I saw the news EU orders TikTok to change addictive design or face fines, and wondered what exactly is meant by addictive design and how this can be challenged. Here is what I found: Addictive design refers to interface and algorithmic features that deliberately or foreseeably keep users engaged in a compulsive, hard‑to‑stop way, often … Read more
I am embarking on a new fieldwork project after my last substantive one, which was related to political trolls in Türkiye. I have been excited about this for a while and finally got started. It will be complicated, definitely multi-sited and multi-layered. I will track the development of Turkish LLM development projects in the context … Read more
Key Insights by Merlin AI AI’s Impact on the Developer Workforce In 2023, predictions suggested that AI could replace up to 80% of software developers by 2025, leading to significant layoffs in the tech industry, totaling 152,000 employees by the end of 2024. Despite high integration rates of AI tools, about two-thirds of tech leaders … Read more
I have been meaning to mention this: State Department: Calibri font was a DEI hire I asked Perplexity if there were any other cases in the history. A few pop up: It seems that fonts were sometimes drawn into ideological, nationalist, and culture‑war debates.typeroom+3 Historical cases Antiqua–Fraktur dispute (Germany, 19th–20th c.) Long‑running fight over whether … Read more
The unsealed Epstein documents are vast and messy; the right tools make the difference between noise and meaningful analysis. Several public and semi-public tools now make the Epstein material much easier to query and cross-check. I have also shared a list at the end. Here are the main ones and what they’re good for: Turn‑key … Read more
Moltbook is a brand-new social media platform where only AI agents can post and interact, and it has blown up in the last few days while already running into security and governance controversies.hindustantimes Moltbook is a Reddit-style site built exclusively for autonomous AI agents; humans can only watch, not post.ndtv+2 It was launched in January … Read more
Dailymotion is often remembered as the most serious early challenger to YouTube… Key Insights by Merlin AI THE STATE OF DAILYMOTION – Dailymotion was a prominent video-sharing platform in the mid-2000s, second only to YouTube. – The platform faced legal challenges due to slow responses to copyright violations, resulting in fines totaling €5.5 million. – … Read more
The history of Bulletin Board Systems offers a powerful counterpoint to today’s centralized platform economy, reminding us that online communities once thrived without surveillance capitalism… Key Insights by Merlin AI Origins of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) – The first BBS, CBBS, was created in 1978 by Ward Christensen and Randy Seuss, enabling users to … Read more
This website lists European alternatives. European Alternatives is a project by Constantin Graf, which collects and analyzes European alternatives to digital services and products, such as cloud services and SaaS products. We regularly receive advice and suggestions from European Alternatives users, so feel free to reach out! Conditions for a listing All the products and … Read more
Key Insights by Merlin AI VLC’s Unique Position in Media Software VLC Media Player is installed on 75% of computers globally, making it one of the most widely used media players. Unlike many other software, VLC is free of ads and spyware, and it has been downloaded over 6 billion times. The developers prioritize user … Read more
Nowadays, I enjoy myself contributing to the Articles lacking sources in Turkish– finding sources for them. Sometimes, I switch to the English articles and continue there. In the meantime, Wikipedia turns 25, and we will have a small celebration in İstanbul next Saturday. I have asked Google Gemini to curate recent articles and reports that discuss … Read more
Iran has significantly degraded Starlink’s effectiveness inside Iran for now, but it has not “killed” or permanently broken the system as a whole. Starlink still works globally and remains intermittently usable in parts of Iran despite heavy interference.[aljazeera] What Iran actually did Iranian authorities deployed powerful ground-based jammers (reportedly including Russian-made systems) that interfere with … Read more
IFCN rejects the attempt to portray fact-checking as a security threat and warns of rising global repression The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute strongly opposes the Trump administration’s recent decision to deny U.S. visas to European public officials and civil society leaders. This action, which includes the blacklisting of individuals for their … Read more
I don’t think there is a fall but let’s see: Key Insights by Merlin AI The Evolution of Ecommerce and Retail Direct-to-Consumer Growth Ecommerce was initially heralded as the future, allowing brands to sell directly to customers without traditional retail overhead. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands like Skims and Allbirds flourished, attracting billions in venture capital. The … Read more
I guess there is no doubt about the state of human rights in Iran. However, I am increasingly irritated with the fact that relatively reliable international media outlets, which we frequently cite as good examples of journalism, have explicitly become instruments of war-making. I hope Iranian citizens will have better days to witness. In the … Read more