I wanted to collect propaganda content for all sides during the war for the record. Here is what ChatGPT’s deep research found out. It looks like this is not just propaganda in the traditional sense, but a platform-native propaganda system, where states, semi-state actors, and meme producers operate within the same attention economy. How I … Read more
Two school shootings in Türkiye within 24 hours have disrupted a long-standing perception: that such violence is exceptionally rare. Some unionized teachers protested today over the first incident and the lack of adequate security for teachers, and did not attend classes. In the meantime, we have witnessed the worst today. You can find a list … Read more
Viktor Orbán’s landslide election loss in April 2026 marks the end of 16 years of illiberal rule in Hungary and is widely read as a major setback for the European far‑right and its allies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and former U.S. President Donald Trump. At the same time, the unexpectedly strong victory of Péter … Read more
Of course, if only Israel allow it… Reactions to the Iran-US-Israel Two-Week Ceasefire (April 8, 2026) Overview On April 7–8, 2026, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, announced just under two hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face devastating attacks on its … Read more
OpenClaw, a viral open-source AI agent launched in 2026, promises to control your computer autonomously—but quickly exposed major security risks. Key Insights by Merlin AI Overview of OpenClaw – OpenClaw emerged in early 2026 as a highly anticipated AI tool, capturing the attention of creators and entrepreneurs. – It was designed as an open-source software … Read more
My TV Turkish Serials Subreddit receives more than 95 thousand visits weekly, and my colleague Alper Kırklar and I decided to curate an edited volume on Turkish Television Series. The series’ global attraction is definitely unintended, but all over the world, I come across people asking me about a particular Turkish series. So here we … Read more
Claude Code Source Code Leak: What Was Revealed Reactions have been a mix of fascination, alarm, and ridicule, while Anthropic has tried to frame it as an embarrassing but contained packaging error with no user-data impact. How Anthropic Responded Anthropic confirmed the incident, saying “some internal source code” for Claude Code was leaked in an … Read more
HP’s decline under Carly Fiorina stemmed from cultural disruption, a troubled mega‑merger, and alienated employees, while its later “rebirth” under Mark Hurd shows how the same merger could succeed with disciplined execution and quieter leadership. HP before Fiorina HP evolved from a respected engineering‑driven firm with 80+ semi‑autonomous units into a bloated bureaucracy losing ground … Read more
Here comes the new episode for Thoughts on academic life There has always been self‑promotion in academia. People mailed offprints, boasted about books, dropped famous names at dinner. But the contemporary landscape is qualitatively different: platformized, metricized, gamified.[6][8] Academics now operate across multiple, interconnected arenas: Citation and profile platforms: Google Scholar, Scopus IDs, ORCID, ResearchGate, … Read more
CPJ’s 2025 record and the new wartime totals The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported in late February 2026 that 2025 was the deadliest year ever recorded for the press, with 129 journalists and media workers killed worldwide since CPJ began collecting data in 1992. According to the same report, Israel was responsible for … Read more
Key Insights by Merlin AI HISTORY OF TED TED was co-founded in 1984 by Richard Saul Worman and Harry Markx, initially as a conference focused on technology, entertainment, and design. The first TED conference featured groundbreaking demonstrations, such as early compact discs and Apple Macintosh presentations, but faced financial challenges, leading to a six-year hiatus. … Read more
Here I show up in Anadolu Agency’s YouTube documentary on social media addictions. Well, you know me, I tried to be as objective as possible, and I am always distant from technological addiction rhetoric. Here I show in a short MESAM video on data security: I am a member of the scientific committee at this … Read more
Key Insights by Merlin AI RAM Price Surge and AI Demand – RAM prices have skyrocketed, with increases as high as 314%, primarily driven by the surging demand from AI applications. – The focus has shifted from traditional DRAM to HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory), which is crucial for AI processing as it provides faster data access … Read more
When I saw this A wave of posts claimed Benjamin Netanyahu was dead. Here’s how it spread. I realized it is time to update the disinformation patterns: Disinformation and War Propaganda in the Iran-Israel-US War (As of 23 March 2026) Overview Since Operation Epic Fury began on 28 February 2026, the Iran-Israel-US conflict has generated … Read more
I saw this Politico news, EU cuts Hungary out of sensitive talks over leaking-to-Russia fears, diplomats say and I asked Perplexity to do more inquiries on this. Here is the report: The claim that “the EU is cutting Hungary out of sensitive talks over leaking‑to‑Russia fears” refers to a real, ongoing diplomatic practice, but not … Read more