First, a little history. Then news of change.

When I started this blog with regular updates in late 1999, it was billed as the “The Final Days, a Newsroom Diary”, an inside look at the closing, and later the survival, of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. It was set up as part of the free web space provided by our home Internet provider, Oceanic Cable’s Roadrunner.

By early 2001, I was close to exceeding the 5 MB of RR storage, and my time in the Star-Bulletin newsroom was over. As a result, I selected a new hosting service and registered the domain name “iLind”, which I thought would be an easy thing to remember as the iMac, iPod, and other “i” things gained a foothold in popular consumer culture.

In practice, it hasn’t really translated well. I say “iLind” and people hear “island”. Even when I spell it out slowly, i-l-i-n-d, people hear “island”. Sometimes “islind”. And, as iLind.net appeared in various blog rolls, the name doesn’t really signal much to prospective new readers.

So I’ve decided to bring back “Hawaii Monitor”, which was the name of the political newsletter I published between 1990 and 1993. It was an experiment and a relatively successful one.

Starting some time next week, I’ll start merging the Hawaii Monitor name with this site. Not a lot else will change. “iLind” won’t be going away, the URL won’t be changing, and you don’t need to change your bookmarks. On the other hand, HawaiiMonitor.com will also bring you directly to this site as well. Actually, that part is already happening. Try it and you’ll see.

Hopefully, over time, “Hawaii Monitor” will signal more about the content readers can expect than “iLind” has over the past 10 years.

And when I tell someone how to find the site, I won’t have to worry that they will hear “island”.

And now, Friday’s Felines, beginning with Mr. Silverman.

He now spends the nights in a small guest room downstairs next to our laundry room, and when I walked in one morning earlier this week, there he was, soft morning light coming through the curtain from the window behind him, and it was just a lovely little still life. Luckily, I was carrying a camera and got the shot.

So please click on Silverman’s photo for another round of Feline Friday.