Turkish Forum

Category: Sci/Tech

  • Istanbul Adventures: My Study Abroad Experience

    Istanbul Adventures: My Study Abroad Experience

    By Kat Russell

    The Aya Sofya, in the Sultanahmet district, is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Istanbul. The structure, which is well over 2000 years old, was first used as patriarchal basilica, later as a mosque and is now a museum. Photo Credit: Kat Russel

    Who knew that an email could change the course of my life? It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting when I opened the mass email my adviser had sent out. But there it was – opportunity knocking, and opportunity’s name was The Istanbul Project.

    If the universe saw fit, I was to study journalism in Istanbul for five weeks through ieiMedia — an intensive international journalism program.

    Whether or not I was going to be able to pull it off was questionable. I am a single mom and a fulltime student, and making that work is hard enough without me being in a different country. On top of that, I’m not exactly swimming in pools of excess money.

    I was forced to weigh the pros and cons of the situation – could I justify spending five

    weeks away from my son? Could I justify the future financial burdens that would result from my going? Did the benefits of such an opportunity outweigh the cons? In the end, I concluded they did and with that, my journey began.

    The months before my departure were a whirlwind of preparation. There were countless emails back and forth with the program administration, the professors, and my future classmates.

    I spent many evenings glued to my computer researching possible grant and scholarship programs. There were applications to be filled out and essays to write and letters of recommendation to collect. I had to get my transcripts in order and mailed out. Not to mention the finalizing of the actual trip details. On top of all of that, let’s not forget homework doesn’t take a vacation simply because I had a trip to plan. It was madness.

    About a month before my departure, I received some of the best news I could have. All my hard work researching and applying for grants and scholarships had paid off. I had received a $5,000 scholarship from the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship fund to pay for my study abroad experience.

    I was shocked! While I was researching financial-aid possibilities, I always found a reason why I didn’t qualify for that grant or why I wasn’t going to get this scholarship. However, one of the most valuable lessons life has taught me thus far is to not let the details keep me from trying. Lesson learned and reaffirmed.

    With all my ducks in a row, Istanbul became tangible. Istanbul beckoned. Anticipation and excitement and fear and anxiousness all had their way with me. I was going to Istanbul.

    There are likely many students who would love to have the opportunity to study in another country. Over the next few weeks, I will share my adventures in Istanbul ranging from studying abroad, to experiencing a drastic shift in perceptions, to finding unexpected romance.

    I hope my experiences will inspire you to take a chance, fill out an application or two, and see what the world has to offer.

    via Istanbul Adventures: My Study Abroad Experience | Daily Sundial.

  • Facebook Censoring Some Alternative News Sites…

    Facebook Censoring Some Alternative News Sites…

    … While Allowing Hackers To Attack Others

    Alexander Higgins
    The Intel Hub

    Facebook now appears to be censoring some alternative news sites while allowing hackers to go after others. It is no wonder they lost 6 Million users in the US last month.

    I recently talked to Alex Thomas from The Intel Hub who was listed as an honorable mention in the top 10 most influential people in alternative media list published by Activist Post.

    I am frequently a guest contributor on the site and during our conversation he told me that Facebook is starting to ban articles from the site. At that point I figured most likely his account was flagged and left it at that.

    Lo and behold, top item in Reddit’s conspiracy section right now is this.

    Facebook No Allowing Users To Share Articles From The Intel Hub
    Facebook Not Allowing Users To Share Articles From The Intel Hub

    So it is not just Alex’s account that has been banned but other users are also being censored from sharing Intel Hub articles.

    www.activistpost.com, june 15 2011

  • Air Force General blows whistle on Obama, but media deaf

    Air Force General blows whistle on Obama, but media deaf

    General Shelton

    General Shelton told lawmakers that he was pressured to be less than honest by the White House when he gives testimony before Congress. Credits: DoD File Photo

    Jim Kouri, Law Enforcement Examiner

    “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

    “If an Air Force general blows the whistle on the Obama White House, does anyone in the media hear the corruption?”
    A United States Air Force general is blowing the whistle on another alleged White House scandal, but few in the news media seem to be listening.
    According to General William Shelton, the commanding officer of U.S. Air Force’s space command, he was told to alter his testimony before the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Strategic Forces regarding an Obama White House attempt to award a defense contract to the Lightsquared firm.
    Lightsquared is a high-tech company doing business in Virginia that’s owned by billionaire Philip Falcone, an Obama friend and campaign contributor.

    According to the National Legal and Policy Center, Phil Falcone had visited the White House and made large cash contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Soon after, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted his LightSquared a highly unusual waiver that allows the company to build out a national 4G wireless network on the cheap.
    Republican lawmakers say that after Falcon’s visit, the Obama White House allegedly tried to push through a Lightsquared’s proposed wireless network regardless of the objections emanating from military commanders who believed the project could disrupt key U.S. satellite systems.

    At a hearing on Thursday, lawmakers on strategic forces subcommittee, especially the Republican chairman, Michael Turner, requested that the House Oversight Committee investigate if Falcone’s company garnered any type of special treatment from the White House or from Obama appointees.

    The hearing came after a report by a blogger on a news and commentary web site alleged that the Obama White House pressed General Shelton to downplay his concerns about the proposed Lightsquared system.

    According to the National Legal and Policy Center, Phil Falcone had visited the White House and made large cash contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Soon after, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted his LightSquared a highly unusual waiver that allows the company to build out a national 4G wireless network on the cheap.
    “Under extremely unusual circumstances, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently granted a company called LightSquared the right to use wireless spectrum to build out a national 4G wireless network. LightSquared will get the spectrum for a song, while its competitors have to spend billions,” according to NLPC’s Ken Boehm.

    President Obama’s underlings deny any wrongdoing, and officials at Lightsquared denied the charges that it is receiving preferential treatment from President Obama or his staff.

    Republican staff members on the subcommittee say that the decorated General Shelton told the lawmakers that Obama administration officials urged the general to describe Lightsquared’s system favorably during his congressional testimony.

    During the hearing, General Shelton told committee members that the wireless broadband network manufactured by Lightsquared would have a negative impact on the current Global Positioning System (GPS) relied on by both the U.S. military and private sector users of the GPS.

    General Shelton told the committee members: Tests with Defense Department experts, civilian agencies and others “indicate the LightSquared terrestrial network operating in the originally proposed manner poses significant challenges for almost all GPS users.”

    The general insisted through his spokesperson on Friday that he had not “watered down his testimony due to alleged White House pressure.”

    According to a source familiar with the Lightsquared probe, many officers at the Pentagon are highly suspicious of the President, the White House staff and even Obama’s appointees at the Defense Department.

    Another occurrence being probed is that the allegation that Lightsquared at first offered to sell satellite phones on its network, however the Federal Communications Commission allegedly issued a special waiver to the firm thus allowing sell terrestrial-based wireless service to other companies.

    Department of Defense officials. such as General Shelton, in the past have raised concerns about interference with GPS users, and the FCC would then promise to disallow a firm to begin operating their network until after intense testing is carried out to ensure there is no disruption to satellite navigation.

    The head of the FCC declined to appear before the committee on Thursday, which the chairman, Turner, called an “affront” to the panel.

    Meanwhile, Falcone and Lightsquared executives are taking the offensive by giving Obama-friendly journalists at Politico exclusive interviews.

    LightSquared CEO. Sanjiv Ahuja, and its billionaire backer, Phil Falcone, denied all allegations that the wireless company used its political pull with the Obama administration to secure approval of its business plans with the Defense Department.

    “It’s just very disappointing that people are not seeing the facts here, and [that] this has become a real political issue,” Falcone, a senior executive at the hedge fund firm Harbinger Capital, said during his Politico interview. “It’s not a function of being a Democrat or a Republican, it’s about trying to be an innovator. … It’s very disappointing and frustrating that we are getting stonewalled like this. … I kinda scratch my head every single day and say I can’t believe this is happening.”

    Falcone and Ahuja denied receiving special treatment from the White House or the FCC in their ongoing quest to become the nation’s first wholesale wireless broadband provider, according to Politico.

    But some observers see things differently. Mike Baker, a political strategist and a former military officer, believes that this investigation needs to be taken to wherever or whomever it leads. He’s like to see a special prosecutor appointed.

    “This is a very important national security issue, not some politically-motivated witch hunt like the Valerie Plame-CIA case. But we all know that with the news media protecting this president, the chances of anything being done are slim or none,” he quipped.

    “First of all, we know what motivates politicians and big business. In the middle you have a career officer who is a four-star general. Whom would you believe? What’s in it for General Shelton to make up stories?” Baker asks.

    “Let’s hope General Shelton sticks to his guns and that more Pentagon and Justice Department officials decide enough is enough from this administration,” Baker added.

    www.examiner.com, September 17, 2011

  • Kasparov to attend informatics forum in Istanbul

    Kasparov to attend informatics forum in Istanbul

    Kasparov will speak about competition in the changing world and make recommendations on strategy development.

    A chess grandmaster will visit Istanbul to participate in an informatics forum next week.

    Garry Kasparov will attend SAP Forum 2011, one of informatics events organized by software provider SAP, on September 23.

    Kasparov will speak about competition in the changing world and make recommendations on strategy development.

    Born in Baku in 1963, Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, and one of the greatest chess players of all times.

    Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22. He announced his retirement from professional chess in March 2005 to devote his time to politics and writing.

    AA

  • Turkey’s Entrepreneurs Rely on Friends, Family and Fools

    Turkey’s Entrepreneurs Rely on Friends, Family and Fools

    By Ben Rooney

    Walk out on the streets of Istanbul’s old city at 11 p.m. at night and every shop is open, every cafe full, and everyone you meet wants to do business. Turkey does not lack for entrepreneurs; this is entrepreneurism in the raw.

    At our meet up held in Ozyegin University, itself a start-up, more than 170 people were registered; that is nearly a hundred more than at any other city.

    But while the culture of entrepreneurship is evident, the tech scene is less developed. Firstly it has no center; start ups are scattered across Istanbul. It seems odd that such a virtual world should have physical needs, but location is important. Berlin has the former east, London has “Silicon Roundabout” and America, as if we need to be reminded, has Silicon Valley.

    Then there is the state of the technology ecosystem. People like Ishan Elgin, executive director at the center for entrepreneurship at Ozyegin, and Burak Buyukdemir running his own incubator, are building it and with success—but there is a way to go yet.

    Talking to tech start ups and you get the same message. Early stage funding. Where are the Turkish angels they ask? Where do we get the money to start? It seems the notorious 3F plan—friends, family and fools—is the main path.

    And it isn’t just the money that the start ups need, it is also the business acumen. They want access to mentors and the opening up of contact books.

    One entrepreneur described what he had done in the past. I set up this business, but it failed, he said. I stopped him there and asked what was the attitude people had when you tell them this? His face clouded. “Failure is not a good thing here,” he said, but went on to say how much he had learned from his mistakes.

    That attitude to failure is, alas, a facet Turkey shares with much of Europe. That and a slight disdain for running your own start up. “Turkish people like to think they are entrepreneurs,” he said, “but if you tell your parents you are going to run a start up they will say, ‘Oh. Couldn’t you get a proper job?’”

    But the optimism in Turkey, and the evident pride the country has in its economy (someone said to me that people used to say “should Turkey join the EU. Now they say, should the EU join Turkey”) is evident. And while the community has a way to go, it is moving quickly. According to Mr. Elgin, there are some 15 business angel networks, and the number is increasing.

    And venture capital is available. Intel Capital, Hummingbird and Kleiner Perkins have all done deals. Sequoia is looking around and, says Mr. Buyukdemir and Mr. Ishan, there are local VCs as well.

    That capital has lead to some success. When you look back at Turkey’s history of exits it has had a few reasonable sized deals. The one that everyone talked about was eBay’s $215 million purchase of 93% of local ecommerce player gittigidiyor.com in March 2011.

    An exit like that does two things: it helps feed the ecosystem where founders become angels and plough the money back in and secondly it stokes the desire to succeed.

    Turkey’s economy is growing at breakneck speed, and its young workers are heavy mobile and Internet users (it is the 5th largest nation of Facebook users, and ranks 8th globally on Twitter). With a population of 77 million, as well as some 3 million Turks in Germany, it is an attractive home market.

    But the country’s size is a mixed blessing. While it gives start ups a good local market, it blunts global ambition. Most Turkish players are building Turkish sites in Turkish to serve Turks. And when you look at those sites, a lot of them are just clones of successful models working elsewhere.

    Taking someone else’s ideas and translating them into Turkish may help to teach the basics of running a web start up, but it isn’t a long-term growth strategy, and if that is all there is on offer, the money men from Kleiner Perkins et all are going to be back on the plane, with their virgin checkbook stowed in the hold.

    via Turkey’s Entrepreneurs Rely on Friends, Family and Fools – Tech Europe – WSJ.

  • Turkey: F-16s can now hit Israel targets

    Turkey: F-16s can now hit Israel targets

    Turkish fighter jets
    Turkish fighter jets
    Turkey has developed a new system for its US-made F-16 fighter jets that will allow them for the first time to fire at Israeli targets, a report says.

    The new Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) — an identification system designed for command and control — developed by Turkey’s Military Electronics Industry (ASELSAN) will replace the US version of the system that was being run on the fighter jets so far, Turkey’s Star Gazete newspaper reported on Tuesday.

    The US system identified all Israeli targets as a ‘friend,’ thus preventing the Turkish fighter jets from firing at them automatically, even if the Turkish pilots were ordered to fire at them, the report said.

    The new system, however, will allow Turkey to define its enemies itself, the report said.

    The Turkish IFF will be mounted on all Turkish fighter jets, military vessels and submarines in the near future.

    The report noted that the new IFF system has been developed in a time of increasing tension between Ankara and Tel Aviv.

    The US-made IFF, categorized all Israeli targets, alongside NATO targets, as ‘friend,’ despite the fact that Israel is not a member state of NATO.

    http://www.presstv.ir, Sep 13, 2011