A few days in Brussels for FWO meetings

After a long time, I am in Brussels, attending my first FWO meeting. A full day of reviewing scientific research applications. I don't have much time or desire to look around. Still stopped by the Musical Instrument Museum. If I can make it, I will see Atomium, and I am after three newspapers in German and Flemish before I board the plane back to İstanbul.

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The story of an AI-generated image in French Protests.

I saw an X post claiming Israeli involvement in spreading disinformation related to the French protests. The post’s central claim has independent corroboration: an AI-generated image falsely presented as evidence of violence during the French protests originated with a pro-Israel outlet and then circulated widely. But “Israel-based disinformation” needs an important qualification: the reporting establishes the image’s source and misleading dissemination, not an Israeli government-directed operation or a coordinated network physically based in Israel.

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A video: “The Rise and Fall of MSN Messenger, the Chat App That Defined Online Life Before Social Media”

"The Rise and Fall of MSN Messenger" chronicles the journey of Microsoft’s iconic chat application from its launch in 1999 to its eventual demise. The video explores how Microsoft leveraged its massive Hotmail user base and Windows XP integration to overtake early pioneers like ICQ and AOL's AIM, making MSN Messenger a cultural cornerstone for an entire generation before the term "social media" even existed.

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Europe’s Protests in 2026 in France, Spain, Portugal and Albania: Housing, Schools and Everyday Costs

Reporting checked on 20 October 2026. A classroom without enough teachers, a rental contract about to expire, a household budget stretched beyond its limits: these are everyday problems with increasingly visible political consequences. Across several European countries, demonstrations are bringing questions about public services and affordable living back into the streets. The Guardian’s European protests explainer brings these national stories together.

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Update in the French Protests

This is an update to my 8 October 2026 post. I feel a bit pessimistic. This scale of protests mostly brings in a more conservative/reactionary government. Let's see how this will go. via French Student Protests After 8 October 2026 Since 8 October, the lycée movement has not simply continued at the same level: school blockades have declined, but the conflict has broadened into a much larger anti-government mobilisation around education, public services, inequality and the cost of living.

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A direct consuquence of Tera/Pusula investment-fund crisis: MSCI has imposes an index freeze

MSCI is responding to concerns about the same underlying problem: funds closely connected to listed companies may hold and trade their shares in ways that obscure who really controls them and how much stock is genuinely available to independent investors. However, MSCI’s announcement does not name Tera or Pusula or make a criminal finding against them.[msci][t24.com]

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A video: Yahoo!: The $125B Company That Burned Itself to the Ground

This video chronicles the dramatic rise and devastating fall of the internet pioneer Yahoo. Starting as a simple web directory created by Stanford students in 1994, Yahoo soared to a $125 billion valuation during the dot-com bubble. However, a crippling identity crisis—failing to decide whether it was a search engine, a media company, or an email provider—caused it to lose ground to focused rivals like Google and Facebook.

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İstanbul yesterday. Istanbul Floods, October 2026 - Erkan's Field Diary

Istanbul floods in October 2026 left two dead and disrupted the city. A personal account plus a report on damage, rescues, and transport chaos.

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A personal witnessing of judicial cruelty/ ordeals in Türkiye

Dear readers, I have, from time to time, reported on sham trials against opposition municipalities. I've reported on so many cases that I stopped reporting altogether recently. There may be real corruption cases, of course, but no one can convince ordinary citizens that these are essentially politically motivated. Here is what happened in one of the municipal operations in which a dear friend was detained:

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Thoughts on Academia- Episode 13: The Right to Fail- Why do we need the university?  - Erkan's Field Diary

Why the right to fail in higher education matters: a defense of slow learning, academic freedom, and the virtues of pedagogical inefficiency.

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Unboxing VII: Cataloging the Magazine Collection

I finally began receiving new boxes from my father's storage. Expect more personal content soon! For this post, I wanted to share my magazine/ journal collection, not as ambitious as the newspaper one! I just cataloged the 1230th one there. I used the same trick with the magazine collection, using ChatGPT and Google Drive sheets. This is ongoing, but if you want to take a look, …

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A photo: ‘Book brigade’ moves 7,400 books by hand to the bookstore’s new space [in Canada]

A beautiful moment. I wanted to share it with you. Around 280 volunteers formed a human chain to relocate books, says co-owner.  When Ottawa bookstore The Spaniel's Tale decided to move to a larger space a block away, co-owner Cole Davidson said they had no plans to host a "book brigade." " actually came from our customers, who brought us many, many articles of different bookstores over the years that have done it," said Davidson.

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What happens when you investigate the funding corruption? Journalism in Shackles

İsmail Saymaz and Murat Ağırel are wearing electronic ankle monitors because a court placed them under house arrest in an investigation into their reporting and comments about investment-fund and capital-market transactions. Prosecutors allege that their statements misled the public; both journalists dispute that allegation. This is a judicial-control measure during an investigation, not a sentence following a conviction.[trthaber][

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A video: “Pirate Bay Survived 23 Years. The Internet Made Sure of It”

The video details the history and remarkable resilience of The Pirate Bay, a torrent indexing site launched in 2003 by three Swedish founders. Despite facing intense political lobbying from the entertainment industry, multiple server raids, massive lawsuits, and the eventual international manhunt and imprisonment of its creators, the site survived. Ultimately, the video argues that The Pirate Bay exposed a fundamental flaw in the entertainment industry, proving that consumers desperately wanted instant, barrier-free access to content—a realization that directly paved the way for modern streaming platforms like Netflix and Spotify.

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Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is one of the big losers in Türkiye’s funding scandal

Why the fck did they invest? As if they need this. Besides Norway's Fund, Citibank seems like another foreign loser. The foreign names emerging in the current Tera/Pusula investment-fund scandal are Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and, more tentatively, Citibank. But the key distinction is exposure: reporting identifies investments in shares linked to the investigation, not verified amounts these investors have actually lost.

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France’s 2026 Student Protests: Education Crisis, Parcoursup and Police Violence

What began in late September as a localized high school walkout in the eastern suburbs of Paris has rapidly snowballed into one of the largest and most volatile youth protest movements in France in decades. Over the past three weeks, hundreds of thousands of high school pupils (lycéens), university students, teachers, and trade unionists have taken to the streets and blockaded hundreds of schools across the country.

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A video: “A (Brief) History of 4chan”

This video explores the complete, complex history of 4chan, tracing its origins back to 1995 within the Japanese underground internet. What started as anonymous text bulletin boards (like Ayashii World and 2channel) evolved into image boards that heavily influenced global internet culture. The video outlines how 4chan, launched by 15-year-old Christopher "Moot" Poole in 2003, became a chaotic sandbox that birthed some of the most iconic internet memes of all time, the hacktivist group Anonymous, and the SCP Foundation.

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(As of 6 October 2026 morning) An in-depth report on Türkiye’s Investment-Fund Scandal

Türkiye’s Investment-Fund Scandal: TERA, Pusula and the September–October 2026 Fund Crisis Status as of 6 October 2026. Türkiye is dealing with a large, still-unresolved capital-markets crisis centered on investment funds managed by Tera Portföy and Pusula Portföy, but extending to Atlas Portföy, Hedef Portföy, A1 Capital Portföy, Bulls Portföy and Pardus Portföy. On 17 September, the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (SPK) put…

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A video: “The Real Reason Tech Companies Removed the Headphone Jack”

The video explores the real reasons the smartphone industry removed the 3.5mm headphone jack. While tech giants initially cited internal space constraints, water resistance, and "courage" as their main motivations, the video argues the shift was driven primarily by profit and ecosystem control. By eliminating an open-standard, universal port, companies successfully created a multi-billion-dollar market for wireless earbuds and locked consumers into proprietary "walled gardens."

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T24 is the latest victim in Internet Restrictions in 2026

T24 is just so mainstream. It is a pity that it was banned yesterday. Turkish authorities were very generous in censoring web sources in 2026. T24 news site shut down over ‘LGBT propaganda Below is a source-checked list of identified targets, not a claim that these are every 2026 restriction.[ifade.org][bianet][ifade.org] Websites and platforms…

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So corrupt! Turkish Football’s Refereeing Crisis: Beşiktaş, MHK and the VAR Controversies - Erkan's Field Diary

The MHK investigation, disputed Beşiktaş decisions, VAR controversies and earlier scandals reveal a deep refereeing crisis in Turkish football.

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The decline of the national team, thanks to Montella and Turkish football authorities

After the massive World Cup fkup, Mr. Montella seems to keep wasting a generation of skilled Turkish players. The main criticisms Selection and loyalty. Lille goalkeeper Berke Özer was left out of the September squad despite being voted the club’s August player of the month. The contrast drew attention because Altay Bayındır was selected despite reportedly not yet playing for his new club, and Samet Akaydın had played only 33 minutes for Trabzonspor.

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The legend of Köfteci Yusuf: Affordable Mass Dining in an Expensive Turkey

There is a growing chain restaurant in Türkiye: Köfteci Yusuf. Literally, it means "meatball shop." As far as I remember, I never ate meatballs there! But since one branch is within walking distance of where I live, I go there sometimes for breakfast or dinner. As food prices increase rapidly, this chain restaurant offers many families an affordable meal. The red meat offered is both reliable and affordable.

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A video: The Strange Collapse Of Evernote

The video explores how Evernote grew from a revolutionary tech darling into a billion-dollar "unicorn," only to fade into obscurity. While it initially solved a massive problem by digitizing and organizing physical notes, receipts, and ideas, Evernote eventually collapsed under the weight of its own grand ambition. The company's vision to become a "100-year startup" led to rampant feature bloat, a neglected core product, and a series of PR disasters that left the door wide open for competitors to take over the market.

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As of 27 September 2026 morning, what we know about The TERA Fund Scandal in Türkiye?

We may be witnessing one of Türkiye's biggest financial scandals. Here is a roundup by Perplexity: The TERA Fund Scandal in Türkiye Status: 27 September 2026 Executive assessment The “TERA scandal” is best understood as a fund-liquidity crisis combined with a widening criminal investigation into alleged market manipulation, self-dealing, fraud and suspicious money flows. It is not solely a TERA affair: the regulatory intervention covers 131 funds established by seven portfolio-management companies—Tera, Pusula, Hedef, Atlas, A1 Capital, Pardus and Bulls.

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My new UNESCO-related roles

Two related appointments occurred in the last couple of weeks. I was first recommended to join the UNESCO Türkiye National Commission Communication Experts Panel (UTMK). Then my esteemed colleague Serhan Ada decided to retire, though he will still teach a few classes in our doctoral program. Serhan Ada is a prominent Turkish poet, writer, and academic. He was born on October 15, 1955, in İzmir, Turkey.

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A video: “The rise and fall of Yahoo”

The Rise and Fall of Yahoo chronicles the history of the early internet pioneer, from its origins as a Stanford student project to its staggering $125 billion peak valuation. The video explores how Yahoo lost its dominance through a series of massive missed opportunities—including failing to buy Google and Facebook—and how a fundamental lack of focus and leadership missteps ultimately led to the company being sold to Verizon for a fraction of its former worth.

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Estimated Schengen acceptance rates for Turkish citizens in the last decade

I have asked Perplexity to collect information about Schengen visa application rates. Here is what we found: For the ten most recent fully published years (2015–2024), the acceptance rate for Schengen short-stay visa applications lodged in Türkiye fell markedly overall—from roughly 96% in 2015 to 85.5% in 2024—with the sharpest deterioration occurring after 2017 and around the pandemic period.

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Unboxing VI: Cataloging the Newspaper Collection

The summer of 2026 went well, in terms of productivity, settlements, and short but beautiful vacations. I am redesigning my office on campus, including a few Billy bookshelves from IKEA. This gave me space to unload more boxes from my father's storage. One of my personal activities in recent weeks is cataloging the newspapers I have been collecting since 2003. While Ertan and Ebru forced me to take short road trips in Texas during our doctoral studies, I found a new hobby that motivated me to go.

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A video: “When Being Better Isn’t Enough…The Fall Of Slack”

Slack began as an accidental innovation—an internal communication tool developed at a game studio—that quickly revolutionized how businesses communicate. Before Slack, collaborative work relied almost entirely on cumbersome email chains. With its sleek user experience and channel-based messaging, Slack saw unprecedented organic growth, hitting a $1.1 billion valuation in just eight months. However, its success made it a target. Instead of acquiring Slack, Microsoft built Teams from the ground up, capitalizing on Slack's weak points in enterprise-level security compliance and video conferencing.

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