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I was just featured as a guest speaker on the Thriving Women Network Uncomfortable Conversations on the Maui Fire Disaster. I talked about improving the water quality in the Kula and Lahaina areas. After the devastating fires on Maui, the Hawaii Department of Health issued an Unsafe Water Advisory. People are warned not to drink or even shower in the water in those affected areas. I brought over some Agua Munda water filters to improve the water quality.

The Hawaii Department of Health has issued an Unsafe Water Advisory, since the start of the fires here on Maui August 8, 2023. Because of the intense fires in Kula and Lahaina, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) like Benzene, Toulene, and Xylenes have leached into the water supply. Because of this,  People in Upper Kula and Lahaina are warned not to drink the water, and the water is not even safe to brush your teeth or take a shower with.

The County of Maui has distributed potable drinking water to affected areas with water tank trucks. Sometimes the tank truck water contains bacteria or microorganisms. Agua Munda and Kumpi Mayu Foundation has donated water filters that can help with improving the water quality by filtering bacteria or microorganisms out of the water. Help us bring more water filters to Maui to improve the water quality!

Help out by donating to Kumpi Mayu Foundation

Help out by donating to Hungry Heros Hawaii

The first Earth Day that was put on by EarthDay.org was 52 years ago. They have access to reach 1 billion people that support their message of preserving and celebrating the Earth..

I just heard that David Robinette passed away last night. He had a massive heart attack.

Last week, another long-time friend, Clark Higgins passed away with Parkinson’s Disease.

The Spring Equinox marks the first day of spring in the Northern hemisphere, while people are experiencing autumn in the Southern hemisphere! During the equinox, the Sun shines on the equator with equal amounts of day & night.

Are you wondering if your internet connection speed is fast enough, or too slow? Do you need to stream video and audio reliably for a scheduled event? Fast Download speeds are great for passive activities like watching streaming websites. One detail to pay attention to is your Upload speed. To stream video and audio without dropouts, you need at least a constant 5 or 6 Mbps.

There is a free utility called Speedtest, that can help you evaluate your connection speed. This is a screenshot of Comcast Xfinity internet speeds at home. Speedtest is also available as a smartphone app on iOS and Android.

Many people have probably heard some variation of this saying about death and taxes…

Things as certain as death and taxes, can be more firmly believ’d.

— Daniel Defoe, The Political History of the Devil, 1726.

What’s on your desktop? Are you using a computer that runs macOS, Windows, or maybe Linux? Are you using a computer that runs on Intel, AMD, Nvidia, or the new Apple Silicon chips?

Near the end of last year, Apple announced three new computers that look similar to earlier models, but these are now configured with the new Apple Silicon M1 chip. The M1 chip comes from a heritage of iPhone and iPad chips, that now include more cores and more memory. These fast and lower power chips will now be in the core of future Apple computers.

I ordered a new Mac mini with 16GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD last November, and was given a delivery date of the end of the year. I actually received it in a couple of weeks, by mid-December. I set it up with an Apple Magic Keyboard and Apple Magic Trackpad 2, and Apple Magic Mouse 2. I have an OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock that I connected via USB-C port. In the other USB-C port I attached a USB-C cable to DisplayPort, and plugged in a Samsung 28 inch 4K monitor.

The year before, I had purchased my main desktop computer, an iMac 27 inch Intel Core i9 with 64GB of memory. I use that with the Apple Magic Extended Keyboard and Apple Magic Trackpad 2.

In upcoming posts, I will compare my experience working with both computers, and let you know if the new M1 powered computer is worthwhile for your consideration. From my experience so far, the new Apple M1 chipset will be faster and cheaper that your other choices out there.

Banksy Assails the Wickedness of Wall Street

When Wall Street hedge fund managers attempted to short sell GameStop and AMC stocks, they lost millions against the stocks,.

When WallStreetBets on Redditt noticed  that Wall Street traders had been attempting to short sell GameStop and AMC stock, Redditt users started buying their favorite gaming store and theater stock to drive it up in value, and punish the big bankers.

The Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev was accused of manipulating the market, after the company limited smaller buyers from buying stock. They stopped letting people purchase GameStop stock, which has created quite a push back in the media. Robinhood, a smartphone app allowing easier access to stock buys, blocked thousands of people with accounts from purchasing. One of their responses was that some people may have been purchasing stock on credit cards, and the company was trying to limit their losses. Vlad Tenev says it limited buying to “protect the firm and protect our customers.”

Dozens of people that lost money on the market manipulation of stocks, with shouts of “Eat the rich!” protested on Wall Street.

Things have started feeling more peaceful after the nation’s political transfer of power. Now we are starting to see some normalizing of national functions, and restoration of the previous Democratic initiatives.

It still is a challenge to know what to believe in the news and social media. This requires us to take the time to study the issues like the virus, vaccinations, and mandates.

The first month of the year is herring spawning time in San Francisco Bay, which means a huge dinner party for local sea birds and sea mammals. California sea lions are barking throughout the night and day, and diving to catch their fill of herring.