Bytemarks Cafe is on a 2-week hiatus and will be back live on January 7, 2009. Ryan and I got 12/24 and 12/31 off for obvious reasons. I am glad to have the break especially during this busy time of the year. We are wishing that all of you have a great holiday season and all the best for 2009! If you have any suggestions for show topics in 2009 feel free to contact us at feedback [at] bytemarkscafe (dot) org.
Month: December 2008
Bytemarks Cafe – Episode 20 – Dec. 17, 2008
After the headlines, Russel Cheng from Oceanit will join us to tell us about a very cool iPhone app. Then, we’ll talk to Dan Zelikman and Sid Savara about privacy and transparency in the brave new world of social media.
In the News this week:
- Puna Geothermal Ventures is celebrating it’s 15th anniversary, and Bytemarks Cafe got at chance to talk with Mike Kaleikini, the company’s general manager, about reaching the milestone. Kaleikini said, “it was a tough start in the beginning, but we’re still here after 15 years and needed now more than ever.”
- In the search for extraterrestrial life, some astronomers are on the hunt for “Super-Earths,” and specifically, planets in other solar systems that may have liquid oceans.
- The Air Force’s Pacific Air Command is getting into blogging, and is going outside conventional military channels to do it. Acknowledging that their audience no longer turns to mainstream media, officials at Hickam Air Force Base recently rolled out the PACAF Pixels blog.
- Construction began in earnest last week on a 65-foot research vessel that will help a Hawaii-based ship design company develop and test new technologies for port security, including “unmanned surface vessels” or USVs.
- Event update: The Pacific Telecommunications Council will be holding its 31st Annual International Conference from January 18th to the 21st at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
The song pick of the week is “I Love Nerdy Boys” by Emi Hart.
Bytemarks Cafe – Episode 19 – Dec. 10, 2008 (Updated)
This week we’re joined by Sandy Park of the HTDC to talk about the Holiday Science and Tech Fair. Then, Ian Lind of iLind.net and Jerry Burris of The Honolulu Advertiser discuss blogging, citizen journalism, and “new media” in the face of industry cutbacks.
- Governor Lingle Presents Innovation Awards: Governor Linda Lingle today recognized six recipients of the Governor’s Innovation Awards for their ingenuity and commitment to developing creative ways for Hawai‘i to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
- Fish and Wildlife Service Designates Critical Habitat for Hawaii’s Endemic Picture-wing Flies: The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week announced habitat protections under the Endangered Species Act for 12 species of Hawaii’s endemic picture-wing flies — small insects in the Drosophilidae family known as the “birds of paradise†of the insect world.
- Researchers begin Keahole offshore study: University of Hawaii is creating an underwater coastal observatory off Keahole Point, which will soon allow researchers to study the deep in ways unlike before.
- First Hawaiian signs seawater air conditioning contract: First Hawaiian Bank will be the first customer to use a new seawater air-conditioning system. Hawaii’s largest bank announced Monday in a joint press release with Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning that it has signed a multiyear contract to use the new renewable energy system.
This weeks song pick of the week is “I Started a Blog” by Sprites.
Bytemarks Cafe – Episode 18 – Dec. 3, 2008
This week we’re joined by Miraz Jordan, who tells us about her upcoming WordPress workshops. Then, Jerry Chun from Humdinger joins us to talk about wind power and the revolutionary new Wind Belt.
This week in the News:
- Astronomers have successfully combined three telescopes located on Mauna Kea to create the largest “virtual telescope” for short wavelengths. The Extended SubMillimeter Array (eSMA) connects the signals of eight 6-meter dishes with those from the 15-meter James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the 10-meter Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO).
- The Hawaii Department of Agriculture is taking a bold step in its battle against an invasive species… with another foreign species. Over the past few years, Hawaii’s endangered wiliwili trees have been under attack by “gall wasps.” Now, state scientists have released a different kind of wasp from Africa in the hopes of stopping the “gall wasp” infestation.
- By using existing electric car technologies, coupled with an Internet-connected web of tens of thousands of recharging stations, Better Place L.L.C. of Palo Alto, Calif. believes it will make all-electric vehicles feasible.
- The Big Island is the best place to base America’s future space projects, especially plans to settle the Moon and Mars. That’s the bold objective of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, or PISCES. And Director Frank Schowengerdt says PISCES has already been instrumental in bringing key NASA projects to Hawaii.
The song pick of the week is Porter Block with “Second Wind.”
Bytemarks Cafe – Episode 17 – Nov. 26, 2008
After the headlines, we’re joined by Alex Ho from the Dept. of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to talk about the upcoming VEX robotics competition. Then, we chat with Mary Hattori (Kapiolani Community College) and Jonathan Wong (Honolulu Community College) about virtual environments for education.
In the News this Week:
- A new Hawai‘i-Taiwan joint partnership in undergraduate education, community outreach and astronomy research was announced last week by Governor Linda Lingle. The partnership stems from the Taiwan-American Occultation Survey (TAOS), and is between the Academia Sinica and the University of Hawai‘i – Hilo (UH Hilo).
- Recently announced recommendations on the labeling requirements for “organic” seafood have been blasted by aquaculture companies for being too strict, yet at the same time criticized by environmentalists for being too broad. A committee of the National Organic Standards Board last week said it would recommend that the United States Department of Agriculture allow farmed fish to be labeled “organic” provided that wild fish and other feed that’s not “organic” don’t exceed more than 25 percent of its diet.
- Last week in Hawaiian waters off the coast of Kauai, the Japanese navy ship J.S. Chokai failed to shoot down a mid-range ballistic missile target in a test firing. It was only the second time Japan had attempted to shoot down a ballistic missile from a ship at sea. The first attempt last year was successful.
- A crater on the surface of the planet Mercury has been officially named in honor of a historic Hawaiian painter. Nawahi Crater, located in Mercury’s Calloris Basin, gets its name from native Hawaiian artist Joseph Kaho‘oluhi Nawahi-okalani-opu’u. It’s one of fifteen names announced last week by NASA’s Messenger mission, which marks the first visit to Mercury since Mariner 10 in 1974.