BasBasBas.com

Tag: Turkey

  • Blogger/Blogspot unblocked in Turkey while court awaits missing evidence

    Right now, Blogger and *.blogspot.com domains are available again while courts await further evidence backing Digiturk’s claims. Great. Let’s hope it stays that way. After YouTube got unbanned, it got banned again, so who knows what will happen.

    The ban has been lifted by the Turkish court that previously blocked Blogger last Friday. They have requested “missing evidence” but made it clear that the ban could be reintroduced after the legal procedure is completed by the prosecutor.

    Digiturk, Turkish license holder for the broadcasts of Turkish football league games, asked for blogs with links to pirated streams to be removed. Blogger did not reply and Digiturk went to court, getting millions of innocent blogs blocked. The statement that “Blogger did not reply” makes me think all Digiturk did was send out an email – and as some of us know, if you email Google services, be prepared to wait two weeks. They should have called.

    The law that allows for the blocking of domain names still stands. Many popular sites are still blocked. Blogger can be blocked again. It’s not over, but at least Blogger’s available again. Yet still we can expect to see more of this:

    And the protest banner posted on Turkish (as well as international) blogs hosted at blogspot.com:

    Thanks to Hans for his useful tip!
    Thanks to the Istanbulian for further information.

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  • We Found BATMAN!

    After a few weeks, we finally found the ‘batcave’ where BATMAN resides. No, not the fictional Batman. No, not the real Batman either. Since we moved into our flat here in Istanbul, we’ve spotted a strong connection all throughout our apartment which is named ‘BATMAN’. Online 24 hours per day, stronger than all the other connections in our area… Where’s BATMAN when you need him?

    Well, no more daily trips to the coffee bar around the corner (it’s still an awesome place though and I’ll gladly take you there). After ringing all the doorbells in our flat, talking to everyone, showing our note written in Turkish, asking strangers if they were Batman… Nothing. Then we went to the apartments nextdoor… No Batman to be found. Finally, after trying everything, we discovered that there were 2 apartments in the -1 level of our building… Could this be… the batcave?

    Yes! We did it. We proposed to share the costs for an unlimited internet account for the next few months in exchange for a password and access to BATMAN. Internet at home’s a ‘luxury’ in Turkey, but for students used to European standards, it’s a necessity. Imagine what it’s like for a blogger. 😉

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  • Georgia affected by Turkey’s ban on Blogger

    Apparently Caucasus Online, an internet provider in Georgia, uses Turkey’s service network, as it is reported that internet users in Georgia are now also unable to visit sites from Blogger and *.blogspot.com domains.

    A solution for Windows users to “unblock” Blogger and YouTube has been posted here:

    Find the file named “hosts” under windows/system32/drivers/etc/
    folder.
    Open this file with Notepad

    Append those lines

    72.14.207.191 blogger.com
    209.85.165.191 www.blogger.com
    208.117.236.69 youtube.com www.youtube.com
    208.117.236.70 youtube.com www.youtube.com

    Save and close it.

    This solved my problems, I posted as if there is no ban.

    More about this solution can be read by clicking here.

    So, no more this:

    This is bad though. It’s one thing that Turkey decides to ban a whole domain based on poor logic, but it affecting people in another country makes it a lot worse.

    Some useful links to unblock YouTube/Blogger (blogspot)/other blocked pages in Turkey (and Georgia):

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  • Digiturk causes Turkish ban of Blogger/Blogspot

    Since Friday, it’s been impossible to access popular blogging platform Blogger or any *.blogspot.com domain from a Turkish IP address, due to a ban imposed by a court in the south east of Turkey.

    Previously it was rumoured that Adnan Oktar, by some considered the leading Muslim advocate for creationism, might have caused the new ban, since he successfully got WordPress and Google Groups banned in the past, as well as evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins’ website. However, this rumour was refuted by someone pointing out that Oktar operated in Istanbul courts and the verdict banning Blogger was passed in Diyarbakır, at the other side of Turkey.

     

    Blogger's banned in Turkey screenshot 

    Click to enlarge.

    It’s now reported that it is not Oktar that got Blogger banned, but Digiturk, a subscription based digital TV platform that owns the rights to the live broadcasting of Turkish football league games. Apparently, Digiturk asked Blogger to take several blogs or blog entries down containing links to pirated transmissions of the live games. Blogger did nothing, Digiturk went to court and under Turkish intellectual property law, they managed to get Blogger banned completely, effectively banning millions of websites that have nothing to do with Turkish football or pirating.

    Digiturk’s court cases in the past have managed to block Justin.tv and MyP2P TV for the same reasons.

    Turkey’s NATO membership and EU ambitions seem paradoxical to the infringement on the freedom of press and speech of its citizens, residents and visitors by banning sites like Blogger and YouTube. The EU’s making a blacklist of censoring countries and are creating software for people in these countries to use to bypass the censorship (see: Global Online Freedom Act).

    Thanks to safak for his tip about Digiturk!

    Some useful links to unblock YouTube/Blogger (blogspot)/other blocked pages in Turkey:

    Help get the news out. Stumble, Digg, Slashdot, Reddit or Tweet it!

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  • Turkey Bans Blogger

    UPDATE!! — It is now known why Blogger is banned in Turkey. Click here for the new article.

    Since today, whoever tries to access Blogger or any *.blogspot.com domain from Turkey will get the following message on my screen:

    Blogger's banned in Turkey screenshot

    Click to enlarge.

    This is the same message we get if we try to visit YouTube, which is also banned in Turkey. In the past blogging platform WordPress.com has been banned as well (read more), to much dismay of many Turkish bloggers.

    It was suspected that the reason for this has something to do with Adnan Oktar, by some considered the leading Muslim advocate for creationism, who has in the past managed to get WordPress, Google Groups, as well as Richard Dawkins’ website banned. It was then suggested however, that Oktar was active in Istanbul courts and this verdict was passed in Diyarbakır in South East Turkey.

    UPDATE – It is now known that it was Digiturk, not Adnan Oktar, that caused the ban. Read the new article here: 
    http://www.basbasbas.com/blog/2008/10/26/digiturk-causes-turkish-ban-of-bloggerblogspot/

    Turkey’s EU ambitions seem paradoxical to the infringement on the freedom of press and speech of its citizens, residents and visitors by banning sites like this. This is not China. This has to stopped. Good thing the EU’s making a blacklist of censoring countries and are creating software for people in censoring countries to use to overcome the censorship (Global Online Freedom Act).

    The court order of the ban on Blogger is also in very stark contrast to yesterday’s court approval of gay and group sex. Turkey’s a country of opposites.

    Some useful links to unblock YouTube/Blogger (blogspot)/other blocked pages in Turkey:

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  • The Street Accordionist (Video)

    There’s a lot of business coming through my street here in Istanbul. Men carrying big stacks of bread on their head, men with carts with second-hand junk, women selling flowers or tissues, but we also have street accordionists… Not sure if I mentioned them before, but it’s time to dedicate an article to them, since it’s a really unique thing about living in Istanbul.

    First things first… The video! Click play. If you’re on a slow connection, like me, pause the video directly after clicking play and wait until the black bar becomes grey.

    I’ve encountered this before in my neighbourhood, but didn’t think of making a video. Last time it was a gypsy father and his son, the father playing the accordion and the son collecting the money thrown from the windows. Yes, I was following the ‘ettiquette’. You’re expected to throw the money from the window as a reward. They then stay around your corner for a little while before they walk further down the street.

    This custom of accordionists collecting money thrown from the windows might seem strange, but since a lot of business here happens in the street, as described in the first paragraph of this article, it’s completely logical. For instance, something else I’ve seen is people lowering buckets on a rope to receive vegetables from the sellers coming through the street with their carts. They then put the money in the bucket and lower it to give it to the salesman.

    Truly some romantic customs here, even though they might seem ‘uncivilized’ to some. I know a lot of people from all around the world visit this blog… My question for you is: do you have street musicians like this? Do you have customs of purchasing stuff right in your street?

    If you have anything interesting to share, please do! And remember, what might be normal, or boring for you… migth be extremely fascinating for someone living at the other side of the world… and since my readers are from all over the world, you really have no excuse not to contribute. 😉

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  • Foreign Hairdressers

    It’s always interesting to go to a hairdresser in a different country, or even to go to a hairdresser from a different country in your own country.

    I clearly remember the first time I went to a Turkish hairdresser in The Netherlands. As a student, I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on haircuts, so I went to a Turkish one, since they’re a lot cheaper. After he was done cutting my hair, he pulled out a metal stick with some cotton on it. He dipped it in some liquid and I assumed it was to clean the equipment. He then lit the cotton on fire! Now I was very surprised and quite anxious about what he would do next. He then stepped back behind me in that typical hairdresser manner of manoeuvring and started making quick strokes along my face with the burning end of the stick, quickly followed by what can be best described as soft slaps (either because he could get away with it, or to prevent my face from catching fire). I hardly ever find the opportunity to use the word flabbergasted, but that time I was completely flabbergasted by the hairdresser’s shenanigans with his grooming paraphernalia.

    Over time I got used to it and quite appreciated it. A warning when he did it the first time would have been nice, but I might have politely declined and missed out on all the adventure. 😉

    Another ‘odd’ experience I had with hairdressers was this summer in Strumica, Macedonia. I entered the smallest hairdressing shop I’ve ever been to and it was almost like the scene of a movie like Hostel. Very Eastern European. Very cool. You can read about it here: Strumica: Last Days (incl. pictures!).

    So today I got my hair cut here in Istanbul… and it was about time. I decided to go with a simple shave. First I haggled a bit about the price… “Hayır. Benim arkadaş… beş lira!” (“No. My friend… five lira.”) We agreed upon a more reasonable price and he did his job. At the end there was no burning stick, but he did something I haven’t encountered before. He got some cotton out, which immediately made me think he would do the burning stick thing, but then he put the cotton on a comb and held it under the tap for a second… He then combed through my hair a bit. I suppose it was to get all the little hairs out.

    So what about your foreign hairdresser experiences? How about in your country? Anything that foreigners would consider ‘unusual’?

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  • DJ Food in Istanbul (Video)

    Last Saturday DJ Food‘s Strictly Kev was playing in a place called Babylon, here in Istanbul, as part of the Akbank Jazz Festival. DJ Food is a project by several turntablists (including Coldcut) creating jazzy breaks and is one of the best projects to come from the Ninja Tune label. Strictly Kev is the public face of DJ Food and travels the world playing their music. Below, a video I made with some of the highlights of the gig.

    It was a nice night, with breakbeats blended with jazz, hiphop, balkan beats, latin house, classic britpop, oldies and more. The 1.5 hour set left many hungry for more, but a local DJ playing afterwards was able to satisfy most visitors’ appetites.

    Stictly Kev played a phenomenal set. He used a computer with two digital turntables. Meaning he wasn’t playing with actual records, but loading tracks from the computer onto the turntables and then using those for his mixing. He easily switched from style to style, without anyone really noticing the difference. As I have some DJ experience myself, I was in awe at this guy’s skill and ease, although it’s possible he’s playing the same set throughout his whole tour.

    A very funky, danceable night, which I’m sure you’re able to see in the video. The Turkish music fans are an ecstatic bunch, their dancing and hopping around being accompanied by frequent shouts and flailing arms.

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  • Bosphorus Nighttrip (Video)

    Yesterday I posted a daytime Bosphorus trip video… Now it’s time for the nighttime… a video of the famous Golden Horn in Istanbul (including the Sultan’s Palace, Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque), Sultan’s Palace). And remember, if the video playback is iffy, just click on play, pause the video and let it load for a while.

    Sorry for the shakiness 😉

  • A Bosphorus Trip (Video)

    Right down Istanbul’s European and Asian side, runs the Bosphorus, which connects the Mediteraenean and the Black Sea. As I recently had a job on the European side, but live on the Asian side, I was crossing the Bosphorus a few times per week. The best way to see Istanbul is from the water, but what’s also great about these boatrides is the birds that accompany your boat. I tried to capture this in the video below and hope I succeeded. 🙂

    If the video playback is iffy, just click on play, pause the video and let it load for a few minutes.

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