Blogging the Aloha State and Beyond
The 16th Annual Hawaii Venture Capital Association Deal of the Year Awards were presented last night at the Waialae Country Club. I was there to support my friend and Smart Yields cofounder Vincent Kimura, who was nominated for — and won! — the award for Cleantech/Agtech Entrepreneur of the Year. While the...
With human space exploration ambitions now focused on Mars, scientists are tackling the myriad challenges that will face astronauts making the 200 million mile (or so) journey. Tomorrow, a doctor will explore how medical care and health emergencies might be handled for travelers to the Red Planet. Dr. Peter Sim...
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a local tech company has launched a new dating and networking app that’s designed to connect people based on where and when they’re available to meet. Moment Romance launched last week on both the iOS and Android app store. While most dating apps have fallen back on...
Looking back at 365 days of blog posts, documenting everything from the local tech industry to my family’s occasional shenanigans, I’m certain there’s a poignant lesson and great epiphany to be had. Right now, though, as the illegal fireworks startle our cats in relatively peaceful Mililani on New Year’s Eve, the only thought...
‘Tis the season for year-end recaps (see today’s Bytemarks Cafe), top-ten lists (more on this tomorrow), and yes, New Year’s resolutions. For this morning’s Geek Beat segment on Hawaii News Now‘s Sunrise morning show, we covered three apps to help you keep those resolutions. Of course, our last Geek Beat segment...
The Big Island coffee farm founded by a former California winemaker and family man has launched its online store to ship its unique Kona coffee varieties to coffee lovers worldwide. Carta Coffee Merchants was in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign when I wrote about the farm back in October, and even then...
With many Hawaii born and raised professionals back home in the islands for the holidays, the High Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) is continuing its year-end tradition of trying to lure them back to the aloha state. Tomorrow evening brings the 16th annual Holiday Tech Job Fair, a free event for hopeful...
As we near the end of the year, one of the cherished traditions in Hawaii is “mochitsuki,” or the making of mochi. Japanese rice cakes are enjoyed year round, of course, but mochi is the signature food of New Year’s celebrations, and there are several different preparations and presentations. My wife and I...
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...
“Puʻuhonua o Waiʻanae” is the adopted name of the Waianae Harbor Village, a community of over 200 men, women, families and children living under cover of trees and brush near the Waianae Boat Harbor. Unlike homeless encampments in urban Honolulu that are displaced every few weeks, the Waiʻanae village has co-existed mostly peacefully...
I’m a proud alumnus of Mililani High School, and this year, I’m also a proud parent of a Mililani High School senior. My daughter Katie is developing a passion for the performing arts, and joined both the MHS theater and chorus programs. Of course that means year-end performances before family and...
The ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo is one of my favorite places to visit when I’m visiting my favorite town on Earth. Aimed at kids and students as much as tourists, it beautifully illustrates the connection between traditional Hawaiian practices and cutting edge science. But with the Big Island spread...
A 5K run with a water slide for a finish line is set for the day after Christmas, dedicated to bringing safe water and sanitation to developing countries. Hawaii is blessed with some of the best drinking water in the country, if not the world. Rainwater filtered through volcanic rock...
In a unique public-private partnership, commercial ocean-crossing ships will play a practical and affordable role in detecting and tracking potentially destructive tsunami headed toward Hawaii. The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa has outfitted ten ships operated by shipping giants Matson and Maersk...
For its third year, HawaiiCon is moving further down the Kona coast. Organizers announced this week that the science fiction and fantasy fan convention is moving to the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel for its September 2016 gathering. HawaiiCon was born on Kickstarter, an ambitious dream that nearly 200 backers turned into...
Driving through downtown this week, I was suddenly and briefly transported to Saigon circa 1971. It turns out about a block of Chinatown near Kekaulike Market was a filming location for “Kong: Skull Island,” a big-budget monster movie due out in 2017. It instantly reminded me of the hours I spent...
A new, crowdfunded photo book documenting the “King’s Highway,” an ancient Hawaiian road that once served as the main artery for the island of Maui, has just been released. The book release party for “The Maui Coast: Legacy of the King’s Highway” will be held tomorrow at the Paia gallery of its...
Earlier this year, DevLeague — Hawaii’s largest and longest-running coding bootcamp — introduced DevLeague Prep, an on-ramp to software development for people who had little to no experience with programming. DevLeague promises to turn novice programmers into full-stack developers in a “super intense” 12-week program. But organizers found that many people...
Hawaii Pacific University, the state’s largest private university, has launched a scholarship program aimed at local high school students. Interested seniors need only share and later pitch an idea to improve life in Hawaii to be eligible for up to ten full, four-year scholarships. The #HPUBiz4Good scholarship challenge is now underway,...
When a team of pre-teens won first place in the latest Startup Weekend Honolulu last month, it was a remarkable accomplishment and milestone for the popular entrepreneurial showcase (which was won by a 16-year-old earlier in the year). But in many ways, they were just getting started. Today, Menehune Hat Clips...
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