Blogging the Aloha State and Beyond
The team behind KeyReply, a keyboard for iOS that allows teams to easily customize and send pre-written messages, isn’t satisfied with building and launching a single product. Earlier this month, they released KeyReply for OSX, expanding the reach of their time-saving mobile utility to serve Macintosh users. But later that same week, they released...
A new website offers a unique, immersive way to tour island restaurants, shops, galleries, parks and beaches. HawaiiHolo is the brainchild of Honolulu business photographer Minn Tun, who has built a name for himself as a Google Maps partner. Tech giant Google has been tireless expanding its map offerings around the...
For the first time, the Distance Learning program at Kamehameha Schools is offering two introductory Hawaiian language classes online for free. And with just a little bit of homework, you can earn a couple of prizes as well. Once in danger of being lost forever, the Hawaiian language is now thriving....
The local online lifestyle media space will get a little more crowded this week with the Wednesday launch of Thrillist Honolulu, which is adding O’ahu to a growing list of more than 35 cities in the U.S. and Europe covered by the Thrillist Media Group. The Thrillist network is adding...
Have you been holding on a clever, catchy domain name just waiting for the right moment to build something fantastic? Have you been holding on to lots of domain names just waiting for lots of right moments? Then “Domain Night” is for you. The first “Domain Night” was held in...
I’ve mentioned my halting, floundering attempts to learn how to program before. It’s much more helpful to learn with others, in person. If you’re in a hurry and have some cash, Dev League is a great way to become a programmer quickly. But if not, there’s NodeSchool. NodeSchool is built...
Fifteen years ago, on April Fool’s Day, Alice Inoue lost her job as a television anchor and show host. Unfortunately, it was no joke. “I remember going down to the unemployment office in a dazed shock, not sure what this meant for my future, and proceeded to fill out forms,”...
One of the beautiful things about the otherwise esoteric open data movement is that it lays the groundwork for data visualizations that are both pretty and informative. “Big data” in its raw form is incomprehensible, but with tables and charts and graphs and other tools, you can illustrate facts and trends in...
Hello, my name is Ryan, and I’m addicted to domain names. It started innocently enough. I had a silly idea for a startup. Obviously, I had to come up with a clever name, and a clever name that wasn’t already taken. When I found that SillyIdeaforaStartup.com was available, obviously I...
Among the many ingredients needed to foster a vibrant and sustainable startup scene in Hawaii, accessible and affordable broadband internet access is one of the most critical. It’s also the one most often lamented for being in short supply. Just last week brought a provocatively titled panel, “Broadband: What We...
One of the urban delights of traveling around Honolulu is spotting the many works of street art that turn drab warehouse walls and forgotten corners into brilliant works of art. Many of the best known examples come from Pow Wow Hawaii, an annual street art festival in Kakaako. This year was its fifth...
As a long-time fan of the TWiT network, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in April, it was a distinct honor and pleasure to be a guest on “Padre’s Corner,” hosted by “The Digital Jesuit,” Fr. Robert Ballecer. Each week, “Padre’s Corner” features a mixed plate of discussions, the formula for which is...
The Hawaii State Chapter of the American Red Cross has been around since 1917, long enough to have helped people after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Hilo tsunami in 1946, and countless hurricanes, earthquakes, and disasters for nearly a century. In fact, they respond to someone in...
Adventure seekers love to push boundaries and take risks. If they were invincible and immortal, this wouldn’t be a problem. But nobody is invincible and immortal, and too often in Hawaii, crossing the line is not a victimless crime. Just yesterday the Honolulu Board of Water Supply said it no longer wants...
Today, over 100 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. Every minute. And videos account for 78 percent of all internet traffic (and that number is expected to hit 84 percent by 2018). It’s hard to believe just how hard it was to do online video less than two...
Four years ago, local musician Jon Yamasato was struck by how much his young daughter was into watching music videos on YouTube, and he wondered what it would take to bring similar exposure to Hawaii musicians. “I noticed that a lot of local artists didn’t have good video of themselves,...
Hawaii may no longer hold the top spot in Yelp’s foodie rankings, but eight island restaurants made the Top 100 Places to Eat list for 2015, four of them marking their second year on the roster. Last year, Da Poke Shack in Kailua-Kona ranked first in Yelp’s Top 100 list, an honor...
Who gets your bitcoins when you die? Can you pass on your movie and music libraries, or your apps? And are your heirs entitled to get into your email or Facebook accounts? These are not hypothetical questions, now that digital assets and content are part of everyday life. In the run...
As far as I know, Hawaii’s first — and last — WordCamp was back in 2008. And it was held in conjunction with Hawaii’s first — and last — PodCamp. (Securing the blessing of both organizations to hold a combined event was the first of many improbable hurdles.) They are great events, celebrating globe-spanning communities...
This blog has looked pretty much the same since I moved it to WordPress in 2007, settling on the “Cutline” template for it’s “news” feel. A few years later, though, the designer retired the theme and updates stopped, even though WordPress itself continued to evolve at a rapid pace. As with...
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