For all of the comments and jokes I post about Guinness on Facebook, I never was much of a beer drinker. When I turned 18 (back when the drinking age was still 18), my best friend bought me a six pack of Heineken. On my 21st birthday, I gave the last four bottles away. Didn’t care for it at. Over the years I tried a number of different beers, mostly of the mass-produced variety, and didn’t care for any of them either. I recall a conversation I had with a bartender in Ireland during our 2002 trip there. He asked…
Using ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i On Your Computer or Mobile Device
With the start of the school semester and the flow of questions coming in about the support available for ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i in various computer operating systems and mobile devices, this is a good time for me to pimp the ‘Ōlelo-Tech portion of my blog (see the menu under the masthead). There you’ll find links that describe the extent of keyboard, font and other support for Macintosh, iOS, Windows, and Android, as well as tricks to using ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i on the web and with Microsoft Word. As always, a caveat that I don’t provide tech support for any of these (unless…
Signs of ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i In The Universe
I always love running into fellow Hawaiian speakers that I haven’t met before. I often wondered how many times I’ve encountered a fellow kanaka ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, and we used English simply because we each didn’t know that the other could speak Hawaiian. I had an idea a few years ago to set up a directory of Hawaiian speakers in business so that we could seek out each other and know where we could go to order a coffee, get a hair cut, purchase a car, or just about anything using Hawaiian. I had just finished a meeting with folks from The…
Featured on Indigenous Tweets
Kevin Scannell have corresponded for many years in regards to issues that face indigenous and endangered languages and the use of technology in their revitalization. I was honored that he asked me to do this interview and talk about the work that I’ve done at Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani over the years in regards to Hawaiian language and its use in technology. His website, Indigenous Tweets, keeps track of the use of various indigenous languages around the world.
MS Word Tweaks For Hawaiian
Have you ever had this happen to you when typing in Hawaiian: Nānā I ke kumu or Hawai‘I? By default, MS Word capitalizes any instances of a stand-alone “i”. You can fix this; read this to find out how.
Peeking Ahead To the 2012 Grammy Awards
I found my preliminary ballots for the 2009 and 2010 Grammy Awards. Here’s a breakdown of the entries in the three primary categories that will compete for the “Best Regional Roots Music Album” Grammy in 2012 : Best Zydeco Or Cajun Music Album 2009: 30 entries, 2010: 34 entries Best Native American Music Album 26 entries, 2010: 32 entries Best Hawaiian Music Album 20 entries, 2010: 32 entries I should note that the Board of Governors of the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording arts went to extraordinary lengths to get entries in 2010. I personally entered half of the 32 entries…
The Hawaiian Grammy Is No More
Today The Recording Academy, bestowers of the annual Grammy Awards, announced a major restructuring of the awards that reduces the number of awards from 109 to 78. This change will be implemented in next years awards–the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. One of the categories affected by this adjustment is the Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Album–it has been eliminated. However, releases that would have been eligible in this category will now be eligible in the new “Best Regional Roots Music Album” at the 54th Grammy Awards. Other genre that previously had their own categories and will be entered in this category…
Type ‘Okina and Kahakō in Android
I purchased a Droid X phone in July 2010 with the specific desire to see the Android operating system support Hawaiian and other Polynesian languages as iOS (iPhone/iPod/iPad) does. While Android may someday have native support for ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i like iOS, there is an interim solution to typing the ‘okina and kahakō on Android.
March Madness, Music Awards, Awareness Campaigns, and a Promise
March has arrived, and with it comes the preparation, printing and mailing of the preliminary ballot for the 2011 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards. Like many, I was oblivious to the amount of work, consideration and communication that goes into this process until I joined the HARA Board of Governors four years ago and subsequently became a member of the selection committee. The amount of work is tremendous, the rewards few, and the consternation is sometimes overhwelming. It’s impossible to please everybody, and the job of finding the appropriate category for many releases is challenging, particulary when the majority are based on…
Hilo Heart Walk 2011
Yesterday Marie and I joined several hundred individuals at the Hilo Heart Walk–a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. About 30 of the walkers were from Team 365 in 2011–a group started by our friend Liana Honda. The goal of the group is to walk at least 365 miles this year. Having a group of supportive individuals–some of whom I met for the first time yesterday–is incredible motivation. That and the fact that I found a great workout tracking app for my Droid X called CardioTrainer has made a huge different. CardioTracker clocks your miles for you, keeps track of…