Erkan 15 Eylül’de “Pecha Kucha Night Istanbul Vol.11’de konuşmacılardan biri olacak…

11.si yapılacak etkinliğin teması Oyunlar ve Politika olacak. Ben son konuşmacı olarak internet ve siyaset üzerine bir sunum yapacağım… Etkinliğin ana sayfası burada. İngilizce tanıtım şöyle: On September 15, 2011, Pecha Kucha Night Istanbul will be on stage 11th time. Theme of the Night, ‘Who Rules the World? Games and Politics’ is chosen because Pecha … Read more

More details on Erdoğan’s New Istanbul plan…

It looks like there is yet another expansion on the Anatolian side of Istanbul towards Black Sea… Huge urban developments plans… Details in Turkish here. On Sunday there will be a local festival in again Anatolian side, Kadıköy and Üsküdar, some roads will be closed, so better to stay away from traffic until afternoon… More … Read more

istanbul is cool but hard to live… news roundup

Melbourne tops liveable city list, İstanbul 109th Hotel prices: The rising cost of a night in Istanbul | The Economist Best of Dutch design to dazzle İstanbul Multi-author book on Istanbul explores city from Hurriyet Dailynews by ANKARA – Anatolia News Agency A new book titled ?Istanbul in World Literature,? once again reveals how Istanbul … Read more

let’s see what happens after Bayram. Beyoğlu cafes still without open-air tables…

I hear there are negotiations between the municipality and show owners. the former tending to allow 70 cm length-tables, a rumor. In the above picture an employee of Urban Cafe at Beyoğlu making fun of the municipal intervention. There will probably be more and more creative protests against the gross mistake of Beyoğlu Municipality… (The … Read more

last day of Ramazan to end in a few minutes

via Some of my old time readers may know that although I am not a very religious person, I actually fast during Ramazan. This is a ritual that is definitely not my favorite. It is particularly difficult not because of 16 hours of not drinking, eating (and no sex) (hours actually change, it is the … Read more

Turks goes to holiday/Bayram

This is a view (via) from the highway that leads to the Second Bosphorus Bridge. As people begin to leave Istanbul, they will be stuck in traffic for ages now -it is reported that there is a 15 km queue in the highway now- and unfortunate news of fatal traffic accidents will flow.. It has … Read more

The Telegraph’s Istanbul guide and more Istanbul news…

  Istanbul city break guide Telegraph.co.uk An essential guide to Istanbul, Turkey, including insider’s advice on the city’s best hotels, attractions, bars, shops and restaurants from our expert, Terry Richardson. Without a shadow of a doubt, Istanbul ? like London, New York or Paris ? is one of “Istanbul” becomes most popular name for newborn … Read more

Turkish soccer in chaos

since yesterday,  I hear news and rumors flowing about soccer in Turkey.First, there is this strange playoff system added to Super League. This evening big news arrive: Fenerbahce Banned From Champions League Amid Match-Fix Investigation And a few minutes ago I heard that Trabzonspor Will Replace Fenerbahce In UEFA Champions League Group … There is … Read more

Mark Hansen’s “New philosophy for new media”

Mark Hansen’s New philosophy for new media is one of the enlightening books I have recently read on new media. I am not too knowledgeable on digital art and thus I have had difficulties to grasp all the arguments all over the book but its introduction may give you clues about thinking new media from … Read more

Bir sansür de Radikal editörlerinden geldi…

Geçen hafta sorularına verdiğim cevapları yayınlamayan UHIM’den bahsetmiştim. “islamcılar”dan sonra “liberaller”den de bir “sansür” yedim. Sevgili Ecem’in haberinde sanırım editörlerin kırpışına kurban gitti söylediklerim. Haber burada: Medyada ‘Rambo Gazeteciliği‘ Çoğu zaten arkadaşım olan hocalarımın söylediklerine bir sözüm yok. Söylediklerinin altına imzamı atarım. Ben yalnızca farklı ve biraz riskli bir yerden bakmak istedim: Sokaktaki insanda son … Read more

From Alsancak, İzmir to Bandırma, Balıkesir

I had missed train journeys. I am about to finish a six-hour train journey… I did not have much time to write about my fast-paced travels… When I get back to Istanbul there is too much to write in fact… not about my travels but about Turkey’s political agenda… This route is car route not … Read more

Mette Hjort, Scott MacKenzie’s edited volume: “Cinema and Nation”

One of the free readings books I am on. I am not working on these issues right now but i like to read about them. So this fits just fine. I am in the middle of it, but i enjoyed reading the first articles and just to note: FRAMING NATIONAL CINEMAS Susan Hayward. This articles seems … Read more

On the road. From İstanbul to Bandırma and to Bursa… Some thoughts on the way…

I have yet started another trip. Not a road trip though. I took the IDO ferry from Istanbul to Bandırma. I have met friends in Bandırma, spent lots of time in several cafes and in the evening we went to Erdek as most Bandırma residents do. Erdek is a lovely  seaside town half an hour … Read more

UHIM denen bir NGO’nun saçma “Sosyal Paylaşım Siteleri Soruşturması” üzerine

Uluslararası Hak İhlalleri Merkezi şeklinde iddialı bir isimle ortaya çıkmış oluşum, Sosyal Paylaşım sitelerine soruşturmasına biraz “old school” denebilecek bir alıntıyla başlamış. Sanırım kalkış noktalarını beğenmediğimi belirttiğim cevaplarımı raporlarına koymaya gerek görmemişler, ben de saçma deme hakkımı kullanıyorum. Rapor şuradan indirilebilir. Cevabı yayınlanmış sevdiğim insanlara sözüm yok tabi. Ama tipik islamcı tarzının altını da çizeyim … Read more

Erkan’s Field Diary silently passes through 1 million visits…

Since 12 June 2005, i have been using Sitemeter in my blog and according to that counter, I have finally passed 1 million visits. You know we celebrated this six months ago with the pressure of some friends, but now we actually passed the number. There are several ways of counting web traffic, and I … Read more