Presenters

With all this activity it is easy to overlook SB2314 a rather simple bill that proposes to allow the video recording of Board Meetings. As the bill states: The purpose of this Act is to clarify that audio and video recordings are permitted at public board meetings.

One of the board meetings I used to follow was the Hawaii Broadband Task Force within which I had no problem webcasting. I have heard though in other board meetings, video recordings were not allowed as the current 35 year old Sunshine Law statutes are vague on the allowance of video recording. Therefore, in the interest of good governance and transparency it makes sense to make it clear that video recording of board meetings are permissible. The problem is there is a deadline coming up and this bill hasn’t been scheduled to be heard.

There is a simple solution to this. All it takes is an email to Judiciary and Government Operations Committee chair Sen. Brian Taniguchi. His email is sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov. Just send him an email which simply asks him to schedule SB2314 for a hearing. I just sent mine off.

As timing would have it, the two artists responsible for this masterpiece (and one right around the corner) were just finishing up, Prime (on the right) and Estria (on the left). I half expected them to grab their spray cans and run as I approached but this was obviously a commissioned work. Prime holds classes at places like Palama Settlement to teach youth art technique and appreciation, mentoring and leadership development. The artist collective known as 808Urban works with kids in underserved areas like Kalihi. In addition to teaching art they work with communities to create mural art, the legitimized version of street graffiti. I’ve seen their work in various places like the Palama Settlement and a recent mural at Kokua Foods. Checking out Estria’s Flickr site, he’s got all kinds of work going on in Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of it revolves around bringing graffiti artists together to showcase their work and to collectively work on murals like the Four Guardians in Oakland. It’s very impressive, in-your-face, vibrant, “happy to be alive” expressions of creativity.

I usually post my Top 10 memorable moments as a blog post but this year I tried something a little different. I went out to Twitter and asked others to participate using the hashtag of #2009Top10. It was fun to see others recollect the year in review and come up with their significant moments. Mahalos go out to bitershark, Melissa808, NathanKam, PHOTOluluTV and CindyBlanknship for participating. If you are interested in reading the tweet stream just do a search on #2009Top10 or click here. If over time Twitter does not archive this tweet stream I’ve saved it as a Google doc.

If you feel inspired to create your Top 10 memorable moments for 2009 please do. I encourage you to use the hashtag #2009Top10 and I will update the Google doc. Also as 2010 unfolds make every moment a special moment. The following is my reverse chronological thread of my Top 10 memorable moments in 2009. Wishing you all the best in 2010 – The Year of the Tiger!

Bytemarks What are your Top 10 memorable moments for 2009? #2009top10 1 day ago from Tweetie Bytemarks What are your Top 10 memorable moments for 2009? Seeing the Star Trek Movie was one for me. Countdown to continue… #2009Top10 about 23 hours ago from web Bytemarks Next memorable moment following a somewhat chronological order is the 2nd Annual Unconferenz held over at JAIMS back in Feb. #2009top10 about 21 hours ago from web Bytemarks # 3 in my list of Top 10 memorable moments is when my Acura Integra died this year which lead to a new Acura TSX. It’s all good. #2009Top10 about 20 hours ago from web Bytemarks Continuing the countdown # 4 is work related. It’s the formation of the Innovation Team and HMSA 2.0. I consider myself superlucky #2009Top10 about 20 hours ago from web Bytemarks Going to @SXSW for the first time is # 5. I went to a great @guykawasaki party put on by @neenz and met the inspiring @sunnibrown #2009Top10 about 19 hours ago from web Bytemarks Going out on the escort boat to watch @rozsavage continue her trans Pacific solo row was my # 6 memorable moment. #2009Top10 about 18 hours ago from web Bytemarks Spending Summer Solstice on Kaua`i in a valley called Nualolo is # 7 It was a great place to spend the longest day of the year. #2009Top10 about 17 hours ago from web Bytemarks My # 8 is an aircraft carrier. How awesome was it to go out on the @USS_Nimitz? Very awesome! That was a signature moment for my #2009Top10 about 17 hours ago from TweetDeck Bytemarks The Wayfinder Series at HPR is # 9. We had Nainoa Thompson, James Koshiba and Paul Zorner on as speakers. Great storytellers. #2009top10 about 17 hours ago from Tweetie Bytemarks During our ride on the Hokule`a we were visited by A or Hawaiian Booby is my memorable moment # 10. In every moment a connection. #2009Top10 about 16 hours ago from web

Just a little background on the calendar. I try to find photos which help depict the 5 basic Chinese elements: Wood, Metal, Fire, Water and Earth. The flower arrangement has elements of wood, water and metal (the kenzan), the sunrise is fire and water and the waterfall at Nualolo on Kauai is earth and water. Mochi is for the cuteness factor which isn’t one of the 5 basic elements but a requirement for my calendar nevertheless.

As the sun set, we were blessed with a clear sky filled with stars. The crew gave a lesson in star navigation as the northeasterly trade winds kept the Hokule`a in constant motion. Hokupa`a, the North Star was precisely 21 degrees above the horizon. You can always tell what latitude you are in by charting Hokupa`a, as long as you are in the northern hemisphere. While out on the ocean you are treated to sights not common on land. We were visited by this Hawaiian Booby or `A as it stayed with us for several minutes flying back and forth wanting to land on our sails. The amazing thing is the `A normally lives in remote areas in sea cliffs. Since we were still south of Honolulu with the lights of Waikiki in constant view this Hawaiian Booby must have come a far way, perhaps living somewhere near Diamond Head or further east near Koko Head. With the moon in the background it was an amazing sight.

The Hokule`a and it’s crew are preparing for the World Wide Voyage starting in 2011. This practice run was one of many to train new crew members. In 2010 the Hokule`a goes into dry dock for major renovation and refitting for the upcoming long voyage. As I look back on 2009, this experience will be one I will always remember. Mahalo to Mei-Jeanne Watson and Nainoa Thompson for making this possible.

The real question is what will the pricing be for this WiMax service. You are not going to see any official pricing from Clearwire until the service is commercially available in Nov 2009 but I did hear price points like $30/month for the basic offering and up to $70/month for the 10M business class service. If Clearwire (or their soon to be new name Clear) can meet the basic DSL speeds of 3M down/1M up at the or better it, the $30 price point might be something to consider. Especially if you are getting true mobility with it.

In the Bay Area a lot is being invested in this new 4G service. WiMax will get at least a couple of years head start on AT&T and Verizon’s LTE 4G service. Clearwire along with Sprint has some major investors looking to advance this standard. Google, Intel, Time Warner, Comcast and Cisco are all investors. Clearwire has set up an innovation network in the Bay Area covering a 20 square mile area right in Silicon Valley to encourage broadband wireless application development.  Interestingly Google’s partnership is behind a content play called Clear365. Obviously they see a lot of content getting created as a result of this mobile broadband network. Personally I wish there was an Innovation Network here between Bishop St. and UH Manoa. Now wouldn’t that be interesting.

While researching news items for Bytemarks Cafe I came across this story on the Discovery website about rats devastating the Native Hawaiian snail population. Interesting story but I was taken aback by this photo supposedly depicting one of our native snail species. The snail in the photo is of the specie: Achatina fulica originally from East Africa, now common in Hawaii. These varieties can grow quite large and can quickly devour a home garden. The adult female carries hundreds of eggs allowing it to proliferate in Hawaii’s tropical climate. During the wet winter season is when the African snail populations explode. Rats and African snails have coexisted in Hawaii for many generations and I don’t detect any decrease in these snail populations due to rats.

On the other hand the Native Hawaiian tree snails or Achatinella live exclusively in the native forests primarily feeding on a native fungus living on the leaves of the ohia or kopiko. This specialized diet keeps the Achatinella inexorably linked to the native forest. It takes about 7 years to reach reproductive maturity. At this point they will bear one keiki (baby) snail per year. Without any natural predators the Achatinella never adapted mechanisms against external threats as devastating as rats.

I did contact the Discovery.com web team (via email) to point out their error. I got this message in reply from Viewer-Relations:

“We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to write us and for bringing this matter to our attention.  Please know that we will take your comments under advisement.”

As you can see the site has yet to be corrected. Of course I do this with the hope that accurate information about Hawaii is portrayed, especially as it pertains to our people, places and native ecosystem. Here’s to hoping it gets fixed soon.

Our monthly Bytemarks Lunch gathering, usually the last Friday of the month, found us at local high tech alternative energy manufacturer, Sopogy. We got treated to an overview of Sopogy solar energy technology, courtesy of Van Matsushige. One bit of trivia, since many people ask where did they get their name, Sopogy. According to Van it is a mashup of Solar, Power, Technology. In the video, Van explains the basic operations of the MicroCSP, Concentrated Solar Power unit. The company has installations around the world in Asia, Middle East and on the West Coast. According to an article in PBN, Sopogy has “secured and is fulfilling more than $1.3 billion worth of sales.” Definitely a company to watch.  Much mahalo to Van, Darren Kimura and Sher Komoda for being such gracious hosts.

The Bytemarks lunch is attended by a complement of local tech geeks. Notices for monthly lunch go out on the Bytemarks Yahoogroup I setup ages ago as well as on the Bytemarks page on Facebook. if you are interested please feel free to signup. Attendees share their latest tech find.  At this month’s lunch, Paul Lawler brought is newly minted GigaPan camera mount and Ryan Ozawa shared Yelp’s augmented reality iPhone app. and Traci Toguchi talked about a video she did of this local tech geek for Chris.Pirillo.com.

1. Proposals in response to the City’s RFP were coming in at rates lower than expected, due in part to the competitive nature of the business and the economy.
2. The elevated rail system will be a major boon to the construction industry.
3. The look of the elevated rail will give Honolulu a futuristic appearance appealing not only to residence but also to tourists.
4. The elevated system will get the ridership needed to justify it.
5. The system will be safe and away from traffic so road congestion will not affect it.
6. The system will be fast and estimated to take 20 minutes from Pearlridge to Ala Moana.

After the presentation the audience was divided into working groups to come up with suggestions on how the stations should be designed. There are construction  standards already set like the station canopy but ideas were being solicited for wall design, landscaping and station decor. The City will return to Pearlridge Elementary School on Oct. 15, 2009 to conduct another workshop with the ideas from last night incorporated.