Adventures in Open Data
Local news startup Civil Beat today posted a piece on the names and salaries of state House and Senate members and staff. As before, they posted a watermarked PDF on Slideshare with the download...
Category: Technology
Honolulu’s High ‘Creative Class Density’
Our cost of living is high, our wages are low, and our barriers to business are substantial. But smart and creative people? We’ve got those in droves. Honolulu is among the top ten metropolitan...
Hawaii’s Five Game Developers
Last month, I blogged about an Entertainment Software Association report that said the Hawaii video game industry had added $23 million to the local economy. The report said that the revenue was generated by...
Data Request Denied, Now Plan B
I had a nice conversation this afternoon with Marie Laderta, director of the state Department of Human Resources Development, in response to my request to secure the same data her office prepared for Civil...
Hawaii Government Sites Earn National Acclaim
Two Hawaii e-government initiatives received national recognition for excellence today. The Center for Digital Government announced the latest Digital Government Achievement Awards and the Best of the Web Awards. The state’s eBench Warrant system...
iPad App: Flickpad
Digital cameras and online galleries have transformed how we take, organize, and share pictures. But part of me misses the simple, organic fun of casually sifting through a pile of photos. Enter Flickpad. Conceived...
“LOST” Talk at SXSW Interactive
Two great flavors may be coming together next March: “LOST” and SXSW Interactive. Doug Meacham and Amy Greenlaw, two fellow fans and geeks, are proposing a panel that focuses on the “transmedia storytelling aspects”...
iPad App: Bartleby’s Book of Buttons [Updated]
“Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 1: The Far Away Island” [iTunes Link] is a new iPad application for kids (and playful adults) that embraces everything that makes the Apple device special. It’s a kind...
Game Companies Boost Hawaii Economy
Video games are a growing business in Hawaii. The state’s entertainment software industry added over $23 million to the state’s economy in 2009, according to a report released today by the Entertainment Software Association....
Jobs Ends Hawaii Vacation, Tackles ‘Antennagate’
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today held a press conference to address “Antennagate,” or widespread reports of reception problems with its iPhone 4 smartphone. Jobs reiterated that it’s a problem for all phones, that only...
Microsoft Launches ‘Project Hawaii’
Although I’ve previously noted hints that Apple and Steve Jobs are fans of the Aloha State, they’re certainly not the only company to pay tribute to Hawaii. And now, Microsoft is sporting some island...
Looking Up License Plates
Just how public are public records? Last week, KITV’s Daryl Huff raised the alarm about a website that can tie Hawaii license plates to driver names. The first piece did not identify the website,...
Meetup on Community Engagement Tomorrow
If you build it, will they come? Today, the technology needed to create an online social network can be found anywhere, but filling it with an active, loyal community still takes something special. Tomorrow,...
HMSA, Bankoh Go Mobile
Two of Hawaii’s largest companies have jumped into the mobile space. HMSA this week launched Mobile HMSA, and Bank of Hawaii unveiled its iPhone app. The HMSA offering is a mobile-optimized website that appears...
iSpencer Saved My Wife’s iPhone
My wife got caught up in a stampede at Costco this afternoon, and her iPhone 3G landed on the concrete floor, screen first. It shattered, tiny pieces immediately lost forever. Impeccable timing for an...
Live Aloha on Saturday
Tomorrow brings the second annual “Live Aloha” day of service and aloha, spearheaded by Kanu Hawaii. The local social network aims to bring positive social change through simple, achievable personal commitments, but its strength...
WeReward Rundown
Another day, another geolocation app. But this one has a blunt answer to the frequently asked question: “Why would anyone want to ‘check in’ every place they go?” And that answer is cash. WeReward...
HMAUS SpringFest on Saturday
Whether you’re a long-time fan and user of Apple and Macintosh products or a recent convert to “The Apple Way,” you should check out SpringFest, one of the keystone annual events of the Hawaii...
Sci-Tech Day Offers Alternative to Furlough Friday
The state’s “Furlough Friday” calendar has locked Hawaii students out of classrooms and created the shortest school year in the nation. But this Friday, April 30, middle school students (in grades 6th through 8th)...
Hawaii Among Least Competitive Broadband Markets
According to a new report out of Minnesota-based ID Insight, Hawaii is the second least competitive state in the country when it comes to broadband Internet access. Only Rhode Island had less competition. And...
