Hawaii Blog

A new Internet startup poised to transform local news, in Hawaii and beyond, is now on the hunt for an editor to lead the team. Renowned entrepreneur Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay and philanthropist, announced the search today.

Instead of sending out a press release, he posted a link on Twitter to his blog post:

We are creating a Honolulu-based local news service that will produce original, in-depth reporting and analysis of local issues in Hawaii… Although we haven’t fully defined our coverage areas yet, we know the focus will be public affairs and civic matters that impact communities across Hawaii. We’re still very early in the process of building this new organization. In fact, we don’t even have a name for it yet. However, we’re ready to hire an Editor — someone who shares our passion for the mission and can lead the team.

Although Hawaii will be the starting point for Peer News Inc., the larger vision for Omidyar’s new company is clear. The news industry is in upheaval, and the media landscape is being radically transformed. While the value of journalism is clear, the business model is collapsing, and meanwhile, everyday people are becoming part of the global news nervous system.

I’ve long been a believer in the potential of “citizen journalism” (or “participatory journalism” or “crowdsourced news” or whichever term you prefer). I nabbed HawaiiNews.com years ago with the dream of turning it into an independent, community-driven news hub. But, like many, I haven’t cracked the code of building online news into a sustainable business. In his announcement today, Omidyar seems confident that it can be done.

“We believe that a strong democracy requires an engaged society supported by effective news reporting and analysis,” he wrote. “And, we believe that this can be done in a profitable, sustainable way.”

The potential of Peer News, given Omidyar’s expertise and resources, is not lost on the tech industry at large. Prominent technology writer Dan Gillmor writes:

One message is for the local newspapers: Watch out… Maybe Pierre and his team have cracked part of the code for sustainable digital journalism. Maybe not. But the fact that they’re going to try, with some serious resources behind the effort, is great news.

One of Omidyar’s advisors is Howard Weaver, former vice president of news at McClatchy. Weaver now blogs regularly on the changing news media landscape, and today he shared his thoughts on the Peer News vision:

I’m interested for a lot of reasons, but I’d sum it up this way: the new venture intends to demonstrate that a digitally native, technologically fluent web organization can profitably serve targeted readers who want sophisticated journalism focused on local civic affairs… I applaud any effort to create the journalism democracy needs — profit, non-profit, hybrid or otherwise — but my heart and my guts both tell me that journalism that meets real needs can pay its own way — and should.

I actually got to meet with Peer News co-founder Randy Ching last summer, when the first seeds of this project were being planted, and even then I thought they were onto something. Today, Omidyar says he hopes to launch in early 2010, which is right around the corner. But with a strong vision and an agile, passionate team, I have no doubt great things will happen. Ultimately, this grand experiment can only be a good thing for Hawaii, and hopefully for journalism in general.

Interested in applying for the job of editor? Fill out a form (and submit your resume as a PDF) here.

SPOILER ALERT: “LOST” turned up in downtown Honolulu today, returning to the old Honolulu Police Station, the historic Walter Murray Gibson building at the corner of Nuuanu and Merchant streets. This location previously played the lockup where Sarah bailed Jack out in the Season 3 premiere, “A Tale of Two Cities.” And it looks like the building continues to be typecast. [Read more →]

When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on November 17th:

• New Technology Reveals Extent of Early Hawaiian Agricultural Systems: Early Hawaiian agriculture was far more extensive and complex than anyone has fully understood, according to new research by scientists blending state-of-the-art technologies with traditional dirt archaeology.
• 2 Japanese subs sunk after World War II found: U.S. researchers said Thursday that they have located the remains of two high-tech Japanese submarines that were scuttled by the U.S. Navy off Hawaii in 1946 to prevent the technology from falling into the hands of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Cold War.
• Sweden returns skulls to Hawaii: Sweden has returned 22 skulls taken from indigenous cemeteries in Hawaii in the 19th Century, in a solemn ceremony at Stockholm’s antiquities museum. Museum director Lars Amreus said he hoped it would “fulfil the spiritual circle” of those whose graves had been violated by Swedish scientists.
• Hawaii’s famed white sandy beaches are shrinking: Geologists say more than 70 percent of Kauai’s beaches are eroding while Oahu has lost a quarter of its sandy shoreline. They warn the problem is only likely to get significantly worse in coming decades as global warming causes sea levels to rise more rapidly.
• Family Start programme under review: New Zealand’s Family Start home visiting programme is under review after it was found the American version failed to reduce child abuse. The New Zealand version was modelled on the Healthy Start from Hawaii.
• 3Com Project With Hawaii Department of Education: Enhance Network Communication, Inc., has engaged in a $500,000 pilot project with 3Com, the Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA) and the Department of Education in Hawaii to install a 3Com VoIP phone system on Maui.
• Kaiser Hawaii’s Medicaid plan tops list: The state’s largest health maintenance organization placed No. 1 for its Medicaid or QUEST plan in the magazine’s 2009-10 America’s Best Health Insurance Plan list.
• 2010 Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium: The Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium & Tabletop Exhibition promotes international technical interchange. The 2010 Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium will be held 26-28 January 2010 at the Sheraton Kauai Resort.

Check out all my bookmarks on Delicious.

SPOILER ALERT: Many “LOST” fans visit Honolulu in the hopes of coming across a location shoot or two, particularly now as the series films its final season. And sometimes, even when staying in the tourist mecca of Waikiki, some fans don’t have to look much further than out the window to find the crew from their favorite show at work. [Read more →]

The second-annual “Restaurant Week” fundraiser begins on Monday, Nov. 16, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 22. Over 50 restaurants are participating, ranging from greasy spoons to fine dining. Each is offering a special deal for special dishes during the week, meanwhile donating a portion of the proceeds toward ambitious plans to build a vastly expanded Culinary Institute of the Pacific on Diamond Head.

My favorite deals? At Paina Cafe at Ward, a great and healthy lunch spot, you can get a “Paina Plate” (salmon or ahi) plus a free side of poke or a steak skewer, and a small iced tea for $10. At Town in Kaimuki, choose any pasta dish off the regular menu, and get any salad and any desert for $20.09. At L&L, you’ll get $1 off a regular chicken katsu plate. Chai’s Island Bistro at Aloha Tower has lunch and dinner specials (with appetizer and dessert) for $30 or $40 respectively. And as the Honolulu Star-Bulletin notes, the Wailana Coffee House in Waikiki will offer all-you-can-eat pancakes, two eggs and bacon for $5.75 (regular price is $7.60).

Check out the full list of restaurants and deals. From Ruth’s Chris to Popeye’s Chicken, there’s something for everyone. And it’s much easier to rationalize dining out when you’re saving money and supporting a good cause at the same time.

The current Culinary Institute offers a two-year degree through Leeward Community College. The planned 40,000-square-foot facility would feature state-of-the-art classrooms and culinary laboratories, and offer a Bachelor of Applied Science in Culinary Management. There’d also be short-term professional courses and an Advanced Professional Certificate in Asian, Pacific, and Hawaiian cuisine.

When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on November 10th:

• Whale-song recording goes deep: Silently slipping to 1,000 metres below the ocean surface, an undersea glider equipped with a recording device is cruising off Hawaii to capture unprecedented detail on the sounds made by whales.
• Dark Red Spot Found on Kuiper Belt Object Haumea: Pedro Lacerda of Queen’s University in Belfast says he has spotted a dark red spot on the surface of Haumea using a 2.2 metre telescope at the University of Hawaii, the first time that surface detail has been been made out on such a body.
• Ocean FEST: Ocean FEST (Families Exploring Science Together) puts science in the hands of Hawai‘i’s students and their families. Our overarching goal is to interest Hawai‘i’s kids in careers in ocean science and related Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields through fun, hands-on activities.
• Marines to build urban training site in Islands: The Marine Corps will expand its use of special effects in infantry training next year, with an expansive urban training facility anticipated in Hawaii and high-tech immersion trainers planned in North Carolina and California, Marine officials said.
• UH Manoa researchers involved in study on perceptions of saving coral reef ecosystems in Hawaii [PDF]: An analysis done in Hawai‘i over several years by researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Oregon State University (OSU) found that most people visiting the state’s coral reef ecosystems enjoy them and care deeply about them, and will generally endorse whatever management is needed to protect them.

Check out all my bookmarks on Delicious.

SPOILER ALERT: An early morning Twitter post from local social media star Russ (a.k.a. @ParkRat) revealed the tell-tale presence of production trailers near Kahala Mall. It was a modest, mostly interior shoot, so there were few details. But those few details are still worth pondering. [Read more →]

Hawaii is finally included in the “Street View” of Google Maps. The news was announced today in a great post on the Official Google Blog by one Laura Melahn, Product Marketing Manager, who says she was born and raised on Oahu. She links to Waimea Bay and Iolani Palace. There’s even a specially curated collection of “Hawaii Beaches” in the Google Street View Gallery (assembled with the help of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau).

“LOST” fans may enjoy taking a Street View tour of some special spots. Here’s the house Hurley bought for his mom. Here’s where Rose and Bernard met one snowy night, or where Sun and Jin first met along the Ala Wai Canal. Just up the street, the building where Locke was pushed out a high-rise window.

Local map geeks have been eagerly awaiting the addition of the imagery to Google Maps for a long time, and cheered when the Google Street View camera car was spotted in Honolulu back in April. Many commenters were curious if it would attempt the road to Hana. Unfortunately, it looks like the furthest east it got was La Perouse Bay.

Of course, I raced to see if you could see my house from Street View, but sadly (or perhaps luckily), the camera car only traversed a couple of main thoroughfares in Mililani. This is the closest it got.

When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on November 2nd:

• Researchers to perform sex change operation on papaya: The grant will fund basic research on the papaya sex chromosomes and will lead to the development of a papaya that produces only hermaphrodite offspring, an advance that will enhance papaya health while radically cutting papaya growers’ production costs and their use of fertilizers and water.
• $15 million stimulus award creates national consortium for revealing scientific resources: A consortium will build a national research resource discovery network that will allow biomedical scientists to quickly find previously invisible but potentially valuable research resources (e.g., technologies, equipment, cell and tissue banks, training opportunities).
• Watts up in Kahuku: At least two companies are setting their sights on the wind-swept ridge of Kahuku near Turtle Bay Resort to develop wind power that would supply Hawaiian Electric Co.
• Sopogy Releases the World’s First Commercially Available Rooftop MicroCSP System: SopoFlare is the first commercially available Concentrating Solar Power technology designed specifically for rooftop installations with a unique, easy mounting and fastening system.
• Firms that donate to Inouye receive his earmarks: In the Senate version of the fiscal year 2010 defense appropriations bill, Sen. Inouye is sponsoring almost three-dozen provisions that would spend more than $200 million on projects in Hawaii that the Pentagon generally does not want.

Check out all my bookmarks on Delicious.

SPOILER ALERT: The first “LOST” location shoots of the month were staged in familiar territory. Today’s reports are brief, but hopefully worth sharing on this rainy Monday. Also: Photos! [Read more →]