Happy Anniversaries to me

This week in 2001 I first arrived in Turkey. This week i 2003 I came to Turkey for the second time. Much has changed in this time, particularly the prices.

The University Entrance Exam

Tomorrow, almost 2 million Turkish students will be taking the University Entrance Exam (OSS). A fellow employee and my boss’s daughter will be amongst them. The exam is very cutthroat. Some students have studied full-time for the past year just for this exam. Their whole future will be determined by this 3-hour exam. Some details on the exam are here.

The Answer to my Previous Printer Conspiracy

Tom, on his excellent blog, has pointed out this brilliant speech on Digital Rights Management (DRM) given by Cory Doctorow to Microsoft executives. Amongst many other things, Cory helps explain the conspiracy I experienced earlier in the month:

We have companies like Lexmark claiming that their printer cartridges contain copyrighted works — software that trips an “I am empty” flag when the toner runs out, and have sued a competitor who made a remanufactured cartridge that reset the flag.