Renowned local music producer and musician Kenneth Makuakane will be celebrating the release of his new album, “The White Bathtub,” on Thursday with a CD release party at the Ala Moana Hotel’s Pakele Lounge. Special guests include Barry Flanagan, Walt Keale, Obrian Eselu and Stephen Inglis.
And as with all Pakele Lounge performances, the event will be broadcast live on the web. So if you can’t be there in person, you can log on and join in from anywhere in the world… though fans in Japan have their own special link.
Kenneth has received more than twelve Na Hoku Hanohano awards, and has production credits on over one hundred albums. He’s written songs that have been performed by some of the most recognizable names in Hawaiian music, as well by artists in Japan. His work has turned up everywhere from the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival to major motion picture soundtracks.
I first got to know Kenneth over two years ago, when I was just getting started in podcasting. He was one of the first Hawaiian musicians to allow his songs to be shared through the then-new medium. I featured several of his tracks on my podcast, as did many others. Considering his already substantial reputation and immense audience, it was heartening to see that he embraced the new as well as the traditional.
He even came to PodCamp+WordCamp Hawaii to connect with both musicians and tech heads.
The concert taping and live internet broadcast runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. HST on Jan. 8. Admission is free, in person and online! If you’re not on the island and will be connecting from afar, send an e-mail to pakele@lava.net — the Pakele Lounge folks love to see how far their events reach.
When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on January 4th:
Obama bringing renewed interest to Hawaii: However Obama’s ties to Hawaii are measured, his impact on isle tourism - especially during one of the darkest times in Hawaii’s visitor industry - is worth more than peanuts to the state’s lead industry.
Rich claim 95% of tax credits for investing in Hawaii tech industry: QuantcastIndividuals with incomes of $200,000 or more claimed $56.8 million in technology investment tax credits in 2006, according to recently released figures. That’s more than 95 percent of all technology investment tax credits claimed by individuals that year.
Hawaii Tech 5.0: Documenting the development of the technology industry in Hawaii. Legislation, infrastructure, programs, industry associations, funding resources, research & development, and of course the entrepreneurs and companies, all shaped the growth of this emerging industry.
Music streaming service Spotify wins early fans: Spotify is a lean, downloadable application that lets users stream music instantly from its library–a library built with the blessing of EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and some smaller record labels.
Wakoopa: Most Used Apps of 2008 - ReadWriteWeb: Wakoopa, a social network for software enthusiasts, has released a list of the most used applications of 2008 based on the usage of its members. Wakoopa has also identified newcomers that showed prolific growth during 2008.
Roz Savage, who hopes to set records and raise environmental awareness by rowing solo across the Pacific Ocean, is putting out a call for help. Her high tech rowboat, The Brocade, is in desperate need of shelter while it awaits Phase 2 of her voyage.
“I urgently need to find covered storage for my boat in Kailua or Honolulu,” Roz wrote in an e-mail. “She is currently on the North Shore on an exposed site, and she is getting absolutely trashed… I’m desperate!”
Indeed, without protection from the elements, Roz notes that she runs the risk of losing important electrical work (which can’t be done in the rain).
The Brocade is a modern marvel. Designed by Phil Morrison, it’s made of lightweight carbon fiber, covered with solar panels, and filled with equipment. It has seen many design improvements to meet Roz’s exacting specifications, and is built to withstand the fiercest ocean conditions. Just not exposure to the elements on land on Oahu!
The Brocade is 24 feet long, 6 feet wide, and approximately 10 feet tall. It needs a home immediately, preferably in Kailua or in town, through May 2009. If you have the space, or know someone who does, please contact Roz Savage at roz@rozsavage.com or call her at (541) 399-0339. Meanwhile, help spread the word, and help Roz make history.
Hawaii customers of Oceanic Time Warner will lose several television channels tomorrow unless a last-minute deal is struck between Time Warner and Viacom.
Viacom owns several popular basic cable channels carried by Oceanic, including Comedy Central, music channels MTV and VH1, kids channels Nickleodeon and Noggin, Spike, and TV Land. Oceanic’s digital lineup includes additional Viacom properties, such as additional MTV and VH1 channels and CMT.
Nationally, the contract dispute affects some 13 million cable subscribers.
Time Warner claims Viacom is trying to boost its fees by up to 36 percent, increasing the cost of carrying Viacom channels by $39 million. It says it’s standing up for its customers, who would have to end up footing the bill.
Viacom, however, says the increases are not as big as Time Warner claims, and that Time Warner has consistently undervalued its content. Viacom channels draw five percent of all cable viewers’ eyeballs, the company says, but their fees add up to less than three percent of customers’ bills.
Fortunately, for those addicted to “The Daily Show” or “Spongebob Squarepants,” Viacom makes many of its channels’ programming available online. But as the middle man, cable television providers will bear the brunt of customers’ ire.
Viacom is only happy to fan the flames. A full-page newspaper ad showed cartoon character Dora the Explorer crying. And its channels now feature a text crawl along the bottom of the screen telling viewers: “You can stop this!” How? By calling Time Warner, of course, at 1-800-762-3786.
When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on December 29th:
The banality of vacation: Vacationing in Hawaii, for no reason except the obvious ones, is good politics because that authenticity is, these days, perhaps the most valuable political commodity. It will be interesting to see if Hawaii remains the “Western White House” after he takes office.
Ewa Beach 96706: Ground zero for Hawaii foreclosures: An analysis of data provided by RealtyTrac, as well as anecdotal evidence from real estate experts, shows that the majority of foreclosure filings in Hawaii are on Oahu, and the majority of Oahu filings are for homes in Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Waianae, Kapolei and Aiea.
Ono Kine Grindz, one of the most popular Hawaii food blogs, was effectively shuttered earlier this year when Reid decided that he needed a change. He signed off in September promising to return… leaving many of us hungry for more.
Today, Reid posted a brief update at the original Ono Kine Grindz blog hosted at Typepad, announcing that he’d set up shop at a new location, at his own domain: OnoKineGrindz.net.
Reid previously noted that the move would probably hurt his search engine rankings and lose him a few readers, but I have no doubt his many fans would follow him anywhere. And spreading the word about his new site couldn’t hurt!
“There has been an overwhelming amount of interest in this site over the last several months so I am kind of excited that people still want to hear what I have to say — even after all that has happened over the last 4 1/2 years,” he wrote.
Absolutely. I can’t wait to read more of Reid’s culinary adventures in 2009.
At about 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 26, a lightning storm over Honolulu apparently knocked out electricity for almost the entire island of O’ahu. As people from Waikiki to Kaneohe were plunged into darkness, those that still had battery operated gadgets gathered and shared information online to determine the extent of the blackout.
Of course, a power outage knocked out most computers and cable modems, as well as most television and radio transmissions, but thanks to web-enabled cell phones, Hawaii users on the microblogging service Twitter were reaching out.
It became quickly clear that the outage was widespread, with reports of power out almost everywhere. Kaneohe, Waikiki, Mililani, Kaaawa, Hawaii Kai, Pearl City… Only a couple of people still had electricity in Kapolei and Makakilo.
Local blogger and Twitter user Capsun Poe soon suggested that people use a “hashtag” to allow everyone to track conversation about the outage, and I proposed “#hipower.”
Within an hour, “#hipower” was the number one tracked term on Twitter Search, handily beating “Benjamin Button.”
Even the Honolulu Advertiserturned to Twitter and the “#hipower” hashtag to collect reports from across the island.
Though KSSK, as usual, stepped up to provide radio coverage of outage news, it suffered from periodic problems with its broadcasts. Meanwhile, most local mainstream media websites were slow to update. But one of the first to get blackout news on the web was KGMB… and not long after they posted their first breaking news article, they took it a step further.
As the blackout continues, KGMB is now running a special, nonstop video news broadcast on its website, KGMB9.com. Keahi Tucker is reporting news as it comes in (President-elect Barack Obama has lights in Kailua!), conducting interviews with local officials and residents. This while KGMB, on the air, continues to broadcast its usual primetime shows.
At the moment, Keahi Tucker has wrapped an interview with HECO’s Darren Pai and is getting news passed to him from Ray Lovell at Civil Defense. Lovell says it could be as long as twelve hours before power is restored in Honolulu. Now, Guy Hagi is giving an up to the minute weather report. All of this especially for their online audience.
An audience that includes viewers on the Mainland. One in Texas, at least!
I love to see how everyday citizens and especially agile media outlets adapt on the fly to collect and share information in emergencies.
And with less than 30 percent left on my laptop battery, it’s time to shut down. Stay safe, everyone.
When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on December 22nd:
Is a picture really worth £1,000?: A church and small businesses are just some of those accusing picture agencies of using heavy-handed tactics when pursuing payment. Wendy M Grossman on the heavy-handed tactics picture agencies use.
The State Of The Twittersphere (HubSpot Edition): Until Twitter releases its own State of the Twittersphere report, this is as good as the data gets. 70% of Twitter users joined in 2008. 20% of Twitter users have joined in the past 60 days. The average user has been on Twitter 275 days.
The year 2008 in photographs: 2008 has been an eventful year to say the least - it is difficult to sum up the thousands of stories in just a handful of photographs. That said, I will try to do what I’ve done with other photo narratives here, and tell a story of 2008 in photographs.
Drillers break into magma chamber: Drillers looking for geothermal energy in Hawaii inadvertently put a well right into a magma chamber in 2005. Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several meters before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study.
Beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday morning, and running nonstop through dawn on Sunday, Hawaii’s own Todd Cochrane — podcaster and new media entrepreneur — will be on the air for 24 hours to raise money for the Disabled American Veterans. He’ll be talking around the clock with guests and listeners, including several from Hawaii.
You can check in on Todd via the embedded video above, or dive into the whole experience (including live chat and the full schedule) at 24hrpodcast.com.
Just like last year, I’ll be with Todd in his Makakilo studio as he crosses the finish line Sunday morning… and we’ll be joined by Roxanne Darling, who’ll be streaming live from the beach!
Yesterday on Bytemarks Cafe, Russel Cheng of local tech company Oceanit unveiled a new application they’ve developed for Apple’s iPhone (and iPod Touch): iFu Kung Fu.
The app is simple and fun, tapping the iPhone’s accellerometer to trigger kung fu sound effects with each movement. After launching iFu — which introduces itself with a cryptic phrase in Mandarin (that’s really a motto of Oceanit CEO Patrick Sullivan) — users can imagine themselves in a kung fu battle, wielding their iPhone as it converts jabs and swings into whooshes and battle cries.
And a two-fingered tap on the multi-touch screen triggers a heavily accented taunt, read by a voice that may or may not be Russel himself.
It may seem strange to see a whimsical iPhone app come out of a company known for its cutting edge engineering and research in fields ranging from oceanography to aerospace. But as with most things at Oceanit, Russel explained that iFu was a fun project with a serious purpose. The company already develops both hardware and software for mobile devices… only they’re usually specialized scientific equipment and rugged field gadgets. The company wanted to see what the iPhone platform could offer, and how quickly an application could be developed for it.
It took Oceanit — or rather, a hard-working intern named Robert Lee from Carnegie Mellon University — only twelve days to take the app from concept to a working prototype.
In a later e-mail, Russel credited a number of people in making iFu Kung Fu a reality, including coworkers David Takeyama (who made it possible for him and others to dedicate resources to the project) and Todd Blume (who worked with Robert and later finalized the code).
“I came up with the idea for iFu app since for most of my life, I’ve impersonated kung fu voice overs typically found in old kung fu movies,” Russel wrote. “I luckily had the easiest job of being the creative director on the project and guided it along the way while others worked hard on my vision for this thing.”
Russel noted that the iFu Kung Fu app was inspired in part by PhoneSaber, an app that played lightsaber sound effects from “Star Wars.” That app was a resounding success, but was withdrawn after the developer was notified of trademark and infringement issues. Fortunately, it later came back as an official “Star Wars” app.
The iFu Kung Fu app has been submitted to Apple for inclusion in the App Store, and should be available soon. It will be free, so anyone with a compatible device can recreate their favorite kung fu movies.
Many thanks to Russel for breaking the news of iFu Kung Fu on our KIPO radio show. The audio of our interview, including a live demo of the app, should be available on the Bytemarks Cafe website later today.
Renowned local music producer and musician Kenneth Makuakane will be celebrating the release of his new album, “The White Bathtub,” on Thursday with a CD release party at the Ala Moana Hotel’s Pakele Lounge. Special guests include Barry Flanagan, Walt Keale, Obrian Eselu and Stephen Inglis.
Yesterday on Bytemarks Cafe, 
