STAR-BULLETIN / JUNE 2007
The Hawaii Superferry Alakai is scheduled to resume service to Maui on Thursday. Here, the vessel makes its way toward Pier 19 in Honolulu Harbor.
|
|
Maui webcast to cover ferry
A community access channel merges TV and Web technology
WAILUKU » The arrival of the Hawaii Superferry on Maui Thursday and accompanying protest are scheduled to be available for live viewing on the Internet through the public access channel Akaku: Maui Community Television.
The streaming broadcast at Akaku.org has been made possible through emerging television and Internet technologies within the last year, said David Coennen, production director at Akaku.
Coennen, who became production director in August, said Akaku on cable stations 52-54 is moving in the direction of more live broadcasts because of the growing popularity of it on the Internet. One Internet example is Justin.tv, a Web site that transmits live and edited pieces, many of them created by young people.
Coennen said the person at Akaku who made the streaming broadcast possible is Christian Holmes, a 17-year-old technician.
"He's part of the generation tapped into new Web ... technology. He designed and put together the streaming machine," Coennen said.
He said now that most computers have Internet broadcast capabilities, the technology is available to individuals to send live streaming broadcasts.
But he said understanding how to do it requires a different set of skills, and young people like Holmes appear to have the knack for finding the best and most economical way to do it.
Coennen said during the Superferry court hearings, TV station news employees were approaching Holmes and asking him how he was able to use his computer to send a live broadcast via the Internet.
"These generation of kids are part of the revolution. They're on top of how this technology works. All of this fuel comes from this knowledge and ability."