Bytemarks

We first talked to Jason Rushin about the planning meeting for a Hawaii Chapter for Startup America. Then we had the field team of Allen Allison and Shelley James from the Bishop Museum on to talk about their discovery of the smallest frog known to man. Called Paedophryne amauensis the frog is found in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. You can checkout the podcast here: http://www.bytemarkscafe.org/2012/01/26/episode-180-micro-frogs-jan-25-2012/

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Each week I pore through Google alerts to find Hawaii’s science and tech news. These are my finds for January 23rd through January 25th:

• Hawaiian Islands will be first to feel stresses of ocean acidity – A newly released study says man-made activities such as the burning of fossil fuels is raising ocean acidity at an ‘unprecedented’ rate, threatening corals and marine life.
• APEC student conference to be hosted in Hawaii | KHON2 Hawaii’s News Leader – Hawaii will again host representatives from the 21 APEC countries in February.
• Lowell astronomer, project team among last recipients of Keck Interferometer time | SpaceRef – Your Space Reference – A Lowell Observatory-led research team recently received one full night of observing time with the Keck Interferometer, a near-infrared instrument that combines the largest pair of telescopes in the world. Principal investigator Dr. Gerard van Belle of Lowell Observatory says this is the last call for proposals on the instrument, as it will soon be retired.

Neil Abercrombie answers a key question posed by +Ryan Ozawa about support for Open Data.

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Governor Talks Teachers, Pro Bowl And "Descendants" – Video – KITV Honolulu
Governor Abercrombie's speech seemed to resound with the dominantly democratic state legislature, but there are still some unanswered questions about exactly how those goals are going to happen. He jo…

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Each week I pore through Google alerts to find Hawaii’s science and tech news. These are my finds for January 18th through January 23rd:

• Astronomers find a dark matter galaxy far, far away – A faint “satellite galaxy” 10 billion light years from Earth is the lowest-mass object ever detected at such a distance, says University of California, Davis, physics professor Chris Fassnacht, who aided in the satellite’s discovery.
• Patient Receives Hawaii’s First Telescope Implant for Macular Degeneration by Retina Institute of Hawaii – MarketWatch – A team of surgeons from Hawaii, Dr. Michael Bennett of Retina Institute of Hawaii and Dr. Michael McMann of McMann Institute, has successfully implanted the FDA-approved eye telescope, a first in Hawaii, at one of the leading medical centers in Honolulu.
• 100 Years Of Observing Volcanic Activity At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park | National Parks Traveler – For a century now researchers have been studying volcanic activity from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, a facility that has provided many insights into volcanoes and earthquakes in the Pacific.
• Astronomers release unprecedented data set on celestial objects that brighten and dim – Astronomers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Arizona have released the largest data set ever collected that documents the brightening and dimming of stars and other celestial objects—two hundred million in total.
• NASA Airborne Radar ‘Sees’ Inside Hawaii Volcano | Hawaii Volcano News, Images & Updates, Kilauea Eruption News, Images & Updates | Most Active Volcanoes, Volcano Monitoring | Space.com – This mission has returned to Hawaii for the third time to see how the volcano’s surface is changing, which holds clues about what’s happening inside the world’s most active volcano.
• China, India to jump forward with Hawaii telescope – China and India will pay a share of the construction cost – expected to top $1 billion – for the Thirty Meter Telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano. They will also have a share of the observation time.

We had Gorm Lai, Peter Justeson and Rechung Fujihira on the show today. Rechung was our news guest talking about Jelly Week over at the Box Jelly. Peter and Gorm are co-founders of the Honolulu Chapter of the International Game Developer Association. You can check out the podcast of the show here: http://www.bytemarkscafe.org/2012/01/19/episode-179-gamification-jan-18-2012/

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Each week I pore through Google alerts to find Hawaii’s science and tech news. These are my finds for January 9th through January 12th:

• Coast Guard Helps Univ. of Hawaii Research Vessel – A boat carrying a group of scientists on a University of Hawaii Marine Center research trip was headed back to shore Friday after it began taking on water 60 miles north of Oahu.
• The Tallest Mountains in the Solar System | Surprising Science – Earth just squeaks into this top ten list with this active volcano on the island of Hawaii (remember, mountains are measured from their base to their peak, and Mauna Loa’s base is far beneath the ocean surface).
• Student Teams Take Up NASA Rocket Launch Challenge | NASA & Student Launch Projects Initiative | Rockets & STEM Education | Space.com – More than 500 students from middle schools, high schools and universities across the country will show off their rocketeering skills during a NASA contest in April.
• Hawaii launches web directory of green employers – 05 Jan 2012 – News from BusinessGreen – Industries that want a clearer picture of green employment in Hawaii can tap into a new online resource that lists companies with green jobs on their payroll.
• Dark matter’s ‘cosmic web’ revealed – The Daily Record – The international project involved studying images collected over a period of five years by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHC) on Mauna Kea mountain in Hawaii.
• Final Health IT Innovators Win Funding For Cancer Treatment Apps | Vadvert – UK Paid Press Release Distribution Service – Innovative winners of an HHS public data and cancer challenge have created health IT applications that use public data and existing technology to help patients and health care professionals prevent, detect, diagnose and treat cancer.

On today's show, after the news, we talk to Colin MacDonald about his upcoming Pacific New Media class on the Web design process. Finally, we’ll learn about the future of social media with Jeremiah Owyang from the Altimeter Group and Tara Coomans from Social Media Club Hawaii. You can find the podcast of today's show here: http://www.bytemarkscafe.org/2012/01/11/social-media-2012/
Bytemarks Cafe – 1/11/12

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On the rooftop of Automart USA (formerly CompUSA) Alan Joaquin plans to convert an area of black roofing paper to edible green vegetables. Not only would this contribute to Hawaii becoming more food independent but it also helps to cool the building by minimizing the heat absorbing black surface.

Joaquin’s company FarmRoof developed specialized plant tubing that contains a nutrient, soil mix that is light weight and contains a watering system. The tubes are uncoiled into lengths customized for the rooftop. It weigh under 5 pounds per square foot and can be installed on any flat roof.

The company plans to focus on growing high nutrient value crops like  kale, beet leaves, arugula and asian greens for sale in local restaurants. But the produce is not limited to restaurants. FarmRoof is a Community Supported Agriculture member and with a subscription individuals like you and me can get four weekly deliveries of 10 oz of their mix of “Supergreens”.

With the rooftop farm on Automart USA started, Joaquin expects their first harvest to be in April. Plans are underway to sign up other buildings in the Honolulu area. Joaquin described the day when airlines flying over Honolulu, rather than seeing black top, would see fields of urban greenery, edible no less.

We talked to Joreal Whitfield from the Google Technology Users Group about an event next week (1/11) connecting Google with Startup Weekend. We also chatted with special guest Brian Solis, a well-known export and author in the field of new media and marketing. Finally, we heard from Oiwi TV and explored what it takes to launch and sustain an online multimedia channel.
Bytemarks Cafe – 1/4/12

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As 2011 becomes a thing of the past, I often contemplate the memorable moments in the wee hours of new years eve. Here are my memorable moments as I tweeted them before midnight Dec 31, 2011. It was certainly a fun year and one to remember.

1st memorable moment of 2011

2nd memorable moment of 2011

3rd memorable moment of 2011

4th memorable moment of 2011

5th memorable moment of 2011

6th memorable moment of 2011

7th memorable moment of 2011

8th memorable moment of 2011

9th memorable moment of 2011

10th memorable moment of 2011