9 Aralık 2016 Cuma
From 'social software' to 'social media' :)
20 Ekim 2016 Perşembe
Introduction of New Technologies
I recently hang two decorative plates on the walls of my house. They are called... and have the Electricity series painted on them. I always liked them as a symbol of the over the top usage of the popular culture as a tool to educate the society. One of them displays a grandpa reading a book under the table lamp to his grandchildren. The other plate has a drawing of an elderly man sitting on a couch reading a book and a woman next to him knitting sitting through using the light coming from a floor lamp. In both of the plates, the overal pictures is quite dark (as the lighting then was not as bright as the ones that we have now, thus the drawings portray a realistic state of a room with lighting of the time). Thus the series of plates promotes the usage of electricity through reinforcing its benefits for the users.
For a 21st century person, this might seem quite absurd as we take it granted electricity granted and it is a normal part of our life. Why would anyone resist using it? We don't think of the process of introduction of electricity and its acceptance by the users of the time. Of course, anyone would have accepted electricity with open arms and what their homes to be connected to the electricity network. But, social scientist focusing on the development of Technologies says the opposite. It has not been an easy process as we have assumed. Explaining the actions of the American rural farmers during the introduction of telephone lines and the electrification, Ronald Kline portrays different strategies employeed by rural American in adopting these Technologies to patterns of their rural life. Resisting a technology does not just mean opposing its introduction into a certain community or not purchasing the technology. It can also signify "not using a technology in a prescribed manner" (Kline, 2002 53).
For example, in the beginning of 1900s rural farmer communities embraced the telephone lines installed in their houses, but used these party lines (the telephone lines that were shared by multiple households) in line with their patterns of rural life. The party line was used for playing music to the users of the same line or for eavesdropping (Kline, 2002 54). And this practice was considered socially aceptable among the users (ibid 56) as a party line became a tool that strengthen the community ties through being adapted within the usage patterns of the rural people.
Resistance towards electricity was for different reasons. There were people who did not "feel that electricity is worthwile to them even though they can often well afford it" (Kline, 2002 60). There were also issues in relation to the erection of the electricity poles as they were intervening the plowing of the land people owned. There were also questions raised when people heard that the power outlets will also be installed in the bedroom since it seemed like a luxury (Kline, 2002 60). Kline calls these "contested meanings" (Kline, 2002 54) rather than resistance as they can be interpreted as "Transformative Resistance because they helped to create technological and social change" (Kline, 2002 53). The meaning adhered to the telephone and the electricity in the urban was not same as the one in the rural. People used these Technologies differently according to their patterns of life. Kline's article is important as it highlights users are not passive recipients of the transfer of technology from one context to the other, they are "active consumers who resisted, modified, and selectively adopted these Technologies on an individual basis" (Kline, 2002 51).
My decorative plates display popular culture posters that were used in order to promote electricity use at home. They were actually part of the overall strategies to overcome the resistance/modification of the users.
17 Ekim 2016 Pazartesi
Homecoming Queensu
In Canada, and in specifically in Queen's University, the biggest event of the year is the Homecoming - the second weekend of October every year. Don't let the name fool you, it is for both the alumni and the present students of the university. It is three days of celebrations and revival of university spirit. Three days of blue, yellow and red (the colors of Queen's University- Tricolour) all around the streets, on the t-shirts, on the jackets. Streets full of new and old alumni and lots of drunk students. In addition to the official schedule announced by the university (that covers variety of team games played against other universities' teams, university tours, brunches, tree planting activities and the Street Festival with a main act), currently enrolled students also organize house parties where beer in the keg is the main drink. If you are an undergraduate these house parties are the places to be in these days. If you are doing a PhD like I do, the saturday night Street Festival is the most enjoyable part of the Homecoming. This year, the main act was "Walk off the Earth" (https://www.walkofftheearth.com/). Their music was awosome and it was great to be outdoors listening to a live performance. I loved every bit of their performance, it was also the first time I have seen four musicians playing the same guitar. The closer to the stage, the better it is :)
This year, the Street festival was called reUnion, as the name implies, it is a reunion party at Union Street :) If you want to have a better idea of the Homecoming, I would also recommend you to go to the Homecoming Football game, where seats at Richardson Stadium are arranged according to the graduation year and tickets are sold at minumum 40$. Even if you just go to the Street festival, it would be a well spent time to enjoy the Homecoming.
The information on the festival:
https://myams.org/reunion/
http://www.queensu.ca/alumni/homecoming/register
http://www.queensu.ca/alumni/homecoming/homecoming-events



16 Ekim 2016 Pazar
The Circle by Dave Eggers
I finally completed reading the acclaimed novel of Dave Eggers. The topic of the book is within my research area, so it was a must-read, but I also heard so many nice things about `The Circle`. The context is set in an Engineering and Technology company (similar to Google) called `The Circle`, which has a span of products that its users/customers use. The products can be used with a single login name, and they are all integrated (sounds familiar, right?). In order to use The Circle products, that are "the most dominant and ubiquitous and free, you had to do so as yourself, as your actual self, as your TruYou. The era of fales identities, identity theft, multiple user names, complicated passwords and payment systems, was over...Once you had a single account, it carried you through every corner of the web, every portal, every pay site, everything you wanted to do"(p22). So it was end of anonymity and also it meant our real identities are traced, analyzed, profiled and also acted upon all the time (Again, not much of a distant story - I know that as I am writing these lines, all the logs are compiled in my google account. So the readers would not be stumped by the idea, it is the extend of it that is different from our current state. Imagine there is just one company who has the capabilities of all these tech companies, a total monopoly). The Circle is considered as one of the most desired companies to be employed. Thus, our protagonist - Mae - is a new recruit, dazzled by the services, technology and capabilities of the Circle tools and also by its corporate benefits. I like the book in two respects, first, it bluntly portrays the direction of the technological advancements (of course in a more dramatized way, as there is not much global organized resistance portrayed in the book, such as the privacy lobbies); and second it is actually a criticism of corporate life where all the employees are made part of the shiny world of the big international companies.
The book can also be considered as a response to those still believing in the idea of `I have nothing to hide`, thus surveillance of any kind can be accepted for the bigger good of security, education etc. without drawing a line. Would you like people to know who you voted for in the last election? or what your sicknesses are? or what you are thinking right now? or any of your choices that you make by yourself? Would you like all this to be open to public? Thus, then why should a company should know all your actions, all your clicks, all the products you bought in the internet or offline. They are personal decisions, given without taking into account any consequences. But what if they have consequences as they actually fill in the gaps in your data-profile. Then Especially the last chapter of the book allows the reader to think about these issues.
The surveillance practices varies and they are accepted as a normal part of the daily life, either by corporations, by individuals, by institutions, and the book portrays it very well through portraying a global understanding where absolute transparency (to watch, to be watched, being always at the gaze, to be judged) become the norm, where `right to disappear`(p.490) vanishes. Being connected is the norm and moreover it is a must.
Of course, most of the characters in the book is portrayed from a technological deterministic point of view: The Circle will save the world with all technologies it will offer. But as with any technology, multiple directions a technology can take within use is an open question. What would humans do with that technology, what will be the unintended consequences be, would it be accepted in the same fashion all over the world? All these questions are actually left to the imagination of the reader, in the sense that Eggers actually displays us the completion of the Circle, but he leaves the portrayals of struggles within this process to the imagination of the reader. Eggers also provides us a point of criticism through the main character, Mae, who believes technology can solve it all. Once it is put into use, it will solve all the problem in the world. It is like these computer advertisements, where once there are computers in the schools, the students will suddenly become geniouses :) Well, are they geniouses? (I know, this is a very simplistic point of view :).
I recommend the book to all! Great book that will urge you to think about technology, surveillance and data ownership. Do numbers tell it all? Does created reality or constructed reality (in the CCTV, in the internet, as your data double) tell it all about our reality? Who do our data belong to? Once you put them in the cloud/social media/web/in our computer, who owns our data?
The Circle:
https://www.amazon.com/Circle-Dave-Eggers/dp/0345807294
A review by Margaret Atwood
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/11/21/eggers-circle-when-privacy-is-theft/
26 Mayıs 2016 Perşembe
Barcelona
The hearth of the city for most tourists is La Rambla. The one and a half miles in-length street with many shops and restaurants also hosts the mime and street artists. There is also a must see food market - La Boqueria - located on the street. Having variety of meat, fish and fruit options, the market appeals to variety of tastes. As all over the city, the variety of fruit juices in the market attract the eye (make sure you drink one of the varieties of these fruit juices before you leave Barcelona, they are tasty!). Even if you do not eat or drink something, it is also a pleasure to go around the market for a feast for the eyes!

The rich history of the city is goes back to BC, you can feel the traces of the Roman period in the historical center Gothic Quarter which is off La Rambla. You will see that many of the buildings date from Medieval times (if not older).As in most of the European towns, you feel the history as you go through the streets and see the architectural masterpieces in many locations of the town.
The city has also eye-pleasing squares and gardens which you can come accross suddenly while walking in a small street.


Especially Park Güell is my favorite. It is a garden planned for the pleasure of the outdoor lovers. I also applauded the ergonomy in his designs. The door handles, the seats are designed for practical and easy use. Seeing his house in Park Güell would be a good opportunity to understand his designs better.



If you have more than two days, there are of course much more to see in this beautiful city. Mountain Tibidabo is one of the alternatives. You can go up the mountain with the historical Funicular. During this 5 minutes of nostalgic journey, you will also be able to watch the city as the Funicular carries you up the hill. Once up the mountain, you can enjoy the Tibidabo Amusement Park or visit the Sagrat Cor Church. The Tibidabo Amusement Park was opened in 1899 and it is one of the oldest in the World still functioning according to the sources. We took the 1928 Red Aeroplae ride. It is a single car carousel that give the impression of flight above the city. The other alternative is to visit the church. It is also open to the visitors and the prayers. There is also the possibility of going to the top of the church to have a 360 view of the area and the forests around.

The other place to visit is the Montjuïc Hill. The National Palace, Olympic Stadium, the fortress at Montjuïc, The Joan Miro Modern Art Museum, the Botanical Gardens, the Museum of Ethnology, the Catalan Museum of Archeology are also one of the few places to visit located here. In order to have a good view of the city, you can take the cable car linking the city to the top of the Montjuïc. It is a comfortable short ride with the city view.


You also have the opportunity of visiting The Fundació Joan Miró. Barcelona is a wonderful city if you enjoy visiting museums. The Museu Picasso is located in the Gothic Quarter in the city center. It will be a worthwhile journey to visit both The Fundació Joan Miró and Museu Picasso while you are in the city.





18 Mayıs 2016 Çarşamba
Google I/O
Well, I am not a programmer or a mobile web designer, but I always find listening to tech developments useful for my own interests and research. After all, most if not all of these technologies do tracking or monitoring by design.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, gave the keynote speech and he highlighted the direction the technology is evolving towards; mobile technologies, mobile apps, machine learning along with AI, voice recognition, image recognition, finger printing. The aim is to use the applications of Google to "get things done in real World" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=862r3XS2YB0 - start watching from 14.40). He also highlighted their desire to be one stop point for the whole home, the family. Following his speech, Mario Queiroz, introduced the Google Assistant for home in a hands free way. So they created the device Google Home. It is actually integration of the online World in to the home sphere without the need to go online. It is powered by sound recognition, and it continue the two way dialogue, so more machine learning.
So why is this important for surveillance studies point of view. We are already surrounded by all these Technologies that track us. It is the introduction of these Technologies within the home. What you do at home, is not anymore just your business but through voice recognition, it is also Google's business. The private/public space continue to be merged. You do not need to even leave what you are doing or type, it will recognize your voice, Google home will be one of the house inhabitants. You will depend on it, as we depend on Google now in most our daily activities (At least if Google home does not work, there will always be the same old Google in our mobiles and computers). Google is not just a search company, it has diverse variety of businesses. Through opening up the home, we will be also opening up our home to all the business of Google (or Alphabet Inc.). It will also depend on the privacy policy of the Google home how much the information collected within the home sphere would be used in other programs. It can be considered as bringing the immaterial labour or the free labour (of individuals as they produce knowledge as they use these technologies) from the individual to the household level. Thus the individuals (the children), who do not have a mobile phone of their own, become also surveillant subjects within the household. Thus, the ones in the household that used to be immune to the technological surveillance in the sphere of home, become also part of the monitoring. This is also similar to any of the monitoring/contolling(or surveillance) equipment brought to the home aiming to care/control.
One of the other sessions gave the updates about Google Pay. I have not used Google Pay before as my phone does not download it as it is not available in Canada (or my phone setting does not allow me). But, it is the next dimension in the integration of different applications. The usage of Google Pay in the London Underground is effective, and the cash withdraw from Bank of America's ATMs are also effective as of today (18th of May 2016). The applications have been using Google pay (AirBnb) and more applications have been integrating it into their system (Booking.com). The other important issue for the surveillance scholars is the usage of biometrics (finger print scanning) as one of the steps of identity verification. So while our information/activities are being transformed from one application to the other, biometrics become an integral part of it.
Google already knows our lives and it continues to develop applications that know more.
(See https://www.android.com/pay/ for more info)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_I/O
www.android.com/pay/
Google. 2006. Attending. Retrieved from https://events.google.com/io2016/attend
National Identity Cards
So Turkey is in the process of introducing the new national identification cards with biometric information (with a chip) at a plot level. The biometric data stored in the chip is a combination of fingerprint and palm vein print data. The governing bodies indicate that the smart cards will ease the processes with official institutions, thus making life easier both for the citizens and the institutions. The introduction of these cards is also part of Turkey's fullfilment of the requirements of its visa liberalisation roadmap within EU (1). Yet the interesting issue is the citizens of most of the EU countries resist the mandatory use/distribution of National Identity cards and Biometric cards, thus their usage (if issued to the citizens) is quite limited. So one questions, their mandatory usage and naturalization within Turkey as part of the EU roadmap.
For a good overview of the National Identity cards in Turkey, please see "Citizenship rights in a surveillance society: The case of the electronic ID card in Turkey" by Alanur Çavlin Bozbeyoğlu.
(http://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/viewFile/citizenship/citizenship)
1) http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/proposal-implementation-package/docs/20160504/third_progress_report_on_turkey_visa_liberalisation_roadmap_en.pdf)
17 Mayıs 2016 Salı
Facebook TrendingTopics
The Guardian explains the situation as;
16 Mayıs 2016 Pazartesi
Akbil
http://mobil.hurriyet.com.tr/milyonlarca-yolcunun-kullandigi-akbil-icin-imza-kampanyasi-baslatildi-40104123?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=post&utm_term=post&utm_content=milyonlarca-yolcunun-kullandigi-akbil-icin-imza-kampanyasi-baslatildi&utm_campaign=milyonlarca-yolcunun-kullandigi-akbil-icin-imza-kampanyasi-baslatildi_ulastirma
Akbil kullanicilari bir imza kampanyasi baslatmislar. Akbilin internet uzerinden de banka hesbindan doldurulabilmesi icin. Ayrica imza kampanyasinda her kartin hangi otobuste kullanildigi da takip edilsin ki boylece kayip esyalarin takibi kolay yapilabilsin diyorlar. Yolcular gundelik hayatlarini kolaylastirmak icin kendi istekleriyle takip edilmeyi kolaylastiracak uygulamalar istiyorlar. Bu biraz da Turk insaninin zaten her noktada bu sistemin icinde halihazirda olmasindan da kaynaklaniyor. Edevlet uygulamalari hayatimizi kolaylastirirken butun bilgilerimizi de bir araya getirdi bir platformda topladi. Suanda vatandaslar bunun faydalarini kolayliklarini gordu, baska yerlerde de bunu istiyor. Neden peki bircok ulkenin sivil toplum kuruluslari ve akademisyenleri bu tip vatandas takibine imkan saglayan uygulamalara tepki gosteriyor. Farkinda olmadan halihazirda her noktada yaptiklarimiz kayit altinda. Cep telefonlarinin sinyalleri her an nerede oldugumuzla ilgili bilgiler topluyor, gectigimiz yollardaki trafik kameralari, yurudugumuz yollardaki guvenlik kameralari bizleri kayit altina aliyor, devlet kurumlariyla yaptigimiz butun islemlerde TC kimlik numaramizi verdigimizde butun bu islemler kayit ltinda, kredi kartiyla aldigimiz urunler bankalar tarafindan biliniyor. Tamam ne oluyor yani denebilir, sakliyacak gizleyecek birseyim yok, olay bundan cok daha kapsamli degerlendirildiginde, hepimizin ozelinin aslinda aslinda artik ozeli olmadigi goruluyor. Saklanacak birseyin olmamasi degil ana nokta olay bu hakkimizin teknolojik gelismeler isiginda dunyanin cogu ulkesinde biz farkinda olsak da olmasak da elimizden alinmasi. Bu bilgiler hicbir yere gitmiyor, sistemlerde kalici olarak saklaniyor. Birkac yil sonra bir davada, saglikla ilgili yaptigiz bir sigorta basvurusunda kullanilma ihtimali var. Bilgilerin kimler tarafindan kullanilabilegi, kimlerin toplaya bilecegi ile ilgili kurallar suan icin bircok ulkede esnek. Ayrica korunmasi acisindan da sikintilar var. Bir de farkli gruplarin farkli sekilde etkilenme igtimali var. Amerika bazli bircok arastirma, elektronik alanda toplanan bilgilerin bircok sosyal esitsizlige sebep oldugunu gosteriyor. Teknoloji hizla gelisiyor, sebep olabilecegi durumlar ve yarattigi sosyal degisim bu arada anlasilmaya calisiliyor.
7 Mayıs 2016 Cumartesi
TV
So, I am the girl, who can watch hours of TV content without giving a break. I can watch the re runs or the marathons.
Lately, I can only watch these through the internet as i have not bought a Tv at home in order to make myself more productive in my job but i am not really sure it is working effectively. Anyways, i especially love watching tv series.
Everything starts with the imagination in tv shows. The creators put down their imagination into work, some turns out to be great, while others become plops. In addition to imagination, there are of course the usual recipes, the boy meets the girl, but of course there are always problems. We see the family relations or the functional or dysfunctional families (the funny ones, or the drama ones). Or, the mystery genre. You have to place a partners(better if a man and a woman) and give them something to work on each episode. So, once you know the frameworks or the guidelines, you can easily become disenchanted. For that reason, everyshow twists the familiar story in some way. But, it is possible to see similar characteristics in each show. All new show can be considered as the accumulation of all the previous ones. (There are all kinds of media studies literature on these topics.)
Once you start watching the shows based on what kind of general guidelines they follow, you can place them in the specific boxes. Once a type becomes successful, there comes all the similar ones. The vampire shows, the family shows, the detective stories. Of course each new year, the characters vary according to the changes in the political and cultural atmosphere. So, as 2000s are the years of female empowerment and the gay pride, these are reflected into the shows but mostly in line with the patriarchical guidelines. So the shows that have indipendent women as their protogonist, also shows them as one night standers. While giving them this freedom, these females mostly assume characteristics mostly attributed to men in order to be indipendent or powerful or intelligent. In most cases, they still have to be beautiful (But there are of course exceptions). So basically, most of the shows follow a certain framework.
I am writing this long introduction since - as a persistent tv watcher - i will be writing TV show evaluations from time to time.





