Twelve months ago, I started working at the world's only "natural history museum, planetarium and aquarium — all under one living room," the California Academy of Sciences. It's been an incredible first year, literally a dream come true. Some highlights from my work so far as the Programs Manager in the Digital Learning Department: Worked…
Category: Information Society
BAYCAT Digital Youth Program in SF Robbed: Donate to Help Them Recover
I've met the awesome folks at BAYCAT (The Bayview Hunters Point Center for the Arts) and admired their work with at-risk youth, giving teens access to digital media equipment and tools so they can express themselves and achieve a better future for themselves. So I was devastated when I learned that BAYCAT was broken…
Cult of Mac: 3 Generations of MacBook Pros in My House
Mac Fanboy checking in. What you see above is a ridiculous picture of three generations of MacBook Pros sitting on my home workstation. The back left computer is a 2006 model MBP with 1.83 Ghz Intel Core Duo processor — my home and work computer for the past six years. The back right computer is…
Lindy Hoppers Create “EverSmart” iPhone App, Need Your Votes!
I got this appeal from the nice folks at LindyGroove, one of the largest lindy hop weekly dance in the country. Apparently a bunch of LindyGroove dancers have put their noggins together to create an iPhone app called "EverSmart", built on top of the popular "Evernote" note-taking tool. I use Evernote literally every day, for…
Infographic: Who I Am on Twitter (according to Visual.ly)
Here's an infographic on me and my tweeting profile based on my Twitter data , provided to the infographic service visual.ly. I'm not sure I agree with the topics listing at the end — what, no "food porn"? And I could hardly be called a "shopper." But otherwise, kind of interesting. You can generate your…
Netiquette Question: IMs from Old Acquaintances – Accept or Not?
Say you worked with someone 12 years ago. You were friendly in the workplace, chatted during lunch, but didn't socialize after work. Then, one day, many years later, out of the blue, an instant message from that person pops up on our screen. "Hey, Rik, it's so-and-so…" it begins. You, hesitate for a…
Rikomatic.com is dark to protest web censorship
Today, Rikomatic.com joins those striking against censorship. Join us in this historic moment: tell Congress to stop this bill now! First Name: Email: Address: ZIP Write Congress Now! Not In The US? Petition The State Department. I am writing to you as a voter in your district. I urge you to oppose the Senate version…
Ready Player One: 80s Era Gaming Meets Snow Crash (review)
"Everyone my age remembers where they were and what they were doing when they learned about the contest." — Opening sentence of Ready Player One I finally got around to reading Ready Player One, by Earnest Cline, after friends told me I had to read it. A near future scifi adventure, Ready Player One…
Digitally Disconnected ≠ Discontented?
I have been having a frustrating time getting some kind of communications system working in my otherwise charming new pad in Oakland. In most of the apartment I have zero bars on my cell phone, which is a big bummer. Just as importantly, I have been so far unsuccessful at getting any kind of broadband…
Goodbye, Mr Jobs, and Thanks for All the Inspiring Tech
RIP Steve Jobs. You made cool things that brought delight and joy to my life. Thank you. – Rik Panganiban : Mac Fanboy for Life