the thinking blog

Thinking too much..

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:59:00 +0000

..sometimes can be a bad thing, I will update you more about it as soon as I get the chance. Thank you for reading!

Over 500 Free Form Templates

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:59:00 +0000

Regular readers of my blog already know I'm a big fan of JotForm, a free service that lets you create your website forms with its easy to use drag and drop interface. Designers like me and front-end developers love how much time is saved by creating mobile friendly forms using this site, and you don't even need an account to start creating. What's more, they have recently announced that their wide range of ready forms now include over 500 form templates to save you even more time! Check it out, you won't regret it.

Forever Alone Like A Boss

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:31:00 +0000

I took the time to think deep about this and here is my conclusion: We are always alone. Born alone in a mother's womb, "raised" alone in school, and when you grow up to have a partner, you are once again left alone when one of the two dies. The only "person" who is with you this whole time is your inner voice. Sure it's nice to have people come and go in your life but this, to me, feels like the cold harsh truth. Might as well accept life as it is and deal with it.

Free MMO RTS on your browser!

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:25:00 +0000

For those who are not familiar, MMO stands for Massively Multiplayer Online game and RTS is Real Time Stategy. Combining these two in a single game has been quite a challenge because of the dynamics involved, but now there is a game to change it all: Ministry of War (Türkçe).

Instantly when you load the game site, you are greeted with excellent visuals that set an epic ancient battle atmosphere. Once you login, you select one of 4 races: Romans, Chinese, Persians, and Egyptians. Each race has unique units, bonuses and race feature. Once you choose your hero and city name, there is a brief story trailer which you can skip. You start with building your city with the help of a step by step tutorial under the name of ‘quests’. At first, you feel like it is similar to Travian or Ikariam but you soon realise that as you can set your buildings anywhere you please like a RTS game.

After creating the elemental buildings, you are now ready to equip your hero, add troops to your party and ready for battle. When you select your army and send them to battle, you can actually see your troops moving across the map towards the enemy. Once reached the destination, you can select whether you would like to control the battle manually or choose automatic. If you choose manual, you enter the battle field where you can control your hero and units in true RTS style, which is quite impressive for a browser game. When you win battles, you gain points which you could later distribute among XP, MP, Power and Intelligence as with similar hero systems.

The game also requires you to collect resources to build your army before you take on the World. You build farms, forests, mines, etc. on the outskirt of your city. At this point you have learnt all the basics to get you going and the game starts you on your first 1 on 1 battle with another player. The system matches you with another online player of the same level and you begin battle as before (once again you can choose to take control with manual battle mode or let the computer do the work with automatic mode). After this battle, the quick tutorial is pretty much over and you can freely begin to explore the interface to find out more. When you dig deeper into the game by clicking on the quests icon, you find out that you can improve on your empire with research and as you do, your empire advances through the ages like in Sid Meier's Civilization and Age of Empire games.

The game features 3 views of command: city, outskirts and world map. The city is where you have your main buildings, outskirts for resources and world map is where you can see other players on the server. You also find out that on this map you can expand your city and occupy new land. There is also a map icon on the interface which shows you the full map of the entire server and it’s vastness just took my breath away. It really gives the player the urge to build and conquer it all!

Another thing that instantly strikes you with the interface it the global chat where you witness players getting social, discussing game tactics, trade items and form alliances to take on enemies together. As with all browser games, you need an internet connection to play and you are left behind when you are away. The game also rewards the players for sticking around 10, 30, and 60 minutes on end.

With just an hour of play, as a hardcore gamer I’m intrigued to find out more. This is a good sign, as I’m usually not a big fan of browser based games. While this game pushes the limits of the browser, it doesn’t feel too heavy as likely to crash it. The only disadvantage I found was that when you are exploring the world map with other players there are brief bursts of loading time. While this isn't really much of an inconvenience if you have a fast connection, it is a reminder that regardless of how you look at it, this is just a browser game.

Overall, Ministry of War is a brilliant example and well built game showing the full potential of what could be done on browsers. It is unlike anything I’ve seen with Flash technology before. The only thing I found that is lacking with this game is perhaps a desktop client. After all, if you are going to spend weeks and months on end to gather, build, and battle to conquer all, the little seconds of loading time will add up and might be critical in your strategy. No core gamer would want to lose due to ‘lag’

Do not ██ █ ████ to ██ this page!

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:08:00 +0000

PROTECT-IP is a bill that has been introduced in the Senate and the House and is moving quickly through Congress. It gives the government and corporations the ability to censor the net, in the name of protecting "creativity". The law would let the government or corporations censor entire sites-- they just have to convince a judge that the site is "dedicated to copyright infringement."

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future.

The government has already wrongly shut down sites without any recourse to the site owner. Under this bill, sharing a video with anything copyrighted in it, or what sites like Youtube and Twitter do, would be considered illegal behavior according to this bill. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would cost us $47 million tax dollars a year — that's for a fix that won't work, disrupts the internet, stifles innovation, shuts out diverse voices, and censors the internet. This bill is bad for creativity and does not protect your rights.

STOP SOPA

JotForm Send Files Straight to your Dropbox

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:26:00 +0000

JotForm, the first web-based WYSIWYG form builder, allows users to create and publish web forms using your browser... but that's just the start. Take this brand new feature just added to JotForm; you'll be glad you did!

As you may know, Dropbox is an online file synchronization service that comes in the form of a web interface and an application available for many different platforms (PC, Mac, Android and more). It's an easy way to share files between multiple devices and a good alternative to emailing stuff to yourself.

Now you can connect your JotForm forms to your Dropbox accounts. Here's how it works: each time someone fills out a form, the results get sent straight into a JotForm folder in your Dropbox so you don't have to download attachments from your email each time someone sends you a file.

It gets even better. Conveniently, this integration isn't limited to form attachments. The creative minds at JotForm have made it so that the form results (in a PDF file) are sent in as well. How great is that? You can now access your form responses quicker than ever before using your computer with Dropbox installed, or your phone with the Dropbox app.

JotForm has set up a dedicated Create a Dropbox Form page that will allow you to easily set up a sample form with Dropbox integration pre-installed. You can also enable Dropbox on your current forms by going into the Submissions page for your desired form, clicking the Preferences icon at the upper right, and selecting Send Submissions to Dropbox, like so:

For either choice you will be taken through a small wizard. Enter your Dropbox credentials and you're in. Now here's an example of what would happen if you follow the aforementioned procedure. Check out this example of a form I've set up with Dropbox integration. Someone has filled it out and attached some files:

The sender clicks "Submit Form", and done! Dropbox reports that three new files have been added:

Now here's where JotForm's WYSIWYG nature kicks in. JotForm will organize responses for you, saving you time. It will put responses in a JotForm folder in your Dropbox and sort those responses by form name (in case you have multiple forms set up for Dropbox) and ID. You can also configure the integration so that it names response folders based on what the user typed for their Name or their Email instead of the ID, or even throw everything into the form folder without sorting. It's up to you!

How can users put JotForm to best use? We foresee using JotForm as making it easier for site managers to share user photos, for instance. Since such a site would have loads of uploads each day, having all of them downloaded automatically to your computer would definitely be quick and easy. Compare it to the current alternative: drilling through a bunch of emails and manually downloading each and every attachment your loyal users have sent you. Ugh!

This article was written by Rey M. Levenstein, a tech trend-watcher who
has previously written for Sync Blog and now manages WAFFLE.

Not Enough Startups

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 05:02:00 +0000

Everything in life is like a tree. It all starts with a seed. Provided the right conditions, the seed sprouts and grows into a well rooted tree. However, all trees require constant attention, from pre-seed until maturity, so as to provide fruit and continue to mark a spot on Earth for centuries. Trees are our air. They are our homes. They give life, raw materials and fruits even in these times. Although the common perception is that these trees will never "run out" but if we continue our wasteful system, we will all perish.

Source: Indoor Gardening Hydroponics

Source: The Visual Dictionary (#infographic)

Angry Birds Alternative Games Online

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:32:00 +0000

With more than 50 million downloads across all platforms, the game has been named one of the most popular games out at the moment. Angry Birds has been exalted for its wonderful union of addictive gameplay, humorous style and cheap price. Its popularity has brought about offers to develop versions of Angry Birds for PCs and consoles, a market for goods combining its heroes and even long-term plans for a movie or TV series.

The goal is simple: Angry Birds must survive. Get revenge on the green pigs who stole the Birds’ eggs. Use the individual powers of the Angry Birds to destroy the pig’s castles. It has a challenging physics-based castle destruction and alot of replay value. Every level needs skill, logic, and brute force in order to vanquish the enemy.

The PC version for this game includes 195 levels -- that's hours of gameplay! Players can expect non-cost updates and extra levels in the game. Moreover there are individual enhancements available for the mobile version and free of charge. You can download this game (direct link 1 - direct link 2) or via the Intel App Up software. The Intel AppUp center allows you to skim through a range of applications for download to your netbook or other PC device.

Here are some of the latest alternative flash based physics games similar to the Angry Birds concept. It's not the same thing -- but hey, you can play them online. Let us know in the comments if you know more!

Bloons 2 – NinjaKiwi Games

Burst the desired amount of balloons for each level among 8 different worlds from the hit Bloons series.

Demolition Dude – Armor Games

Sling shot Demolition Dude into buildings but make sure not to get collateral damage. Hold down the first Mouse button and pull towards the direction you want sling shot Demolition Dude then let go.

Dummy Never Fails – Tanoku

Aim with the mouse and click to shoot the dummy. The distance from the canon determines the force. You have to impact the dummy against the goal object. The pain-o-meter shows how much pain the dummy is under and it should be as less as possible. Can you win all 52 levels?

Empire Island – Armor Games

Your island is under attack so build up your defences and control towers so as to destroy the approaching enemies.

Gravitee Wars – Kongregate

Launch missiles around planets to destroy the enemy before they destroy you! The arrow shows whos turn it is. Click and drag the unit to start aiming. The blue line shows where your shot will go. Release to fire. The gravity of the planets will attract your missiles. The bigger the planet, the more gravity it will have. The closer the missile is to a planet the more attracted to the planet it will be. Your missiles will take chunks out of the planets as the hit them. As planets get destroyed their gravity is reduced. Also you can use the keyboard controls. There is also a weapon shop for more weapons as you unlock them and section where you can upgrade your team members.

Paper Canon – Silver Games

The game of Paper Cannon is physics-based and you must shoot cannon balls that explode after a few seconds so as to destroy the one-eyed pink critters. Take control of the angle and power for the cannon with the mouse.

Vertigo: Gravity Llama – Oliver ‘Jindo ‘S-L

Travel through a collection of strange worlds, flipping gravity along the way in order to reach the star in each level. Use the spacebar for an anti-gravitational pull and use the keyboard arrow keys to direct your golden llama.

(13+) Destroy the Village – Spilgames

It takes a village to bring about a child, but it takes rockets to destroy a village. In order to play use the arrow keys to direct your rocket and destroy the village inhabitants as quick as possible, while also using few rockets.

(13+) Ricochet Kills 2 – Coolbuddy

Shoot with your gun and ricochet bullets off other obstacles to eliminate all the people in each level.

(13+) Gibbets – Notdoppler

Save the men hanging from the ropes because time is running out. To pull a bowstring press the mouse over the bow and holding the button move aside. Release the mouse button to shoot and try to aim on the rope the man in hanging on. To pass the level you have to save as many people as shown beside the person icon. The amount of arrows for each level is limited.

(13+) Gibbets 2 – Notdoppler

Save the innocent people on a noose by shooting their nooses with the bow and arrow. Try not to miss! This game is the same concept as Gibbets 1 however the features are more extensive.

(13+) Crush the Castle series - Armor Games

Crush the Castle games are perhaps some of the most addictive flash-based games since Angry Birds. It will be difficult to stop once you have started so make sure you have enough time to play.

The player controls a trebuchet and the aim is to knock down different castles for every level so as to kill all the dwellers. As you progress through these games you gain different ammunition for the trebuchet and use physics based technology to knock over the castles.

For these games you will need Flash Player 10.

1. Castle Clout - Return of the King

2. Crush the Castle - Armor Games

3. Crush the Castle 2 - Armor Games

Does Using Technology Always Make You More Efficient?

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:40:00 +0000

Whether and to what extent we should simplify our lives and get "back to basics" is a debate that has been going on since the invention of writing. As the rate of technological progress increase at an accelerating pace, a counter trend is emerging where technological development is not inherently synonymous with progress. Proponents of Appropriate Technology (AT) argue that progress can only be achieved with technology that is designed with special consideration to what it is intended for.

Anything you can do, a machine could theoretically do faster, better, more efficiently but is this really true? The GPS software on my cell phone, for example, can navigate me from one place to another much faster and more efficiently than a human navigator could except that the GPS stops working if I blunder into an area into which the network's signal won't reach. My calendar, which is on the Internet, can be reached from any computer or from my cell phone, and updated from both places. It will send me automated reminders to do things at a certain time but sometimes the reminders themselves will slow me down, or a reminder will come into my phone when I'm trying to talk to someone or when I'm trying to use that GPS locator -- oops, just missed that turn -- thanks, GCal.

I'm not against technology. In fact, I love it or I wouldn't be keeping my calendar on the Internet and giving my contact information to Google. However, simpler is usually better, and there are times when the simplest technology works the best. Well, consider pen and paper. I think that not only is the pen mightier than the sword, it's mightier than Google Tasks, Remember the Milk, or Toodledo. If the aim is to remember what to do, then the simple act of physically writing them down does the job: It helps you to remember. This phenomenon is supported by research and here's how:

1. Most of our knowledge about the world comes from three places: our eyes, our ears, and our hands. Educators are finding that writing and drawing, activities you do with a pen or pencil and paper, help the brain to understand concepts, especially concepts that have to do with language. A functional MRI study on the neural substrates for writing confirms this. Because we are set up to learn in large part through what our hands do, thus hands-on forms of learning tend to be more effective. So writing things down helps us to remember more than making a virtual online to do list would because we get our hands more involved.

2. Hands are so helpful when it comes to learning and remembering that some teachers say using sign language (spoken with the hands) in the classroom can help students to concentrate and focus. So writing is not the only way to engage the hands in order to facilitate learning and concentration.

3. The brain remains plastic even as we age. Even though adults are not in school all the time, we can still hope to learn and develop while we work even as we get older. Neurologists say that even after the 40s, an adult brain can continue to rewire itself, make new connections, and learn new things. So brain research related to children's literacy (reading and writing) applies to adults, not just to kids.

4. Being productive is all about concentrating, focusing, learning, remembering things, and above all, staying sharp. I want my work habits to support me in staying sharp, not to cause me to get lost in a mental fog in which I try to convince myself that I don't have to remember anything because Google will remember it for me. According to neuroscientists, adults can even become more intelligent as they age, if they take the opportunity to continue learning.

That's why, I write down my to do list on a sheet of paper instead of typing it away and depending on technology to do the job for me. I also don't rely on digital recorders to keep track of ideas in meetings, I use the old-fashioned method; taking notes with a pen and paper. Moreover, I find that I remember most of what I hear when I write it down. Ironically, I end up not having to refer to my notes. I save the notes, though and becomes useful when sometimes my colleagues like to borrow them.

So, how do you use technology appropriately?

Article by Art Decker who is a division manager with Self Storage Company, which operates a group of websites, including a California self-storage locator. Art leads a busy life, but enjoys meeting new people and interacting with customers when traveling between sites, like from San Francisco to the San Jose self-storage center.

Think in Relativity to Energy

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:07:00 +0000

Can you guess what I'm thinking? Does the solution to this problem seem more apparent?

download Think Dark wallpaper [1280x800]

Best things in Life are Free

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:45:00 +0000

Here is a free offer: Follow me, I'll follow you. Please leave your blog addresses in the comments for me to check it out. You can also find me on my site, this blog (RSS), Twitter, FriendFeed and Google - where the same offer applies (my offer also extends to other networks connected via these profiles). I had a Facebook account (UPDATE: new fresh profile) but it was disabled because they think having too many "friends" or connections is a bad thing. Now, I can't access any content I've uploaded there and contacts of 1000 REAL people at the time with whom I've connected at different levels. Oh no! =[

In any case, this offer is non-exclusive and I will follow you without condition. However, if I don't find merit in your content after some time I may stop following and I suggest you do the same if that is the case. Oh and when I do find merit, I will continue following and share your ideas with the World.

Looking forward to your comments,

ilker yoldas.

Do You See a Problem Here?

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:05:00 +0000

Breathe!

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:45:00 +0000

Here is the deal; but keep breathing as you read. I've been working on this question for about 25 years. Never quite got around into putting it efficiently so I tried not to post much. The answer to the meaning of life is re-evaluating and saving time! You could save lives by simply thinking. Also time is not money - its just a ruler we invented. So, we are only slaves to time until we find a way to live forever (or cheat by bending time?). Therefore, all other systems will eventually FAIL but this one.

Australian future scientists or 'futurists' Richard Watson and Ross Dawson prepared an extinction timeline showing the likely FAILS by 2050:

2012 Dial-up internet access
2013 Fax machine
2014 Getting "Lost"
2016 Pensions, 'gay' bar, computer mouse
2020 Copyright
2022 Blogs, spelling rules, Maldives
2023 Non-working weekends, Paris Hilton
2024 Desktop computer, AM radio
2025 Free highway / bandwidth.
2026 Lunch, FM radio, sincerity, wrinkles
2030 Key, childhood, reality television
2033 Coins
2034 Cheap travel, Bangladesh
2035 Mid-Range, petroleum, spam, Aborijinler, Microsoft
2036 Petroleum-operated vehicles, addiction
2037 Glacier, natural ways to have children
2038 Wars
2039 "Excuse me", the European Union
2040 Wallets, free public places, carbon emissions, paper money, deafness
2042 Ties
2044 Future scientists
2049 Google, blindness
After 2050: Cosmetic surgery, physical pain, ugliness, death

Economy problem? Solution: Time Based Currency. Well, given that my real wallet is empty I think I need to find a way to survive first. I propose let's all work together in building an open cloud system that any user could log in from any where using any device (all sharing idle machine resources with the network) and log their thoughts easily and trade them with other people's time. Since every product, service or thought is a process they could all be transferable. Every one should be able to keep their thoughts (or time-line) private if they wanted, share them with just family, or friends in their network. If they think they solved a process quicker (i.e. play the game called "real life"), they could share it with the World at that precise leapsecond and get paid by the time it saves from all people. Let's prioritize our system using Maslow's essentials but allow user to prioritize their own lives (and use technology only when needed).

I think it's a great time we the creative people to re-think our priorities. Since they gave all the money back to those who drowned this economy in the first place, let them keep it. Let's make it worthless to them. Let's save one person at a time. Save yourself first. Then save your mother, father and family. Then your friends. Then other people. If today everyone used such a "website" it would bring the World standards forward by 30 years! It would be a small leap for yourself, but a big leap for humankind.

Help us save us! Let's build the most productive virtual system ever that we could use to get on with our business (or "thoughts" so to speak) and make it interfere less with our lives and play/energize time. It could be a simple community website and ubuntu that is fully secure that we could use to pay others for the time they rightfully deserve and cut out all the middle-men. Ultimately, an open global community is the only way forward. We would never see ads and spam if we could access the products we actually needed.

I'm available to work on this project at UTC+2 to discuss further and offer my time to design the best interface we could. Surely we could have some people interested in having a go at the back-end or even build some hardware? Who knows, think of a smart watch that helps people survive and live for example. I have great ideas and I'm very passionate about my work but I'm very new to the open source community, how do we even begin?

PAYTIME: That would be 5 minutes please, for saving us X years of time - thank you! [FREE payment options: help mankind, join this network or keep thinking!] Time-back not offered with this content. Some rights reserved. =]

Change is inevitable!

Pictures Worth A Thousand Words - Post 20

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:56:00 +0000

"Living Photograph" - 'Pictures Worth A Thousand Words' series - Post 20 via.

MemberKit Lets Non-Programmers Create Their Own Facebook-style Site

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:15:00 +0000

The astonishing popularity achieved by social media sites like Facebook has spurred developers to try and imitate that kind of success, and although a number of web form builders have been rolled out lately, one of the most promising is Memberkit. It's an online membership content management system for websites that can be used on new or existing sites.

Memberkit stands out from the crowd by being aimed not at other developers but by regular folks like you and me. In effect, someone with only minimal knowledge of programming - or at least, can follow WYSIWYG directions - can set up their very own Facebook-style website. Once up & running, your Memberkit site will allow you to collect subscription payments from your members and create an advertisement based community on a fully custom, professional looking site.

The man behind Memberkit is Aytekin Tank, cofounder of Interlogy Internet Technologies and the creator of JotForm, from which Memberkit has its roots. Memberkit is more general in scope compared to JotForm but still relies on the user-friendly WYSIWIG interface and a straightforward drag and drop builder similar to the builder used in Visual Studio. It's been three years in the making but Tank & company have used the time well, as anyone who takes the software for a test run will learn. It should be mentioned that right now Memberkit is compatible with both the Firefox and IE browsers and plans are in the works to extend support to Safari.

In a nutshell, you can use Memberkit's drag and drop tools to create listing pages, display pages or search forms. Not only can you can create multiple forms, but it's easy enough to program working relationships between them. All of this - and more - is possible without having to write a single line of code!

After reading through the information at the Memberkit website, I thought I'd give it a spin and was pleasantly surprised! The interface seems quite polished and responsive, and I like the narrow focus. It'll be interesting to see how Memberkit evolves over the coming months but I'm very impressed with its practicality, flexibility and above all: ease of use. I heartily recommend visiting the Memberkit website where you can check out a demo of the framework, view a flash-based screenshot tour, even watch a video:

At its present stage of development, Memberkit is targeting a particular market niche but it has ambitious plans for the future. Explains Aytekin Tank, "We have released this first version specifically for membership and social sites. Our plan is to first make it perfect for these specific tasks before turning it into a complete web framework."

Indeed, Tank is not letting the grass grow under his feet. As of March 19 of this year, the full Memberkit documentation file "Memberkit: The Definitive Guide" is now available. The full-featured guide is over 100 pages long and can be downloaded as a single PDF book or can be referenced from the online version which is searchable and commentable. Check it out - the next great social media website just might start here!

Claudiopolis: Legendary History Weaved Into Nature of Mut

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:54:00 +0000

Not only is “Mut” the first syllable of "Happy" in Turkish but it is also the name of a historic town nestled in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. This part of southwest Turkey has been settled for many thousands of years. Hittites, Cilicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans came, saw, conquered and stayed to enjoy Mut's refreshing climate and delightful scenery. Please allow the post to be loaded for there are many HD wallpaper images [click to enlarge].

Mut (Claudiopolis)

The history of Mut which carries all the tracks of Anatolian and Mediterranean civilizations dating to the years of 2000 BC. Mut, which was in the hands of Selefkos in 300 BC, the name of ‘Mut’ was originated from the King’s name who governed here, which was captured by the Romans after the year 60 BC. Then, Mut, according to the documents in hand, has been found as a colony in 41 BC by one of the kings of the Romans, ‘Oudiopolis’, Mut has been annexed to the Ottoman Empire by Fatih Sultan Mehmet in 1466 AD. Mut became a township in 1868 and the municipality was founded in Mut in 1869.

Mut Today

Mut and its surrounding district is situated in the province of Mersin. It is a rough land; the Taurus Mountains boast lofty peaks 10,000 feet high or more, and the area around Mut is home to the rare and endangered Anatolian Leopard. It is this isolation that has allowed the preservation of the old ways of doing things. Contemporary Mut demonstrates its strong connections to the past and its friendly people still hand down the old traditions from one generation to another.

Kozlar Plateau

This high plateau is favored by Mut locals who come here to stay during summer. The plateau is 1300 meters above sea level and attracts people for its natural beauties, clean weather, and cold spring water.

Yerkopru

It is a natural ground bridge over the Ermenek River and is about 35 km away from Mut. It flows into the Goksu River and joins it near the Village of Sucati. The river flows into a deep calley and passes through a tunnel which is about 250 meters long. If you go to Yerkopru you can see this wonderful natural miracled with its waterfall and spend an unusual day.

Kirkpinar

This village provides water for drinking and plants to villages surrounding it. Its name "Forty Springs" comes from the abundance of offspring water to be found in the region. Kirkpinar isn't known much but is a very pleasurable tourist destination.

Dere Canyon

Located near the village of Mut, this canyon can be observed from the stairs on a rock. Even though there is not much information about this canyon, you can still see a few bridges around the village left from the Ottoman dynasty.

Kestel Canyon

The Kestel Canyon is five kilometers long and its wild goats flock within. It is worth seeing with its awesome view from the steep rocks.

Apadnos Monastery (Alahan)

It is on the road of Mut-Karaman, about 20 km away from Mut and 3 km far from the main road. It was built on a rocky side of the Toros Mountains. The monastery contains the church first, church second, church third, famous portik and surroundings for monks. Its altitude is approximately 1200 meters. The monastery complex is thought to have been built in AD 440-442. It is deemed as highly important due to its historical and institutional value. Also the building shows typical architecture of the fifth century.

Corapissus Church (Dag Pazari)

It is 35 kilometers to the north of Mut. Its ancient name is Corapissis and the ancient road highlights the importance of it’s historical environment. It shows a compromise between the barrel-vaulted churches of mesopotamia and the Isaurian basilica with central tower as found at Meryemlik and Alahan.

Mavga Castle

The Castle of Mavga is about 16 kilometers from Mut, near the plateau of Kozlar which is a resort site for tourists. The castle was built carving in the steep rocks of the side of the mountains. The inscription of the north side of the castle has shown that the fortress has been used by the Seljuks in 1230 AD. There are stable feed racks and cisterns carved into the rocks. It has been suggested that the castle belonged to the Hitittes.

Mut Fortress

The first construction of the castle in the centre of the city has not yet been identified. The keystones of the castle demonstrate a small farrison built by rectangular flat cutting stones. The castle which was restored by the Byzantine and Karamanogullari has four towers along with a tower called the “inner fortress” inside the castle.

Laal Pasha Mosque

The mosque was constructed by Laal Pasha upon the orders of Karamanoglu Ibrahim Bey (1356-1390). The mosque is square planned and the middle dome has been constructed with the flat cutting stones. In one of the tombs there are 3 graves and in the other one are 4 graves. According to Evliya Celebi’s Travelbook, Laal Pasha was buried in one of these tombs.

Mountain Mosque

Its 2 kilometers south-west of Mut. It is claimed to belong to the Seljuks era. It was constructed with the stones which were collected in the same era.

Handcrafts

In all villages of Mut, you can see the coloured world of loom. Different kinds of weaving, sack, haircloth, player rug developed here. Especially in Haciahmetli village weaving is done traditionally through use of madder roots. Rug making is one notable craft, perfected over the centuries, that has brought the weavers of Mut recognition the world over. These rugs are "kilims", flat-woven rugs without a raised pile that often display complex patterns and magnificent colors.

Mutlu Kilim

It is thanks to the efforts of the Public Training Center (PTC) in Mut that many of these charming patterns and distinctive weaving techniques have not only been re discovered, but taught to a new generation of self-sufficient weavers.

In the words of a Mutlu Kilim spokesperson, "Our purpose is to keep the regional kilim models, colors and handcrafts of Mut alive. Before starting this business we searched the region for authentic models of kilims which reflect our old traditions." The search was a difficult one - kilim rugs do not have a pile to protect their structure and it is rare to find a used kilim rug more than a couple hundred years old. Finally however, after visiting outlying farmsteads little changed from the pre-industrial age, enough original patterns were found to jump start kilim production on an organized basis.

Mutlu Kilim knows that the best kilim rugs are crafted in the weavers' comforting home environment. Most kilim weavers contributing their wares to Mutlu Kilim are housewives whom, by working in a supportive network of weavers, can help their families economically and expose their skills to future generations. Happy crafts-people leading productive lives creating a world-famous product - handmade rugs - that's the name of the game at Mutlu Kilim.

How appropriate, then, that Mutlu Kilim weaves happy rugs in traditional ways in a town as old as the hills!

The House with the Sliding Roof

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:46:00 +0000

'The brief was simple: to build a house to retire to in order to grow food, entertain and enjoy the East Anglia landscape.' The owners said they were "prepared to be radical." 'The outcome was as unconventional as they come. A structure that has the ability to vary or connect the overall building's composition and character according to season, weather or simply a desire to delight. Wallpaper* took a trip to the site to capture the physical phenomenon in the only medium that serves it justice - film.'

Google Chrome: Tough Stuff Beneath a Shiny Wrapper

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:34:00 +0000

You've likely heard about Google Chrome, the new browser from the world's leader in search engine technology. What you might NOT have heard is what makes Google Chrome different - and in some ways, better - than the web browser you're using right now. With the announcement this past December 11 that Google Chrome is not in beta anymore, we have done considerable testing and it is now time to write a review.

Even though Chrome does not have that many features, the browser still lives up to its advance hype by rethinking many of the general features a standard web browser has. By doing that, you get a different web-browsing experience compared to what you'd get with Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) or Mozilla's Firefox. Currently Chrome is only for Windows but soon we should see some ports for Apple's Mac OS and Linux, though when these ports will be released is unknown.

Let's get down to business. Chrome auto-detects whatever browser you use and prompts you through installation (telling you how to access downloaded files within Firefox, for example). When you first run it, Chrome imports your bookmarks, passwords, and settings from either IE or Firefox. After that, you can start using Chrome. The layout is extremely simple; you will see a row of tabs along the top, an address bar (Google calls this "Omnibar") and a bookmarks bar under the Omnibar. A separate recent-bookmarks bar appears at the right.

Like much of Google's other apps (GMail, for example), Chrome has a very minimalist user interface (UI). There is no menu bar and no title bar, and therefore few distractions. All the settings are to the right of the Omnibar: the page icon manages tabs and utilizes Google Gears to create app-like shortcuts from your desktop to the web, and the wrench accesses basically all the other settings. You can either use a home page or a most visited sites page as the starting point. This page provides thumbnails of the frequently visited sites, shows recent bookmarks and a search box allows for history searching. You can even change the default search engine: you can find the option in the wrench under "options".

Another innovative thing about Chrome is the fact that it bridges the gap between offline and online (so-called Cloud Computing) applications. Chrome can allow you to make a desktop, quick-launch or start menu shortcut to any web page or web app. I, for example, made a desktop shortcut for en.wikipedia.org. When run, Chrome removes all the toolbars and tabs from the window, making Wikipedia look like a desktop app rather than a web page. There are, however, no dedicated back or forward buttons but you can right-click to navigate backward or forward.

Other features Chrome has that some of the other browsers also have include a private-browse mode (Incognito), tools for developers for use in troubleshooting and viewing source code, and the immensely-helpful ability of restoring all tabs from the last session. Chrome has a cool feature known as tab isolation: if a site crashes, it will freeze the tab but not the entire program. IE8 offers a similar feature but Chrome takes it a step further by offering a task manager that shows how much CPU and RAM a page is using. This allows you to crush anything that is causing a problem. You have to configure this tool manually, though.

Also, unlike the beta version, Chrome now includes an actual bookmarks manager (the beta had
only a drop-down menu at the right of the bookbar). The "Bookman" (as I call it) lives in a separate window and utilizes a dual-pane layout: the left pane displays folders and bookmarks and the right pane displays the contents of a selected folder in the left pane. A search box appears in the upper right corner of the Bookman window and displays results as you type. If you have ever used Apple's Safari browser, the Bookman will look very familiar.

By default, Chrome will not auto-restore your session. In other words, if Chrome crashes, you're screwed unless you configure the browser to do otherwise. You can find the settings in the wrench under Options/Basics. Firefox and IE8 both restore the session when they crash. Also, sites that use Javascript and Ajax code work fine, but Microsoft Silverlight isn't supported yet despite the fact that it works with Safari which uses the same WebKit browser code. We also do not have any kind of add-on system.

All-in-all, Chrome is a decent browser for basic browsing all the way up to advanced browsing. The built-in search system that the Omnibar offers is a major plus, along with the general speediness. The task-manager is also something that caught my eye. Last but not least, the fact that Chrome no longer carries the "beta" logo like other Google products is a relief.

Based on the above review, I would like to recommend that everyone give Google's Chrome a try. Google's first attempt at creating a web browser has a lot to recommend it and considering it carries the respected Google brand, one can be sure it's a serious effort that if anything will be improved even further as time goes by.

Article by Rey Matsuda-Levenstein is the owner, operator and webmaster of Yersys Technology Blog, posting news and stories concerning technology, computers, and general information & resources on a near-daily basis.

Happy Holidays Wallpaper Download

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:02:00 +0000

With global warming at the door, here's a wishing for you with all the warmth of the season. May joy and happiness snow on you, may the bells jingle for you and may Santa be extra good to you! Hope to see all of you spread the joys of this jolly time of the year among your family and friends. Merry Christmas!

Pictures Worth A Thousand Words - Post 19

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:13:00 +0000

"Pictures Worth A Thousand Words" series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.

Ignorance is Bliss?

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:50:00 +0000

The first caveman didn't fight dinosaurs with a bag of lithium in his hand, he had a spear! He used his brain on how he could out wit the dinosaur and capture it for a feast. Studies do not prove that medication even works properly but one thing it does for certain is that it hooks you. Once you take that medication and continue it you need a long period of detoxification to completely free yourself. Click here to continue reading..

Are You Smarter Than 2-Year-Olds?

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:39:00 +0000

Oh sure, you may sit there nodding smugly but when you think about it - how well do we really know the world? Many probably know about the popular American TV show, "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth-Grader?" - but I think fifth graders are so overrated in an age of information and technology where even 2-year-olds can use the Internet. Without going any further click here to take this quick quiz and see how many countries you can you name in under 5 minutes, then come back to this post. On the other hand, keep reading if you are scared.

Alright, here is a world map that could refreshen your minds. Now are you ready to take the quiz?

With all due respect to the less worldly among us, though, kids are pretty darn smart when it comes to the world we share with several billion others. For instance, how would you stack up against a cute, 2-year-old, map reading wonder named Lilly? Check out this video in which the budding scholar shows off her vast geographic knowledge:

Pretty impressive, huh? She now knows over 80 countries. So whaddya think, can you do better than li'l Lilly? Keep in mind, she had no trouble pointing out island nations you might only know if you were Survivor fans. Perhaps you think she was "specially trained" for this or that she is exceptional and just a one off phenomenon. Wait till you see Krish, another 2-year-old geography whiz kid, who can name up to 90 to 100 countries when their flags are pointed out:

Astounding isn't it? There are many more videos of young brains out there, but I digress, time to share a few fast facts about our ever more multinational globe:

There are 195 official countries in the world.
45 nations are landlocked, ie having no seacoast.
44 nations in the world are officially monarchies.
The United Nations charter was ratified in 1945 by its 51 members.
English was an official language in 87 nations and territories by 1994.

Now that your brain cells are juiced, it's time to get jetpunked. According to Jetpunk, the average score is 53, which doesn't sound like a lot afterall. Remember, you've got 5 minutes to name as many countries as you can and you've got to spell them correctly. 300 seconds.. not a lot of time to name a lot of countries, but hey - there've been 14 editions of Survivor so you're 7 percent there already. You can do it!

So, how did you score up this time? Still not good enough? Then I guess it's time you watch this video:

Written by Steve Levenstein, sponsored by Jetpunk.

What If Matrix Ran on Windows XP

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:42:00 +0000

Top 10 Most Annoying English Phrases

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:29:00 +0000

Irregardless, could you care less? A bunch of Oxford researchers got together and compiled a list of the Top 10 most irritating expressions in the English language. "The scholars in question keep track of linguistic mangling and overused buzzwords in a database called the Oxford University Corpus. The voluminous record keeps track of books, magazines, broadcast, online media and other sources, watching for new overused, tiresome phrases and retiring those that fade from use (or misuse)." Here is the Top 10 list they came up with:

10. It's not rocket science
9. 24/7
8. Shouldn't of
7. It's a nightmare
6. Absolutely
5. With all due respect
4. At this moment in time
3. I personally
2. Fairly unique
1. At the end of the day

In your opinion, what are the most irritating phrases in English?

Pictures Worth A Thousand Words - Post 18

noreply@blogger.com (ilker) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:29:00 +0000

"Pictures Worth A Thousand Words" series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.