Hawaii - Big Island - What NOT to miss? chat & forums.

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Thread: Hawaii - Big Island - What NOT to miss?

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 28 (view)

Hawaii - Big Island - What NOT to miss? Posted: 7/18/2009 10:45:53 PM
i was there last year in may for three weeks. I left disappointed. Part of it is my own fault for not doing enough research , part is because of tourist traps and blatant lies. First , the good stuff : Waipeo valley. The north tip of the island , the orchid farm. The whole north east of the island all the way down to hilo. There are awesome spots with beautiful sights. There is a neat little beach not too far from Kona that is on private property ( beaches are public nonetheless, drive up to guard house and ask for an access pass. Part of the beach is lava rock , other part is white sand. The place of refuge is a nice ste , as is the Capt cooks monument. There are a couple of really good place to eat in kona ( the kind of places the locals go .. ) Now the stuff i was disappointed with. The Big island is NOT like other tropical islands. Forget lush foliage , palm tree lined beaches and hillsides with waterfalls. The west side of the big island is a savage disaster area. Nature is still recovering from the last lava flows. there is ahrdly any vegetation.What little palmtrees you see will be in resorts and have been planted there. They are not 'natural' like on other islands. The east side is better , but then it rains a lot , and i mean a lot. The whole of kona is one tourist trap. If you want stuff go to the ABC stores. All the rest is overpriced. My credit card got cloned ... luckily the bank caught it and was refunded. ( purchases were made within minutes from each other in kona , hilo and back in kona... impossible...) but then again, that stuff can happen anywhere. I went specifically to the big island for scuba diving. This was the least interesting stuff i have ever seen. The coral reefs are healthy ( no algae and the coral is healthy , not dead ) But there is very little diversity in coral species. Fish is virtually nonexistent. If you see 10 fish swimming together the DM gets excited because they saw 'a school of fish'. There is also little diversity in fish species. The water is COLD. I had to buy a 5 mil suit after the first day of diving. I am used diving in 80 degree water ( and thats 80 degrees at 100ft ... at the surface its more like 86 ( florida keys , indian ocean , french polynesia : tahiti and moorea) This never got above mid 70s... (month of may) Some roads ar elittered with all kinds of thrash ( old matresses etc) . What is labeled as 'highway' is often a 2 lane pothole riddled backroad that twists and turns with no street lights whatsoever'. As for the waterfalls. Almost all of them are on private land and you can not get to them. The ones you can get to you can only see from a viewpoint. forget going down to where the water hits the grouand and dipping your toes into the lake. I guess my diappointment is because i have done all those things on Tahiti and Moorea and expected it to be the same in the big island. I stayed up on the hillside above kona in a guesthouse. The owners were very friendly and the groudns were beautifully kept. There is only one small detail. It bloody rains 22 hours a day . You wake up in the morning at 6 Am and the sun is out. by 9 AM the clouds begin to form and by 10 it starts raining 9 there is a reason they grow coffee there. the beans like that climate...) Out of 22 dayts i have had 2 where it was not raining when i came back . I went there to see sunsets ... nada. Diving gear dos not dry overnight , its humid and gets cold outside overnight. And lastly the plain lies. They will invariably show you flyers , brochures and books with incredible pictures of erupting lava , lava flows , lava flowing into the ocean , helicopters hovering next to waterfalls , people standing next to the telescope domes on mauna kea etc. All that stuff are blatant lies. First of all the 'eruption / lava flying in the air pictures are all at least 25 years old. The lava flows underground and drops in the ocean. you will not get to see glowing lava up close. I went to the volcano park. 4/5 of the road around the volcano was closed down. You could do the tunnel and drive up to the jagger museum and that was it. everyhing else was closed off. There is permanenty 'vog' over the volcano. you can see the crater very far in the distance. When i was there there were no boats running to see the lava flow in the ocean beacasue the government shut it down ' too dangerous'. Helicopters govring next to waterfalls : forget it. five years ago new rules came into effect that they can no longer do that , nor fly lower than 500ft because people on the ground complained about the noise ( which is understandable ). Yet they still use those pictures to lure people to take heli flights. Flying over the crater is also a no-no. ( at least whe i was there because it was belching out tremendous amounts of sulfuric clouds. ) You are not allowed to take rental cars up on saddleback road , not because the road is bad , but because the towing costs if something should go wrong... The tours take you close to the observatory but the observatory itself is off limits. You will not be able to stand next to the domes and certainly no chance to take a peek inside.. Will i go back ? yes but to Maui and Lanai , and i'll stay next to an ocean in a 5 star all inclusive resort. The Big island is not for me. It ended up last on the list of all the places i have been to...

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 24 (view)

What's your message/been messaged ratio? Posted: 7/13/2009 8:39:55 PM
zero to zero... deduction : if i'm fishing in the wrong pond, there simply are not that much fish in the sea as they claim :) , the mail thing doesn't work at all, or maybe i'm just a weirdo that nobody likes , and i'm fine with that too. I gotta be me...

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 19 (view)

Fellow world travelers? Where have you been, and where do you want to go? Posted: 7/13/2009 8:24:39 PM
Belgium , france , Germany , Tsjechia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Italy,Switzerland, Sri lanka , Maldives (Kani, Bandos, Faru), Singapore , Hong kong , Japan , Bahama's (multiple islands) Tahiti , Moorea, Canada , Quebeq, Hawaii (big island), California , New jersey, Virginia , North and south carolina , georgia, florida , on the wishlist : boara bora , fiji , Watlings island , cayman islands , maui, belize

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 58 (view)

Are there any programmers here? Posted: 7/10/2009 7:35:34 PM
mostly bare metal programming (microkernels, instructions sets, machine language and microcode) things like MOVX ACC,*[R0] CJNE B, sub_0001 I design custom processors and accelerators for specific functions where software is to slow. I need to come up with my own instructions sets. Currently working on a 150 bit VLIW machne (2x 64 bit data, 16 arguments and 6 bits for instructon) the machine has 14 instructions withsome variants. All instructions run in 1 clockcyle. Machine is optimized for fast context switching. i designed a high level language for it that des not use a runtime library. Actually the high level instruction set was designed first, then the barmetal work was done. Programs are very eay to write and debug and are deterministic in nature.

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 100 (view)

What operating system are you using? Posted: 7/9/2009 10:17:55 PM
OK. So there is an SDK or linux. Fine, Great even ! Now , is there actually a linux application out there that uses it ? i couldn't find one so far... As for paying for a red hat licence : the applications i run are supported only on red hat (there is a suse installas well i believe). I am not a progammer. The computer is a tool to me just like a set of screwdrivers. I do not make screwdrivers. I use them to make things. If i need a different size screwdriver i buy one. If the screwdriver breaks i go to the manufacturer and trade it in under warranty. If i have an idea for a new screw i have someone build me a screwdriver for it. I do not have the time nor the desire to make my own screwdrivers. If an update of one of the programs is available the manufacturer comes and installs it and is responsible it does not break anything working. They tweak the install scripts and config files. That's what they are paid for. Those guys only want to deal with red hat. So it's simple. I use what works and is supported by the software manufacturers. I am not interested in learning how linux/unix/windows works. As i said : an OS is a platform to run applications. I don't deal with the Os or the applications. Applications are screwdrivers. For me : the windows set of screwdrivers is sufficient for the jobs i need to do at home. Where i work i need a different set of screwdrivers, because of what i do ( i don't design harddisks integrated circuits at home. That's what my job is. I simply use the tools of the trade there. I have a project and it has a deadline, the screwdrivers better be there , and they better work. Even though you can run windows apps under wine : why go trough the trouble ? why take a pc , install an os and then run an emulator to run a different os? There is always some obsure thing that doesn't work quite right. As for Rtos. If my RTOS would take miliseconds to respond on a pentium running at 2 GHz i would kick it as far as it could fly. That is ridiculous. I have written microkernels running on bare metal that have response times measured in machine cycles... as in nanoseconds. I have one running that takes maximum 16 clockticks to save cpu state and vector off to a high priority task. Handcrafted assembly in combination with a custom interrupt controller and arbiter built in an FGPA. The kernel is 170 bytes, supports 16 concurrent tasks and has full memory isolation between processes. I don't understand why anyone would want to do anything realtime on a 'heavy' os like linux or windows. That is pointless. Thos systems are not built for that. Thats like taking a 5 ton truck and bolting a ferrari engine on... sure it can be done but it will never be a ferrari. Yes you may be able to rive faster than an unmodified truck , but the ferrari will still beat you, the truck will never look as nice as the real thing, and in case of trouble (you crash it): where will you go ? The truck manufacturer will tell you : sorry you voided your warranty, the brakes , bearings and chassis were never intended for these accelerations or stopping power. The steering train can not handle that either. you were operating outside of the specs. And ferrari will tell you the same. Trying to make an RTOS out of windows/ linux/ solaris /osc is like changing the foundation of the empire state building , while everyone stays in it, with as goal to have a faster elevator... Anyway. Everyone is free to do what he wants. I am simply giving my viewpoint. I buy screwdrivers and use them. If the screwdriver is broken i get it replaced , either under warranty , or if its normal wear and tear by replacing it. If a new type screw comes along i may have to upgrade to a new model screwdriver or buy an additional set. And that is fine with me. After all , the people that make screwdrivers need a job too , and would like to be paid for it too. That's the way the world turns.

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 55 (view)

When are you most happiest? Posted: 7/6/2009 9:37:25 PM
Wake up to the sound of the kolibris chattering at the feeder next to my window, under a clear blue sky. Then have a croissant with a glass of orange juice while reading the cartoons in the newspaper. Next drive down to santa cruz and capitola with the roof down (yeah i have a convertible). Take a walk on the pier, watch the surfers, then drive on to carmel , grab an ice cream in the creamery on ocean street. Walk down entire carmel beach, then head home while picking up fresh strawberries in watsonville. MAke another stop 2 blocks away at whole foods pick up a niece piece of beef. Cut up some potatos into fries, make kebab out of the beef , grill it, serve with hand cut fries and tomato/salad. Strawberries and rice pudding for dessert. Top that ! The only thing i can think of is to go scuba diving in a glass clear, warm ocean and be surrounded by whalesharks and mantarays and bajillions of colorful fishies. Since i can't go diving every weekend i take option 1 every weekend. The diving is limited to a couple of weeks vacation a year.

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 96 (view)

What operating system are you using? Posted: 7/6/2009 8:04:15 PM
Have you actually looked at the cost of a red hat licence ? i did today. 1375 Us$ including one year of realtime support ... i had to order a new machine and had to get a quote for the OS. As for software : the kind of software i use (mentor/cadence/synopsys/altera/xilinx) does not exist as 'free' or 'open source'. They are pre-compiled and only run on specific kernel / graphic shells. Most of the software sits in the 2k$ to 15k$ range and some go way beyond that. Most of the time windows and solaris distro's are cheaper to buy and cheaper to maintain. I do need to pay for linux os since i need instant support i can trust. Posting my questions on forums is forbidden. Most of the buiness stuff i do requires NDA's to be in place. Besides these kind of discussions are pointless. The OS is just a carrier for applications. Use whatever OS is required to run the apps you need to run. I have my range of apps for business (company provided) and i have my personal stuff. Of the persnal stuff , nothing exists on Linux. I only use some phot o and video editing like Photoshop , Lightroom 2 and Adobe Premiere CS4 in combination with specialistic hardware like a Matrox RTx2. Try finding that for Linux ... it does not exist and never will. The matrox is designed specifically for the Adobe tools , and those are Windows only. Just like never will be able to run Final Cut on Windows. Some things are just one platform only. And that's fine with me. Most of the software an average person uses is not that expensive anyway. Windows comes with 90% of wat people use, and you can find tons of free stuff for windows too ( Opera , Firefox, Picasa, OpenOffice ). Besides Office is about 80$ for a home and student licence and you can make 3 installs. If you need the pro version (i write books in my spare time, and you can only do commercial work with the pro version according to the licence) its 199. That's peanuts. If i send my final copy to the publisher they want ms-word format and drawings should be emf or svg. Word has a decent spell checker and the pro version also includes microsoft publisher which does a fair job for page layout. Long story short : use the OS required for the apps you want to run. period. The best Os is the one that runs the app you want to use.

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 10 (view)

Planning an Island vacation... Any suggestions? Posted: 7/5/2009 8:30:12 PM
Bora Bora Moorea Fiki Any island in the Maldives (especially for scuba / snorkeling / beach. If you want to stay closer : Check out Columbus Island in the bahamas. ( club med) awesome diving .

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 101 (view)

Are men on here really interested in marriage Posted: 7/5/2009 8:04:05 PM
The question is how do YOU define 'marriage' ... 1) The Fairy tale wedding : unicorns, girl in white dress , flowers everywhere , stretch limo, tons of people , 2) a contract binding two people together under 'religious law' 3) a contract binding two people together under 'government law' I personally am not interested in 1. It costs way too much money for a show-and-tell and up-the-jones event. I'd rather spend the same amount of money for a 2 week getaway to some tropical paradise , and will happily pay for the parents of the bride , and my parents to come over too. Maybe a couple of siblings may be invited too. Looking at the cost of the 'fanfare' around a wedding these days. 2 weeks in hawaii with 10 people is peanuts... This is not 'being cheap'. I just don;t get why people s[end all this moneu for a one hour ceremony followed by a reception where everyone gets drunk and then a dinner followed by polite sitting up and shaking hands and nodding and smiling to people of whom 2/3 you don't even know and will probably never see again. I am not interested in 2 either. But that is a personal preference. Only 3 would be acceptable and then only for one reason : tax purposes. If two people really love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together , that ceremony , or piece of paper does not change that. Looking around me i see tons of people who have had the ceremony and piece of paper and it did absolutely nothing. They are back to square one. I do agree that , when kids start coming into the picture there should be a 'contract'. Two people decide to have a kid. And they should sign to provide for the kid ( BOTH of them ! ). The contract would be there for the protection of the kids.

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 113 (view)

somebody who doesn't drink .. a turn off? Posted: 7/5/2009 5:45:51 PM
Why would that be a turn off ? Some people don't like dont like vegetables, some don't like meat, some don't like alcohol. If you don't like it , don't eat it or drink it. I don't like alcohol. I have tasted a lot of drinks. Beer tastes bitter ( unless it's something like kriek, but then i don't like the aftertaste ). Wine is sour. I'd rather drink grapejuice. Champagne gives a burning feeling. I will put some pear liquor in chocolate mousse , or put a spoon of grand Marnier or cointreau in ice cream, and make rum cake. I will also put marsala or madeira in wild mushroom sauces to give an extra flavoring. But drinking alcohol as such ? I don't like the burning feeling as it goes down. I can honestly say i have never been drunk in my life. The most beer or wine i have ever drank is one sip ( and sometimes i spat it out because of the bad taste. I also don't like sodapop. I will drink an occasional sprite , but only if i have put half a lemon or a lime in it. I preferr sparkling water after a meal because it helps digest. Ornage juise 9 fresh squeezed0 in the morning and water throughout the day. I am not picky on water. I try all brands of water and the one that tastes the best is the house brand from safeway in the clear containers ( i cannot stand water or any other drink that has been in those milky white plastic containers. That plastic gives off a taste that is horrific.

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 92 (view)

What operating system are you using? Posted: 7/5/2009 5:31:23 PM
Win XP mostly. I also have a Windows Home Server and a machine that runs Solaris86. I had a Red Hat and Ubuntu box but kicked them out. Too fussy , no software, and no support. Suse and Solaris are better. Windows still can't be beat. I don't care about the OS. The OS is just there to manage storage and allow you to drag stuff around on the screen. It's the applications that are important. For the kind of stuff i do with a computer choices are limited to Windows and Solaris. For some tools a Linux install exists but they typically cost extra,support is lousy, and only run on very specific flavours / kernels builds.

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 184 (view)

What's your deal breaker? (re profiles first glance) Posted: 7/5/2009 3:31:12 PM
not a scuba diver smoker fake nails (especially the 'french' ones)

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 1 (view)

As Johnny 5 said : Input, I need input Posted: 2/27/2009 7:32:49 PM
Ive been on POF for a couple of weeks now. teaked the profile based on the 'guidelines here' a couple of times. I think i boiled it down enough now. Maybe it needs som adjustment here and there. Comments , rants, raves, welcomed. Thanx

Joined: 2/14/2009

Msg: 2125 (view)

what is everyones opin on tattoos? Posted: 2/27/2009 6:50:21 PM
Best kind of tattoo is the rub-on. When you are done with it it disappears.

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