General
I love (and have been hoarding) the cornstarch spoons and forks that are used by Govinda’s restaurant in the Sustainability Courtyard on campus. They feel much sturdier than plasticware and have a nice tan color. The best part of it is that they are biodegradeable and compostable, meaning that even if they miss the recyclers (and most do here in Hawaii), they won’t be sitting around in landfills a thousand years from now. I’d like to see an across-the-board switch to this standard. Using these is another small way of taking responsibility.
As part of the Affiliate Program, I now attend Wednesday Evening Seminars which are two hour programs which include a presentation, discussion, and Q&A. The Seminars include all the Fellows, Affliliates, and are also open to the public as well. Tonight’s speaker was a scholar who spoke on sustainability in the Pacific Islands. He told stories from his native island of Tonga and addressed issues of moral responsibility in sustainability. He also introduced models for sustainability with markets, governments, and local communities as the actors.
Since June, I have been on the prowl for a new cell phone. After much research, including a lot of pdadb.net comparisons, I found the HTC Kaiser had everything I wanted, a 3MP digicam, Windows Mobile 6, 3G capability, and GPS to boot. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be coming out in the US til September. In Taiwan, it was already discontinued as last year’s model so I had no luck there.
The Kaiser eventually came out in October via AT&T as the Tilt, minus the front facing camera. Honolulu got 3G in November and Amazon had a great deal going on for it in December. When I checked last week, it was $149.99 with a new 2-year contract. The Tilt blows the pants off the iPhone, which is $399 and doesn’t carry half the capabilities of the Tilt. The iPhone does have a sexy UI, but UI in this case, that’s just not compelling enough.
I have to wait a week for it due to the holidays, but I am really looking forward to being connected again with the best mobile technology can offer.