A video: “Airbnb Screwed Up The Housing Market…And Is Doing Better Than Ever”

Here are key timestamps linked to significant moments in the video: 00:00:00 – Introduction: Airbnb’s Impact on the Housing Market 00:00:31 – Airbnb’s Financial Success vs. Zillow’s Failure 00:02:17 – Airbnb’s Strong Market Position and Stock Performance 00:03:25 – Airbnb’s Humble Beginnings as a Budget Alternative 00:05:05 – How Airbnb’s Growth Was Fueled by Investment … Read more

STS Türkiye 2025 Winter School Program

It has been an honor to be part of STS Türkiye for more than four years. We could not get funding on time, so lecturers paid their own tickets to come and lecture in Ankara. Thanks to the Ministry of Youth, students could stay in a beautiful guest house! Monday, February 3, 2025 12:00Arrival 13.00-14.00Lunch … Read more

EU Bans Risky AI Systems

This was curated by a Perplexity user. Here is the link to the full content. As of February 2, 2025, the European Union has enacted a ban on AI systems deemed to pose “unacceptable risks” under the EU AI Act, targeting applications like manipulative systems, social scoring, and real-time biometric identification while introducing strict enforcement … Read more

Elon Musk and the European Far Right

Elon Musk has significantly deepened his ties with far-right movements across Europe in recent months, sparking widespread political backlash and regulatory scrutiny. His interventions span multiple countries and include both direct endorsements and platform-driven amplification of extremist voices. 1. Support for Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) Musk called the AfD “the last spark of hope … Read more

Israel strikes again: “WhatsApp says journalists and civil society members were targets of Israeli spyware”

Go on and ban Deep Seek and lament about Chinese hacks. WhatsApp says journalists and civil society members were targets of Israeli spyware Messaging app said it had ‘high confidence’ some users were targeted and ‘possibly compromised’ by Paragon Solutions spyware Read here

4 European leaders in a modest dinner

  A show-of-unity meeting over the weekend when Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen hosted the prime ministers of Sweden and Norway and the president of Finland in Copenhagen for what looked like the cosiest, most relaxed dinner between world leaders ever. via  

Global Voices statement on the U.S. foreign aid freeze

Global Voices is an international community of writers, bloggers and digital activists that aim to translate and report on what is being said in citizen media worldwide. It is a non-profit project started at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School that grew out of an international bloggers’ meeting held in … Read more

A video: “How Sex Workers Predict Market Crashes”

Here are key timestamps linked to significant moments in the video: 00:00:00 – Introduction: How Sex Workers Predict Market Crashes 00:00:30 – The “Stripper Index” as an Economic Indicator 00:01:01 – Examining Past Predictions and Economic Declines 00:02:10 – Boeing, Reddit, and Trump Media Stock Volatility 00:03:38 – The Economic Theory Behind the Stripper Index … Read more

Mission completed in Munich

Our month-long sessions resulted in a workshop at CAS (LMU) last week, and in a few months, we will have a policy paper. It is time for me to get back to Istanbul.

Finally a Chinese response to the Generative AI revolution: DeepSeek

I haven’t tested much, but my first inquiries look promising. Let’s see how it goes. DeepSeek is an advanced AI model that has garnered attention for its performance and cost-effectiveness. Here’s a comprehensive overview of the pros and cons based on recent reviews. Pros of DeepSeek High Performance: DeepSeek excels in various tasks, particularly in … Read more

A weekend in Innsbruck, Austria

As a UNESCO cultural heritage site, the city was on my list for a while. As our days in Munich were about to end, we took the scenic train route to Innsbruck for a weekend. It deserves a visit with all these medieval age buildings in the old city. Here is a quick tour for … Read more

Türkiye on an arresting spree (again)

Let me just note that the Daily Sabah citations represent the government’s dominant view on these arrests and are not really journalistic at all. Ümit Özdağ, the leader of the far-right Victory Party (ZP), was recently arrested in Turkey. Here’s an overview of his situation: Arrest and Charges Özdağ was initially detained on January 20, … Read more

A video: Wikipedia donations explained

Here are key timestamps linked to significant moments in the video: 00:00:00 – Introduction: Wikipedia’s Donation Appeals 00:01:03 – Criticism of Wikipedia’s Fundraising Strategy 00:02:11 – Insight from Wikipedia’s Former Fundraising Officer 00:02:45 – Volunteer-Driven Content Creation 00:04:59 – Early History: Nupedia and Its Failure 00:06:14 – Surplus Donations and Wikipedia’s Simplicity 00:07:59 – Operational … Read more

Welcome to the Trump 2.0 -First executive orders

There will be interesting days to come. Let’s see what comes next. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on his first day back in the office, implementing significant policy changes across various areas. Here are some of the key executive orders he signed: Immigration and Border Security Trump declared a national emergency … Read more

This is a massacre! “Death toll climbs to 66 in Turkey ski resort fire”

I woke up with a sad news from Türkiye: The death toll from a fire at a hotel in Turkey’s northwestern province of Bolu has risen to 66, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced. The blaze also left 51 people injured, with one in critical condition. via The Bolu mayor said the hotel did not … Read more