138 posts
He keeps himself mentally active for sure. He's been an electronics and computer geek his entire life. He had an electronics lab/workshop in our attic when I was a kid and has never stopped. There isn't a guy on the planet that wouldn't love his shop.
I laughed at the know it all comment above. That's definitely Bill but the thing is he usually can walk the talk. He's always jumped in deep when he wants to learn something. He's always had a thirst for knowledge. But as a younger brother the opportunities to show him he's wrong are precious....😉
The wildfire mitigation, security and power management system he's designing is pretty cool and a good example. Once he works it out completely I'm copying it and installing it here.
If you follow him on FB he often has conversations with Randy Strome the old owner of the zone. As geeky as Bill is Randy is right there with him. Just as edgy with AI use. He's designed a platform for data collection for MS thst will use AI for analysis to see what works for people. Randy has also been designing foils in VR in Gravity Sketch and 3D printing them for years.
138 posts
I happened to go look for the zone for a bit of old info and found this post instead....🙃
Both Bill's are very much alive. Pono just had a knee replaced and is itching to get back to everything including wing foiling which is his most recent passion. He still goes back and forth between Hood River and Maui. He does spend more time in his shop inventing and building stuff. His shop is nothing short of incredible. If he isn't on the water or in the shop he's usually on his bike trying to break himself. He turns 80 in January.
Boyum is still getting out there, swimming, OC1, whatever. He can do it all. He's writing more stuff, he's sharing some screenplays with me that are incredible. I truly hope he finds a deal.
I left the zone before it closed. I was there from the start and was sad to see the change in how it ran even if I did understand some of the reasons. Randy and Chan, the owners of the zone are good people but the zone was always a business idea.
To most of us it felt like a place to hang and talk story for a long time, then it became a place to gorilla market, then it was monitized. The domain name is dead. The Wiredsports link is Randy and Chans primary business. Though I think he may have retired. He now has MS and time is precious but still charges hard in every way he can still can.
I think some of the change came when a single post about Ke Nalu paddles basically launched the brand. The potential effect the zone had for business became obvious. After that there was some shady stuff being done by manufacturers using fake names and pumping fake reviews but Randy could see their addresses.
I didn't care for the changes. Between that and health issues that had me paddling a lot less I just didn't feel like I had much more to share. A bit depressed too but that's another story.
It always felt strange to me being the No1 poster on there for many years. Especially considering I'd originally joined only to get info to build a paddle for Pono ( before he became Pono). I never thought I'd be able to do it. But then it changed my life and I had a lot of new stories to share. And it felt like just hanging with friends. Talking story, laughing sometimes arguing.
There is some good news regarding the zone. The Cape Cod Bay Challenge that was born on the zone when I asked if anyone wanted to help me organize a SUP event way back in 2007 will be celebrating our 20th anniversary next year. We've raised $1.5 million in support of families of kids with cancer that come to Boston from around the world for cancer treatment.
I may stick my nose in here to chat occasionally. I've accepted the fact that my abilities are shrinking fast instead of growing so not much in the way of new stories but even this little but of nostalgia was fun.
