced 72 hours later, in an expedited trial without assitance from a lawyer, to two years in jail and a fine of 5000MAD for “failure to uphold the respect due to the king”.
In a movement of solidarity reminiscent of the one which surrounded the campaign to help free Facebook prisonner Fouad Mourtada earlier this year, the Moroccan blogosphere was quick to mobilize and condemn the arrest. Various international organizations such as Reporters without Borders, Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and IFEX also issued statements calling for his immediate release. On Thursday September 11th, citing procedural misteps, a court in the southern city of Agadir granted him bail and he has been “provisionally released” pending his appeal trial next Tuesday.
Blogger Beware
Faster than you can say “Larry Summers,” James Otteson was gone from Yeshiva University.
The former head of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College, the intuition’s undergraduate college of liberal arts and sciences for men, resigned from his leadership position near the end of the spring semester after administrators at the university uncovered remarks viewed as sexist on his pseudonymous blog, Proportional Belief. One particularly controversial remark — which he revised — refered to “high-functioning women.” Now, following months of rumor concerning the nature of his resignation, Otteson has taken a year-long visiting professorship at Georgetown University, though he maintains a contract for a tenured full professorship with Yeshiva.
Continue reading ""4 Ways You Can Help Free Moroccan Blogger Mohammed Erraji" »
September 07, 2008
more Chrome links and more from the cyberspace...
More ‘EU controlling blogging’ outrage - a more careful analysis
Back in June there was a lot of debate on numerous blogs about a draft European Parliament Resolution by Estonian Socialist Marianne Mikko. The original draft contained some rather strong paragraphs about placing legal restrictions on blogs but, after all, the initial draft - as I argued at the time - was probably the misguided view of one MEP, and that some MEPs had proposed sensible amendments.
Continue reading "more Chrome links and more from the cyberspace..." »
September 03, 2008
Here comes the Google browser- Chrome
The launch of Google Chrome had to be rushed out last night after an employee accidentally emailed a comic book explainer to Blogoscoped. The really very excellent comic explains how Google rethought the web browser from the bottom up, starting by saying how the current browsers were designed in a different era of the web when we weren't all frequently accessing heavy, interactive applications. VIA
Last night I installed Chrome but did not feel to play with it as I was forcing myself to write for the dissertation. My current Firefox is too nice to quit honestly. The first impressions of Chrome users all seem to be good and i may change mine too but for the moment Firefox 3.0 is really good enough to beat. We will see. Before some links on Chrome, here is Ethan's post on-
Blogger “failures” in the Georgian war, and the rise of citizen propaganda
As Russia slowly pulls out of Georgia and the world of foreign policy wonks contemplates how the Olympics War will change the geopolitical map of the Caucuses, the world of citizen media is busily evaluating its (our?) own performance.
Two good friends have taken the blogosphere to task for its failures during the conflict. Rather than rise to the defense of Georgian, Russian, Ossetian and global bloggers, I wanted to take a look at their critiques and at the phenomenon of citizen media during the conflict and at the emergence of one of the interesting epiphenomena of citizen media: citizen propaganda...
August 28, 2008
"Nosemonkey interviewed: On EU blogs and Russia
Nosemonkey interviewed: On EU blogs and Russia
Believe it or not, from time to time people actually ask me for my opinion on things, rather than me just spouting out unsolicited words into the electronic ether and hoping that someone may spot them and correct my mistakes.
As such, this evening I’ll be doing the talking head thing on the BBC World Service’s World Have Your Say, trying to come up with a coherent theory about Russia’s current plans and how the rest of the world should respond. (Likely argument? Russia’s being childish and throwing a tantrum, and there’s usually two responses to tantrums: smack them or ignore them. Unfortunately, neither option’s really possible in this case.) Any suggestions much appreciated.
The Caucasus war viewed through Europe's blogs
Blogospheres are vibrating in the aftermath of the war in the Caucasus. The need to understand and debate is huge, as spin doctors have been manipulating the news on both sides
NEXT NEWS IS WRONG. YOUTUBE STATED TODAY THAT THE BAN CONTINUES; Erkan now believes only a YouTube generation can save Turkey. So far, I haven't heard a single person who defends the ban. Only after the system does not support any more those unique cases who goes to court for a ban and of course those backward-minded judges who support the unique cases...As you can see if these were particular, exceptional cases there would not be a ban. There is something more systemic.
YouTube returns after three-month ban
Access to YouTube, a popular video sharing Web site banned in early May by a controversial court decision for broadcasting videos deemed insulting to the nation's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was reinstated on Saturday night."Continue reading ""Nosemonkey interviewed: On EU blogs and Russia" »
August 27, 2008
"Has Updike's Hatred for the Web Hurt His Writing?
I am very disappointed when a respected author, scholar etc expresses his/her dislike with the web.
Updike piece will be found below. In the mean time, someone notified me of a new research network site. For the interested parties:
here, membership free until sometime.
oh boy, I am tired.
Continue reading ""Has Updike's Hatred for the Web Hurt His Writing?" »
August 26, 2008
"Yahoo! aims to be "number one" independent news source
Yahoo! aims to be "number one" independent news source
Yahoo! News may be considered as a news organization, according to Jessica Barron, director of editorial programming. Unlike online news outlets that aggregate news content from the Web, Yahoo! is not only investing in its own journalists but is also signing agreements with wire services and "traditional" sources.
found in World Watches in Awe as Beijing Olympics Close With Carnival-themed Extravaganza
Continue reading ""Yahoo! aims to be "number one" independent news source" »
August 24, 2008
"853 Websites Banned in Turkey
FT.com / World - Turkish bloggers censure the censors
By Alex Barker in Ankara and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New YorkTurkish bloggers are closing their websites to protest against courts banning dozens of mainstream sites for carrying content deemed “immoral” or insulting to Turkey’s founding father."
853 Websites Banned in Turkey
There are currently 853 Web sites banned in Turkey, including video-sharing site YouTube and dailymotion.com, placing Turkey in the league of countries such as China and Saudi Arabia, famous for restricting freedom of speech.Web sites are most often banned on grounds that they insult the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, contain vulgarity, enable gambling or promote suicide. Many sites have also been banned for crimes covered under the Internet Security Law. But a number of sites are banned for no apparent reason. The latest Web site to be banned was gundemonline.com, which was blocked by Ankara’s 11th High Criminal Court without any justification. VIA
August 18, 2008
"Web Censorship Is So Bad in Turkey That Blogs Are Shutting Themselves Down In Protest
View of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. EFE/Emilio Naranjo. found in Chinese Director Zhang Yimou Presents Dazzling Opening Ceremony at The Olympic Games
I was not aware of this campaign as my life was disrupted by Yahoo! But probably I would not hear it on time. As usual, there is also a blogger community which is reclusive in some sense and I am an outsider. I realized this in a recent Turkish blogging awards stuff. I heard about the competition when the list of candidates were released. I compared mine and others in many categories and could not know why I wasn't there. Most of blogs are in Turkish of course and blog networks are based on some sort of friendship networks. If you are not in it, then you are out. This is the same for many issues (like cinema circles) and not different in new media stuff. Otherwise, mine is known, too but only needed when they need a sample for 'English language' blogs:) Still the campaign is good though 'authorities' will only be happy to see more closed websites (!)
Web Censorship Is So Bad in Turkey That Blogs Are Shutting Themselves Down In Protest
Erick SchonfeldIt doesn’t take much to get your Website banned in Turkey. Pretty much any complaint to a lower court can get a Website blocked in the country. Websites including YouTube, DailyMotion, Alibaba, Slide.com, and some Wordpress blogs have all been banned, usually because of some purported slight to the Turkish government or Mustafa Kemal Ataturk."
148 Turkish websites in protest against government ban
This week 148 153 (the number is rising) Turkish websites are shut down as a protest against the government ban. The Turkish government blocks YouTube since January this year. And in the last few weeks various other international websites like DailyMotion are also blocked. The 148 website as listed here show this text at their frontpage:
Bu siteye erişim kendi kararıyla engellenmiştir