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Can’t Wait for the Froyo Wars!

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How many frozen yogurt chains are there in Hawaii now? You know they all can’t make it here on this froyo saturated island. I can’t wait for the wars to begin and see who’s left standing.

The contenders:

  • Yogurtland – across from UH in that location that keeps changing vendors, Pearl City, and Hawaii Kai
  • Orange Tree – expanding in the “smaller” markets around the island and is opening in Ala Moana
  • Red Mango – now at Kahala Mall and in Waikiki
  • Menchies – at Ward, Kapolei, and Mililani
  • Yogurt Mama – only Kailua and about to battle Orange Tree
  • Yami – the venerable chain that survived the last froyo war
  • TCBY – still kicking
  • Milano Freezer – Westridge Shopping Center Aiea
  • yogen fruz – actually taking on the challenge of Windward Mall!

Who else will be competing and fighting as your froyo favorite? The upcoming winter months will be the first test. Any bets who’ll fold first?  Yogurt Mama is the easy pick with a single (bad) location and Orange Tree opening up the street.  And notice, not one opening in Windward Mall (updated with yogen fruz who will be opening a location in the mall).

Me and My Drobo

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Since a few have been asking about my recent Drobo purchase, here’s some info.  I bought the “basic” Drobo unit without the DroboShare hardware.  And no, the Drobo, even with the DroboShare, does not support the wicked fast iSCSI transfers.  Only the DroboPro unit can handle iSCSI.

Doing some quick price checks, I placed my order through Newegg.com.  At the time, Newegg’s Drobo cost was cheaper than most other online stores, Drobo was offering $50 back, and Newegg’s shipping to Hawaii was the lowest at ~$30.

My needs for a Drobo are pretty straightforward.  My internal drive was filling up and I already have an external drive for Mac OS X Time Machine backups.  The biggest problem is drive space for audio and video files.  I also have an AppleTV which syncs with the iTunes library.  If you want movies and television shows sync-ed with your AppleTV, then you need to leave them in the iTunes library.  This is where the problem comes.

With too many videos, especial HD ones, and high resolution pictures the internal drive fills up quick.  And I don’t want to manually add and delete movies to iTunes.  I didn’t want to get yet another basic external drive for my movies since there would be no backup of that.  So that’s where the Drobo fits in.

I have 3 drives in my Drobo which automatically configures a data redundant scheme.  Setup of a Drobo is easy, too easy in fact.  Nothing exciting.  The hardest part was clearing a space on my crowded desk for the hardware (which is bigger than I expected).  I’m using the FireWire 800 interface, and USB 2.0 is available.

For now, I migrated my iTunes music to the Drobo.  I haven’t moved my entire multimedia library including videos and pictures since I’m not exactly sure how that’s done.  Migrating iTunes music is documented and moving my entire Mac OS X Home directory is documented, but I haven’t found how to move the pictures and movies folders to another drive.  But moving my music alone freed up over 100 GB of space on my internal drive so that’s good enough.

I also use the Drobo for working on iMovie projects.  The speed of the Drobo was a concern of mine, but it’s been fast enough.  One minor thing is that the Drobo does go to sleep once in awhile so the drives take a few seconds to spin up when that happens.  It’s noticeable but not overly so.

I guess I could also use the Drobo for Time Machine backups since it is compatible.  But because I already have an external drive dedicated to Time Machine, I’ll keep this arrangement.

To round out my backup and archive scheme, at the suggestion of @mirthlab, I might have to reconsider something like SuperDuper.  Maybe I should move my Time Machine backups to the Drobo then repurpose my external drive as a SuperDuper clone??

So there you go about my Drobo.  If got any questions, leave me a comment.

Another Sign I’m Getting Old

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I noticed my car radio is dialed into 96.3 KRTR more often – a sign I’m getting older. I’ve been taking a break from my iPod to listen to weather and traffic reports, but I can’t really find a station to lock in on. I know that it’s gonna be a good night for the boom boom pow if I blame it on the alcohol. And yes, I know the androgynous Lady Gaga wants to just dance and take a ride on my disco stick. Is there anything else playing?

And to Maleko, you’re okay but at times a little rude. KC and Taka, not understanding what Taka is saying was fun years ago, now it’s kinda annoying. Sam Da Man, you had chance, but the pair of Rory and Gregg still reign. The range and spontaneity of these guys still can’t be touched. Only if the Wake Up Crew weren’t on 98.5 (which still isn’t programmed into my radio). I just can’t get into their music format. But then if I do, maybe that’s yet another sign that I’m getting older.

100 Calorie Rip Off

Sad, this package of 100 Calorie Right Bites has a single cookie in it.

100-calorie-gipped

It’s unopened and feeling the contents of the package, there is indeed one cookie inside this 100-calorie snack. I’ve been ripped off!

The Snooze Burger at The Counter

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I gotta call this custom The Counter creation the Snooze Burger. Grilled pineapple, gruyere cheese, dill pickle chips, roasted red peppers, roasted corn and black bean salsa.

Snooze Burger

After eating this, I napped for a looong time. Or it could have been the fries, or the sweet potato fries, or the peanut butter shake…

Hawaii’s Alltop and Top Social Media Geeks

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Just making a cross comparison between what’s featured on Alltop Hawaii and Bytemarks’ list of Top Social Media Geeks of Hawaii.

Here is Bytemarks’ list with those also included in Alltop Hawaii in bold:

20. Burt Lum Bytemarks
19. Judi Clark
18. Ryan Ozawa Hawaii Blog
17. Christa Wittmier Honolulu’s Nightlife Diaries
16. Ian Kitajima
15. Donna Nakasue Champuru.net on moms.alltop.com
14. Liza Pierce A Maui Blog
13. Jared Kuroiwa KGMB9
12. Dan Leuck Tech Hui
11. Greg Yamane Pulpconnection / Susie Collins The Canary Report in environmental-health.allop.com
10. Todd Cochrane Geek News Central in podcasts.alltop.com
9. Roxanne Darling Beach Walks with Rox
8. Vernon Brown 808 Talk
7. Paula Bender East Oahu Sun
6. Mitchell Dwyer Scrivtriv in trivia.alltop.com
5. Melissa Chang Urban Mix Plate
4. Nathan Kam Kam Family Blog
3. Nadine Kam FashionTribe
2. Andy Bumatai
1. L.P. “Neenz” Faleafine From the Mind of NEENZ

That’s 12 overlaps (see update below) between the two lists. I’m not suggesting that both lists be completely in sync (where would the variety be in that?). So why make the comparison? Just an observation knowing of both these Hawaii focused resources.

I wonder how many top Hawaii bloggers and social media geeks are native Hawaiian? 😉

Update: Thanks to NEENZ, I updated the cross comparison showcasing the local talent which is now up to 17 overlaps.

Lane Closed

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Hey all you Windward tweeters, the Hawaii Department of Transportation is asking you to retweet the lane closure from 830A-3P. Be sure to help out and RT the message. 😉

rt-lane-closed

Trusting KGMB9

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While the fallout of the massive news merger between KGMB9, KHNL, and K5 is still ongoing, my immediate allegiance goes to those at KGMB9. Why, I found myself asking. For me, historically, KGMB9 was the last news broadcast I would watch on TV. Now, I really don’t watch news broadcasts anymore, getting a healthy heaping of news from online resources. Yes, KHNL and K5 have some “visual” talent in the way of Stephanie Lum (voted Pulpconnection’s Hottest Local Newscaster in 2005), so where does my leaning towards KGMB9 come from?

It comes from KGMB’s extensive use of social media, that’s where. Like I said, KGMB9 was my last news resource, but I noticed things changing. Things like KGMB9 blogs, twitter accounts for their staff, live streaming on the net, interactive newscasts, a Facebook fan page, and most recently Facebook Friend connect. Through these changes, KGMB9 went from last to my first local news source. But what do all these social media outlets have to do with news reporting success?

It doesn’t. Where it does come into play is building relationships and trust with the people of KGMB9. Through their blogs, tweets, and other conversations, I feel more connected to the people of KGMB9 versus other “faceless” news stations. Yes, some of these stations have their forays into social media, but KGMB9 outpaces the competition by far.

Have you ever conversed with @kgmb9 on Twitter. You’ll get a response. This isn’t a bot that just relays news headlines. There is a real person behind the account providing his own perspective, asking questions, requesting feedback, engaging. And Jared (the voice behind @kgmb9) has done absolute wonders with the entire KGMB9 online presence and strategy, and in fact, shares his thoughts and tactics on his KGMB9 blog.

Tannya Joaquin is another personality that frequently shares her life on her KBMG9 blog. She does comment about news items, but mostly, readers are treated to an inside view of her life off the air. And every once in awhile, Tannya shows up on Twitter. 😉

The behind the scenes talent of KGMB9 is also part of the act, lending yet another view of the internals of the company. I gotta give shout outs to @tsiruno and @glorificus5884 for all their banter on Twitter. So fun to listen to. And being featured on Troy’s blog is cool too.

So with all this transparency and interactions with KGMB9, how can you not trust the channel and the people?

Peddling Entertainment Books!

Anyone interested in buying 2010 Entertainment Books? To afford a new playground for pre-schoolers, we’re selling these books with a special bonus!

If you buy now, we’ll include the Entertainment Book from 2009. Even though the 2009 book is expiring, you still have time to capitalize on the great deals, and did I mention this would be included free of charge?

Entertainment Books

Get both Entertainment Books for $35 $30. Sorry, this offer limited to Hawaii fans only. Leave a comment if interested, and I’ll get back with you.

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