It’s been six months since I started a new health regimen, led by a complete overhaul of what and how I eat. Gone are Coke Zero, things with refined sugar, all cheap carbs (white flour, white rice, white potatoes, pasta, etc.), and anything dairy. All had been staples of my diet for decades. I thought it was going to be more difficult than it was. I’m not someone who can make small, incremental changes to my lifestyle – it’s an all-or-nothing deal for me. I don’t do moderation well. The foundation of these changes has been the mornings. For a…
Getting On The Healthy Train
I’ve not talked about it on social media at all, but after a few “are you OK?” comments after seeing many old friends at the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards in Honolulu I figured I should spill the beans. No, there’s nothing wrong with me, my health is fine, and better than that – it’s better than it’s been in decades. (Photo to the right: me on Moloka‘i about two years ago) Late last year, after receiving a lot of bad news in my labs, my primary care physician recommended I work with a nutritionist she knows. I was one two high…
It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Apple Helped ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i To Play…
On August 24, 2002, Apple Computer released Macintosh OS X 10.2. Among the many improvements included in that now-ancient release was the first official support for ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (the Hawaiian language) by any major computer platform. The story, originally published by the Honolulu Advertiser, was syndicated by Associated Press and was picked up by over a hundred news outlets (here it is on MacWorld). Here is the original press release sent out by Hale Kuamo‘o on that date. I later posted a story about how a serendipitous meeting at Apple’s headquarters led to this development. I couldn’t share the backstory…
Cutting The Cable, Pt 1
A few weeks ago I mentioned to some friends that my wife and I were considering cutting off our cable TV services and simply going with their RoadRunner service for Internet, getting a Roku 3 (about $95) and an HD antenna (about $20 for a basic model from Amazon.com). Weʻre figuring that if we cut the cable TV weʻll be saving $80 or so a month. The HD antenna has not been all that we had hoped. We get the following Hawai‘i broadcast services from our place just above the new Pu‘u Kukui School and below Wailuku Heights: 4.1 –…
Nā Hōkū Hanohano 101, Part 2: Eligibility
Disclaimer: I am a member of the Board of Governors of HARA, but this document is not an official HARA communication. What I write here is based on my prior experience as a board member, continuting interaction with them and other members, and continuing service on the selection committee. Hopefully it will help, inform and entertain you, but take it with a grain of salt, and a dash of sarcasm. This document was updated on 7/5/17. The first hurdle to understanding the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards entry process is knowing what determines a release’s eligibility for the awards, and there…
Nā Hōkū Hanohano 101, Part 1: Educate Yourself
Update: This post and other HARA and Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award posts here were updated on 7/5/17. Disclaimer: I am a member of the Board of Governors of HARA, but this is not an official HARA document. What I write here is based on my prior experience as a board member, as chair and a few years of service on the selection committee continuting interaction with them and other members. Hopefully it will help, inform and entertain you, but take it with a grain of salt, and a dash of sarcasm. I’ve gotten a lot of messages, texts, and emails…
Cooking Miles 101
It’s been about six weeks since I started my new hobby of maximizing the miles in our frequent flyer accounts, and it’s been a learning experience. With a moderate amount of money and effort, I’ve added about 12,000 miles to my United Mileage Plus account, and have probaby another 5,000 or so in the pipeline. Accumulating miles does take some patience as you don’t always get the miles instantaneously. Some, particular though the MyPoints service, can take weeks or months to show up in your account. There are weeks where miles fly in fast and furious, and others where it…
Facebook Vacation
I decided to take a vacation from Facebook for a while. It’s been a week and while I miss my friends there I don’t miss the amount of time I tend to spend on it. Dealing with the Institute of Hawaiian Music, my music classes at UH-MC, trying to put together my contract renewal document (due Nov. 1), and my new travel hacking hobby, I have plenty to keep me busy. Just as a quick update on the travel hacking – I’ve padded my United Miles account by about 5,000 miles with modest effort in less than a month, have…
Travel Hacking
I’ve been a member of a couple of frequent flyer programs for as long as I can remember, including Hawaiian and United Airlines, Avis Rent A Car and a few others. If we’d take a long trip and find a better fare on a different airlines, we’d sign up for that airlines program, book it, and not think about it again. There was no real forethought about the value of the miles, concern if they were lost, or planning made to maximize them. Last week I made a trip to LA for business. I took Hawaiian as they had a…
Cloud Storage: The Latest Threat To Our Online Privacy And Data Security?
It’s really difficult what to make all of this and to what level we really need to be concerned. If the NSA has reportedly cracked all of the encryption technologies that are used in personal and commercial data communications in the U.S., there is no reason to believe others have not done the same or will do so soon – be they foreign governments or criminals. To the “security experts” who won’t use e-banking or e-commerce technology, me thinks the odds of your being ripped off by the minimum wage barista at Starbucks are infinitely higher than they are of…