“I am re-entering cookie business,” he wrote. “I will sell three flavors from my original recipe; chocolate chip, butterscotch chip pecans, [and] chocolate chip pecans.”

Amos, now 75, launched the “Famous Amos” brand of cookies in 1975, starting with a cookie store in California and growing to find space on supermarket shelves across the country. His name and likeness became so synonymous with success that he found a career in public speaking and authoring books. Amos even appeared as himself in an episode of the ABC sitcom “Taxi” in 1981.

However, subsequent financial troubles forced Amos to sell the Famous Amos Company, which went on to change hand several more times. Keebler acquired the brand from President Baking Company in 1998 (and had even hired Amos back to promote them), and Keebler was later bought by Kellogg.

In the mean time, Amos fought to stay in business. He tried to launch the Uncle Wally Presents brand of cookies in 1992, but was sued by the company he founded for trademark infringement. He changed the name to Uncle Noname, but the company had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1997. It eventually emerged in 1999 with a line of low-fat and fat-free muffins as the Uncle Wally’s Co.

Throughout these business ups and downs, Amos has continued with writing, public appearances, motivational speaking, and advocating youth literacy — a cause that he’s backed for decades. He even appeared as himself a few months ago on an episode of NBC’s “The Office.”

But now, he’s ready to give cookies another shot.

“Since being sued by Famous Amos, I have been banned from using Wally, Famous, Amos or my likeness as part of [my] brand,” he wrote. “My new company will be called, WAMOS (wā’ • mŭs), From the recipe that made me (fā’• mŭs). I believe it will be a fun way to let friends know I am back in the cookies.”

And Amos credits his Facebook network as vital to finding the support to charge ahead.

“I wanted to make friends when I started Famous Amos,” he wrote. “I succeeded. You can live without a brother or sister but not without friends.”

Nearly 400 of his Facebook friends have ‘liked’ the news so far, posting more than 200 comments.

All videos will be entered into a contest and one will be selected at each partner aquarium as the Youth on Board Video of the year. Applications are due on April 20, 2012, with videos being due on May 24, 2012.

“Our oceans are all interconnected and so it’s critical that we not only learn how to care for our own marine life but also learn about the marine life in other parts of the world,” said Aquarium Director Dr. Andrew Rossiter. “The Youth on Board program encourages youth to be inspired to take care of the ocean by learning about the diversity of marine species that call the ocean home. Our hope is that through the video-making process and viewing portion of this contest, the young people of our community will develop a deeply-rooted appreciation for our delicate ocean ecosystem.”

Interested participants can visit the Waikiki Aquarium website to download the application, entry form and read contest rules.

Videos will be viewable worldwide, and will be promoted through marketing by each participating aquarium. The winning video from each partnering Aquarium will be announced on World Ocean Day, June 8, 2012, and will be shown at the International Aquarium Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, in September 2012.

• Video Contest Details
• Application Form
• Entry Form

About the Waikiki Aquarium

Founded in 1904 and administered by the University of Hawai‘i since 1919, the Waikiki Aquarium is located on the shoreline of Waikiki Beach next to a living reef and across from Kapiolani Park. The Aquarium – third oldest in the U.S. – showcases more than 500 marine species, and maintains more than 3,000 marine specimens. Public exhibits, education programs and research focus on the unique aquatic life of Hawai’i and the tropical Pacific. The Aquarium welcomes more than 320,000 visitors annually, and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except Honolulu Marathon Sunday and Christmas Day. Admission is $9 for visitors; $6 for local residents, active duty military with ID, students with ID and seniors; $4 for youths ages 13-17 and persons with disabilities; $2 for juniors ages 5 to 12; and free for children 4 and under and Friends of Waikiki Aquarium (FOWA) members. For more information about the Waikiki Aquarium, including membership, please call (808) 923-9741 or visit www.waquarium.org.

The students took top honors in their respective categories at the 55th Annual Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair (HSSEF), held April 2-4 at the Hawaii Convention Center. Over 700 students from schools across the state participated in the HSSEF, the oldest and largest science education program in Hawaii and the showcase event of the Hawaii Academy of Science.

The Intel ISEF allows more than 1,500 high school students from 65 countries, regions, and territories to showcase their independent research as they compete for over $4 million annually. This premier global science event will be held May 13-18, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pa., and will give Hawaii students a chance to showcase their efforts, and an opportunity to interact with leading scientists and engineers from around the world.

Two Hawaii students placed in the Grand Awards at the ISEF last year. This year’s delegation is listed below.

Hawaii State Science And Engineering Fair:

• Danten R. Inouye, Grade 12, Waipahu High School
• Travis Le, Grade 12, Punahou School
• Alec Matsumoto, Grade 11, Kamehameha School, Kapalama
• April-Joy Mccann, Grade 10, Mililani High School
• Kyle Yoshida, Grade 10, Kamehameha School, Kapalama

Central:

• Abraham Kwan, Grade 11, Moanalua High School
• Viola Mocz, Grade 10, Mililani High School
• Marc Siler, Grade 11, Mililani High School
• Danielle Terukina, Grade 11, Mililani High School

Windward:

• Rebecca Weible, Grade 12, Castle High School

Leeward:

• Erik Wessel, Grade 12, Homeschool
• Jennifer Wong, Grade 11, Kapolei High School

Hawaii Island:

• Shalila S. De Bourmont, Grade 12, Hilo High School

Kauai:

• Savanah Frisk, Grade 11, Kapaa High School
• Kayla Ishida, Grade 9, Waimea High School
• Noelani Murray, Grade 11, Kauai High / Intermediate School

Maui:

• Moriah Jenkins, Grade 12, Molokai High School
• Sage Trudeau, Grade 12, Seabury Hall
• Travis Taylor, Grade 12, Seabury Hall
• Dominic Mills, Grade 12, Seabury Hall

Hawaii Association Of Independent Schools (HAIS):

• Logan Davis, Grade 11, Iolani School
• Kyle Flores, Grade 11, Iolani School
• Erin Main, Grade 12, Iolani School
• Danielle L. Keahi, Grade 12, Kamehameha School, Kapalama

About the Hawaii Academy of Science

The Hawaii Academy of Science (HAS) is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1925. The mission of the HAS is to promote scientific research and education in Hawaii and the Pacific Region. For more information, visit hawaiiacademyofscience.org.

The web-based service creates an attractive, live-updating screen that can show real-time social media activity connected to a store, restaurant, hotel, concert, or conference.

Screenfuse was developed in under a month by Hawaii-based web developer Evan Nagle, digital designer John Garcia, and L.A.-based entrepreneur Mike Prasad. The startup was incubated at The Greenhouse Innovation Hub in Kakaako.

“By leveraging social media networks such as Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare, Screenfuse activates on-site audiences to increase customer sharing and brand engagement,” Garcia explains.

Screenfuse displays are fully customizable, and powered by an intelligent filtering and network platform that ensures fresh, dynamic, and appropriate content. With a Screenfuse display, businesses can build their digital footprint, and learn more about their customers.

“Businesses spend a lot of time and money reaching out to potential customers online through ads, social postings and other outreach,” adds Prasad. “They often overlook a better way of marketing by activating existing customers that have already had a positive experience with their business. The praise of a happy customer has much more weight than the business promoting themselves.”

As a web service, Screenfuse does not require expensive proprietary hardware, as it can run on any screen via an internet connected computer or mobile device. And businesses can also include their own content or advertisements along with the social stream.

In addition to current social media channels, the Screenfuse team is actively expanding functionality to include live streaming video, custom data feeds, interactive polls and more.

Screenfuse is rolling out privately to select businesses. Other venues interested in leveraging Screenfuse for their business can request access by sending an email to join@screenfuse.com.

In a letter dated March 30, 2012, the DOH stated that it has “reviewed the (company’s) application for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, and that after consideration of the expressed views of all interested persons and agencies, pertinent Federal and State statutes and rules regarding the discharge, the DOH hereby issues the NPDES permit effective April 30, 2012.”

This comprehensive process took the company more than a year of effort and required a thorough public review and response to comments from the public and several NGOs.

Bill Spencer, President and CEO of Hawaii Oceanic Technology, Inc. said, “once again we have been held to
the highest possible standard imposed by yet another regulatory requirement and have been granted permission to proceed with our business plan.”

The company has spent more than five years and $2 million complying with permitting requirements imposed by the State of Hawaii and the U.S. Federal Government. The company prepared a full Environmental Impact Statement and Cultural Assessment to obtain a Conservation District Use Permit, required to get its 247 acre ocean lease, which was granted October 2010. Additional Federal permits included a Federal Consistency Review permit, the EPA/NPDES permit and an Army Corp Section 10 permit that has been in process since September 2010.

The Army Corp permit is the last permit required before the company can execute its business plan.

Spencer said, “the permitting process has been tedious and expensive, but the company is proud to have been held to such high standards. We are now more than five years ahead of any other company contemplating doing an open ocean fish farming business in Hawaii.”

Spencer noted however, that “if the United States is serious about food security and reversing the almost $14 billion dollar trade deficit it maintains from the importation of 85% of seafood we consume, the regulatory requirements must be streamlined and the burden on entrepreneurs should be reduced significantly.”

At present, the United States does not have a comprehensive regulatory framework to allow open ocean fish
farming in its 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone. Hawaii is one of a very few states that allows the lease of an ocean column for mariculture.

Spencer said, “farming fish in the ocean is essentially the only way increasing global demand for seafood protein can be met.”

According to the United Nations Food Agriculture Organization, half of all seafood consumed in the world is already being farmed. The world’s oceans have reached maximum sustainable yield and some species of tunas and others fish are seriously distressed in the wild with some facing extinction. Scientists estimate that farmed seafood production must be increased by another 62 million tons annually over the next 20 years in order to meet world appetite for this healthy source of protein.

In 1983 famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau declared, “we must plant the sea as farmers… civilization is all about farming replacing hunting.”

A copy of the permit, rationale and response to public comments can be found on the Hawaii State Department of Health/Clean Water Branch web site here:

http://hawaii.gov/health/environmental/water/cleanwater/contact/pubntcs/index.html

The event will feature live music by Fiji, a red carpet with photo ops with Wily and other “exclusive guests,” T-shirts and other swag, and drink and food specials courtesy Gordon Biersch.

Discount advance tickets are available online for $25, and admission at the door will cost more.

Wily, a.k.a. Teila Tuli, is a former sumo wrestler and mixed martial artist. He also appeared as a hotel worker in the comedy film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

The City Department of Information Technology

“We are pleased that the public has embraced the City’s newest online services as well as other services such as the NIXLE notification system and our Facebook and Twitter accounts,” said Mayor Peter Carlisle.

The successful online camping registration program allows campers, who formerly had to wait in line for hours—and sometimes days—before camp registration deadlines, to now register online for campsites. More than 1,300 users have already taken advantage of the new registration system.

The City has also added HEA, a unique feature for smartphones that provides users with access to information about bus schedules, routes, and locations. This novel approach to transportation offers riders immediate information regarding bus and bus stop locations and problems in the system.

There is also DaBus [iTunes], an iPhone app, and Allb.us, a web app.

“This application is highly successful,” said Forest Frizzell, Deputy Director of DIT. “It allows us to put information quickly in the hands of riders. It was developed in partnership with a member of our community and highlights our effort to leverage technology to keep the public informed.”

In another example of using technology to disseminate important information, the Honolulu Tsunami Evacuation Zones [iTunes] application allows residents and visitors to quickly determine the need to evacuate during a tsunami warning. “We learned after the Japan tsunami scare that due to the high adoption rate of cell phones versus land lines, many people no longer use traditional phone books,” Frizzell said.  “In the past, that’s where people got emergency information so we are now adapting to how people prefer to consume information.”

Honolulu 311, a smartphone app for reporting City issues, has garnered extraordinary adoption and penetration into the social media network. The number of users has exploded. “We are finding that this low cost system enables us to quickly locate problems,” Carlisle said. “We are now looking at additional applications of this powerful tool that currently allows users to report issues like abandoned vehicles, broken street lights, or illegal dump sites.”

In the two months since its debut, more than 900 reports have been submitted to the City using Honolulu 311.

All of these free apps and more can be downloaded on the City’s transparency website at can-do.honolulu.gov.

In his keynote address, Senator Daniel K. Inouye recognized the importance of STEM and its contribution to the competitiveness of Hawaii’s students. He reflected on his humble public school upbringing and how, only in America, he could fight the stereotype of a Japanese-American during WWII to achieve his current position as the President pro tempore of the Senate.

Inouye said in a statement: “I arrived home to Hawai‘i last night and was pleased that my first event was to participate in the STEM Week Awards Lunch. It warmed my heart to see bright young students and their committed teachers and principals. Hawai‘i has much to be proud of and to be hopeful about. We should not sell ourselves short. Our future is in good hands.”

On stage to hand out awards with Sen. Inouye were Neal Atebara, Chairman of the Board of the Hawai‘i Academy of Science (HAS), HAS President Kerry Kakazu, Robbie Alm, Executive Vice President of Hawaiian Electric Company, and Morgan Kapololu, Verizon Retail Manager.

The following schools were recognized for their commitment to STEM education:

High School State Champions

1. Mililani High School
2. ‘Iolani School
3. Waipahu High School

Middle School State Champions

1. Highlands Intermediate School
2. ‘Iolani School
3. Punahou School

Island High School Awards

• Oahu Island: Moanalua High School
• Big Island: Waiakea High School
• Kauai Island: Waimea High School
• Maui County: Baldwin High School
• Independent High School: Punahou School

• Oahu Island: Waipahu Intermediate School
• Big Island: Waiakea Intermediate School
• Kauai Island: Waimea Canyon Middle School
• Maui County: Maui Waena Intermediate School
• Independent Middle School: St. Andrew’s Priory School

The inaugural STEM Week Awards also featured the first Daniel K. Inouye Award for Commitment to STEM Education, which went to Hawaiian Electric Company. The award is given to an individual or organization that demonstrated leadership in Hawaii’s STEM educational initiatives by ensuring continued access to STEM programs statewide.

The STEM Week program also featured an Industry Exposition and Job Fair that gave local businesses and organizations the opportunity to showcase their technology and services to students, educators, and job seekers. For more information on STEM Week, visit STEMWeekHawaii.org.

The HSSEF is the oldest and largest science education program in Hawaii, today reaching more than 7,000 students across the state. Over 600 students — representing public, private and home schools — participate in the premier event, competing for significant prizes and awards.

“It’s exciting to talk with students about the work put into their science fair projects, as these kids are bright, inquisitive, and our future leaders,” said Kerry Kakazu, President of the Hawaii Academy of Science. “In this age of global competitiveness it is reassuring to see our young students embracing science and tackling tough problems.”

The fair, taking place April 2-4, 2012 at the Hawaii Convention Center, is the primary activity of the Academy. Last year was the largest event yet, showcasing 487 projects from 76 public, private, and home schools from across the state.

HSSEF embodies President Barack Obama’s challenge to America in his State of the Union address. “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the Science Fair,” he said. “The future is ours to win. But to get there, we can’t just stand still. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.”

Select winners of the state fair along with projects selected at district competitions will compete in the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF), one of the most prestigious student science competitions in the world. This year, the international event will be held May 13-18, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pa., again offering students over $4 million scholarships and prizes, and the opportunity to interact with leading scientists and engineers around the world.

Two Hawaii students placed in the Grand Awards at the ISEF last year, distinguishing themselves among over 1,500 other high school students from 65 countries.

The state science fair is a collaborative effort, and could not happen without the dedication of many sponsors and hundreds of volunteers. The Academy welcomes inquiries on sponsoring, judging, volunteering, and mentoring. Visit hawaiiacademyofscience.org, or call the Academy office at (808) 956-7930.

About the Hawaii Academy of Science

The Hawaii Academy of Science (HAS) is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1925. The mission of the HAS is to promote scientific research and education in Hawaii and the Pacific Region. For more information, visit hawaiiacademyofscience.org.

WHO: Hawaii Academy of Science
WHAT: 55th Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair
WHERE: Hawaii Convention Center
WHEN: April 2-4, 2012 (Free & Open to the public on April 4th, 8:00am–7:30pm, Awards Ceremony starts at 4:00pm)

Arriving in Hawaii on the first leg of their 9000 nautical mile journey across the Pacific, they have traveled over 3200 nautical miles breaking the previous world distance record of 2500 nautical miles.

Launched on November 17, 2011 from San Francisco Bay, the Wave Gliders have survived 8-meter (26 foot) waves in a gale force storm, defied turbulent mid-ocean currents, all while transmitting real time ocean data and staying on course to their first destination: the Big Island of Hawaii.

After a short check-up, the PacX Wave Gliders will embark on their final journeys to Australia and Japan. During this portion of the record breaking, scientific expedition, the first team of Wave Gliders will cross the Mariana Trench and battle the Kuroshio Current on their way to Japan. The second team will cross the equator on their way to Australia. It is anticipated the arrivals will occur in late 2012 or early 2013.

“We are proud our PacX Wave Gliders have reached their first destination and broken the world record,” said Edward Lu, Chief of Innovative Applications at Liquid Robotics. “I have no doubt new ocean discoveries, insights, and applications will emerge from the PacX data set. PacX represents a new model for providing widespread and easy access to environmental monitoring of the worldʼs oceans, one in which Liquid Robotics operates fleets of mobile, autonomous ocean robots across previously inaccessible areas of the ocean.”

The PacX Challenge Wave Gliders were named to honor famous oceanographers and discoverers. One of the four, Papa Mau or “the Way Finder”, was named after the Micronesian navigator, Pius “Mau” Piailug, famous as the teacher of traditional, noninstrument way finding methods for deep-sea voyaging. True to his spirit, his namesake Wave Glider is navigating to port without instruments, due to a satellite communication disruption. Programmed to go straight to Kawaihae Harbor on the Big Island, he is battling severe currents, yet staying on path using only his original coordinates and the stars.

To learn more about the PacX Challenge, the Wave Gliders and the PacX Challenge grand prize, please go to www.liquidr.com/pacx/.

About the Wave Glider

The Wave Glider is the first marine robot to use only the oceanʼs endless supply of wave energy for propulsion (no manpower, no emissions, no refueling). The Wave Glider employs a multi-patented design that allows it to cost-effectively collect and transmit data gathered during yearlong missions, over distances of thousands of miles, or while holding station. Data gathered by Wave Gliders will help us address the biggest challenges our marine environments face – including ocean acidification, fisheries management, and natural disaster mitigation.

About Liquid Robotics

Liquid Robotics, Inc. is an ocean data services provider and developer of the Wave Glider marine robot that functions as a persistent and versatile platform for scientific and industrial payloads. Based in Silicon Valley, Houston and Hawaiʼi, the companyʼs Wave Glider is enabling dozens of applications and missions never before attainable. Liquid Robotics is backed by VantagePoint Capital Partners. For more information, visit www.liquidr.com.