When you think of the ancient world in the middle east, chances are, you cannot escape from the mindblowing gardens of mesopotamia, or the cunning and brave history of ancient Egypt. Surrounded by so many statues and buildings that were stylized and constructed in such an impressive way, no eye can escape it.

But, on the eastern side of the mediterranean ocean, on the shores of Syria, there lies the ruins of an ancient scribe mentioning a story.

A story, much like the epic of Gilgamesh. Only that this one was specifically written, structured, and assembled for it to accompany music, specifically the lyre which was a string instrument very popular in the region at that time. It was a song.

The hurrian Hymn to Nikkal, or also known as h.6, is a song which dates back to 1400 B.C.E. and was written on clay tablets with the ancient script of cuneiform. It is dedicated, as the title suggests, to the  Mesopotamia goddess Nikkal.

It was excavated in the 1950s when a group of archaeologists were examining the ruins of the royal palace of Ugarit in western Syria.

Perhaps for many, film is a process to better understand stories, or to simply find yourself in the pleasure of entertainment. 

For decades, this particular divide existed in Cinema. Between those who valued storytelling, and those who offered it to flourish as a business. Yet the quality of its storytelling style offered much more than individual stories, it became a symbolic assertion - or the beginning of one, to use cinema as the eye that captures cultural shift. 

Now, in this sense, culture would mean something totally specific, right? Art? 

Well, here is how we can understand this new bizarre lens. 

Imagine Black Panther, you know, the superhero film that marvel made. In this epic story, we find that the people involved are the citizens of a civilized community in Africa with innovative and technological advancement, a clear criticism of the colonialist claim of Africa’s underdevelopment. It was here that many people, particularly black people, found a cult following with a film explaining a clash of civilisation between the global north and south which, keep in mind, was made during a time of social upheaval in the United States. Culture war was at the highest and what was the center of this entire feud? A two hour long film with significant box office achievement. 

Turkey is heading towards a critical presidential election in which the two main candidates, Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu, are doing everything to win the election. Erdogan has been  president for a couple of decades and utilised his own vision within and outside Turkey. During his era, Turkey has been through ups and downs in terms of economy as inflation rate & interest rate went up most recently due to the pandemic and the devastating earthquake in February. Notably, the cost of living in Turkey is higher these days and middle class & lower middle-class citizens are struggling.

A few days before the presidential election, Erdogan announced that they will increase “public workers’ salaries by %45 which means the lowest wage will be TL 15.000 ($768) monthly” he also pledged to shrink the interest rate to minimum. Besides that, he indicated their vision to decrease the inflation rate starting from July alongside welfare pay.

According to economists and political experts, Turkey’s economic situation will be crucial for the presidential election and will be decisive in changing Turkish people’s perspective towards their future and that of the country. However, expectations are yet to make us certain of the next Turkey president, but of course the economy will be a massive factor to the matter.

Elon Musk, a key figure in the tech world and the founder, CEO, and chief engineer of SpaceX, investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, co-founded the OpenAI project. Musk has recently announced his efforts to build an AI startup called X.AI. While working on  X.AI, Elon  also calls for proactive regulation to stop AI development for a while.

Elon Musk founded X.AI to compete with OpenAI, which he used to be involved in. X.AI is registered in Nevada and now has Elon Musk as its director. Musk has been in discussion with multiple investors and has recruited top AI researchers and engineers, including DeepMind. Moreover, he has acquired thousands of Nvidia GPU processors, which are integral to building large language models and data similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT.

During one of the National Governors Association Conferences, Musk emphasized the importance of taking proactive actions and regulations to pause the fast-growing AI to prevent potential risks, as he believes it poses a real risk to human civilization. 

In his conversation with Joe Rogan's podcast, Musk discussed AI in general and his Neuralink project in particular, a neurotechnology company that develops implantable brain–computer interfaces and aims to connect AI to the human brain. Neuralink could enable humans to become highly intelligent and predictive.

Controlling and securing large data sets is crucial for maintaining control over AI, as data is the main element for feeding the lounge model on which AI systems are based. Although AI has specific applications and capabilities for now and will need some time to develop AI that can control human civilization, it is vital to strike a balance between innovation and responsibility. Musk claims that his new AI company, will develop responsible AI systems to serve human civilization rather than destroy it.

It's another one of those days where your friends invite you to inspect some pieces of painting. Be it modern, classical, with all the different styles and movements which made expression such a deep and yearning topic for many, this entire process to showcase their art might as well be the most important in the career of a graphic artist. 

Remember, there are in this world, and much of our history as humans, so many examples of how we have benefited from art. Prehistoric civilisations, which lived off of hunting and found shelter in caves, used it to communicate and express their early introduction into the wildlife.You are one second away from a story reflecting this ancient way of our previous ancestors. 

But now and more than ever, you can witness how many flock to a certain event house, art gallery, or any building or institution, which demonstrates a work of art for a group of people with such a passion. News covers it, friends and family talk about it, you may even come across small instagram or tiktok reels that show this aesthetic event! 

So, why is it such an important event? 

Well, for us, it's a manifestation of the past, the present, and the future. It shows the eternally living past of humans through the scope of an artist, it demonstrates contemporary problems and questions, and it projects the future in which paintings do a very nice job at it. 

As for artists, well, imagine an upcoming artist, be it a professional or just getting into it, you'd need to think twice if you find exhibitions to be a waste of time. It could probably be the most important event in your career as an artist because your work needs to be shown, because people need to know of it. Prior to becoming one that can benefit from it.

As final exams are around the corner, it is essential to understand studying techniques and methods that can help you study better and more efficiently. Studying is not necessarily boring or tiring. If you know what works best for you and what time of the day you are most active, studying might actually become a tolerable process. The first step is preparing yourself mentally by fixing your sleeping schedule, meditating to decrease anxiety, eating healthy, and being active. Healthy food and drinks include berries, dark chocolate, nuts, eggs, fish, vegetables, green tea, and fruit juices. In addition, according to Wiliam Wadsworth, the Cambridge-educated memory psychologist & study coach, these are some strategies that will help students study most effectively:

- Studying map: organize your studying subjects and materials. Have a list of topics and subtopics you must study first and are most expected from you, and schedule your time according to them.

- Check questions first: start by looking at real exam questions for the topics you are studying, then when you go back to studying, you will have a much deeper sense of what you need to know the most. Remember, testing is the learning itself.

- Studying routine: set a study routine by planning your day. Make sure you know what times work best for you and are active. Don't follow anyone's routine, as you know when your energy levels are highest. Make sure your routine is realistic. It includes breaks and me time.

- Be a teacher: instead of pushing what you studied, pull it out, act like you are the teacher now, and explain it to your imaginary student in a way they will understand the best.

- Flashcards: flashcards can be a great way to study. Have a clear question on the front and a clear answer on the back but don't put too much information. And test yourself with them from time to time to make sure you remember everything you studied.

There are also some methods and techniques that are very beneficial and make studying much more fun:

- The Pomodoro Technique: Pomodoro technique is a time management method based on 25 minutes of focused studying broken by five-minute breaks. After four consecutive studying gaps, you take longer breaks, typically 15 to 30 minutes. This technique is great for studying for long periods without getting bored or tired. You can also use some apps to use this technique.

- SQ3R Technique: the acronym for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review, which helps in effective studying. First, start with going through the subject's content, then create questions from the subject, then start studying to understand the subject, and finally, recite what you studied and review the answers to the question. Through this sequence, the students are expected to increase their understanding of the text by engaging in the reading process, both before, during, and after, intentionally.

Make sure to take it easy and relax. Keep positive energy. You will do great!