Two elder statesmen of thrash metal, whom I have listened to since I was 13, released new albums. While Megadeth sounds like a dignified goodbye, Kreator feels very much alive. It is always nice to listen to old-school thrash, and I have asked Perplexity below to find and collect major reviews. Megadeth is listenable, but I didn't particularly like it. A Metallica cover is surprising but not successful.

According to a French media outlet, for the first time, wind and solar power surpassed fossil fuels in the European Union’s electricity production mix in 2025, marking a major milestone in the region's energy transition. According to think tank Ember, these renewables generated 841 terawatt-hours, accounting for 30.1% of EU electricity. This exceeded fossil fuels, which fell to 29% as solar production hit record highs and coal reached a historic low of 9.2%.

The history of Bulletin Board Systems offers a powerful counterpoint to today’s centralized platform economy, reminding us that online communities once thrived without surveillance capitalism... Key Insights by Merlin AI Origins of Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) - The first BBS, CBBS, was created in 1978 by Ward Christensen and Randy Seuss, enabling users to leave messages for one another through modems.

This website lists European alternatives. European Alternatives is a project by Constantin Graf, which collects and analyzes European alternatives to digital services and products, such as cloud services and SaaS products. We regularly receive advice and suggestions from European Alternatives users, so feel free to reach out! Conditions for a listing All the products and services listed on European Alternatives meet the following criteria:

Multiple reports confirm that María Corina Machado physically gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during a White House meeting in January 2026.[bbc]​ However, the Nobel institutions have stressed that only the medal was handed over: the title and status of Nobel Peace Prize laureate legally and symbolically remain with Machado and cannot be transferred to Trump.[

YÖK’s 3-year bachelor plan: aims, Bologna arguments, and critiques on campus life, academic workload, and graduate unemployment in Turkey.

Key Insights by Merlin AI VLC's Unique Position in Media Software VLC Media Player is installed on 75% of computers globally, making it one of the most widely used media players. Unlike many other software, VLC is free of ads and spyware, and it has been downloaded over 6 billion times. The developers prioritize user privacy, famously turning down multi-million dollar offers to maintain independence.

An X user shared a scholarship database: Download and Save this PDF if you are looking for a scholarship in 2026. It contains more than 200 different scholarships from countries like the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, European countries, and others. Here is the link for the database.

We live in unprecedented times. It is hard to believe that the US threatens to grab a piece of land from a European ally. As a symbolic gesture, a few European countries sent soldiers to Greenland. In no way is this enough against the giant American military force... Trump’s Greenland threats have produced an unusually strong, cross‑national show of support for Denmark and Greenland, but they have not fully “united Europe” in a coherent, institutional way.[

Nowadays, I enjoy myself contributing to the Articles lacking sources in Turkish- finding sources for them. Sometimes, I switch to the English articles and continue there. In the meantime, Wikipedia turns 25, and we will have a small celebration in İstanbul next Saturday. I have asked Google Gemini to curate recent articles and reports that discuss the 25 years of Wikipedia.

Iran has significantly degraded Starlink’s effectiveness inside Iran for now, but it has not “killed” or permanently broken the system as a whole. Starlink still works globally and remains intermittently usable in parts of Iran despite heavy interference.[aljazeera]​ What Iran actually did Iranian authorities deployed powerful ground-based jammers (reportedly including Russian-made systems) that interfere with GPS and Starlink radio signals, causing very high packet loss (often 30–80%) and making many terminals unusable or extremely slow.[

IFCN rejects the attempt to portray fact-checking as a security threat and warns of rising global repression The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute strongly opposes the Trump administration’s recent decision to deny U.S. visas to European public officials and civil society leaders. This action, which includes the blacklisting of individuals for their professional contributions to information integrity, represents a disturbing departure from historic principles of free expression.

I don't think there is a fall but let's see: Key Insights by Merlin AI The Evolution of Ecommerce and Retail Direct-to-Consumer Growth Ecommerce was initially heralded as the future, allowing brands to sell directly to customers without traditional retail overhead. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands like Skims and Allbirds flourished, attracting billions in venture capital. The rise of ecommerce led to the decline of many established retail brands, which struggled to adapt to the online landscape.

A forensic overview of disputed claims, recycled footage, and verification failures in international coverage of Iran protests from 2022 to 2026.

A curated 2026 list of free and discounted software, AI tools, cloud services, and subscriptions for students and academics with .edu emails.

The Impact of Fake Reviews on Consumer Behavior Widespread Influence: Approximately 93% of customers have made purchasing decisions based on online reviews, highlighting their significant role in consumer behavior. Revenue Correlation: A one-star increase in Yelp ratings can lead to a revenue boost of 5% to 9% for restaurants, illustrating how crucial positive reviews are for business success.

Key Insights by Merlin AI Tails OS: Privacy and Surveillance Concerns - Tails OS is designed for maximum privacy, erasing all digital traces after each session, making it appealing to journalists and whistleblowers. - Several governments banned Tails due to its ability to make user activity untraceable, posing a challenge to surveillance efforts. - The irony lies in the fact that Tails is seen as dangerous not for malicious intent, but for effectively protecting user anonymity.

An overview of graduate student publications, research projects, and creative works, curated during my third year as program director.

As I prepare for the next semester, I listed all the publications and projects our current students have. In the end, you can also see the Google Scholar accounts of our graduates. This is my third year as the program director, and I believe we will rotate this position, but I will continue to teach and mentor new graduate students. Here is our publication list:

This post is not a definitive account of ISIS activity in Türkiye in 2025, but an open-source synthesis of publicly reported operations, arrests, and one lethal confrontation. It reflects what is visible through media and official statements as of 31 December 2025, and should be read as provisional. We have witnessed a law enforcement mobilization around ISIS cells in Türkiye in 2025.

Historical Context of Linux Linux originated from the UNIX operating system, created in 1969 at Bell Labs, which aimed to improve productivity through time-sharing. Linus Torvalds developed Linux in 1991 while seeking an affordable UNIX-like system, leading to a collaborative open-source project. The combination of Linux's kernel and the GNU project's software created the first widely adopted open-source operating system, known as GNU/Linux.

After three weeks, I can finally rest on a Saturday, which still includes the embarrassingly dirty car getting washed, which in turn contributes more to Google Maps by trying a different mall. The highlight of the week was a training session at the Anadolu Agency ,which is reported here in English. The week included seven thesis meetings, mainly at the doctoral level, in three different universities.

Reflections from the "International Relations in the Age of AI" panel held at the Point Hotel Taksim in Istanbul, organized by EUROPolitika Journal on December 20, 2025. I have formatted my notes using Perplexity.  AI Grooming: How Authoritarian Powers Weaponize Data to Control the Future of Knowledge In the age of artificial intelligence, we face an unprecedented threat that extends far beyond traditional disinformation campaigns.

CORPORATE NEGLIGENCE AND LEGAL ACTIONS A 12-year-old filed a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging assault in games labeled as safe spaces, highlighting a significant breach of trust. Multiple lawsuits across Texas, Kentucky, and Louisiana accuse Roblox of creating addictive gameplay that targets children, leading to harmful mental and financial consequences. State attorneys general are coordinating legal actions against Roblox, citing systematic failure to protect children from exploitation and abuse on the platform.

I created a table from their page, but here is the source! Award Name Recipient Breach Details Date Say Something Without Saying Anything Mixpanel Analytics SDK used by apps like Ring and PornHub; breached user data from many apps (exact scope unclear); OpenAI dropped them. eff