OK, just thought you’d like to know. But that’s not what today’s post is about, so I digress, as per usual.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the web is abuzz about Google Wave. Real geeks (like Ryan or Burt) have been playing with it in a developer preview for up to several months. FYI, I like and look up to them both, and “geeks” is used in a positive way, not the pejorative here. Wannabe geeks (like me) have been drooling over an invitation for something we don’t quite know nor fully understand. But I didn’t let that stop me and having been using Google Wave for about a week now. A big mahalo goes to my friend who got me mine – you know who you are.

If you haven’t heard about Google Wave yet, online productivity/software site Lifehacker had a great write-up on it in their Google Wave First Look. But then two of their editors went even further, starting The Complete Guide to Google Wave in wiki style. Basically, Google Wave is a combination of Gmail, Google Docs, Google Talk (or other IM), Wikipedia, and Blogger. As with most things Google, it is free, and at least for now, NOT ad-supported.

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.

Pizza Night Oct 26-1.pdf (95 KB)

Here's an easy way to help support a grassroots community organization dedicated to education and community engagement, the Makiki Community Library. MCL is a separate entity from the public library system, the Hawaii State Public Library System. To operate, it must raise funds through events and opportunities like this.

Full disclosure: I recently joined the board of this non-profit organization.

And MCL needs your help more than ever. While the public libraries are facing closures in the form of Wednesday furloughs, MCL will continue with normal operations, being open on Wednesdays from 2-6 pm, Saturdays ffrom 12-4 pm, and Sundays from 12-4 pm. This is only possible with a dedicated army of volunteers and a small (2 people) paid staff.

So if you don't have dinner (or even lunch) plans for today, would you please consider eating at Pizza Hut? 25% of your order total will be donated to MCL. But to help out, you must download, print, and turn in the above form when picking up your order or receiving a delivery order.

Here are some additional details:

Instructions

• 1) Call our State-wide One Number  643-1111or visit your nearest Hawaii Pizza Hut Restaurant during
• regular store hours. (Online ordering cannot be used for Pizza Night)
• 2) Before ordering, please say: "This is a Pizza Night Order." Then proceed with your order.
• 3) Fill out the claim check below.
• 4) Detach the claim check and give to the delivery driver or Pizza Hut cashier at time of payment.
• Note: Please be aware we must have the claim check in order to credit your school or organization with the sale.

Pizza Night purchases excludes use of Coupons, $5 VIP cards, In-store specials, Lunch Specials, Buffet Sales, purchase of Literacy cards, Gift Certificates, Big New Yorker, and the Pizza Mia Pizza. Sales total does not  include tax, tip, and delivery charge.

Only Second pizza and Literacy Card discounts will be honored. Sales good on dine-in, carry-out and delivery orders  during regular store hours at any participating Pizza Hut restaurant in Hawaii.

Mahalo!

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.

Posted via email from exbor’s posterous

Before I go any further, I have an admission. This topic may be a little more academic for me than other State employees. You see, as of now, I am not subject to the furloughs. Let me assure my fellow hard-working State employees that I will share in your pain. Ours is a two State-employee household, so my wife, the teacher (who now she has 6th grade), will be on furlough like the rest of the HSTA union members.

When I first drafted this blog post, I thought it would be a zoo of a mess today. But now that other Executive branch employees will be on Furlough Friday today, I think the impact will be lessened, but still problematic. In fact, Furlough Fridays may end up working out best for State employees whose children attend public school as they won’t have to make special childcare arrangements.

But what about the rest of our residents? If you aren’t a State employee, or if you just need Furlough Friday options, be sure to check out the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii’s “Keep Active on Furlough Fridays” list of activities, programs, and services. Oh, and at least then there should be less traffic…unless everyone who is off today decides to go in the same direction.

As a friendly reminder, don’t forget that the Hawaii State Capitol IS OPEN for business today and every Furlough Friday. I even had to point that out on Dave Shapiro’s blog. Let me repeat, the Hawaii State Capitol IS OPEN.

And that works out great for the big rally that is scheduled there today from 10 am – 1 pm. It is being organized by a group called Hawaii Education Matters. Unfortunately, I have a conference that I committed to weeks ago,so I won’t be able to attend. However, even Congressman Neil Abercrombie is encouraging people to attend, “Not in a spirit of anger, but rather to hold our leaders and ourselves accountable for our children and the future of our islands.”

Mahalo!

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.

And all three of the stories I want to highlight are from them:

• First, even with the Furlough Fridays, the Hawaii State Capitol will remain open on furlough days. With all the negativity swirling around, this is an opportunity for the Legislature and Capitol employees to shine. And, I must say that it would not be a very reassuring message if the Capitol, home to the Legislative branch as well as the offices of the Governor and Lt. Governor, was to close. So citizens can know that government at the highest level is still functioning – although, with an extremely small skeleton crew.
• Second, the Legislature is hiring for the upcoming session. In this economy, that is probably more welcome news to many than is normal. Until recently, it was a challenge to fill positions, but I had several reports that this past session had some of the largest number of applicants. Surely, a sign of the times.
• Finally, for those families who will be impacted by the Furlough Fridays, they link to a bunch of resources for educational and enrichment services.

I hope to have more discussion tomorrow about the First Furlough Friday, pending any developments of the parent lawsuit in Federal court. Stay tuned!

Mahalo!

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.

Have you ever heard that all attention is good attention, even if it’s bad? All these links to GO and all these mentions of them actually boosts their Google ratings.  You’re the guy they love to have hate them.

Helping go! would be unacceptable, but don’t worry, I’ve known all along how not to help them. If you go through every post on capsun.org, you will find that THERE IS NOT A SINGLE LINK BACK TO GO!. Why would I want them to get extra traffic from my efforts. Most of the time, the link will take you back to any number of posts I’ve written about go!. Sometimes, they’ll link to Hawaiian Airlines, but they never go back to go! – ever! So if anything, my anti-go! blogging would probably only help MY Google rankings.

On another anti-go! note, I have to admit that I even used my wedding as an opportunity to hit at go!. Included with every invitation was a small insert with reminders, one of which was, “Please use America’s most on-time airline, Hawaiian Airlines (hawaiianair.com or 1-800-367-5320) for your travel needs.”

I went even further or our wedding website, which said:

***Please do not use go! Airlines.  Again, do not fly go! Airlines.***

Why not?  Read Capsun’s Retrospective on Aloha Airlines, his thoughts on The Real Aloha Airlines, or the time he was forced to fly on go! Airlines.  And remember, as the t-shirt says, “There’s no Aloha in the Hawaiian skies – go! figure.”

So in addition to no links to go!, I guess the other thing you’ll never find on capsun.org is a kind word about them.

Don’t forget, you can support a local business and express your anti-go! sentiments with a t-shirt. Again, I receive no compensation for mentioning this and I also bought my own shirt with my own money.

And finally, please remember, Don’t Fly go!

Mahalo!

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.

Yet I think sometimes people don’t experience some communities, even though they are nearby or they’ve always meant to. So I’d like to invite you to mine.

I live in Makiki, as do many of my fellow residents. And we even have a website, http://www.makikitalks.com/, so it’s easy to keep up with our community. So I’m excited to announce we will have our first (I think) Meetup/Tweetup coming up this Thursday. So if you live, work, play, shop, or do anything in Makiki, please do stop by. If you just want to join some fellow Oahu people/Tweeps for some food and talk story, please do come!

Here’s the info on the Meetup/Twetup, from http://www.makikitalks.com/events/makiki-talks-meet-up:

Time: October 22, 2009 from 6pm to 7:30pm
Location: St. Clement’s Church Parish Hall
Street: 1515 Wilder Avenue
City/Town: Honolulu

Join neighbors and fellow members of Makiki Talks at this week’s Farmers’ Market at St. Clement’s Church for Makiki Talks’ first meet-up. Do some shopping, pick up a plate dinner from one of the Market’s tasty vendors, and come talk story about Makiki Talks and where we go from here with our community website.

If you have some time before the Meetup/Tweetup, you may really appreciate stopping by the Farmer’s Market that runs from 4:30-7:30. Please note that although the Farmer’s Market and Meetup/Tweetup is at St. Clement’s Church, people of all faiths, or no faiths, are welcome.

It’s a community event and we want you there. See you on Thursday!

Mahalo!

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.

Basically, he was tinkering with a t-shirt line as a side project and he had an idea for his first design to print. He was talking to me because he sees the value of both digital and face-to-face social network. He correctly pointed out that this was a subject that was near and dear to both of our hearts.

Here’s the result:

He then asked me, “Do you think this shirt would be one you would be interested in?” And I responded, “Absolutely!” I also offered to write about it here on my blog.

So if you want one for yourself and an opportunity to support a local creative mind and entrepreneur, here are the details:

• Price is $15, plus $5 shipping per order.
• They will do a run as soon as they get a minimum of 10 orders. These first customers will receive the company’s effervescent thanks for their support.
• To order, please email lokokineshirts@gmail.com. You can also contact them if you need more info.

But wait, there’s more:  For a very limited time only, this shirt is exclusive to readers of capsun.org. That’s right, you won’t be able to order this shirt from anywhere, unless you share the link to this website, which I hope you’ll do.

So what are you waiting for? With my order, we only need 9 more! And let me point out that I received nothing for writing this post, not even a friend discount. I want to support business ventures like this!

And please remember, Don’t Fly go!

Mahalo!

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.

Photo courtesy 808talk.com

As I promised the other day, “I plan on doing some anti-go! posts in the near future.” I’m still busy collecting my thoughts, but I thought this was a great time to work on something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time.

Anyone who has read my blog with some regularity knows of my complete and utter disdain for go! Airlines. With their recent merger with Mokulele Airlines, this is the perfect opportunity to make my “Don’t Fly go!” page at capsun.org. It is accessible directly at capsun.org/go or at the top of all pages under the tab “Don’t Fly go!”

Here I will list all of my posts on go! Airlines, all of which are biased against them. And don’t worry, I will be writing new ones shortly to add to this list.

• Retrospective on Aloha Airlines, 1946-2008 (My first post)

• The Real Aloha Airlines

• My Benedict Arnold Moment (or, Don’t Fly go!) (My longest post)

• Mesa…in their own words

• Props and Slops of the Year 2008

Mahalo!

Last updated:  10/17/2009

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S. – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.

If you haven’t heard already, the much-despised go! Airlines will be merging with Mokulele Airlines, where many former Aloha Airlines employees now find themselves employed.

Yesterday, KGMB9’s i9News asked:

“Will the merge affect what airline you choose to fly interisland? Let’s get going! Flying is oober important…what’s your pick?”

My response:

“No, I’ve been a loyal fan of Hawaiian Airlines for several years. Before that, I was a loyal fan of Aloha. I like to support local.”

My loyal and long-time readers know I have much more to say about this. I plan on doing some anti-go! posts in the near future, so please stay tuned.

Mahalo!

Posted via email from exbor’s posterous

As promised last week, here’s AQ’s chutney recipe.  It appears in as close form to the original given to me – including typos and an aversion of capitalization.  If you’ve been lucky enough to have it, you’ll be glad to finally have the recipe.  I’ve only had it a couple times, but I know it was great, at least the way AQ made it.  If you’re going to attempt this recipe, I sure hope you have a big pot!

MANGO CHUTNEY

(To be made with tender, loving care, diligence & devotion; the only extra-curricula activities permitted during cooking process is reading or listening to music.)

50 mangoes (use only common or Chinese mango, the latter when green, as even the half ripe can be too string)

peel mangoes and slice to the seed; soak with hawaiian salt (about a cup and a half) overnight, turning several times before you go to sleep.  the next morning, the day of the cooking, rinse off well and drain in colanders (four if you have them) in equal parts.

1/2 cup chopped fresh ginger (see if you can get the young ginger, as this is much easier to chop than the old stringy nodes)

2 large onions chopped (maui onions are best if you can get them)

24 or so garlic cloves chopped (i do this by gee & by gosh, depend – on how you feel about garlic)

1 box seeded raisins (contains 15 oz.)

1 box currants (contains 12 oz, or perhaps 11 – i prefer the dark currants, although you can use the light type; in any event grab what you can as currants are not especially easy to find in the markets)

8 oz. box preserved (candied-crystallized) ginger (you can get this by wandering around the stores in chinatown) sliced or chopped

7 to eight pounds brown sugar (the amount you use depends on how sweet you want your chutney)

two to three quarts of cider vinegar (the amount you use depends on how rapidly the concoction begins to thicken)

1/4 to 1/2 chopped chili peppers (the amount you use depends on how how wyou want the chutney; i use the seeds as well as they give the hotness, otherwise what a damned job to separate seeds from pods!)

1 & 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 & 1/2 tsp cloves

1 & 1/2 tsp ginger

3 tsp allspice

1 can 6-oz slivered almonds (you can use more, if you like ‘em)

*****

bring vinegar, sugar and spices (nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice) to a quick boil, then let simmer for 1/2 to 1 hour.

add fresh & preserved ginger, garlic, onions, raisins, & currants; bring to boil and let simmer for half hour.

during this process, watch like a hawk; if you let the brew boil over, you’ve got one hell of a job cleaning up.

Mango Chutney

page 2

add half of the mangoes, bring to boil, then let simmer to 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring all the time (i don’t mean you should stand over the pot, but about every five or so minutes, give the brew a thoro swish to keep from burning and to make sure that all the mango gets pretty well boiled down to form the thick part of the product.

then add the rest of the mangoes and almonds, bring to boil, then let simmer for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  the concoction is finished when the mango slices become translucent. stirl all the time so that you work in the second batch of mangoes with the almonds; also so that it won’t burn.

about the last 15 minutes before he chutney is done, sterilize your jars (which you have washed and prepared during the earlier process) and start melting your parafin (under slow fire in a can from which you took the almonds, bent so that you have a lip).

pour chutney to about half inch of top; seal with about 1/8 inch of parafin; let cool, then pour in another 1/8 to 1/4 inch, rolling hot parafin so that you get a complete seal.

the job of pouring in can be messy, especially if you don’t have wide mouthed jars, so keep clean sponges available to whipe of chutney that may spill over sides.

have fun; if you go thru this experience, you’ll turn out the world’s best chutney and save me the trouble of supplying you with it.

Mahalo!

***

P.S. – You can follow me on Twitter (@exbor) to get more regular updates.  Be warned, they are much more “regular” than my posts here.

P.P.S. – Did you know capsun.org has it’s own Twitter account (@capsundotorg) that Tweets whenever I blog here or on my photo blog?

Please note:  The views expressed here are mine and mine alone.  While I am employed by and affiliated with organizations and individuals, permission has neither been asked nor granted to write on the topics discussed here.