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…
Test Post From Fargo
No, I’m not in Fargo, ND. Fargo is an outlining application I’m testing out. This is the text. This is Hawaiian text ÄÄ“Ä«ÅÅ« ĀĒĪŌŪ Ê» OK, Hawaiian Unicode doesn’t work when rendered in WordPress, but looks good in Fargo. Hoping Dave and crew will get it figured out soon. 6/10/2013. Crap, still doesn’t work. 7/8/2013. Crap, still doesn’t work.
Teisco Checkmate 15
The male parental unit found this relic while conducting an archaeological dig in his garage. I have no recollection of this at all. I remember my brother Robb and I having Teisco Del Ray guitars when we were in elementary school, but not the amp. Model is a Checkmate 15, 70W tube amp. The custom 6-plug outlet in the back makes me suspect Robb, but maybe it was Millie Moore Danno’s? I want to plug it in and try it out but afraid it may blow up. Maybe take it to a tech first… Update: Mystery solved. It belongs to…