November 2012 Blog Posts (10)

Contrary to what the title may lead you to believe about me, I'm not against the process of wireframing. I think it can be a very valuable tool in the designers kit when used properly. However, with more and more clients requesting increasingly complex functionality from their sites and apps, wireframes simply fall short in conveying the most important part of an interface design: how it will behave.

This really…

Henk Rogers has launched a new Hawaii-based venture accelerator called Blue Startups focusing on capital-efficient and scalable-technology companies, including Internet, software, mobile, gaming and e-commerce. They are also interested in tech companies selling into Asian markets.

I'm excited to see Henk and friends making this sort of investment in our…

Christmas is coming, and nobody needs to tell you that malls are about to get crazy. The last thing you want to endure is long checkout lines – especially when you have a loooong gift list to get through.

Retailers don’t want you to wait either, because they’re afraid you may want to change your mind about that merchandise in your hand. Thank goodness, then, for…

Recently I was asked if Microsoft constitutes a good investment today. Talk about a loaded question! First of all, please consider the commentary here as just a small piece of what you will consider when making your decision. Investments in general involve the much bigger picture of your risk tolerance, risk profile, financial goals, and existing assets. Having said…

Guy Toyama, a true entrepreneurial gem on the Big Island, has passed away. Guy's welcoming smile and words of encouragement will be missed.  Prayers to his family and friends during this very difficult time.  

For more information is available here: http://www.hawaii247.com/2012/11/12/guy-toyama-friends-of-nelha-dies/

I've been meaning to follow up on Chris Sass' excellent post on growing pains.  A related side effect of code that has grown too complicated is unit tests that are impossible to decipher.  As your ActiveRecord model becomes bloated, the tests written for it have to mock out too many things.  This makes it nearly impossible to know why the test was created and what, exactly, is supposed…

HPU captured first place in the Hawaii site of this year's ACM International Programming contest, for the second year in a row. HPU's winning team placed 19th out of 111 teams in the Pacific Northwest Region, an impressive feat.



Winning team: Kevin Goo, Kenneth Chai, Kwok Cheung (four problems solved)

2nd place team: Jarred Jobe, Melvin Tomas, Jessia Soriano (three problems solved)

4th place team: Precious Binas, Abe Pineda, Nathaniel Befus (three problems solved)…

I always look for back-up options -- things I can rely on should everything go horribly wrong in a hurry. Blame it on my being a project manager. Or having lived in New York through 9/11.



While Superstorm Sandy cut a destructive swathe through the Northeast and dominated headlines in the week just past, there were odd, tiny parallels in O’ahu events that set me thinking about what basic tools and technologies I can rely on -- and, conversely, what my Achilles heels are -- when…

The Nov 8 seminar will be presented by Martin Hsia, Intellectual Property & Patent Attorney with Cades Schutte LLP, covering timely and effective registration of copyright for media, software & digital works, giving notice of copyright; policing infringements, counterfeits and takedowns, digital rights management and other Internet copyright protection tools, shrink-wrap licensing, civil and criminal enforcement, and U.S. Customs and International Trade Commission exclusion…