Hawaii Blog

Well, the much anticipated upgrade to Apple’s iTunes music software is out today, the one that adds built-in support for podcasts. There’s also an updater for iPods, making them the first piece of hardware to do podcasts as well. It’s not going as smoothly as folks had hoped (I’m tracking some of the issues on [...]

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Although there are many monstrous symbols of former Honolulu mayor Jeremy Harris’ devotion to waste, excess, misplaced priorities and ceaseless self-aggrandizing, few are… well, more portable than his glossy softcover book, “The Renaissance of Honolulu.” In short, they’re not selling well. Heck, they’re not selling at all. Harris blew $108,000 on a love letter to [...]

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I’ve been intrigued by the trailers for the documentary “Mad Hot Ballroom“ — documenting a pilot program for ballroom dancing in New York City elementary schools — and plan to see it… eventually. Whether or not you’re interested in the film, though, this interview with producer Amy Sewell is worth a read. It’s a real nuts-and-bolts look [...]

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The spectacularly talented Wayne Brady is coming to Hawaii, performing Aug. 27 at the Blaisdell. I’m pretty sure, now, what Jen will want for her birthday. Wayne’s wife, the former Mandie Taketa, is from the islands — a Castle High graduate. They met here, got married in 1999 (photo snagged here), and had a daughter, Maile [...]

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This Is Jeopardy dreamalynn I always knew she was smart, but now she’s got the nationally televised game show appearance to prove it! Yes, my dear friend “Dreama Lynn” got to rub shoulders (and other parts) with Alex Trebec in an appearance on Jeopardy. The episode airs tomorrow. Congrats, Dreama!

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Craigslist and the Wikipedia are two awesome, invaluable sites that are just teeming with obsessive and creative people. But for all the practical use you can get out of them, they’re also home to some of the most excellent gems of trivia and humor that you’ll find anywhere. If you haven’t already, bookmark the Best [...]

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Don’t get me wrong. I love my current digital camera, the most versatile Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20. But I can’t help but drool just a little over news of the next entry in Casio’s sexy Exilim line, the Casio Exilim S500. Five megapixels, image stabilization, and a relatively huge LCD… but only 0.63 inches thick and [...]

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I’ll be joining Burt Lum, Roxanne Darling and Peter Kay on a panel discussion on “Blogs & Podcasts” for the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Hawaii Chapter. Ah, yet another opportunity to surround myself with gurus and pretend I know what I’m talking about.

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As I find myself spiraling ever deeper into videoblogging, I’ve started experimenting with the beta release of “Broadcast Machine,” a multimedia-focused, BitTorrent-enabled content management system developed by the Participatory Culture Foundation. “BM” (an unfortunate acronym) is half of the equation — a media viewing client, “DTV,” is coming in a few weeks. I’ve set it up [...]

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Take some quick-fingered kids who spend way too much time text messaging on their phones, and some HAM radio morse code enthusiasts, and match them against each other on The Tonight Show. Who can transmit a message faster? The morse code guys. Pretty cool. Always wished I took the time to learn morse code. And [...]

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