What's In A Name?

Hey, I found this interesting. It came from this website (www.laputanlogic.com) and it shows the 800 year trend for the top male names from Britain and America. You'll see "Richard" was quite popular until about 1600, when it underwent a 200 year dive to near obscurity, until suddenly, in 1900, the name enjoyed a burst of renewed interest.


In the 1900s, the name grew back to (nearly) it's former prominence in a span of only 40 years, and then, yet again, began to lose favor. By the time I was dubbed "Richard" in 1966, the name was already losing favor.



Makes me wonder what clod in the 1600s ruined it for all of us "Richards" and messed up bad enough that no one for 200 years wanted to name their son "Richard". Also makes me wonder what happened in 1900 that temporarily reversed the trend.

All you history buffs, have any ideas?

Peace Love and Anthroponymy,

-The one proudly named "Richard"

More Geek Meet Photos

Keith took some excellent photos and posted them on Flickr. Check 'em out!

Here are just a few proving that Bryan and I were there:

Hawaii Geek Meet a Success

UPDATE JUNE: MIDWEEK POSTS THEIR ARTICLE COVERING THE GEEK MEET:
Calling All Geeks of All Kinds

------------------------

I just got back from a wonderful time at the first Hawaii Geek Meet at Ala Moana park. There was a great turnout, with lots of food and interesting demos. As my friend Keith said "The collective brainpower gathered at Ala Moana...is staggering!" Ha! I don't know about that (I certainly am no genius) but I did see a large number of people who were interested in the same things I am! "These are my PEEPS!" I told Ryan, who laughed at the word "peeps" coming from my mouth!

I knew I was having fun when early after set up, I was able to contact my South African ham radio friend Dave (ZS4DT) via IRLP (Voice-over-IP technology with radio) and talk with him awhile. During our contact, Chris and Wayne got their ID-1 connected which provided wifi service to our area through their D-STAR amateur radio gear. I then thought it would be totally cool to live-stream video from our location on Ustream.tv/kh6dad and Dave in South Africa was able to see our beautiful park setting while we were still on the radio. THAT WAS COOL!

As the day progressed we got to talk to a lot people about ham radio and the current and coming capabilities of the technology. Talked to nearly as many people about Geocaching too. I got to see a Stirling engine in operation and look at the sun through a special sun telescope. Unfortunately, there were no sun spots to see, but if there were, I'd have seen them!

I got to meet Auntie Lynn Pupule, Peter Kay, Burt Lum(of Bytemarks), Allison Stewart (The Click Chick), a lot of old and new ham radio friends, Midweek reporters (watch for an article) and near the end Neil Abercrombie sat down in our tent and visited with us a while. I got to tell him about ham radio and even about Geocaching! It was totally relaxed and tremendous fun.

I'm so glad to see so many people there. I'm guessing there was 70 people there at the one time I counted, and probably 120 or more that drifted in and out total. There are many of you I had wished were there, especially from my twitter circle, but that's OK... There's always next year!

Wishing you Peace and Love in Geekdom,

Rich

We've got rats...

We've got rats,... AND WE LOVE THEM!

Bradley has wanted rats for a long time, and the Mannings have rats
and were encouraging us all about them, so we succumbed. We have
added 2 brown and white rats to our family. We have named them Dip
and Dot (Dot has a white spot on her forehead) and we all enjoy
holding them as we try to get them accustomed to being handled. That
is why we specifically wanted baby rats.

Last Sunday, when the boys and I came home, (Em was out), we found ONLY
ONE rat in the cage, despite it being completely latched! There was
one spot where the wire bends into a handle that I could just fit my
middle finger into, so we suspect one was able to fit it's head
through and got out!

We hunted and hunted and couldn't find it. Bradley was very upset.
Just when we were about to give up, Dot jumped up on a box and I
spotted her. She didn't try to run away (much) and soon we had her
back in her cage. I wired the gap closed and they seem to be staying
where we left them now. Whew!

Chris Tomlin Concert

For Bradley's 10th birthday (4/4), we took him to see Chris Tomlin at
the H.I.M. conference. We had a great time and really enjoyed
ourselves along with everyone there. Bradley got to hear Chris sing
songs live that he knew very well from the radio.

Bryan Recognized at Science Fair

Bryan did very well at the Hawaii State Science Fair. He was
recognized by 5 agencies, each with a certificate and cash award. He
did very well! We are so proud of him and hope this experience
encourages him as he pursues education and opportunities in the
future. Way to go Bry!

Role Playing Games

As a kid I played role playing games quite a bit. We didn't have
computer games or Gameboys, so we had to use our imaginations!

Now we all have sons of our own and we thought it would be fun to
introduce them to pen & paper role playing games we loved. We had a
great night solving mysteries and battling bad guys. It may turn
into a regular "gaming" night. We'll see. None of us has as much
disposable time as we used to.

Future Tennis Pros?

(OK, I'm finally gonna catch up a little on blogging!)

The boys and I are checking out tennis. I played a lot in high
school, but almost nothing since. We picked up a couple of garage
sale $1 rackets and started hitting balls against the wall. We spent
a lot of energy, but I don't know how much tennis we learned. We got
to get out there again soon.

Hawaii Geek Meet

The Hawaii All-Geek Meetup and Potluck is scheduled for Sunday, April 20, 2008. Bring your family, your friends, and your toys. Bring some food and an appetite for good grinds and great conversation.

What is the Hawaii Geek Meet?

The Hawaii Geek Meet is a casual, friendly, open potluck gathering of geeks. And we mean "geek" in a most inclusive, positive way. Do you like technology? Do you have a specialty? Among your friends or coworkers, are you the guru, the go-to person for things that blink or have moving parts? Whether you're passionate about programming, Geocaching, photography, design, HAM radio, model rockets, painting, teaching... we want to meet you.

The idea of the Hawaii Geek Meet is to mix and mingle with other brilliant people, people you might never meet in your own circles, but people with whom (we'd bet) you'd get along smashingly.

Who is invited?

Anyone who is remotely geeky about anything. Web developers, designers, programmers, photographers, videographers, podcasters, bloggers, even artists, teachers, thinkers... Are you knowledgeable and passionate about something? Are you naturally curious and interested in learning about something? Do you want to meet new people, share what you know, and learn a thing or two that you don't? Then you're invited. Bring your friends, your family, your kids... and if you've got geek toys and gadgets, bring them too!

Where and when is it happening?

Sunday, April 20th at Magic Island, in Ala Moana Beach Park, Picnic Area #40 (Ala Wai Side) [Map] from 10 a.m. until... whenever!

Afraid you're going to be the only {x} person there? Check out some of the groups that are joining us.

Curious about who will be there? Check out the list of participants.

Can you bring something? Want to check out the menu? Take a look at the potluck page.

Have questions about how all this will come to pass? We do too! Check out the questions page.


FOR MORE INFORMATION AND DETAILS, CHECK OUT THE WEBPAGE:
http://sites.google.com/a/hawaiigeek.com/hawaii-geek-meet

I've been a bad blogger

I have so much to write about,...but haven't. I'll hopefully be writing on:

Game Night
Bryan's Science Fair winnings
Bradley's Birthday
Our New Pet Rats
My latest video project

But for now, I leave you with this. I bet this is how many people see me:



Peace & Love you Troglodytes!

Rich

Projects, Projects, Projects...

Hi Gang!

Sorry it has been a while since I've written but I have been consumed by "Projects"!  You'll be happy to know though, that the grumbling regarding my post-less-ness has finally reached my ears and I am grateful for it!

What are the projects that have been taking up my time?

Merrie Monarch at work has been nearly all consuming.  It isn't just the Merrie Monarch itself, it is also the Merrie Monarch promotion, the supporting the Merrie Monarch web page, Best of Merrie Monarch 2007, "Best of MM2007" promotion, Backstage at the Merrie Monarch, "Backstage" promotion, Merrie Monarch Moments, Merrie Monarch print ad for Hilo Tribune, MM2008 in-news promotion, Merrie Monarch billboard backgrounds, Merrie Monarch backstage passes, and all the clients logos and commercials that are going to be played in conjunction with those shows.  That doesn't include my normal job of overseeing the newscasts and supporting the production and creative services departments.

As mentioned earlier, Bryan has made it to the State Science Fair.  I took some time off this week to help Bryan upgrade his presentation board to State Science Fair specs and standards.  It's done now and looks great.  The fair is next Monday through Wednesday.  For more info on his project check out his blog: Bryan's Scienze.

The week before Easter, our church participated in the Day of Aloha, with several other central O'ahu churches.  I needed to video all the different events, efforts and the celebration dinner so I was doing that for nearly 12 hours straight.  That was a long day.

On Easter, my church began a new series, and I am working on a series of video lessons, given by our staff, to be shown in all the small groups for the next 8 weeks.  This has taken a lot of my free time and has actually led to arguments at home about my time.

I also have a testimony to edit that will be shown in 2 weeks.  It is already shot, and I am very excited about it, but it is still more editing.  I'd like to do a really good job with it, because their story of how Christ changed their life and the lives of their friends and family is so powerfully moving.

I've committed myself and the kids to running a casual 5K race on May 10th.  We are training for it by running in the mornings (even though Spring Break broke up our consistency).

I am also overseeing my radio club's nightly nets, trying to get new operators recruited and trained up and brainstorming some ideas to improve and breathe new life into them.

All that on top of trying to read more, eat healthy, be a sensitive husband, be a good dad, introduce my son's to tennis, lead worship for my small group, participate in the creative planning of Sunday services, play a little ham radio, study for my Extra Class license, get a repeater installed at home, and rest....whew... no wonder I'm tired.

That is why I'm a little behind on the blogs.  In times like this my Twitter feed (upper right of this page) becomes my outlet.  I satisfy my need for updates with that,  and when that gets sparse, you know I'm really busy!  I never understood the attraction of Twitter until I started using it along with a few friends.  It is a great way to stay in-touch with busy friends and family.  I have certain people's Twitters sent directly to my phone when they post.

Peace, Love and High-paced living,

Rich

SketchCrawl

I recently rediscovered this website / event called sketchcrawl.com. I don't know if I can go March 29th, but it has gotten me interested in sketching again. This was outside my truck as I ate lunch in the foodland parking lot.

Recent events in photos

Centipede on the roof! (future Vlog I think)

Not good, but turned out OK.

EARC Meeting at Red Cross. (Wayne and Jason pictured)

Retirement Bon Voyage at KITV

Video Ministry Shoot on Saturday

Gorgeous Sunrise!

D&D Creator Gary Gygax Passes

I'm not too proud to say that Dungeons & Dragons was a big part of my youth. Here's his obit:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080304/ap_en_ot/obit_gygax

He was 69, and I thought it was remarkable that he had always, even now, hosted games at his home. His last gaming session was only 2 months ago.

A New Blog Is Born

Hi Everybody,

After much feet dragging, my buddy Gary has finally launched his own blog!

I know that one of the keys to blogging success is to spread the word quickly and get everyone to leave comments on his early entries. Let's really surprise him! Go on over and welcome him to the blog-o-sphere and bookmark his site (especially if he has no idea who you are!)

He is one of the most gifted and relevant Bible teachers I know, and I know some great ones! I won't get into "credentials" or the letters that come after his name on formal documents, but I will let you know that I have grown up with this guy since we were nerdlings, and he's the real deal. He can show you the power of God's word both by speaking and by example. You can count on it!

OK, I know I'm embarrassing him now so go on over and embarrass him yourself!

http://eutychusnerd.blogspot.com/

Peace, Love and New Blogging Buddies,

Rich