A report on the Europe’s Current Heatwave erkansaka.net/2026/06/28/e...

A video: “TR No One Is Using Bumble… “ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8IIRI-zfug 1. The Industry-Wide Dating App Fatigue Bumble’s massive 95% stock crash isn't happening in isolation — the entire dating app… https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/28/bumble-stock-crash-dating-app-fatigue-ai-pivot/

A Tribute to Kadir İnanır Another well-known actor since my childhood days has passed away. Kadir İnanır had a strong personality and political standing, and was a conscious artist, which we do not see much of… https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/27/kadir-inanir-yesilcam-legacy-filmography/

Joint Letter to NATO: Accreditation Process Excludes Independent Turkish Journalists from Summit International Press Institute (IPI), together… https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/26/nato-ankara-summit-independent-media-accreditation-denials-process-excludes-independent-turkish-journalists-from-summit/

Fortress Ankara: The NATO Summit and the Managed Silencing of Dissent Ankara is no good for the citizens nowadays. The media accreditation process is especially disappointing. Here is a roundup:... https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/25/nato-summit-ankara-security-media-crackdown/

The biggest losers of the World Cup 2026: Turkish National Team It is disappointing, but even more frustrating is that the coach and some well-established players, such as Kerem and Merih, are very arrogant… https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/20/turkiye-world-cup-2026-elimination-technical-breakdown/

A video: The Lorem Ipsum Mystery Here are the key takeaways: Lorem ipsum is not original, coherent Latin filler created for typesetting; it’s a scrambled excerpt derived from Cicero’s De Finibus.... https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/18/lorem-ipsum-origin-cicero-dummy-text/

Abdulhamid II, Ziya Gökalp, Sheikh Bedreddin all together! A few days ago, we went to an exhibition in the Cistern of Theodosius, which was recently reopened.... https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/15/sheikh-bedreddin-grave-cemberlitas-theodosius-cistern/

James Baldwin in İstanbul (1961-1971) An X user shared photos of James Baldwin, who spent time in İstanbul. Before I was born, he was hanging out in İstanbul.... https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/14/james-baldwin-istanbul-years/

A video: Inside Anthropic, the $965 Billion AI Juggernaut Key takeaways: 1) Context and origin - The Amodei siblings, Dario and Daniela, co-founded Anthropic after their experiences at OpenAI and related research… https://erkansaka.net/2026/06/13/anthropic-constitutional-ai-safety-first-approach/

Two moments in and around Yüksekova On our ride towards Dağlıca, Hakkari, I suddenly saw this flock. Stopped the car and watched them. We were looking for a flower native to the region, but couldn't see that. We were still satisfied with what we had seen. This is from the city center. On our ride…

The Most Corrupt World Cup in History is about to start (!) Here is a video that discusses the corruptness. Mostly related to expensive ticketing... Here, the video highlights (by Merlin AI):  1) Overview - Topic: The high cost of World Cup tickets, the dynamics of the ticket market, and FIFA’s…

The Koç Family showed off with their 100th anniversary and then… Koç Holding just marked its 100th anniversary with highly visible, Republican‑symbolic events in Ankara, including a mass Anıtkabir visit with about 6,000 employees and dealers, where Ömer Koç signed the Anıtkabir special book in the…

Albanians against a new “Epstein Island” That's what some of us see it. Some elite Americans are looking for a new safe haven for their dirty work. Mass protests in Albania are being driven by public anger over a massive luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner in protected coastal areas,…

Who owns the Basilica Cistern (of Istanbul)? If you are visiting İstanbul, you may not be able to visit the Basilica Cistern, as a legal dispute continues. The court's stay of the ministry's takeover of İstanbul’s Basilica Cistern was the latest move in the ongoing drama. Here is a round-up: Core…

In two weeks, my fourth destination: Yüksekova, Hakkari I am writing to you from Yüksekova, Hakkari. As a news junkie, I was always curious about Yüksekova because it was one of the most tense places during the PKK's heyday. I am here for a training by the Journalists' Union for the local…

A video: The DaVinci Takeover- Why Millions Are Deleting Adobe Key Insights by Merlin AI The Shift from Adobe to DaVinci Resolve Market Dominance and Subscription Model…...

A day in Bucharest, for another COST project After Ljubljana, I returned to İstanbul to celebrate my parents' Eid, then flew to Bucharest for another COST project: RELINK². I am actively involved in this project, like the other one, GRADE. Its outputs will include an edited volume, an online…

in Ljubljana, GRADE project meeting I have been in Ljubljana to attend the COST GRADE project meeting. This project is one of the most focused and well-managed COST projects I have participated in. You can find the program at the link above. One of the project's outputs is an exhibition at the…

Turkey’s CHP “Absolute Nullity” Crisis: What Happened, Reactions & What’s Next While my colleagues and I were in distress whether we have our university or not, Türkiye's main opposition party had its own ordeal, which is lasting, unlike ours. Here is a review: The past two weeks have seen the…

A video: ” They Spent Billions Killing Piracy. It Came Back Anyway” Key Insights Merlin AI The Rise and Fall of Torrenting Origins of Torrenting Developed by Bram Cohen in 2001, BitTorrent allowed users to share files without relying on a single server, making downloads faster as more users…

With a midnight decree, Bilgi University, no more! All of us received the news through an official gazette announcement. Istanbul Bilgi University’s operating license was revoked by a midnight presidential decree published in the Official Gazette. Just like that, more than 900 academics, 600…

On Digital Culture- A talk at Zeytinburnu Municipality Last week, I was invited to a conversation by Ziya Taşkent, who organizes monthly talks on "culture." The talk is in Turkish, but I present a summary of this talk in English: Digital Culture and Everyday Life Digital culture is deeply…

Art of resistance: Hezbollah’s Fiber-Optic Drones A new phase in the Israel–Hezbollah confrontation appears to be emerging in southern Lebanon: the growing use of fiber-optic first-person-view drones, or FPV drones, by Hezbollah. These small, low-cost systems are not decisive weapons on their own,…

Two videos on When Replacing Humans With AI Backfires Key Insights by Merlin AI AI Implementation in Fast Food In 2023, Taco Bell deployed AI across over 500 locations in the U.S. with the goal of reducing order errors and speeding up service. Initial feedback revealed that AI sometimes…

A crowdfunding campaign for 10 internet freedom projects Today, Tor is launching a crowdfunding campaign for 10 internet freedom projects. Because without increased support, we’re at risk of losing an ecosystem of privacy and anti-censorship tech. Internet freedom tools are facing a crisis. As of…

My Workshop in Adana for Journalists AI Tools for Journalists Workshop in Adana On Saturday, May 16, 2026, I took part in the “AI Tools for Journalists” workshop organized by TGS Academy in Adana. The workshop focused on how journalists can use basic AI tools in their everyday professional…

A Look at Social Media Bans for Young Teens Türkiye, following Australia, recently banned social media for children under 15. Just a few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine such a ban, but things change fast. I have curated some information on these bans and related restrictions in other…

Allies in Decline: Two Reports for Türkiye and the US Two new reports tell a similar story about democratic decline inside "the Western alliance". One tracks the steep fall of academic freedom in the United States. The other shows Turkey sinking to the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index.…

A video: “How AI Datacenters Eat the World” Seismic Shift in Datacenter Industry - The datacenter industry is undergoing rapid changes, influenced heavily by the rise of AI technology. - Meta's construction of a datacenter in Temple, Texas, was abruptly halted, indicating a shift toward new AI…

My new keynote speech: “There Is No Neutral Machine: The Necessary Contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities to AI” "There Is No Neutral Machine: The Necessary Contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities to AI" Keynote Speech — Erkan Saka Critical AI Studies Conference, Istanbul Bilgi…

Do you remember the Knight Rider? I guess I am getting nostalgic. I have started watching my childhood favorite TV show, Knight Rider. It took decades to have self-driving cars. Contemporary critical reception Many mainstream TV critics in the 1980s dismissed Knight Rider as shallow and…

A video: “How Facebook Marketplace Amassed More Shoppers Than Amazon” Facebook's Marketplace Growth Massive User Base: Since its launch in 2016, Facebook Marketplace has attracted 1.1 billion users across 70 countries, making it one of the largest platforms for secondhand sales, alongside eBay and…

Archeology of Bosphorus Yesterday I met a guy whom I last saw more than 10 years ago. He seems to be doing very well in video-making for advertising purposes. But I admired his excitement about an undersea documentary he wants to make in the Bosphorus.  He even bought a boat for this. Let's see…

Whose Truth Gets Optimized? AI and the New Epistemic Order Whose Truth Gets Optimized? AI and the New Epistemic Order This is an edited version of my keynote talk delivered at the IV. International Communication, Digitalization and Society Symposium (ICDS), Istanbul Aydın University, April 28,…

A video: “Microsoft Destroyed Outlook. Then Called It an Upgrade” Key Insights by Merlin AI Historical Significance of Outlook - Microsoft Outlook has been a cornerstone of professional communication since its launch, with over 450 million users in 2024. - It integrated email, calendar, contacts,…

My talk at the Artificial Intelligence, Manipulation, and Media Literacy Summit in Cyprus I attended the Artificial Intelligence, Manipulation, and Media Literacy Summit in Cyprus yesterday.  Session 3 was in a question-and-answer format, which I prefer to just speaking. I asked Claude.ai to…

A video: “How Google Maps Mapped The World” Key Insights by Merlin AI Google Maps Evolution - Google has been mapping the world for over 20 years, launching its Street View feature in 2007. - Initial camera systems were bulky, weighing up to 500 pounds, but have since evolved to lighter, more…

Ursula von der Leyen classified Türkiye along with China and Russia I believe she will regret this. After all those years of membership negotiations with the country, her rotten conscience cannot accept Türkiye as part of Europe. Maybe that's a good thing for Turks, I don't know. Like Biden, her…

You need Türkiye (!): EU population to fall by 12% by 2100 Here is a report from Euronews: EU population to fall by 12% by 2100: Which countries will decline the most? EU Population Decline to 2100 Overall Projection EU population falls from 452M to 399M (−11.7%) between 2025–2100 18 of 30…

Palantir’s manifesto at X Palantir occupies a more extreme place in Silicon Valley but represents a new, growing ethos Big Tech is developing. We have seen the company's official X message today. A few early comments: This is the nationalist turn. Big Tech now explicitly acts as an agent of a…

Müzeverse in İstanbul erkansaka.net/2026/04/19/m...

Müzeverse in İstanbul I recently visited Müzeverse at Galataport, İstanbul. Müzeverse is a location‑based virtual reality (VR) museum in Istanbul that offers large‑scale, immersive historical experiences and markets itself as Türkiye’s first dedicated VR museum.[1][2][3] Although I believe in the…

A video: “The History of the Music Video” The history of music videos is not just an artistic evolution but a history of media infrastructures shaping how music is seen, circulated, and monetized. Origins of the Music Video The concept of combining film and music predates modern music videos, with…

Microsoft and other US tech firms lobbied the European Commission to hide data center emissions! I first saw the news at the Guardian and asked Perplexity to do a roundup. Here is the issue: What the investigation actually found An investigation by Investigate Europe, published with the Guardian…

How Iran, the US, and Israel Fought for Narrative Control: The New Ecology of War Propaganda 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…

End of Orbán’s rule in Hungary 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…

Thanks God, A ceasefire. Reactions to the Iran-US-Israel Two-Week Ceasefire (April 8, 2026) 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…

A video: ” The Rise and Fall of OpenClaw” 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…

Our new book project! Call for Chapters: Turkish Television Series in Transformation erkansaka.net/2026/04/04/c...