Video – Techspotting

Snapzoom

Ryan talks to Daniel Fujikake and Mac Nguyen of Snapzoom, a startup hoping to build an adjustable smartphone mount that allows you to take advantage of traditional optics like binoculars with your phone’s camera. Snapzoom works with most phones (from the iPhone to the giant Galaxy Note) and most scopes like binoculars and telescopes. After making it to the final rounds of Engadget’s “Insert Coin” competition, Snapzoom is planning a Kickstarter campaign to get production going.

Hacks/Hackers

Last night brought the first meeting of the Hacks/Hackers group in Hawaii. The focus? Digital journalism, social media, open data, APIs and open government. Among the presenters:

Misa Maruyama of the Hawaii Computer Human Interaction Lab invited attendees to participate in a study on social media’s role in political discourse. To participate, fill out this volunteer form.
Burt Lum of Bytemarks Cafe introduced the latest apps to come out of the Code for America engagement with the City & County of Honolulu. Check out the apps at the city’s Can-Do transparency site.
Ben Trevino of Interisland Terminal and UHERO spoke about visualizations and how he and his team used the tools to visualize the City’s budget. Check them out here.
Jared Kuroiwa of Hawaii Open Data presented his work with campaign spending, a voter/precinct dashboard, and Hawaii Revised Statutes. Find the many elements of his presentation here.

To be kept up-to-date on future Hacks/Hackers meetups, be sure to join the group at Meetup.com.

Namesake

Put a couple of nerds together equipped with an iPhone and a quiet corner and let it roll. Ryan and I kick off Techspotting video with our impressions of the new social conversation platform called Namesake. Enjoy the video and if you want to read more about Namesake check out Ryan’s blog post on Hawaii Blog.