RecommendaWeb: Cool Places In Istanbul?

As I’ve said, I’m leaving for Turkey this Friday, and I’m wondering if the Interwebs have any recommendations for cool places to hang out in Istanbul?

Note the wording, here: cool places to hang out. I’m aware of the Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace, both of which I’ve visited before (albeit twenty years ago), and I’ll be duly checking them out. I’m talking brilliant food, great bars, awesome coffee shops, underground nightclubs with good music, record shops, etc. etc.

Got anything for me?

Random C-List Celebrity Sighting

Weirdest “celebrity” sighting I’ve ever had: tonight, in the parking lot of the Coffee Bean, I was talking to my friend Jennifer when a car drove through the parking lot driven by Michael J. Anderson, whom you probably know as either the backwards-talking dwarf from Twin Peaks or Samson from HBO’s series Carnivale. I recognized him immediately — he’s pretty striking, as he’s extremely short, and he doesn’t have the sort of general similarities to his features that many little people have (because he doesn’t actually have dwarfism, but another bone disorder).

He was just driving a blue car. He drove by really slow, pulled up to the laundromat, paused for about thirty seconds, and then drove away. I have no idea what he was doing. But I made eye contact with him, and it was definitely Michael J. Anderson, unless there’s another dude of that general age, height and appearance wandering around America, which I find rather unlikely.

One Laptop Per Child — XO Giving

One Laptop Per Child — XO Giving

I’ve actually played with the XO (or at least, an earlier prototype) and I’ve got to tell you, these things are the coolest gadgets since they invented digital Cheez-Whiz. (There’s no such thing as digital Cheez-Whiz. That’s my point. Think about it.) They’ve got a lot to recommend them to First World consumers as well as Third World students, they’re hackable as all hell, and they’re cheap: $399 buys one for you and one for a kid in the Third World.

As a portable gadget, I’d say they’re probably superior to the new Asus EEE, which runs around the same price. I’d really recommend getting one, if you can afford it, as a laptop alternative, and as karma insurance. Hell, you might find yourself using your XO more than your regular laptop, particularly for e-book reading.

And if anybody wants to buy me one, I won’t argue. This is one of the only pieces of hardware I’m genuinely lusting over right now. I’d rather have an XO than an iPhone, if that gives you any idea.

Go ahead — tase me, bro

New Scientist Last Word Blog: Counter-taserism

[From the comments:]

An EFFECTIVE taser proof vest consists of any conductive surface where both probes attach creating a (dead short) There are special clothes that are made from fabric that has a high dialectric strenth that stops tasers in their tracks but is very expensive due to the fact they contain TEFLON. A layer of aluminum window screen sandwiched between twon layers of canvas is suitable for this task. Also i have been looking into a vest made from the same foam they use to protect IC chips,it’s called conductive foam– can be bought online relatively cheap. The (vest) has to cover the (legs) AND (arms) as well because one of the probes may make contact there completing the circuit thus rendering the vest useless. Leg vests HAVE TO BE GROUNDED TO THE CHEST VEST. The circuit IS an effective DEAD SHORT. How do i know this? I own a 100,000 volt taser. obtained from a catalog (Tested my theories). Another thing–tasers don’t last long being dead shorted. Trust me —lol

I like this guy.

Off to Turkey

I don’t know if I’d mentioned this or not, but I’m off to Turkey on the 16th for a week and a half. I’m flying into Frankfurt and then heading to Istanbul for a couple of days, and then to a town called Göreme, in central Turkey, in Cappadocia. I’m going to be exploring some of the local underground cities, like Derinkuyu. I’ll be back on the 26th.

I’ll be writing this up for an as-yet-unannounced new blog project I’m working on. I’m excited — I haven’t been in Turkey since Christmas Eve of 1987, and it’ll be wonderful to go back. (Did you know I used to live in Turkey, when I was a small boy? True story.) It’s a beautiful country and the people are generally warm and kind, despite what you might think. (I’ve found that Turks are only xenophobic in general. But you in particular are an awesome person, and would you like to come eat with my family and me?)

So I’ll be busy until then getting ready, and I’ll be posting from abroad while I’m gone.