Face It. Hate is Profitable.
Can social media platforms do something to stop terrorists from finding recruits, finding each other, and finding supporters so easily? Yes. But they won’t.
Author: Ryan Ozawa
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Go Down
Facebook was down for 22 hours yesterday, and its sister apps Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger also saw extensive outages. It was unusual in the sense that the four applications are each distinct codebases, but perhaps not suprising as all four share the same massive infrastructure. The joke is that global...
Liliha Bakery opens third location at Ala Moana Center
With nearly unlimited parking, a large dining room and a large bustling kitchen, this might finally be the Liliha Bakery for everyone.
Announcement: Social network for journalists launches
Masthead—named both for the newspaper term as well as the technology—welcomes reporters, writers, bloggers, vloggers, podcasters and other media makers.
Open Data Day is Next Saturday
The seventh annual international “Open Data Day” is coming on Saturday, March 3, 2018, and Hawaii Open Data is working with the Civil Beat Law Center and other open-minded organizations to celebrate. “Open Data Day” is dedicated to showing the benefits of open data and encourage the adoption of open data...
Governor pushes for increased access, transparency
Hawaii Gov. David Ige has urged all state department heads to “strengthen efforts to increase access to public information, ensure that government business is conducted as openly as possible, and enhance government accountability.” The executive memo, issued without fanfare on Aug. 25, reiterates Gov. Ige’s push for more openness and public...
Microsoft Announces ‘Project Honolulu’
Microsoft has again invoked the Aloha State for a product name, this week announcing “Project Honolulu.” Project Honolulu is described as a “flexible, locally-deployed, browser-based management platform and tools” recommended as a “graphical management solution” for Windows Server. In announcing the tool, Microsoft doesn’t explain how or why it chose...
VR Junkies Comes to Hawaii
There’s a newly opened virtual reality gaming shop at Ala Moana Center called VR Junkies Hawaii. It’s actually part of a national chain, which Opapo Fonoimoana discovered in Utah and brought back to Honolulu. We were introduced to Opapo by local software developer Evan Nagle, and interviewed him about VR and...
National Podcasts, Local Ads
Even though I’m a retired old-school podcaster, I’m still a voracious podcast listener. And over the last few weeks, I was surprised to hear ads for Hawaii companies while listening to National Public Radio podcasts. On NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour,” I heard a pre-roll ad for First Insurance Company...
Geek Beat: Nintendo Switch & Smartphones
New hardware in the headlines for this week’s “Geek Beat” on the Hawaii News Now “Sunrise” morning show, and the big hit was the Nintendo Switch. But LG and Samsung also unveiled their heavy hitters in the premium Android smartphone ring.
Coinbase Pulls Out of Hawaii
One of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges announced today that it would be closing accounts of customers in Hawaii due to state regulatory policies that “will render continued Coinbase operations in Hawaii impractical.” The announcement comes despite recent movement in the Hawaii state legislature to study the uses of and determine...
‘This American Life’ Visits Niihau
“The Forbidden Isle” will be featured in an upcoming episode of “This American Life.” Titled “I Don’t Make the Rules,” episode #611 of the popular radio program will visit the island of Niihau, which is privately held and nearly impossible to visit.
Geek Beat: Snap, Amazon & Uber
The tech and investing world is picking apart Snap’s filing for its Initial Public Offering in March, the Amazon Echo continues to learn new skills, and Uber dreams of a fleet of flying cars. These are the stories we cover in this week’s “Geek Beat” on Hawaii News Now’s “Sunrise” morning show.
Geek Beat: Honda, Polaroid & LEGO
This week, we followed the Hawaii News Now “Sunrise” morning crew out to the Waialae Country Club for the Sony Open. After some shenanigans with a hot dog, we served another mixed plate of tech news, featuring Honda’s new self-balancing motorcycle, Polaroid’s 3-D pen, and the LEGO Boost system.
Geek Beat: Amazon Go, Live Video & Emoji
This week’s “Geek Beat” segment was a mixed plate of tech news, including Amazon’s new brick-and-mortar “Go” concept store, Twitter’s live video offering, and the latest batch of new emoji… and I don’t care what the Unicode standard says, it’s a “shaka.”
Geek Beat: Hour of Code
It’s Computer Science Education Week! This international celebration of computers and technology and STEM education brings a lot of great events to schools around the world, and in Hawaii. The “Hour of Code” brought me and my coworkers out to an elementary school in Kaneohe.
Geek Beat: Black Friday Tech Shopping
Once again, we were able to join the bleary-eyed Hawaii News Now “Sunrise” morning crew on their annual pilgrimage to Honolulu’s retail hotspots for “Black Friday.” Our shopping picks included the best Android smartphone on the market, the newest portable drone, and battery packs… if you can get them shipped.
Geek Beat: Fake News and Filter Bubbles
With many still reeling from the results of the U.S. presidential election, our friends at Hawaii News Now called an audible, setting aside the gadgets to tackle the intersection of tech and politics. After a quick mannequin challenge. There’s “fake news” on Facebook, real harassment on Twitter, and big question marks under a Trump administration.
Geek Beat: High-End Hardware
Microsoft staked its claim to the high-end hardware market with the announcement of its new Surface Book and its giant Surface Studio, both big upgrades (including in price). The company is clearly positioning itself against Apple, which announced a new MacBook Pro that I crave, but that has left some Apple fans wanting.
