Last view of the sunset coming up over the Asian side of Istanbul, across the Bosphorus Strait. Soon I will be getting in a taxi to the airport, and making the long journey home, to the other edge of Asia.

Sun rising over a mountain across a body of water. The silhouette of the Çamlıca Tower is clearly visible.

Appreciate this deep dive on the costs to provide secure and private chat from an org I whole-heartedly support: Signal. They even dig into some of their unique privacy-preserving techniques, eg hiding GIF search terms (Meta aquired Giphy, getting a bunch of data before selling it on to Shutterstock! Now your info is owned by three companies!)

In this era of expanding consolidation, you never know where your data may end up. The only winning move for services that care about your privacy is to not collect any sensitive data in the first place.

signal.org/blog/sign…

Istanbul is the city of cats. I am at Kahve Dunyasi, a sort of Turkish Starbucks. It is pouring rain outside, so the cats take refuge inside the cafe!

Table and four chairs inside a clean and modern cafe. On two seats rest two cats, curled up and napping

Only a couple days left in Istanbul. Went back to the Hagia Sophia. Just amazing to think of this being built in the 6th century, and added to and extended for centuries. The dual half-domes hold up that gorgeous main dome, that still stands 1500 years on 🤯

The forward altar and halfdomethe forward half dome and high center dome with Arabic writingA nearly straight on shot of the underside of the main dome featuring Arabic writing, and surrounding are depictions of four angelsPeople stand on the green carpet staring up at the domed roof, bathed in warm light from low hanging chandeliers

Rooftop breakfast overlooking the Bosphorus as the sun rises over Asia

Çamlıca Tower backlit by the sunrise across the water. Various ships and ferries pass through

More scenes from Istanbul:

Chad selfie with a towerChad selfie at the Fenerbahçe ticket boothsun shining through many red flags hanging on on strings across the streetnight scene of a city. Bosporus bridge in view

Some scenes from Istanbul:

Chad selfie with the Hagia SophiaWide angle showing the two half domes supporting the big dome of the ceiling of the Hagia SophiaDown a narrow alley of stairs leading down to the sea between buildings a view of the sunrise across the straitChad poses with the walls of old city of Constantinople

The roar of the chanting fans in the Besiktas stadium beside my hotel MIGHT keep me up for another 50mins for the second half of their Europa Conf match… but their passion is DEFINITELY putting a smile on my face! 😁⚽️🏟️

Welcome to Istanbul!

Chad selfie at the baggage claim exit in the Istanbul airport posing with the welcome sign, a huge light display, and a large image of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk

Whoa! The route is through Russian airspace! No polar route or southern bend for me this time. Turns out Turkish Air is one of the 55 that still fly through Russia: www.businessinsider.com/airlines-…

See you in 13h40m 👋

Photo of a back-of-seat monitor displaying a map of the world with a plane icon in Tokyo and destination icon in Istanbul, and a flight path arcing north with Novosibirsk at the top

The last time I was at T3 Haneda was before the border opened last year. It was a total ghost town, not one restaurant open and I had to eat at 7-11. Now it is full of tourists having late dinner at 9pm at a ton of open restaurants along halls designed to look like old Edo streets.

Almost time for wheels up! (Osaka Itami Airport)

Small twin prop plane at the gangway getting ready for flight. The sky is just after sunset and is dark orange and dark blue&10;

Just left the house. It is now 🚎🚌✈️✈️

Osaka → Haneda → Istanbul

Attending the Internet Governance Forum - Stakeholders

(This is a post in a series about attending the Internet Governance Forum 2023 in Kyoto.) To describe where the Internet Governance Forum fits in terms of internet governance, we have to also describe the other stakeholders in the system. Internet governance is polycentric. The IGF is just one part of a network of stakeholders that hold influence over how the internet works. Its key mandate is to bring various stakeholders together in a forum to discuss public policy, which is a key differentiator from other technology fora.

Continue reading →

Today, November 5th in the year of our lord Buddha 2567, the weather was 28 flippin’ degrees celcius here in Osaka 🥵

#ClimateCrisis

Screenshot of NERV weather app showing the high of 28° C in Osaka Miyakojima-ku

Took the new bike for a ride down the river this afternoon. Hit the old Sakuranomiya Public Hall, which used to be the entrance of the Japan Mint; across the street is the current Mint building; the bridge beside the Mint lit up with Osaka Castle top right; the Imperial Hotel with a dinner cruise.

A classic 19th c building with pillarsEntrance gate of the Japan Mint building. To the left is a sign: Japan Mint. To the right a sign: 造幣局 An arched bridge over the river lit up in early evening. In the background distance is Osaka CastleEarly evening the Imperial Osaka Hotel is lit up. Below is the river in the foreground with a dinner boat passing by

Been prepping for my trip to Istanbul next week. Getting excited! So much to see so I have to be choosy. If you have recommendations please share! 🛫🇹🇷

“Some thoughts are come in to your head to die… but if brain is sick enough?” Genius 👏👏👏 ⌨️

#mechanicalkeyboard

www.youtube.com/watch

And now for a little specialty coffee. This is an Ethiopian bean from Tamiru’s Sky Project. You can learn more here shop.glitchcoffee.com/en/produc…

☕️ #coffee

Pour over coffee setup with brass ball Brownie covered in walnuts on a wooden platter beside a small coffee cup and flask of coffee. A

Found a nice little restaurant in the Asahi Newspaper buildings in downtown Osaka for lunch with my wife. I used to come to these buildings 20 years ago to train in jujutsu. A lot has changed!

Tendon and Nyumen lunch set with some pickled vegetables Monaka with home made red beans for dessert