I frequently get asked the questions, “Why do we need two different Hawaiian keyboards?” and “What is the difference between the Papa Pihi HI and Hawaiian keyboards on the Mac?”. Good questions. There are two different ways to represent the ?okina and kahak? on your computer, and they use two different font technologies. Therefore, we have created two different keyboard layouts. The first keyboard, the Papa Pihi HI uses the “HI” fonts standard developed by Hale Kuamo?o in the early 1990s. Until the development of the Unicode standard and its implementation by software vendors the only way to have the…
Keyboard Switching Problem Fixed in Leopard
I finally got around to installing Leopard on my MacBookPro about a week ago, and am certainly glad I have done so. I really like the “Spaces” (multiple virtual desktops) feature which help reduce monitor clutter when I’m running 20 different applications. I have not come across any progam compatibility issues and speed of launching and running applications seems about the same. I don’t know if the new features justify calling this an “upgrade” and charging for it – it feels more like an incremental update worthy of a 10.4.12 designation. I also have Leopard server, and that does have…
Static Routes On OS X Server
I spent three days at the UH-M?noa campus setting up a new fallback server for Ulukau – a brand new Intel XServe running OS X 10.4 which is identical to the current server. One problem we encountered back when we set up the current Ulukau server back in August was configuring static routes which are required to tie into the Veritas backup system used at the campus’ data center. Mahalo to our friends at Apple for pointing to this post which discusses how to set up static routes on OS X server. The instructions we followed were in a post…
Looking For A Specialized Telephone Service
I’m assisting some of our linguistically inclined faculty and some of their colleagues at other institutions locate a telephone recording service. It is to record speakers of Hawaiian and other indigenous languages having normal conversations so that they may be analyzed at a later date. Participants need to be able to call each other from mobile phone or land line, and it needs to be easy to do as many of these folks are elderly and not technologically inclined. What I envision is a service where by: call originator calls this service. They may dial a unique number for their…
Object-Centered Sociality: Food For Thought
Mahalo to Conor O’Neill for pointing out this post from John Breslin entitled The Future of Social Networks on the Internet: The Need for Semantics which connected me to Jyri Engeström’s essay on Why some social network services work and others don’t — Or: the case for object-centered sociality . Both opened my eyes a bit as I continue the ponder the usefulness and feasibility of a monolingual Hawaiian language communication system. I had been looking at how we were going to create a service that would be useful enough to our young speakers to perhaps entice them to cut…
Akamai, Wiki, Mahalo, and now… Makamaka?
Google is apparently developing a challenger to Facebook in the social network space, and is the latest technology to draw its name from the Hawaiian lexicon – makamaka. Makamaka means an intimate friend, pal or buddy in Hawaiian. If this is indeed the final name of the product it would be very nice if Google would respond to our emails and post inquiring about our offices providing a Hawaiian translation for some of their online services. I have contacted the email they provide for their localization coordinator – no response. Post to their translator’s discussion forum – my post doesn’t…
Hawaiian Language Learning Podcast Online
Last fall and spring I collaborated with my dear friend and colleague Kainani Kahaunaele on a series of podcasts intended to assist beginning students of the Hawaiian language using the N? Kai ‘Ewalu textbook. It took a little longer than we planned, but the podcasts are now online. Please keep in mind that these podcasts are intended to be used in conjunction with the N? Kai ‘Ewalu textbook, whether you are learning in the classroom setting, in an online class or learning by yourself at home. There is a link on the podcast page if you need to order the…
Leok? Y2K7
I’m becoming a bit pessimistic that the developers of FirstClass are going to come through and commit to updating their localization process and tools so that we can localize the client software into Hawaiian and use Unicode. Their tardiness in getting Unicode support into the server and client was irritating enough, and it was only after they shipped the Unicode-compliant server and client did we learn that we would still be required to use our old custom fonts, keyboard and other hacks so that we can localize the user interface. Needless to say Keola was not a happy camper. After…
What It Takes To Get Any Kind of Broadband In Kurtistown, Hawai‘i
I’ve documented our issues with getting broadband connectivity in our area previously. We finally got decent connectivity courtesy of Advanced Wireless Systems today, and are getting between 500kbps and 1.5mbsp per second both downstream and upstream. For the record that is a 27′ antenna on top of our roof, which is about 12′ tall. With five individuals and six computers in use simultaneously, I can’t tell you how happy we are right now. Installation was $600 and it’s $50 per month, but all in all the best money I’ve spent in a long time.
Superferry Decision Just Plain Wrong
I’ve kept my opinions about the Superferry issue to myself for a long time, but shutting it down for an EIS makes no sense whatsoever. We’ve needed a service like this for years. We have coqui frogs, stinging caterpillars, fountain grass, mites that threaten the bee-keeping industry and a litany of other plagues that got here without the help of the Superferry. And more will continue to arrive without their help. I hope the governor and legislature do act quickly to get the Superferry running again. The state has needed it for a long time, and if we lose it…