GTE Wireless Rolls Out New Choice Plans

As of January 31^st, GTE Wireless Hawaii initiated a rate and service plan difficult to ignore. Known as the Choice Plans, this national campaign is designed to offer added value to the customer on the move.

In an effort to appeal to the needs of today’s wireless customer’s needs, as well as give competition a stiff “Hello”, this new plan offers what has long been coveted by both customers and competition alike: flat-rate, State and regional coverage.

“We are very excited because we will be the first carrier here to let customers use their phones around the State with no additional roaming charges,” expresses Kerry Lum, GTE Wireless Hawaii’s Vice President of Marketing.

According to Lum, this has long been on the customer’s request list in the wireless industry and it took somebody like GTE to be able to offer this type of coverage.

There are two Choice Plans that are going to be difficult to overlook over the next few months: HomeChoice and AmericaChoice. Both combine flat pricing with exceptional coverage, things that the wireless customer likes to hear most.

The goal of AmericaChoice is to minimize confusion and maximize the customer’s ability to utilize his/her phone while traveling around the Country. This plan is especially beneficial for the traveling individual, whom like most, does not want to and worry about recalculating his/her wireless bill every time the phone rings. Basically, the plans lets you call from anywhere in the United States to anywhere in the United States with no additional roaming charges.

Some calling features that you can look forward to seeing bundled with AmericaChoice are Call Waiting, Three-Way Calling, Call Forwarding, Caller ID, and Voice Mail with Digital messaging (where available).

There is what is known as HomeChoice, the plan let’s you use GTE’s wireless services from island to island. Similar to AmericaChoice, HomeChoice incurs no roaming charges when placing calls from within the plan’s coverage area. In the case of HomeChoice, the coverage area is within the State. This means that you will be able to call Aunty Leilani in Maui at your regular wireless costs. Now, the only thing that should separate you from keeping in touch with your loved ones is Laryngitis.

“Locally, we are very excited about HomeChoice,” says Lum. “This inter-island piece is for everybody.”

Besides having the capabilities of traveling around the State and enjoying the peace of mind of “roamless” charges, you can also look forward to upgrading to other Choice packages that covers larger regional areas of the continental U.S.

“These changes were prompted by customer demand,” notes Lum.

GTE Wireless’ customers have long voiced their opinion to have flat rates to simplify billing and ease the pocketbook. With these new Choice Plans, it looks as though the customers will get their wishes answered, leaving the competition saying “Hello?”

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GTE Wireless provides wireless voice, paging and data telecommunications services to more than 4.8 million customers in 17 states and is part of one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies. You can find out more about GTE, GTE Wireless and the Choice Plans on their World Wide Web Site at www.gte.com.

Web Watch – Online Christmas Shopping

When we think of Christmas in Hawaii, we think of chillier breezes, the beautiful lights in downtown and our dearest loved ones. Ice skating, building snowmen and roasting chestnuts on an open fire doesn’t really hit home for us during this special time of year.

The same can be said about shopping in Hawaii. Although we can relate to crowded shopping malls with crazed housewives diving for the best bargains, we cannot fathom what it would be like to buy Christmas presents such as snow tires, snow gloves and beanies (no, not beanie babies, just beanies!).

One common bond that we all can share during this festive December however, is how we carry on our shopping duties. Whether snowing, raining or mostly sunny after brief morning showers, we can all enjoy the convenience of pointing, clicking and completing all of our shopping duties without ever leaving our home. Yes, more and more of us have found that doing our Christmas shopping online saves us both time and money.

An estimated $2.3 billion will be spent online by Americans this year and a total of approximately 17 million people will buy at least one product online, a far cry from the scarce, online activities of yesteryear. Part of the reason for this boom in transactional activities online as of late can be accredited to an increased trust that consumers have put upon purchasing goods online. Entering one’s credit card number through a web site seems to not be as spooky as it once used to be.

There is an abundance of national web sites that we can visit to help cut our Christmas present shopping list down to size, but why not support the local economy this season by buying products from Hawaii’s very own wealth of web sites? Let’s go shopping!

If it’s music you want, then it’s music you’ll get at www.mele.com, the self-proclaimed Hawaiian Music Island. Here, you can peruse their rather impressive collection of local, Hawaiian audio CDs, videos and even books. Real Audio streaming technology is implemented to provide sample audio clips of a number of songs, and there is also a concert calendar tracking local artists and concerts around the country. Although the order form is not encrypted and secured using the SSL protocol, ordering a product of your choice is handled and processed in a simple, straight-forward process.

Another place to discover Hawaiian music products to tickle your fancy is at Island Gifts Direct (oldhawaii.com/igd/shopmain.html). In addition to selling Hawaiian music and related items (e.g. books, videos, etc.), IGD also offers an abundant assortment of local food products and stuff for the keiki. Although the ordering process is not as automated as shopping cart-type applications seen at other commerce web sites, IGD uses a simple, top-down process and also utilizes the encrypted/secure SSL protocol for form processing.

Both Aloha Cybermall (aloha-mall.com) and MarketPlace Hawaii (www.marketplacehawaii.com) use the “virtual mall” concept, providing a front-end gateway into their collection of online “shops”. Aloha Cybermall has a number of “tenants” occupying the mall, including shops carrying Hawaiian wear, food & beverage items, and health & beauty goods, among others. MarketPlace Hawaii offers orderable product lines from such names as Hilo Hatties, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, and Liberty House. Both sites offer shops with shopping cart capabilities, as well as security on selected sites.

What defines Hawaii’s snacking craze better than crack-seed? Wholesale Unlimited, Inc. (www.cybersnacks.net), one of Hawaii’s most popular snack specialty stores is finally online. Now, searching, selecting, and purchasing to your tummy’s content is easier than ever.

Shopping for the techie this Christmas? How about paying the ByteWare Connection’s (www.byteware.net) web site a visit. Although there are no online shopping capabilities at present, ByteWare’s web site is constantly updated with their latest specials.

[See also for the TechHead: Motorola (www.mot.com), CompUSA (www.compusa.com) and CNET (www.cnet.com)].

This Web Watch cannot be complete without mentioning the State’s shopping centers who are online. Most of these do not have online ordering capabilities, but you will be able to find the mall’s merchant listings and directions on how to get there.

Ala Moana Shopping Center
www.alamoana.com/

Aloha Tower Shopping Center
www.alohatower.com/

Hawaii Kai Towne Center
www.hawaiishopper.com/HKTC/

Kaahumanu Shopping Center
www.maui.net/~kcenter/

Keauhou Shopping Center
www.hawaiishopper.com/KSC/

Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center
www.hawaiishopper.com/RHSC/

Vitoria Ward Centers
www.victoriaward.com/

Windward Mall
www.hawaiishopper.com/WWM/

What the hey! Let’s also list some of the more popular web sites that are not from Hawaii. Follow these links to complete your round of online shopping. Happy trails!

Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

eBay
www.ebay.com

Buy.com
www.buy.com

Bluefly
www.bluefly.com

eToys
www.etoys.com

Oceanic Internet – Road Runner Business Solutions launch at Computer Expo ’98

For more than a year now, Oceanic Internet has been providing high-speed, residential Internet access via their ever-popular cable modem service called Road Runner. And, throughout that year, Oceanic Internet made huge strides in the way we use and think about the Internet.

They have not only offered (and continue to offer) such standard services as Email, Home Page Service and Newsgroup access, but they also offer what nobody else can: a high speed, high bandwidth connection to the Internet. With this considerable advantage, they are able to utilize the speed and power of Road Runner by offering unique local content like streaming local news video clips and Music Choice audio stations, a TUCOWS shareware software downloading mirror site, and much, much more.

This year, Road Runner content is getting a facelift. As an affiliate of media powerhouse Time Warner, Road Runner is offering what is tagged as v2 (the Road Runner Version 2.0 web site). It features compelling content from an abundant list of national programming suppliers such as A & E, CNN, People, Time and CNET, along side of timely, local, Hawaii content.

The new interface not only makes vast navigational and content enhancements, but also incorporates important customer information like “Member Services” and “Help” sections into the site. v2 is the perfect marriage between local and national content and does an excellent job in offering its customers ample help resources.

In addition to launching v2, Oceanic Internet is unveiling Road Runner Business Solutions – high-speed, corporate access solutions – to Hawaii as well.

Oceanic Internet is offering three, standard Road Runner Business packages to interested businesses: Road Runner Pro (for small businesses), Road Runner LAN (small to mid-sized businesses) and Road Runner Enterprise (large businesses). For more detailed information, including pricing and availability, go to Oceanic web site at www.oceanic.com.

Not to be outdone, Road Runner Residential solutions are still being offered at $39.95* ($49.95 for non Oceanic cable subscribers) and, if you sign up for residential services right here at the show, Oceanic Internet will give you a 50% discount off of installation and a free, Road Runner pin.

There will be presentations by Oceanic Internet’s General Manager Mike Meyer as well as CyberCom, Inc.’s President Peter Kay, and exciting drawings and giveaways to be conducted throughout the day.

Representatives from CyberCom (RR web application/hosting integration), Motorola (cable modems), Busch Consulting (RR business systems integration), Bank of Hawaii (eBankoh), as well as Oceanic Internet/Road Runner are also here to answer any questions you may have regarding their services/products.

There are many exciting things coming from Oceanic Internet. It’s no wonder everybody is buzzing about Road Runner and how they use it to take advantage of all there is out there in the vast world called the Internet.

* $44.95 as of June 9, 2001.

Oceanic Internet Computer Expo ’98 – Road Runner business solutions debut at the annual technology showcase

On October 28^th and 29^th, the Neil S. Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall will emerge, once again, as Hawaii’s premiere place to be for exposure to the State’s elite in computer/technology resources. A place where local businesses get a chance to showcase their latest in modern technologies, and also a place where you, the consumer, can catch the exciting new products and services of Hawaii.

Yes gang, it’s time for the annual Oceanic Internet Computer Expo ’98 show, this year, celebrating its 20^th anniversary.

Among the exciting participants, is the expo’s title sponsor, Oceanic Internet, who will be introducing many new features and services that’ll knock your socks off.

As you may have recalled at last year’s show, Oceanic Internet unveiled their answer to frustratingly slow Internet speeds by showcasing their high-speed, high-bandwidth, fiber-optic coaxial cable Internet access solution called Road Runner. Since then, Oceanic Internet has seen an enormous growth and heightened enthusiasm towards the reality of accessing the Internet at unbelievable access speeds through the cable modem.

This year, in addition to touting the immensely successful Road Runner Residential service, Oceanic Internet will be introducing Road Runner Business Solutions – high-speed, corporate access solutions – to Hawaii as well.

Out of the blocks, Oceanic Internet will have three, standard Road Runner Business packages to present: Road Runner Pro, Road Runner LAN and Road Runner Enterprise. Each package offers a unique set of services that is sure to match the needs of any advantage hungry business. For more information on Road Runner Business solutions, visit the Oceanic web site at www.oceanic.com.

In addition to introducing these new business solutions, Oceanic Internet, in association with local companies such as CyberCom and Bush Consulting, will be offering seminar sessions all day, right there at the Oceanic Internet booth. Oceanic Internet will also be holding contest drawings and promotions that will offer discounted or waived setup and/or monthly charges for new signups. If that’s not enough, the new, Motorola CyberSURFR Wave Cable Modem, featuring higher upload speeds and a sleeker, new design, will be introduced at the Oceanic Internet Computer Expo ’98 Show.

Joining Oceanic Internet at this year’s Computer Expo ’98 show will be Media & Telecommunications powerhouses Oceanic Cable and Oceanic Communications, both set to showcase their latest services.

In addition to exhibiting their award winning cable TV programs and services like HBO, The Disney Channel, ESPN and Pay-Per-View, as well as quality local and foreign programming like Mike Sakamoto’s Fishing Tales, NGN and the Filipino Channel, Oceanic Cable will also be featuring the latest in digital television technologies.

This year, the Computer Expo has been combined with Telecom ’98, an annual Telecommunications conference presented by the HTCA (Hawaii Tele-Communications Association). At the forefront of Telecommunication solutions in Hawaii is Oceanic Communications. Running over a multiply redundant, 24/7 monitored SONET ring network, Oceanic Communications maintains one of the cleanest, fiber optic networks around. They will be offering their more common dedicated transport services (including SONET OC-N, STS-1, Broadcast Video TV-1 and DS3 services), as well as their Business Switched Services (including Business access lines, analog and digital PBX trunks, and even Primary Rate ISDN).

So what are you waiting for? Attend the Oceanic Internet Computer Expo ’98 Show to get the latest, most exciting advancements from the Oceanic family!

Virtual Office – Telecommuting coming closer to reality

When you think about the direction in which today’s technologies are headed, it is hard not to imagine a place that makes our everyday tasks simpler. Think about it. We have had automatic garage door openers and can openers for quite some time. They have already been accepted into the mainstream world and are rather common. Then, there are remote control car and home alarms. A little less common yet very accepted. Soon, the commonplace will be telecommuting -remote access and administration – and mobile paging, telephone, e-mail, faxing, scanning and copying integrated into one, nice package.

Imagine a world in which we can wake up at noon, go to all day meetings in our spiffy, new pajamas and pink bunny house slippers and not miss a beat. Where getting up at the rooster’s first peep, sporting your best aloha shirt/dress, driving your ozone-killing automobile through a congested H-1, arriving late to work and sitting in front of a computer is a thing of the past. Soon, many of us will no longer have to go anywhere. We will be able to communicate and receive whatever we need with the click of a mouse, push of a button or utterance of our voice.

How? Because today’s computers and mobile hand-held devices – thanks to the new advancements in technologies – are closing the gap between how we work and how we live. The travel to a physical office, for many, will become practically obsolete.

Let us look into some companies (on the web) who are developing the turnkey solutions that are going to take us into the next millenium.

Xerox’s web site (www.xerox.com) showcases a product called the Document HomeCentre, a multipurpose, multifunction peripheral for the intuitive family. It can make copies, scan images and prints documents, all in a 11 7/8″ (H) X 9 1/4″ 17 3/8″ (L) body. Xerox also has a business counterpart called the Document WorkCentre 450C. Like the HomeCentre, the WorkCentre can print, scan and copy, but it can also do faxing. It can handle plain paper faxing, utilizing a telephone device port, as well as PC-based faxing. The true, big business solution though, is the DocumentCentre. Whereas the previous peripherals required some level of physical interaction, the DocumentCentre can be initiated and operated remotely.

How about mobile connectivity? Ikon Office Solutions (www.ikon.com) has the answer with their line of WinBEEP solutions. This wireless messaging solution uses Microsoft Windows as the platform to perform complex paging and messaging tasks. You can use WinBEEP to contact one or many pages at once, automate reminders of important dates/appointments to yourself and send messages to email inboxes. Ikon also offers a 2-way wireless solution for laptops, Windows CE and RIM pagers. These offer the flexibility of performing 2-way communication with email as well as faxing.

Servco Integrated Office Technology (www.servco-siot.com) also offers network devices that perform multifunctional tasks. Their showroom includes Canon’s GP200F as well as the Ricoh FT8000 series copiers. Canon’s GP200F integrates network printing, faxing and scanning, but more importantly, it is expandable, so when your business needs expand, so does the GP200F. Ricoh’s FT8000 series copiers handle the high-volume, copy-only type situations. These copiers make copying documents quick and easy with 80 copies per minute speeds. Other features include a touch-screen CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube), a “human sensor” (that illuminates when a user approaches it), and proof copying for previewing.

Each of these companies has a local division in Hawaii. If some of these solutions sound like a viable solution for your business, contact their local division. Soon, you’ll be able to start enjoying those afternoon sleep-ins. Just get rid of those bunny slippers won’t you?

Breaking the Speed Limit – Oceanic Internet opens Road Runner kiosks at both Computer City locations

Many inquisitive individuals have been itching to experience Road Runner Hawaii, Hawaii’s cable Internet access solution, but, until now, there has not been a viable means by which to do so without actually ordering the service from Oceanic Cable.

For these people, your itching days are over. You are now able to access the ‘net at accelerated, cable modem speeds via the new Road Runner enabled kiosk located at the Waikele Computer City store. From this kiosk, you are able to do anything you would do over a regular telephone line modem, (browse the web, download files, etc.), only faster.

Rudy Chew, Oceanic Internet’s Marketing Manager explains, “The Road Runner kiosk provides a true driving experience unsurpassed on the ‘net today. We want people to experience for themselves what high-speed, online access is all about. And Road Runner is loaded with unique local and national content material. Whether you connect at home or in the office, Road Runner will dramatically change the way you use the Internet.”

Road Runner Hawaii brochures can also be picked up at both the Waikele Computer City store, as well as the Ward location, and you can even purchase “Road Runner ready” personal computers from both locations.

E-Bankoh – Bank of Hawaii unveils true Internet banking

In a recent poll of 97 online Financial Institutions, Gomez Advisors, an independent authority of online financial services, ranked Hawaii’s own, Bank of Hawaii 5th, right along side of some national giants such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo and the Security First Network.

One of the reasons for Bank of Hawaii’s online success can be accredited to their new Internet banking service called e-Bankoh.

E-Bankoh is a secure, online transaction service from Bank of Hawaii that enables any BOH customer to access their checking, savings and credit card accounts from anywhere at anytime via the Internet.

Need to pay a bill? E-Bankoh will do that for you. How about tracking your spending habits, then generating a report from it? E-Bankoh will do that as well.

“We are always looking for ways to improve our convenience for the customer,” says Karen Tom, Bank of Hawaii’s e-Bankoh Marketing Manager. “E-Bankoh was one of the ways in which we are achieving this.”

Online account management is not the only service you can expect to find within the e-Bankoh package though. You can also invest online using e-Bankoh Investments, an online quote (20 minute delayed) and market research service. E-Bankoh Investments utilizes the power of Bank of Hawaii’s full service brokerage – Pacific Century Investment Services, Inc. – to provide in-depth, market information.

In addition to online investing and numerous account management tools, e-Bankoh is a very robust, as well as flexible tool. Your data on e-Bankoh is retained on the server for about 16 months, therefore providing a great history of one’s spendings/earnings to base a financial report on. You can also export out to independent software packages such as Quicken or Microsoft Money, therefore eliminating the need for time-consuming, as well as headache causing paperwork.

Naturally, a prime concern for many users is the level of security e-Bankoh maintains, especially when it is dealing with highly sensitive transfers. However, Bank of Hawaii utilizes many encryption methods to lower the chances of criminal activities towards the site.

First and foremost, the site is run over S1 (Security First) technologies, a proven technology that 3 out of the top 5 financial institutions used in production of their web sites. Over that, all transactions are done through an HTTPS protocol or SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). There is also a password protected login process as well as a secure server complex with filtering routers and firewalls to add additional layers of transactional security.

“Bank of Hawaii’s e-Bankoh service is so tightly integrated and synchronized with the institution’s systems that it is one of only a few in the world whose transactions are completed at real-time,” said Tom.

Definitely way ahead of the game.

To learn more about e-Bankoh, point your web browser to www.boh.com.

Oceanic Communications – Building a custom telecom solution

When most people hear the name “Oceanic”, they associate that name to Hawaii’s distinctive Cable Television service, Oceanic Cable. The relationship built between cable subscriber and cable provider has been a long-standing one and has made the name synonymous with cable TV.

However, there is a fairly new “Oceanic” on the block in Hawaii who does not provide a cable service. No, this “Oceanic” provides a different type of service – Communication. Instead of Content being King (like in Cable), at Oceanic Communications, Transport is King.

Oceanic Communications, a Time Warner Telecom Company, started in 1994 as an affiliate of Oceanic Cable. Committed to providing the finest dedicated transport service throughout the islands, Oceanic Communications has built upon that premise and developed into a highly competitive Telecommunications company in Hawaii.

Today, Oceanic Communications provides state-of-the-art communication services to many of Hawaii’s businesses that depend on Oceanic Communications to perform mission critical applications. Some of these companies include Branch Offices, Long Distance and Wireless Carriers, the Military, and Internet Access Providers.

Oceanic Communications’ networks run over more than 385 miles of point-to-point fiber optic SONET rings with multiple redundancy at all points in its island-wide network. The network is also monitored at the Network Operations Center (and automatically “healed”), 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to insure stability and uptime. These factors insure a network availability ratio of 99.999%.

How does this advanced fiber optic network compete and compare with the competition? Dick Davis, Oceanic Communications General Manager, explains, “We built our network from scratch, from the ground up. We had the knowledge and resources (Time Warner Telecom) to deploy an infrastructure that was stable and reliable.”

Davis continued, “Because our network was just recently built, with only top of the line parts and strategies, the quality of our network is far superior in data transfer and sound quality. We also provide you with the best customer service on the island, a service guarantee, and highly competitive pricing.”

Oceanic Communications recently made another addition to the already robust network. A Lucent 5ESS Digital Switching System was installed, which helps to enable (telephone line) tone to the business customers.

Although Davis tells me that Oceanic Communications can always custom build a telecom solution, some of the more common dedicated transport services include the following: SONET OC-N Service, STS-1 Service, Transport Arrangement Service, Private Network Transport Service, Broadcast Video TV-1 Service, DS3 Service, DS1 Service, Fractional DS1 Service, DS0 Service, and Analog Voice Grade Service.

Oceanic Communications also offers Business Switched Services – other services that businesses can rely on for their corporate communication needs. Services include Business Access Lines, Analog PBX Trunks, Digital PBX Trunks, Telephone Numbers, Directory Listings, Features (such as call waiting, call forwarding and three-way calling), Hunting, Blocking Services and even Primary Rate ISDN.

With this business dial tone availability offered as part of Oceanic Communications’ switched services, businesses now have the right to choose their local link. Davis says that there are plans to move this dial tone availability to the residential market, but will not be for quite some time.

Oceanic Communications is part of a family of networks in the Time Warner Telecom group that includes the cities of Albany, Austin, Binghamton, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, Greensboro, Houston, Indianapolis, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York City (Manhattan), Orlando, Raleigh, Rochester, San Antonio, San Diego and Tampa. For more information, please contact 625-8588 or visit the Oceanic web site at www.oceanic.com.

At least we now know that there is more than one “Oceanic” on the blocks.

Hawaii’s Web Utopia – Providing information with unlimited potential

So you think you wanna be a “Webmaster” huh?

Do you know the code? Can you handle punching that code for 40+ hours a week on a sparse lunch diet? Are you able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?

Well, ok. That last one is not a requirement, but on some days, the life of what some call a “Webmaster” may require one to think this way.

Yes, the life of a Webmaster. Sometimes glamorous and glorious, sometimes not. Sometimes strenuous and stressful, sometimes, well, always strenuous and stressful.

Attaining that peak level of performance in this industry is sometimes a daunting task. There is more competition than there is opportunity, and that opportunity never seems to stay constant. Changes in industry standards bring forth new and often intimidating code, design sets and skills.

When I first started college at the University of Hawaii, I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself. Four years of High School gave me skill sets that included athletics, music, student government and some video production, but nothing that had my name written all over it.

I fumbled and stumbled through my first semester at UH and when I started to get the hang of things, I got involved with extracurricular activities and courses to find my niche. I wrote for the campus newspaper (Ka Leo O Hawaii), took theater classes, and even had a short stint as a DJ for the school’s radio station (KTUH). I wanted to find something that would grab that fire inside of me and take control.

One day, I followed my friend to the computer labs. He just started learning this new Internet code they called HTML. With it, you could publish a worldwide accessible document on the Internet.

The spark ignited.

I found my calling. Utilizing the combination of journalism and computers, creating web documents (or pages) for me came naturally.

Code after code, page after page, I worked the wee hours of the night away. I started that fire inside of me that would not go away. Eventually, I got the hang of “it”. I spent enough time online – both viewing and developing web sites – that I started to understand the whole paradigm of what I had gotten myself into. I started to realize that maybe I could actually make a career out of this love/obsession.

My first web site was hosted on the university’s servers. Things started slow, but the site eventually gained quite a bit of notoriety. It was just a concoction of a number of subjects that interested me, including sports, entertainment and cars. Soon, it gained enough of a following that I became the #1 hit web site on the UH servers. I was later told to remove it from the servers due to bandwidth constraints.

By this point, I started to realize the potential of the web, as well as myself. I started getting a little more serious and focused my attention on the business potential of the Internet.

Since then, I have done commercial web sites, as well as “themed” web development. One of the more notable web sites that I am proud of is the memorial web site that I did in memory of the great Israel Kamakawiwo`ole (www.e-hawaii.com/iz/). Proud because of its tremendous success, despite it’s non-commercial nature.

Now, I work for Oceanic Internet. My title is Assistant Web Editor. I handle a lot of the web content for the popular, high-speed cable online service called Road Runner. I also develop much of Oceanic Television’s corporate web site’s (oceanic.com) content.

I thoroughly enjoy what I do everyday and am happy that I have found my niche. My best advice is to try your hardest to stay competitive. This market is very competitive. The moment you lose your edge is the moment you lose your job. Stay in touch with your (online) surroundings and never specialize. Once you do that, you are obsolete.

Being a “Webmaster” can be fun and rewarding. The market is vast and can always be impacted by one individual. Those people in Hawaii, whose primary task in life is to make the online world a better place, is ever abundant and still growing. Like myself, they have found their Web Utopia.

I spoke with two of these “Webmasters” making a name for themselves, and the web site(s) that they develop.

David “Kawika” Talisman is the president of the Honolulu based web, film and video production company True Digital (www.truedigital.com), and had this to say about his experiences as a Webmaster in Hawaii.

“I came from the film and video production side. It was a natural progression onto the Net because I was using the net to improve my editing.

About 3 years ago, I started to get serious about web design because I saw that as our future. More importantly, business in Hawaii was starting to decline seriously so I felt I better start moving into the Net Technologies, which had no geographical limits.

The future of the Net in my humble opinion is in its incredible ability to provide information with unlimited interactive potential. I see Internet Video as the new frontier. The future is that the computer monitor will soon be the equal of the TV set for delivering top-notch programming and information.

I think more and more that being a Webmaster is becoming more like being a Producer… Just like with film and video, you have to be familiar with many different kinds of technologies to be successful.”

Blaine Fergerstrom is the Webmaster for the Honolulu Star Bulletin’s news daily web site (starbulletin.com). He gives this piece of advice to the Hawaii Webmaster wanna-be.

“If you want to be a webmaster, never say die. Let nothing get in your way. Work harder than the next guy. Remember that some kid fresh out of college wants your job and will take it if you become lazy. Learn all the essential disciplines involved with your job. Don’t learn one tool and stop there. Take some graphic design classes.

Realize that the Web is no different from print or any other publishing medium. Your job as a Web designer is to deliver information to the reader in the most efficient manner possible in an aesthetically pleasing presentation.

Gen-X design is not always appropriate to the subject matter at hand. Don’t overdo it with backgrounds, blinking gifs, layering. Often that stuff gets in the way of the information–big mistake. Your readers don’t necessarily appreciate it.

Back up frequently!”

Great advice from two great “Webmasters” of Hawaii. Now, maybe you can leap those tall buildings in a single bound.

Fujio Matsuda Technology Training and Education Center – Providing low anxiety, high technology computer training

Has learning about computers either been intimidating or inadequate for you? Either the fear of a mouse or frustration from a turtle-paced class lecture have been the culprit of poor computer skills and you want to do something about it right?

How about attending a non-credit, computer training course at the Fujio Matsuda Technology Training and Education Center, Windward Community College’s Office of Continuing Education training center?

Originally established to provide educational training for the Windward Oahu community in 1985, the Matsuda Center has quickly become known as the friendly, low anxiety, high touch environment to meet the educational needs of individuals and businesses interested in computer training.

The Center is supported by a five year, one million dollar contribution from a group of donors, and provides a “high tech, high touch” approach to computer education and training.

Courses are plentiful and includes Windows ’95 and Macintosh intros, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Claris Works, and FileMaker Pro intros, as well as an abundant number of Internet-related courses.

The Matsuda Center also provides personal advising, workshops, and special follow-up activities that can be tailored to meet the needs of students. You can also reap the benefits of using the Center (equipped with both PC Macintosh computers) during open lab hours, repeating classes as a refresher course for free, and becoming a member of the Matsuda Center’s User Group.

For more information contact Roy Fujimoto at 235-7433 or r_fujimoto@wccada.wcc.hawaii.edu or visit Windward Community College’s Office of Continuing Education homepage at http://www.wcc.hawaii.edu/commsvcs/default.html.