My talk at the RESAID event: “Information Disorders in the Age of AI and Algorithms” A few days ago, I was invited to serve as a panelist at a RESAID project ("Creating Societal Cognitive Resilience Against Information Disorders - RESAID") event. This EU-funded project has substantive online…

An expected result: “New international student enrollment in the U.S. dropped by 17 percent this fall” erkansaka.net/2025/11/17/u...

Recommended novel: The Halfway House by Guillermo Rosales erkansaka.net/2025/11/16/r...

Recommended novel: The Halfway House by Guillermo Rosales A heart-wrenching one, if you dare to read. “This posthumous translation of Rosales, a Cuban-American writer who committed suicide in 1993, delivers a raw, powerful story set in a Miami home for the mentally ill… It’s a frightening,…

A one-year-old video: “From Bankruptcy To Billions: The Rebirth Of Nokia” Key Insights for From Bankruptcy To Billions: The Rebirth Of Nokia by Merlin AI Nokia's Rise and Fall in the Mobile Market In 2008, Nokia's revenue peaked at over $76 billion, dominating the mobile industry. The launch of…

This is so messed up: “Over 1,000 players face probe in Türkiye’s football betting scandal” erkansaka.net/2025/11/12/t...

This is so messed up: “Over 1,000 players face probe in Türkiye’s football betting scandal” I want to resume my active Beşiktaş fandom, but it is so hard to focus on the game itself amid these scandals.  Türkiye is currently facing a major football betting scandal, with over 1,000 professional…

Initial reactions to the Imamoğlu Case Indictment erkansaka.net/2025/11/11/i...

Initial reactions to the Imamoğlu Case Indictment Here is an overview by Perplexity. Overview: The İmamoğlu Indictment On November 11, 2025, Turkish authorities announced a sweeping indictment against Ekrem İmamoğlu, the jailed Mayor of Istanbul and a leading opposition figure. The nearly…

Busy week, STS conference, Training at AA This becomes a routine: Staying and resting at home on Saturdays and socializing on Sundays. The last three days of the week were so hectic; now it is hard to do anything today besides reading, blogging, etc. However, a state of satisfaction is here as we…

A (one-year-old) video: “Where People Go When They Want to Hack You” Key Insights for Where People Go When They Want to Hack You by Merlin AI Understanding the Zero Day Market The zero day market revolves around the sale of undisclosed vulnerabilities in software, which can be exploited before the…

Youtube’s Erasure of Videos Documenting Israeli Human Rights Violations is the last stage of similar cases erkansaka.net/2025/11/07/y...

Our annual STS Conference Happening Now As I always state, I am lucky to be one of the convenors of STS Turkiye, a platform for social scientists focused on Science and Technology Studies. While the political agenda is always hectic and chaotic, we work to coordinate STS-related studies that are…

Zohran Mamdani’s Historic NYC Mayoral Win (Against the Establishment) Zohran Mamdani’s historic mayoral victory in New York City is notable not only as a milestone for representation but for how he challenged both the Democratic establishment and Donald Trump’s threats, signaling a pivotal moment…

Look what I did with Google’s NotebookLM: “Selected Writings of Erkan Saka” As I had mentioned before, Google's best generative AI tool is NotebookLM. In addition to personal use, you can also create public notebooks. Here I uploaded 20 of my selected writings for public use. Here is the link for…

Worlds of Journalism Study Report – 32,000+ journalists in 75 countries The new Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS3) Report, "Journalism under duress", is now available - Drawing on responses from over 32,000 journalists in 75 countries, this report examines how journalists across the globe navigate…

A video: “How Canva Quietly Took Adobe’s Crown” Key Insights for How Canva Quietly Took Adobe’s Crown by Merlin AI Background of Canva's Disruption - Melanie Perkins, a college dropout, founded Canva in 2012 after facing over 100 rejections from venture capitalists for her vision of simplifying…

A deep look at Rare Earth Element Reserves in Turkey I recently saw a news On the rare earth element reserves in western Turkish town of Beylikova: What is known and what remains unknown and decided to make a deep research about the reserves thanks to ChatGPT. Rare Earth Element Reserves in…

Censoring, fining, imprisoning not enough. Confiscating a pro-opposition TV channel is the next stage I believe this is really shameful. Tele1 TV seized by state, broadcast interrupted mid-air The authorities appointed a trustee to pro-opposition broadcaster Tele1 TV on the evening of Oct 24,…

Koma Amed held a historic reunion concert on October 25, 2025, in Diyarbakır (Amed) Thanks to the new peace process. Koma Amed is a pioneering Kurdish music band formed in 1988 in Ankara by medical students from Ankara and Hacettepe universities. Their distinctive style mixes Kurdish folk music…

A video: ” The Streaming War Is Over. Piracy Won” Here’s a summary of the video "The Streaming War Is Over. Piracy Won.": Streaming once seemed perfect, offering affordable, convenient, and comprehensive access to media. Netflix, for example, was $8.99/month, and all content was in one place. But…

Such a nice channel: “Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows” erkansaka.net/2025/10/25/s...

A good read: “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo I have to admit, I cannot always take fiction written by feminist authors personally, but this got me. Different protagonists, different modes and perspectives in the stories, but there is something very humane common to all that captured…

A video: The Rise And Fall Of Vibe Coding: The Reality Of AI Slop Key Insights for The Rise And Fall Of Vibe Coding: The Reality Of AI Slop by Merlin AI Understanding Vibe Coding - Vibe Coding, coined by Andrej Karpathy, refers to a new programming approach where users rely heavily on AI to…

Breakthrough in Karahantepe excavations: Human-Faced T-Shaped Pillar I haven't visited this site yet, though I have been to Göbeklitepe. I should go there soon! The discovery of a human face depiction on the surface of one of the T-shaped pillars at the Karahantepe excavation site in the…

The Space Exploration Logo Archive kottke.org/25/10/the-sp...

5 of the 15 journalists who signed the controversial U.S. Department of Defense’s new accreditation document are Turkish Even the pro-Trump news outlets refused to sign... According to multiple reports, five Turkish journalists signed the U.S. Department of Defense’s new accreditation document…

It is so sad. A environmental journalist killed in suspicious circumstances. RIP Hakan Tosun Journalist and documentary filmmaker Hakan Tosun died following a violent assault in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district between the night of October 10 and 11, 2025. His death has provoked strong reactions from…

A video: “How Duolingo Turned a Free Language App Into a $7.7B Business” Key Insights for How Duolingo Turned a Free Language App Into a $7.7B Business | WSJ The Economics Of by Merlin AI USER BASE AND REVENUE MODEL - Duolingo boasts approximately 34 million daily users, contributing to an annual…

A deep look at the TURNA LLM from Türkiye A reporter contacted me to comment on the recent launch of Turna.ai, as its answers reminded many of Grok's scandalous answers. However, I could not follow the recent launch and thus could not respond to the reporter. But then I asked ChatGPT for a deep…

A video: “Why Western Designs Fail in Developing Countries” Key Insights for Why Western Designs Fail in Developing Countries by Merlin AI Cultural Misunderstandings in Design - Designers often fail to grasp the cultural nuances of the communities they aim to serve, leading to designs that do not…

Türkiye in recent numbers (income inequality, peace index etc) Turkey ranks first in Europe for income inequality Turkey now holds the unwelcome title of Europe’s most unequal country in terms of income distribution. According to recent data, the richest 20 percent of the population receive nearly…

There are some hopes that Demirtaş may be released Well, it depends on one and only person... Selahattin Demirtaş, former Co-Chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), has faced multiple trials and legal challenges since his arrest in November 2016. The most significant trial, known…

A video: “How AI could help us talk to animals” Animal Communication Insights Elephants' Unique Communication African savanna elephants exhibit a sophisticated form of communication, potentially using specific calls directed at individual members of their family. Joyce Poole's decades-long…

After an assassination, a deep look at the New-Generation Gangs (2020–2025) in Türkiye Serdar Öktem, a lawyer and defendant in the Sinan Ateş murder trial, was assassinated in Istanbul on October 5, 2025, outside his office on Büyükdere Avenue in the Şişli district. Assailants in two vehicles,…

CHP and the Rest erkansaka.net/2025/10/04/c...

Israel attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla, globe-wide protests Global reactions to Israel's interception and attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla have been overwhelmingly critical, with widespread condemnation, protests, and calls for accountability from governments, international organizations,…

A video: “Figma’s $68 Billion IPO: Why Millions Are Deleting Adobe” Key Insights by Merlin AI The Rise of Figma Figma emerged as a strong competitor to Adobe in the UI design space, focusing on collaboration and simplicity, which appealed to users seeking alternatives to Adobe's complex software.…

As the current controversy continues, a deep dive into the Kaan Fifth-Generation Fighter Jet Project Intentionally or not, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has publicly blamed US congressional restrictions for stalling the delivery of the necessary engines, threatening to delay serial…

Reminder: My two book projects erkansaka.net/2025/09/30/r...

My Digital Anthropology Readings for the Fall 2025 Semester erkansaka.net/2025/09/28/d...

Wikipedia discussion: “Signs of AI writing” This is an advice page from WikiProject AI Cleanup. Signs of AI writing This is a list of writing and formatting conventions typical of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, with real examples taken from Wikipedia articles and drafts. It is meant to act as a…

A video: “The Downfall of Tinder Explained in 11 Minutes” Key Insights for The Downfall of Tinder Explained in 11 Minutes by Merlin AI Launch and Initial Success - Tinder launched in September 2012, initially developed as Matchbox before pivoting to its now-iconic swiping mechanic. - Early user…

Erdoğan in White House after 6 years Gönül Tol (@gonultol) said: Expanding its LNG portfolio and investing in new infrastructure has been a smart play for Turkey, strengthening its push to diversify energy suppliers. The latest deal carries an extra advantage: it doubles as a sweetener for the…

Moore’s farewell speech in İstanbul. Once again Istanbul as an international intelligence scene The British spymaster's farewell speech in İstanbul—delivered by outgoing MI6 chief Richard Moore—was significant both for its symbolism and content, reflecting Türkiye's central geopolitical role and…

A secret talk between Trump’s son and Erdoğan in İstanbul before the White House meeting on September 25. CHP leader Özgür Özel revealed at a rally in Bahçelievler, Istanbul, on September 17, 2025, that Donald Trump Jr. secretly met with President Erdoğan at the Dolmabahçe Palace working office on…

A summary of the policy report can be found on the TechPolicy.Press website: www.techpolicy.press/policy-direc...

A video: “Jack Ma Thought He Was Untouchable…Ended Up Losing $891 Billion” Key Insights for Jack Ma Thought He Was Untouchable...Ended Up Losing $891 Billion by Merlin AI Jack Ma's Speech and Its Consequences - In October 2020, Jack Ma delivered a controversial speech at the Bund Finance Summit,…

CPJ: Israel’s killing of 31 Yemeni journalists marks deadliest global attack in 16 years erkansaka.net/2025/09/20/c...

Goodbye Taylan! Yesterday I saw the news online. Taylan Kulaçoğlu has passed away. We followed each other on X. I saw him once or twice in my life. He had a bar in Taksim for a while, and I visited the bar and met him there. He was a sincere man. That's what I can say about him. Our politics were…