tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54382302011-11-23T15:57:50.999-08:00daily... backup... whenever I can...Cemnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1611100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-6020005489737068972011-03-10T18:00:00.001-08:002011-03-10T18:03:48.094-08:00

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-68040847334194463842010-09-20T18:53:00.001-07:002010-09-21T15:57:30.359-07:00

Exteremely cool robotics application form Grasp...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-63377290231807223162010-09-13T21:43:00.000-07:002010-09-13T21:50:00.097-07:00

Interesting article on Charles Komanoff and his work on Manhattan traffic. Few data points were extremely interesting: Average vehicle speed in the city from 6am to 8pm changes from 6.78 to 11.68 mph. This with 681K cars, 116K taxis and 72K buses/trucks during the day. Most probably most of these vehicles have only one 'traveler'.Basically, there is no reason not to make Segway the transportation

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-9146205534874286352010-06-17T14:51:00.000-07:002010-06-17T14:51:21.309-07:00

The world's only immortal animal | Yahoo! Green

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-23847219527146354892009-08-21T01:04:00.000-07:002009-08-21T01:09:32.266-07:00

This one sums it up for me: Any allegiance to a deity or concept or universal principle which put obedience above decent behavior toward an innocent human being is evil.From Hyperion by Dan Simmons.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-65580693771433117352009-05-07T19:59:00.000-07:002009-05-07T20:06:55.455-07:00

33.7 million unique visitors in the Us come to the yahoo.com front page every day.That's 42 Obamas.Watch the video for more details on Yahoo!.Mitch Spolan presenting at Yahoo! @ Yahoo! Video

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-67390550800975905362009-04-30T22:25:00.000-07:002009-04-30T22:28:55.865-07:00

Poem by Süleyman Apaydın, in Turkish... One more time...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-49839822653863087562009-02-01T00:06:00.000-08:002009-02-01T00:08:14.626-08:00

No, it's for me.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-78561888028748058902008-12-08T21:33:00.000-08:002008-12-08T21:34:36.873-08:00

Good article on memristor, from one of the 'inventors'...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-28589801782712039912008-12-05T13:22:00.000-08:002008-12-05T13:25:24.042-08:00

We went to San Jose INS office for our citizenship interviews this morning. The whole process took 10-15 minutes; just a few quick questions, and double checking forms.The question that took the most of my interview time: "When is the Yahoo merger?" [I'm not kidding!]

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-13457837086757203162008-11-27T12:50:00.000-08:002008-11-27T12:59:22.327-08:00

Yep, rock, paper, scissors, (and now the extension of) lizard and Spock. Let Sheldon explain it:Btw, for those who will start looking for a pen and paper to double check the logic (c'mon, you know you will :), here it is; each node has two incoming and two outgoing arrows:ref: Sam Kass

Cemnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-42820054510971636842008-11-12T18:30:00.000-08:002008-11-12T18:57:41.575-08:00

Two album covers... One from 1984 by Marillion titled Fugazi, the other from 2008 by In Flames, titled 'A Sense of Purpose.' Both favorites of mine...Since I got the latter album, I had this feeling of 'deja vu', but not exactly... I finally realized that the whole jester theme, cover font and colors were reminding Fugazi... See for yourself:Here are your links to artists: Mark Wilkinson (b. 1952

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-78348158012026051842008-10-30T16:58:00.000-07:002008-10-30T17:07:49.818-07:00

Valleyvag picked one photo out of 1500 hundred (a?) Yahoo posted on flicker after the Halloween parade.There were hundreds of children around, but those clever dudes picked the one without children around: Pirates and me. That's my regular work attire btw... :)The photo is up for caption contest; can't wait to see the comments.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-60590056015302896722008-10-23T21:58:00.000-07:002008-10-23T22:34:02.934-07:00

Finally found some info on the web to get Yahoo Messenger to work on my Blackberry 8800.For AT&T (or Cingular) subscribers, a simple installation does not work. When trying to login, you will receive a message along the lines of 'Service Not Enabled for this Handheld.'The following worked for me today; here are the steps:0. This process involves overriding/updating Service Books. My Blackberry is

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-75226915986254831782008-10-21T21:46:00.001-07:002008-10-21T21:46:52.053-07:00

Old, but still good :)

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-48135851761815965492008-06-26T17:58:00.001-07:002008-06-26T17:58:56.653-07:00

According to Reuters, NASA scientists say that "Martian soil appears able to support life." First water in frozen state, now this?! I guess NASA's Mars mission is on.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-80831663843445013612008-06-25T01:11:00.000-07:002008-11-12T18:44:03.612-08:00

You may be a nerd, if you get goosebumps while watching this.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-71958446679691361522008-06-21T17:57:00.000-07:002008-06-21T18:02:44.701-07:00

A note from our not-so-recent Seattle trip:Gelatiamo has probably the best ice cream on this side of Mississippi. For those who are familiar with Mado ice cream shops in Turkey, it's as good as Mado's. I'm not kidding! :)

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-50875619825256826592008-06-15T22:35:00.000-07:002008-06-15T22:38:44.540-07:00

For those who landed here looking for 'Turkish food,' here is a nice article from Janet Fletcher of SF Chronicle, with a pointer to an excellent (Turkish) food blog by Cenk Sönmezsoy, and few recipes.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-39857565298206942712008-05-16T22:39:00.000-07:002008-06-15T22:44:22.873-07:00

It's 'back to Yahoo!' for me... Now officially part of APPD QA group in Mission College campus. After a lengthy decision process with multiple opportunities inside and outside Yahoo, I decided to join Scoot and SarahH's team.I am impressed by what I have been told before joining and what I saw after. Is this the correct choice in the middle of all this hoopla? Engineering-wise, heck yes!

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-17341636084952431162008-02-27T14:21:00.000-08:002008-02-27T14:25:01.651-08:00

This year, CNET's Webware.com selected 30 products in 10 categories as nominees for Webware 100 Awards. Selections are made from a group of nearly 5000 entries.LeapTag is again selected as a finalist in 'Browsing' category. Browsing category seems to include very different groups of products. Nominees for this category are:OS/Web Desktop: EyeOS, G.ho.st, Jooce, YouOS, YourMinis, iPhonePlatform:

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-68471410776994391732008-02-06T11:39:00.000-08:002008-02-06T11:41:38.960-08:00

omg! Yes, it's growing fast, too many apps to support, huge database... I get all that. But multiple weeks to figure out the problem? This is the kind of problem that can kill facebook. [Most of our pages are suffering too.]

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-19158821517562365982008-01-20T16:57:00.000-08:002008-01-20T17:10:50.029-08:00

Recently, there are way too many articles about layoffs at Yahoo, which is late by a year or two, if you ask me. Based on what I read, heard and saw in the last 3 years, I would bet on the number 1600. 700-800 is almost a given right now, but speaking as a shareholder, 1600 looks like a much better number. Based on my experience at Yahoo, I think 1600/12000 as a good estimate for work force '

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-76006045867567147912007-12-03T18:10:00.000-08:002007-12-03T18:19:44.581-08:00

While working on our Facebook application (seriously, I'm always logged in to Facebook and go on a tangent once in a while), I saw my mom's friend list, which includes my name.Here is what I saw. This wasn't something I really thought of. Do I really want my mom to see that? Would she know it's work?

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-3853110279856768972007-11-29T14:14:00.000-08:002007-11-29T14:15:53.152-08:00

ComputerWorld lists a set of applications on Facebook that are good, bad and ugly. LeapTag is mentioned under news/blog readers... with a positive note :)

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-75476259758418107772007-11-29T00:03:00.000-08:002007-11-29T00:04:23.236-08:00

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;261186

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-27085818073604834922007-10-29T23:08:00.001-07:002007-10-29T23:23:58.755-07:00

Great article, if you want to know about multiverse, branes, and string theory, need an answer to the question 'where our universe is,' or need to find the God. :)

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-5718113255702476552007-10-25T23:02:00.001-07:002007-10-29T23:21:56.120-07:00

Few weeks ago, while working on our Facebook app, I ended up on 'newest' tab of Facebook application directory. To my surprise, there were 4 (four) application that were listed on the first page -which means they were submitted in the last 2 hours or so-. This was around 1:00am Turkish time. [BTW, two of these were implemented by female coders/designers, which is very encouraging, given where the

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-45304832705639026482007-09-25T00:11:00.000-07:002007-09-25T00:14:15.513-07:00

Facebook port of LeapTag is finally out the door. Not listed in the directory yet [waiting for the 'approval'], but slowly adding users via our friend networks.Already started fixing bugs (all minor, you wouldn't even see them :), adding new features... Can't wait for user feedback.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-59507602011561746502007-08-28T22:54:00.000-07:002007-08-28T23:00:41.412-07:00

Abdullah Gül has been elected as 11th president of the 'Republic of Turkey.' After 84 years (yes, Turkey is one of the oldest -or the oldest?- republics in the region, including Middle East and Europe), he is the first non-secular president.Not sure how to react to this. Yeah, it's democracy, and majority rules. Everything is according to the law. Still, something doesn't feel right; can't help

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-55344170476736669202007-08-18T23:40:00.000-07:002007-08-18T23:48:44.213-07:00

Anna Quindlen's articles are always good, but this one's pretty damn good. The question is for pro-life advocates: How much jail time should be required for women who have abortions?Just in case, the video is here.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-17207500228484175462007-08-03T10:25:00.000-07:002007-08-18T23:40:41.516-07:00

Yep, still no IPod... {But, considering it. Pinar already started buying music form Yahoo, or at least attempted to.} Changed discs in the car changer, after 3 months or so. Current list is:- ABC Muzikli Alfabe [Musical Alphabet in Turkish]: One slot is always allocated to Duru; surprisingly this one doesn't make you go crazy after the second pass. The songs are very good. Must have for all

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-80685194126523994852007-05-23T15:05:00.000-07:002007-05-23T15:08:31.247-07:00

CNET/Webware finalized the list of candidates for Webware 100 awards. Ten categories, 25 finalists in each, from a list of 5000+ nominees.LeapTag is one of the 25 under Browsing. The list looks very impressive :)Vote for your favorite browsing tool here.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-61071376182774556512007-04-25T22:17:00.000-07:002007-04-25T22:32:53.398-07:00

Black Sabbath, er, I mean Heaven and Hell was at HP Pavillion last night. Opening for them were Diamond Head, and Megadeth.Once again, Ergin and I figured out that for us, it's Dio, not Ozzy. It was a great show.Also great, Megadeth... Can't wait for the new album, and the upcoming (?) campaign. "Mustaine for Congress!"

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-34200739262741314472007-04-19T23:00:00.000-07:002007-04-19T23:07:12.488-07:00

Renee posted a picture of LeapTag team in her blog. Here is the picture reproduced here:

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-14170220688382789352007-04-15T15:32:00.000-07:002007-04-15T15:36:28.590-07:00

After TechCrunch article we started seeing some traffic and blog posts. Demo Girl has a very nice and short video of the basic functionality for version 0.8.1.I wish Molly had "drag and drop of URL addresses onto tags" in the demo. I guess we hid it pretty well. [Also, sharing's on the way...]

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-54810462658920015762007-03-25T22:47:00.000-07:002007-03-25T22:51:16.085-07:00

Public beta of LeapTag (v0.8.0) is finally out the door. We removed access restriction to the beta download page Saturday morning. Cuneyt will also be carrying the latest version on his laptop while visiting ETech. On to the new features in our list...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-79387091682106372702007-02-02T12:28:00.000-08:002007-02-02T12:46:36.064-08:00

Cuneyt posted this today. Everyone in the office kinda freaked out a bit when he mentioned his problem few days ago.Karen's story is a good case study of the 'bug'. I can imagine more embrassing (do I dare say 'terrible') scenarios.The part that kills me is fact that you have to ask somebody else: 'what exactly did you saw?' If you deleted your history, you wouldn't remember what you looked for,

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1168908836052700502007-01-15T16:50:00.000-08:002007-01-15T16:53:56.063-08:00

Cuneyt came up with this idea of showcasing LeapTag using del.icio.us few months back. Here is its implementation. It's of course a bit different than the browser plug-in, but still a good demo.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1168680345088214162007-01-12T23:13:00.000-08:002007-01-13T01:25:45.100-08:00

This is -in part- what I ended up sending in the afternoon. Somewhat a sad day for me, although I am very excited about what I'll be doing next week [actually tomorrow]:- - -Colleagues, friends;So, this is my last day at Yahoo. HR told me yesterday, while taking my employee card away, that at midnight today my benefits –except health- will be cancelled. That didn’t hit me hard; but when I walked

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1168117280101328882007-01-06T12:55:00.000-08:002007-01-06T13:01:20.113-08:00

New CDs on the changer:- Almora 1945- Cem Koksal "...Just Set Me Free!!"- System of a Down Hypnotize- Taylan Ayik Yalniz Hayal- Vega Hafif Muzik- Yuksek SadakatFirst four are on the heavy side, not sure about the last two [yet]. All are Turkish, except Hypnotize {which is Armenian American... Ehh, somewhat close :}. Amost all are from 2005 {I just can't keep up with new bands.}

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1163483842936295212006-11-13T21:55:00.000-08:002006-11-13T21:57:22.936-08:00

New 'green center' from Yahoo! Autos definitely looks 'fresh'. Videos too... The articles are surprisingly informative. :)

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1162491994998164352006-11-02T10:23:00.000-08:002006-11-02T10:26:35.010-08:00

After two weeks of carefully removing myself from some of the -intranet- mailing lists, I still found that I received 723 e-mail messages between 8:30pm Wednesday and 9:00am Thursday. This means I still receive 1000 or more messages every weekday.Plus, I have 300+ 'red flagged' msgs in my mailbox, which means I have to follow up on them.Something's just not right...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1160099215710380762006-10-05T18:43:00.000-07:002006-10-05T18:47:21.780-07:00

Cuneyt and Ulas had a great demo at DemoFall06.Gotta love the names; both the company and the product. :)

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1158801673163115422006-09-20T18:17:00.000-07:002006-09-20T18:21:13.176-07:00

"Lots of bugs that haven't even been found have already been fixed." - Nimit Maru, 18 September 2006

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1158096659756794642006-09-10T09:29:00.000-07:002006-09-12T14:30:59.756-07:00

Latest version of Yahoo Real Estate is looking good. Gotta love those maps...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1156219765492068632006-08-21T21:09:00.000-07:002006-08-21T21:09:25.636-07:00

Finished the book 'Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything' by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner last month. {Yeah, I'm slow.}Apparently, there is a lot more in the web site (and blog).

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1156054027538754772006-08-19T22:46:00.000-07:002006-11-13T22:00:57.320-08:00

The paper titled 'Public Acceptance of Evolution', published in Science [11 August 2006: Vol. 313. no. 5788, pp. 765 - 766] gives percentage distribution of responses to a question about evolution in 33 countries.Surveys were conducted in 2005. Acording to NYT, people were asked whether to respond “true,” “false” or “not sure” to this statement: “Human beings, as we know them, developed from

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1156052243037498222006-08-19T22:27:00.000-07:002006-08-19T22:37:23.036-07:00

A bit late :), but here is an idea on how to fix the 'penalty shoutout' problem in important games.The problem? It's the 'did they relaly have to win with a penalty kick?' problem. You're watching this great game, both team play well; the ball is round, and the score is 2-2 at the end of the extra time. Then, we go to shoutouts; somebody makes a mistake and one of the teams end of with the

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1153016559702018172006-07-15T19:18:00.000-07:002006-08-19T22:19:38.876-07:00

Drug of the month... My otolaryngologist tells me I have to take these for six weeks to take care of LPR. Can you spell 'stress'? :) Started eating a bit more carefully...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1153016296901757982006-07-15T19:12:00.000-07:002006-08-19T22:27:49.396-07:00

System of a Down's Mermerize (2005) is -not so surprisingly- very good. Returned to its top position in my car changer after few months. Not listenning a bit more carefully, and some of these songs, no, actually the whole album is a "classic" (or will be in 20 years :).Explicit lyrics? Oh yes. Original lyrics and music? Hell yes!

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1151203341017363342006-06-24T19:40:00.000-07:002006-06-24T19:42:21.026-07:00

Visited Sultana in Menlo Park twice now. Food is just perfect. One of the best Turkish restuarants in the country (not county, country!).Visit when you can:Sultana Mediterranean Restaurant1149 El Camino RealMenlo Park, CA

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1148029787641201402006-05-19T02:07:00.000-07:002006-08-19T23:08:06.406-07:00

Cumhuriyet (Republic, a daily newspaper) have been running this ad for the last few months. In the light of recent events in Ankara, it sounds just a bit more ominous:The green text, written from right to left -literally- says "Are you aware of the danger?" Then, at the bottom, 'Take care of/claim your republic'

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1146900683507781502006-05-06T00:30:00.000-07:002006-05-06T00:31:23.516-07:00

Difference engine made out of Lego bits...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1144980137073427212006-04-13T19:00:00.000-07:002006-06-11T00:56:53.310-07:00

Last two weeks were pretty hectic on the 6th and 3rd floors. But, Farechase is finally GA; Yahoo Maps now have satellite images. Good reception overall...http://farechase.yahoo.comhttp://maps.yahoo.com/betaI love hotel listings filtering via the map on Farechase results page: quick location filtering... Zoom in, zoom out, pan, you're down to a few hotels near the attaction you want. Oh, and more

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1142150373543782972006-03-11T23:59:00.000-08:002006-08-19T22:26:59.066-07:00

Was reading an old article in EWeekly about 'The Usual Suspects,' which includes a story about the name 'Keyser Söze.' Apparently, Christopher McQuarrie knew somebody called 'Keyser Sume,' and wanted to use the name. [Full article is here.] The name had to be changed a bit, and McQuarrie needed a new last name. He scanned the English-to-Turkish dictionary for evil, devil, fire to no avail.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1141089618915509902006-02-27T17:20:00.000-08:002006-02-27T17:20:18.986-08:00

Council for Secular Humanism

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1136361700128214162006-01-03T23:59:00.000-08:002006-01-04T00:01:40.140-08:00

A list of questions (2005: "What is your dangerous idea?") and answers at Edge

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1133243704855521482005-11-28T21:47:00.000-08:002005-11-28T21:55:04.856-08:00

Our 'old' CAnon S30 digital camera finally died. After 9300+ pictures and videos... It was 3+ years old, but abused heavily by myself and my daughter [multiple falls]. It started having problems with the on switch [at the back of the sliding lens cover] in recent months, but this last episode was something else. We took it apart and looked at every mechanical bit we can see, nothing specific...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1129500153533405072005-10-16T15:01:00.000-07:002005-10-16T15:03:48.690-07:00

A new(?) book... Free (and legal) download athttp://www.globaled.org/announcement050227.php

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1117174686162424972005-05-26T23:12:00.000-07:002005-11-28T21:47:03.653-08:00

Moving utilities from one address to another... Earthlink pulled the standard 'that rate locked you in for a full year. You need to pay $149 to get out' trick.They made $149, and lost a long-term customer and a lot more 'potentials.' BTW, SBC and other phone companies have pretty good deals, significantly cheaper than Earthlink. [So significant that we'll recover our loss in 6 months.]The sad

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1116305677290802562005-05-16T21:53:00.000-07:002005-05-16T21:54:37.296-07:00

Saw this one today... Must see if you have some form of facial pain:http://www.endthepain.org/

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1116106650038255672005-05-14T14:34:00.000-07:002005-05-14T14:38:57.683-07:00

Re-read an August 2004 intreview with Lawrence M. Krauss Scientific American, August 2004.Two snippets from the interview:"I'm not against teaching faith-based ideas in religious classes; I'm just against teaching them as if they were science.""We live in a society where it's considered okay for intelligent people to be scientifically illiterate."

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1114937395205982352005-05-01T10:45:00.000-07:002005-05-01T01:49:55.206-07:00

Everything you can ask for... in a sequel. The first movie was very (very) good; this one's the same.The moment this movie ends (what an ending by the way), you will want to watch the third one. (Wait, there is none!) For the lack of a better word (everything that can be said on this movie is already published at imdb.com), these are the most 'humane' films I have ever seen. Or maybe, the 'most

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1114497255545625762005-04-25T22:25:00.000-07:002005-04-25T23:34:15.546-07:00

The first Roomba I bought few months ago (OK, six months ago?) stopped working after 6 or 7 runs. Although we were very impressed with the amount of dirt I got, we were disappointed that it broke so easily.No broken parts, it just wouldn't charge the battery. After waiting a few weeks, I wrote to iRobot, got no response. Then called technical service, and went thru standard 'take battery out,

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1114062796937382532005-04-20T22:50:00.000-07:002005-04-20T22:53:16.936-07:00

Have been reasing the sites below and a few others for sometime. Let's see what'll happen with house prices in a year or so. I believe the prices in SF/SJ Bay Area will stay the same [no increase is good too] or drop a few percent. I hope they do...http://patrick.net/housing/crash.htmlhttp://www.viewfromsiliconvalley.com/index.htmlhttp://www.housingbubble.com/

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113551242358923742005-04-15T00:46:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:22:25.596-07:00

CDUniverse passed our 'the Eloy test.' [You can't call an on-line CD seller a good one, if they don't carry a few Eloy CDs.]More than 25 Eloy albums... Impressive...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113551173094360862005-04-15T00:43:00.000-07:002005-04-16T01:02:53.273-07:00

What a movie! I kinda expected this one to be good, but didn't expect this much: interesting dialogs, story too :) Certainly one of the best movies of the last century (no kidding, it's like a book).I wish I had a chance to watch this one without knowing about 'Before Sunset'. We'll take a few weeks break, let 'Before Sunrise' to sink in, and then watch 'Before Sunset.'

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113551368921666892004-12-23T23:48:00.000-08:002006-04-13T19:06:51.760-07:00

Have been listening to 'The System Has Failed' for the last few months. Impressive! Mustaine's back!

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113727433585222872004-12-23T00:42:00.000-08:002005-05-14T14:40:06.866-07:00

Mor ve Otesi, Duman, and Pilli Bebek... These three have a good blend of Western and Turkish 'motifs.' They're all very good, but my personal favorite is Duman [aka the Turkish Led Zeppelin] {No... really...}Web sites: http://www.morveotesi.com/, http://www.halimizduman.com/, http://www.anadolurock.com/pillibebek/index.php

Cemnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113631154375583342004-12-02T22:58:00.000-08:002005-04-16T01:03:27.713-07:00

RSI Guard... A life saver, if you are suffering from RSI.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113631239934582972004-10-03T22:59:00.000-07:002005-04-17T00:52:21.813-07:00

Yahoo Travel (Farechase) tomorrow...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113631387377159632004-09-12T23:02:00.000-07:002005-04-17T00:52:31.976-07:00

I finally removed Duman's CD (Belki Alismam Lazim) from the changer along with few others today. Some of these CD's were in the changer for 3 months or more. New list includes:Demir Demirkan - 2004 IstanbulDisturbed - BelieveFish - Raingods with ZIpposJudas Priest - DemolitionMFO - CollectionPink Floyd - Division Bell

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113631299071595852004-09-03T23:01:00.000-07:002005-04-17T00:53:45.926-07:00

http://robonexus.com/

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113631446864497672004-08-14T23:03:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:08:49.056-07:00

Out of 132 top grossing movies in 2003 (in the US), I apparently saw 57. Will probably watch another 27, and will skip the rest.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113631491857794482004-08-10T23:04:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:09:01.580-07:00

Visited Assos, Yeni Sakran and Istanbul during a three week trip to Turkey. We returned on July 31st, and we are still trying to get back to our normal life. It was fun...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113632080915240652004-07-04T23:14:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:09:10.323-07:00

After trying to remove a homepage hijacker from my laptop, and failing three times, I switched to Mozilla... There are no perceivable functional difference between IE and Mozilla.The decision was made after using Spybot Search and Destroy, Adaware, CWShredder, HijackThis, and Norton AV to unsuccessfully remove the spyware. From what I have seen on the web, there are no solutions for this one. [

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113632000968751192004-07-04T23:11:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:09:25.996-07:00

Been watching the following movies recorded on the PVR:Big One - yet another Michael Moore documentary, this one is from 1998. Besides some 'obnoxious' scenes, it is very watchable; as always, Moore discusses issues that no one else really cares.Legend of 1900 - Beautiful movie about a man who lives on a luxury liner all his life. It woths watching just for the 'duelling pianists' scene.Bullets

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113631886921857452004-07-04T23:09:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:09:37.656-07:00

Blockbuster's 1-week rentals are killing me. We rent two or three movies -usually- on a Friday night; you can keep them for a week, right? We end up watching only one during the weekend. Then, we force ourselves to finish the others before Saturday noon. Why do we keep renting these? It is really time to swtich to NetFlix? Anyway, last few DVDs were:- Underworld: It was significantly better than

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113728398383217032004-06-12T22:59:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:59:58.383-07:00

Caught a rerun of NOVA episode about Zeugma. It's an hour show about the city and the last-minutes excavations.The link above has pictures and decriptions.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1054278677404315512004-05-30T00:11:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:12:49.660-07:00

Music: Sacred Heart by Dio, Garage Inc. I by MetallicaBook: Dune Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson Bookslut destroys this bookTV: Ali G Show on HBO

Cemnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113632556125992012004-05-24T23:21:00.000-07:002005-04-15T23:22:45.106-07:00

It started acting up exactly two weeks after the warranty expired. Apparently I am not the only one; all Canon camcorders have this 'remove tape' problem.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113728549956799372004-05-23T23:01:00.000-07:002005-04-17T02:02:29.956-07:00

Ordered a total of 32 items from tulumba.com. Very happy with the quality and the freshness of all food items, especially 'leblebi' and 'findik'. Comparing with CA prices, shipping didn't hurt that much. :)BTW, Mustafa did a good job with the back end; the site works flawlesly.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633240343987862004-05-16T23:33:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:09:48.886-07:00

Saw Topobo at NextFest. Nice design, intelligent programming interface.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633171826901832004-05-16T23:31:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:10:04.090-07:00

Watched 'Big Fish' and 'Kill Bill Vol 1' on DVD. Big Fish was very good. Kill Bill was pretty good too, but the amount of blood and gore is a little bit too much for my taste. Tarantino, eh?Also, watched the last episode of 'Frasier' in addition to multiple hours of 'retrospectives.' This one was better than Friends finale. It's good to see an ending without somebody leaving for Paris. The week

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633076227308172004-05-16T23:30:00.000-07:002005-04-17T01:10:16.596-07:00

Transfered Dream Theater CD from from my wife's cd changer to mine.This last one, called 'Train Of Tought', is a lot heavier than I expected. Little bit hard to listen; it's a "musician's album." Still very impressive... CD also has nice videos of the studio sessions.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113797655973892002004-05-11T21:13:00.000-07:002005-04-17T21:14:15.973-07:00

It's been a few onths since this one opened. Doing fairly good for the time being. Food is Turkish. Oh yeah, belly dancing is on Thursdays and Saturdays:Taverna Gyro'sMediterranean meal, dancing, belly dancers.133 S. Murphy Ave, Sunnyvale, CA408.735.9971

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113797609288118832004-05-11T20:59:00.000-07:002005-04-17T21:13:29.286-07:00

Pictures of the city at:http://www.wowturkey.comGoto main page ('Ana Sayfa') to see more pictures from Istanbul and other cities...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633330113810032004-05-05T23:34:00.000-07:002005-04-17T00:53:18.753-07:00

Watched -no, fast forwarded- Charlie's Angels II. One of the worst movies of the century, no doubt... Actually, it is not a movie, it is a series of movie clips. They could actually take 10 or 15 random video clips from MTV, and create a more coherent and better movie than the one they have allegedly edited. What a waste of time...Another low point for Hollywood. Sad...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113797971480217192004-04-26T21:14:00.000-07:002005-04-17T21:19:31.480-07:00

There were 16 to 20 thousand people attending the Anzac Day ceremonies in Gallipoli (Gelibolu).Most of these were visitors from abroad. Here are two links about the ceremonies.NZ News article and audio report [does not exist anymore] [Do a Google/Yahoo search for 'Anzac Day' to see recent news]Milliyet article [Turkish]In these days of terrorism, hatred and war, the fact that two nations

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633452094656992004-04-25T23:36:00.000-07:002005-04-17T00:53:01.033-07:00

Timeline on DVD with some extras. The movie was surprisingly 'easy' to watch. Not one of Donner's best. Still entertaining...For the amount of time and money spent on this one, it could be a lot better and less predictable. I mean, should the viewer figure out the ending in the frist five minutes?The book was better, but still felt like a 'book production.'

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113798531883319352004-04-22T21:23:00.000-07:002005-04-17T21:35:37.393-07:00

Turkish newspaper Radikal published the latests report on Turkish tax payers. The results are sad, disturbing and laughable at the same time. It is just unmanagable...A minimum wage earner is paying 53.9 million TL per month in taxes. Here are some numbers for a few categories. The numbers are 2003 averages for each occupation/profession:(in million TL)Average tax

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633492345893842004-04-17T23:37:00.000-07:002005-04-17T00:52:46.263-07:00

Finished watching 'Once upon a Time in Mexico'. The movie is OK. DVD extras are very good. The first three behind the scenes 'featurettes' by Roberto Rodriguez are just perfect... for movie buffs, techno heads and gourmets -respectively.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633672863836012004-03-28T23:39:00.000-08:002005-04-16T01:03:39.406-07:00

Watched 'Le Divorce' on DVD. Disappointed to see no additional material on it. The movie itself was pretty good. A very good cast, original storyline, and original film with very good snapshots of Paris.Just what you would expect from an Mechant-Ivory movie set in the 21st century. There are some very 'interesting' scenes involving Americans making comments about French people and vice versa. :)

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113799055788438792004-03-28T21:36:00.000-08:002005-04-17T21:37:35.790-07:00

Local goverment elections in Turkey were today. AKP did not reached the 'feared' percentage (65%) of the votes, but they votes increased by 10 percentage points to 42%.CHP lost some ground. Apparently, all the parties on theleft lost some ground; the traditional 40% votes to the left was down to 20%, probably for the first time.According to early results, 81 mayor positions are distributed as

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113798991002176132004-03-28T21:35:00.000-08:002005-04-17T21:36:31.003-07:00

Southern part of the island is about to join the EU, and Turkish ans Greek sides are being forced to reach a decision on what is going to happen to the Northern (Turkish) part.All parties (Turkey, Greece, KKTC (North), Cyprus (South)) are in Switzerland to discuss options. It took them two days to start the discussions. Reaching a decision will be very hard, keeping that decision is probably

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633720867128952004-03-20T23:41:00.000-08:002005-04-15T23:42:00.866-07:00

Saw 'Runaway Jury' on DVD. Was a lot better than we expected. The book should be very good.The 'bathroom' scene between Hoffman and Hackman is a treat. Extras on DVD include interviews with Hoffman and Hackman about their past and the bathroom scene.

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633808698764522004-03-15T23:43:00.000-08:002005-04-15T23:43:59.523-07:00

Now in CD changer:- Iron Maiden Dance of Death- Evanescence Fallen- Evanescence Origin

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113633780340966902004-03-15T23:42:00.000-08:002005-04-15T23:43:00.340-07:00

After a fairly fast recovery period, initial results are:- Nasal Septoplasty, and Turbinate Surgery: Feels like there are two large holes in the middle of my face (some call these 'the nose;' I didn't know).- Lipoma Excision: Occasional healing pain, and a huge scar (18 stitches long), will probably disappear minus a tiny line.- Skin Tag Removal: Can't tell where they were...

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5438230.post-1113799139694136272004-03-03T21:38:00.000-08:002005-04-17T21:38:59.696-07:00

After years of dissing Turkey's efforts to ban headscarfs in public offices and schools, a member of EU decided to do the same. I guess EU is now ready join Turkey in her path to modernism. :)

Cemnoreply@blogger.com0