My Sunday morning appearance at Habertürk TV on AI

It is in Turkish but here is a long summary in English: Short Summary for Where Is Artificial Intelligence Going? by Merlin The Future of Artificial Intelligence: Insights from Erkan Saka, Bilgi University Professor, on Artificial Intelligence Advancements 00:05 How Artificial Intelligence is impacting recruitment 01:44 AI limited in managing human emotions and human resources … Read more

Strange times. Bahçeli invited Öcalan to the Turkish Parliament.

A new Kurdish peace process is on the way. MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) leader Devlet Bahçeli made some significant statements about PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan during his party’s group meeting today. Here are the key points: Bahçeli called for Öcalan’s isolation conditions to be lifted, suggesting that Öcalan could speak in the Turkish Grand National … Read more

End of an era: Fethullah Gülen passed away

After a long self-exile in the US, pro-Gülenists sources stated that Fethullah Gülen was dead. His massive global movement has already been crushed in the post-2016 coup attempt. Still, there are many followers all around the world. If his movement did not get in a fight with Erdoğan, his funeral would be greeted by millions. … Read more

A four-year-old video: “The Story of Elon Musk”

Before he became more jerky (!) 00:04 Elon Musk’s Early Life and Intellectual Curiosity 01:44 Elon Musk’s early entrepreneurial ventures and work ethic 03:20 Elon Musk focused on bigger visions beyond PayPal. 05:03 Elon Musk’s challenges with personal and professional setbacks. 06:46 SpaceX’s fourth rocket launch attempt saved the company from bankruptcy 08:27 Elon Musk … Read more

Among all the assassinations, Israel might have created a new hero in Yahya Sinwar’s person

I see on Tiktok several promotional videos. He was killed while fighting to the last moment. Israeli soldiers released initial footage probably to humiliate him, but the narrative is built quickly to transform him into a hero.  He did not have a broad appeal, but he may have had one gradually. But probably for a … Read more

A new “Kurdish Peace Process”?

The unthinkable happened, and the nationalist MHP leader shook hands with DEM deputies. I suspect that after the Sinan Ateş murder, MHP was blackmailed into accepting a possible rapprochement. This may, in turn, be related to new constitution debates. A new constitution may allow Erdoğan to be elected president again. An ‘event’ and afterwards: The handshake … Read more

A municipality talk, a Youtube video appearance

I was invited to a talk at Fatih Municipality: Prof. Dr. Erkan Saka talked about the transformative effect of artificial intelligence technologies on individuals and the importance of artificial intelligence literacy in the “Artificial Intelligence Talks” program held at Neslişah Sultan Cultural Center. link I commented on “social media addiction” and proposed media literacy, etc … Read more

This is a new low: A gang that exploited medical malpractice related to newborn care (Yenidoğanlar Çetesi)

I prefer not to look at the related news closely as it is quite a heartbreaking case, but here are the key points about the allegations: Criminal Organization: A group of doctors, nurses, and 112 Emergency Call Center employees allegedly formed a criminal organization to exploit newborn patients for financial gain[1][2]. Patient Transfers: The group … Read more

Reşad Ekrem Koçu’s Istanbul Encyclopedia is now online!

http://istanbulansiklopedisi.org is live – The website brings together the printed volumes of Reşad Ekrem Koçu‘s unfinished #İstanbulAnsiklopedisi and archival documents made accessible for the first time. Check out the site here

Letter from the Internet Archive: “Update: Cyberattacks on the Internet Archive”

One of the Internet’s best goodies was under attack recently. Here is a letter from them: On Tuesday, October 8th, the Internet Archive began experiencing a multi-approach cyberattack across several fronts, which interrupted access to our digital library. Our main priority is keeping our archived data safe, though at the expense of service availability. As a result, … Read more

Turkish authorities revoke Açık Radio’s licence. #AcıkRadyoSusturulamaz

Nationalist hysteria has led to the license revocation of one of Turkey’s best examples of community radio. I am really sad. Açık Radyo was a pioneer in climate crisis-related broadcasting in the country. Here is a roundup: Turkey fined Açık Radyo and imposed sanctions on the station due to statements made during a broadcast of their program “Açık … Read more

German Foreign Baerbock was close to justify indiscriminate killing of civilians

Some explicitly accused her; I feel like even if she did not intend to do that, given the context and number of civilian casualties, she is giving support to the Israeli army’s massacres. Here is a Perplexity summary: Baerbock has consistently reaffirmed Germany’s support for Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas[1][2]. She has stated that … Read more

A video: “Google vs. Google: The internal struggle holding back its AI”

Mar 2, 2024 #CNBC #CNBCTV Instead of a comeback, Google’s Gemini AI chatbot and image generator have gone viral for all the wrong reasons – producing inaccurate and offensive responses. The missteps have put Google back on the defensive in the AI race. But the bigger question around Gemini’s roll out is whether it underscores … Read more

Another Turkish contribution to economic thought: Taxing over Credit Card Limits

A strange new tax is on the agenda: The Turkish government has recently proposed a new bill that includes several measures to raise funds for the country’s defense industry. One of the key aspects of this proposal is a new tax on credit cards with high spending limits. Here’s what we know about this specific … Read more

Israel attacks UN (UNIFIL) continue

  Showing no respect for the civilized international order, destroying Western moral superiority as fast as possible… Recent Attacks on UN Peacekeepers Israeli forces have targeted the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters and positions multiple times in recent days: On Thursday, Israeli tank fire struck a UNIFIL observation tower, injuring two Indonesian … Read more