Turkey lifts its ban on YouTube

(Reuters) Turkey has lifted its ban on video-sharing website YouTube as material deemed insulting to Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk has been removed, Turkish state-run news agency Anatolian reported Saturday.

Ankara's general attorney ruled the site, blocked since May 2008, should be now freely accessible to Turkish users.

The ban was widely criticized, even by Turkey's President Abdullah Gul who used his Twitter page to condemn the move, and said he had asked responsible institutions for a solution.

Under the country's penal code it is an offence to insult the Turkish nation and its institutions.

YouTube said in a statement on Saturday: "We've received reports that some users in Turkey are once again able to access YouTube...We want to be clear that a third party, not YouTube, have apparently removed some of the videos that have caused the blocking of YouTube in Turkey using our automated copyright complaint process."

"We are investigating whether this action is valid in accordance with our copyright policy," YouTube added.

Human rights groups and media watchdog associations have long urged European Union membership candidate Turkey to reform its restrictive Internet laws.

In June the human rights and security group Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Turkey's internet law, first introduced to restrict access to pornography and other content harmful to children, had been expanded to prevent access to over 5,000 sites.

  What do you think about that? Do you think there should be censorship on the net?

cause & effect essay quiz

The quiz starts at 10 a.m tomorrow and the time allocated is 2 hours.

You have been writing essays for two weeks and I'm sure you will do great tomorrow. There's no need to get nervous, just read the topics carefully, choose one and write your essay. Don't forget the important things like thesis statement, topic sentences, transition sentence and comment in the conclusion. Show off your grammar and vocabulary skills, too. Good luck!

turnitin or burnitin?

Hi, I've told you that some students did not like "turnitin". Indeed, quite a few students are against the system. They claim that the system illegally archives students' work without their permission. Check out the link if you like to read about the students who sued the company that created the turnitin system.

"the truth will make you free"

If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything! Do you remember the student getting a zero upon refusing to send his paper to turnitin.com? It is used in some universities and high schools in our country, too. Some students like it, some don't.  What do you think about this system? If you were asked to send your written material to an anti-plagiarism website what would your reaction be?

bodyworlds

Hello again! Today I showed you a short video about bodyworlds exhibition and you said you found it interesting. IMHO (in my humble opinion), being medical students, you should see it while you can. What do you think? Exhibition ends December 17... For tickets click on the link please.

P.S: If you dare to go to the exhibition, don't forget to see the video showing how Dr. Gunther von Hagens managed to apply his plastination technique.

and for those karaoke lovers...

sing it!

i promise, next time i will find a more cheerful tune...

"noun clauses" with Lionel Richie

youtube/hello

Hi again! Remember I told you that I learned English listening to music? Here's an unforgettable song from the 80's. It's a little bit cheesy but some of us old folks, love it. It was one of the most romantic songs those days. I was a university student then. Anyway, with this song we will focus on noun clauses. Some examples:

   Hello, is it me you're looking for?
   'cos you know just what to say...

Can you find some more? Click the link above and check it out please! Ciao!

I’m always uneasy about the concept of “speaking truth,” as if we somehow know the truth and only have to enlighten others who have not risen to our elevated level. The search for truth is a cooperative, unending endeavor. We can, and should, engage in it to the extent we can and encourage others to do so as well, seeking to free ourselves from constraints imposed by coercive institutions, dogma, irrationality, excessive conformity and lack of initiative and imagination, and numerous other obstacles.

As for possibilities, they are limited only by will and choice.

Students are at a stage of their lives where these choices are most urgent and compelling, and when they also enjoy unusual, if not unique, freedom and opportunity to explore the choices available, to evaluate them, and to pursue them.
                                                                                                                                                  Chomsky 

About Chomsky: Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. He is an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


OK! I know I've bored you to death with Chomsky, but I thought you might like to comment on what he says here. And please notice that he uses some of the vocabulary we have learned recently, like "conformity, evaluate and pursue"...See you!

unit 1 INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKING

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

 Watch your words, for they become actions.
 Watch your actions, for they become habits.
 Watch your habits, for they become character.
 Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

Hi! Some quick notes about today's lesson, Critical Thinking...

CT: thinking intelligently about things, ability to look at ideas objectively...

    THINGS TO DO:

* analyze ideas

* explore both positive and negative aspects of an idea or theory

* have an open mind

* make judgments by considering all sides of an issue

* be prepared to change your mind and rethink concepts if necessary

* look at evidence with an open mind

* look for weaknesses in your own reasoning

* assess the expertise of a writer or speaker

* look for more than one expert who supports an idea

* ask questions to evaluate ideas

    P.S: It's never too late to give up our prejudices.

   

   Question: Why do many people refuse to respect ideas that are different or opposite to theirs?

Tenses make me TeNsE!

YESTERDAY

    It .......a cold and wet Saturday and we ..........bored sitting at home. We ...............to go to Moda to get some fresh air. It ............... heavily when we ................in our car. It usually ..........us about 15 minutes but yesterday it ............us about half an hour to get there because there ............an accident on the road. A careless driver..................a motorcylist. Luckily nobody ........injured fatally. Anyway, when we finally ..........at Moda we quickly............ a parking space which .........unusual because  normally it ..........really difficult to find a place to park your car in Moda. After parking, my wife, Özlem ..............some simits to accompany the tea in the famous Moda Çay Bahçesi. I ...............there many times before but this ........the first time as a family. How ........you say "çay bahçesi" in English? Cafe? Whatever, MÇB..........both indoor and outdoor seating. We .........indoors as it .........pretty cold and we .........not.........our 8-month-old little boy, Sarp to get cold. We ...........lucky enough to get a table near the old stove. Sarp really ............the place. We ........definitely take him there again. If you .........not .......there before, you should. It is beautiful!

Female football (soccer in US) fans!

  Good evening people! Just to revise the unit about female fans at Euro 2008...

  The passage is about the reasons why more and more females are interested in football which used to be a  man's game. So, it might be possible to say that the main idea of the passage is,                                         

 "There are several reasons why more females are interested in football". 

  We also did some reference work and word-finding today.

  Keep in mind that your knowledge of the words we find might be tested in the exam!

         hardcore     

         endure 

         banish

Perhaps you would like to use them in your own sentences. I will give you an example if you don't mind. 

"2010 World Cup viewers had to endure the terrible noise of vuvuzelas throughout the games."

  a question:  What is the main idea of paragraph 3?

Living without TV or the Internet

 Hi again! Yesterday we read, talked about and summarized a passage about the pros and cons of television. I have tried  living without television a few times and I am proud to say that I have been successful. My all-time record is two years at one go! Yes I lived without television for two years without a break! No movies, no football games, no news programs, nothing! And this was before the availability of the Net! Now I sometimes watch tv but not for too long as I am currently suffering from moderate Internet addiction. OK. I presume most of you can do without television, but could you live without the internet?

Here's a sad story about the dangers of video games. Remember,  you are supposed to write a summary about this issue. (page 7)

 

Man dies after playing video game for 32 hours

A 27-year-old Taiwanese man died yesterday after playing video games in a cyber cafe for 32 hours continuously.
Lien Wen-cheng arrived at the cyber cafe in Fengyuan in central Taiwan at 10.30pm on Thursday and played video games non-stop, pausing only to go to the toilet, police said.
At 7am on Saturday, a staff member found Lien foaming at the mouth and bleeding from the nose on the floor of the cafe's toilet.
"They rushed him to hospital but he was already dead," local police said.
Police suspect Lien died from exhaustion, having sat in the same position for too long.
Less than 10 days ago, a 24-year-old South Korean man died at an Internet cafe in Kwangju, 260km outside Seoul, after playing computer games nonstop for 86 hours.

Lesson revision 05/10/10

  SUMMARY of SUMMARY

  

SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER :

1. be objective

2. be complete (with all of the main ideas)

3. avoid little details and examples

4. use your own words

5. use transition words

So, you can start with a sentence which states the general idea or the topic. Then continue with main ideas from the text using your own words and some transition signals. That's it folks!

SAMPLE SUMMARY:

Getting a Dog

Before you get a dog you should consider a few things. First of all, dogs take up a lot of time and attention and they need space. Secondly, it is quite expensive to own a dog as their food and visits to the vet will cost money. Finally, you or other people around you might be allergic to dogs. (58 words)

Hi everybody! 

I believe you are all excited about the beginning of a new academic year and looking forward to having some educational time.
I will try and keep in touch with you through this blog outside school hours, so feel free to join. Here, there will be some lesson revision and related texts or videos on which you are expected to make comments. Stay tuned!