Looking On the Other Side:"Desolated One" | SALT WATER

14th Istanbul Biennial "Salt Water" , Trotsky House

  There is a fascinating and unfortunately 'abondoned' mansion located in "Buyukada" which is the largest island of Prince Islands in the Sea of Marmara that is named Leon Trotsky's House . I had a chance to get to visit this mansion during 14th Istanbul Biennial: Salt Water. When I got there, the place fully inspired me by its spirit. Despite I really do not know how the place affected me that much, I can truely say that I felt like that building was still alive. But it is so sad to said that there are many places which have spirits but no bodies anymore-especially in Istanbul which many deep rooted empires lived on... Somebody should originally renovate and protect those desolated places AND most importantly brought them in important spots such as museum, exhibition areas, etc. I appreciate the art director of this biennial for making the seashore of Trotsky Mansion is the one of the many great biennial spots.

14th Istanbul Biennial "Salt Water" , Trotsky House

  I found a link where you can read more about this place if you wonder:

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/leon-trotsky-istanbul-home-for-sale-321873

Women Can Do !

 
Coding seems like a job for stereotypes-especially for men- with a cup of coffee in their hands along the night, have an unsocial life, sleepless nights, and no energy. Although most are true , that is not the entire story. There is a good one to refute this idea. I recommend you to read this :

She's a beauty and a geek: Supermodel is a coder

Fasten your Seat Belts

 After spending unforgettable 5 months in the States, here I am! Finally at home. I felt like a bittersweet feeling while I was walking the whole corridor thru the plane. All the memories will be with me forever crossed my mind in that moment. I made a lot friends and put many memories into my pocket in  Chicago. I really loved the city atmosphere and people I've met there. I traveled different cities in the States but Chi Town will always be different for me. 
And it is time for Istanbul now. When the plane was landing I saw my hometown from up then I fell in love one more time. 
 I was so excited cause I saw my city after 6 big months and my whole family was waiting for me at the airport. My mom, my dad, my brother, my aunts, my grandma and grandpa, even my little cousin Ali Furkan who was supposed to be at kindergarten :)
 Now, I'm writing at home, in my room, on my own bed.. I missed many things. I missed eating''simit'' while travelling from the Asian side to the Europian side by ship everyday, having''turkish tea'' while watching Bosphorus view,  drinking''turkish coffee'' with friend with an endless chat, tasting''manti'', ''yaprak sarma'', ''lahmacun''... many other turkish meals..

It's your turn right now! Come to Istanbul!!

Hope to see you guys in here!

Hoşçakal Chicago..

What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbulling.. Making people feel like harassed, or stalked.
Unfortunately, some people on social media think that they have rights to make fun of the others in a bad way- by bulling. There are some examples in NYTimes' post "In September, a federal appeals court in Nevada, for instance, sided with school officials who suspended a high school sophomore for threatening, through messages on Myspace, to shoot classmates. In 2011, an Indiana court ruled that school officials had violated the Constitution when they disciplined students for posting pictures on Facebook of themselves at a slumber party, posing with rainbow-colored lollipops shaped like phalluses." Controlling these kind of things is very difficult but I agree with the writer about keeping balance for rights of students' free speeches against the dangers of cyberbulling. "Educators find themselves needing to balance students’  rights of free speeches against the dangers children can get into at school and sometimes with the law because of what they say in posts on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr"

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/technology/some-schools-extend-surveillance-of-students-beyond-campus.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131029

Legal and Ethical Issues

 Should information be free? At the first sight, yes it should be. Every people should be able to reach open-access information easily and for free like journal articles, tv, news, movies, music, and so on. Especially in today's world, it is really difficult to hide or keep private something as long as we have the Internet. However, I belive that there should be a privacy for some informations which is related with government or even the people who created something for public with their ability or their skill. For example, when you download a movie or music for free, it is actually betrayal of labor to the owner/ creator of this art. In New York Times they say "On the other were governments and corporations that argued that some information must be kept private for security or commercial reasons." I totally agree with that. People should respect copyright.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/technology/aaron-swartz-a-data-crusader-and-now-a-cause.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&smid=tw-nytimes&partner=rss&emc=rss

Privacy and Security

 Internet is incredibly complex. There is always a way to reach someone's information via Internet and privacy becomes more uncontrollable when you integrated your all social networks with each other. Danah Boyd and Alice Marwick say that  in their articles "Many of our fears and concern regarding safety stem from the ways in which the Internet uncovers many things that we were previously hidden".It may not be true for all people but I agree with that it works like that for many people, called 'fear of privacy'. People can not control their privacy since the Internet is getting more and more evolved day by day.
 Facebook is very popular all over the world. More than most people have an account on Facebook even if they do not use regularly. And when you post a photo on Facebook, your privacy settings may not be enough to hide it from people who are not friend with you on Facebook. Even the sister of Facebook's founder got that problem as they said in the Atlantic Wire "don't expect to hide something if you do — everything can be shared and re-shared these days".

90th Anniversary of Republic of Turkey

PHOTO OF THE DAY!
(Bosphorus,Istanbul)