His commencement speech from 2005 at Stanford was a very inspirational piece. Here’s an excerpt I especially like:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

And on a lighter note but right on the money The Onion honored Steve in their own irreverent way.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/last-american-who-knew-what-the-fuck-he-was-doing,26268/

We also are proud to announce we have our own standalone client for the Windows Desktop. From Win 98 to Win 7 you can now tune into KONA Stream using a very small, but efficient client that also has a 10 band equalizer and 3 layouts. You must have .NET 2.0 to use it which can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/net/download.aspx

The client can be downloaded here: http://www.konastream.com/files/KONA%20Stream%20Player.zip

Just unzip to the desired location, run the executable and a shortcut will be placed on your desktop.

Rav

http://gold.slserver.com:8030

the secondary stream is :

http://174.37.194.139 :8321/live.ogg

Just a note about the streams. The shoutcast has only 50 slots so if you are running a venue with huge crowds I may run out of capacity real quick. The Icecast stream has 25 slots and functions as a backup or secondary. It’s using the OGG format and has a higher degree of fidelity. It is prone to more dropouts but if you make the right tweaks to your  listening client it should work fine. I personally listen to the Icecast stream on my iPhone and it hardly ever drops on me. I have available a tuner at my studio that features these two streams. Look up  KONA Stream in Aracar. The tuner is on the desk, just take a copy.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aracar/148/101/99

Check my profile in world for new tuning instructions.

KONA Radio, 9 February 2007 – 31 October 2010

Rav

I’ve gotten a new cable modem from Comcast to replace our problematic Motorola unit. Of course it would be too simple to assume all the previous problems would simply disappear and nothing would replace them. Our new modem has a “WAN” port on it instead of the more common Ethernet port. No longer could I simply plug it into an Ethernet jack or WAN port in my 8 port hub. Yes, you read right, a HUB, that’s about 10 years old. I had to plug them modem into the Vonage adapter then feed it to the hub. It just works but there is a big flaw. When I move a lot of big files across the network it seems to swamp the network and it stops my station stream(s) from uploading to the server. Damn…. I’ll have to spring for a Switch it seems.

Rav

As many of my predecessors and current colleagues will tell you, you ain’t going to get rich broadcasting online. Count yourself lucky if you can break even. The current royalty scheme is very much leveled against the little guy. There is simply no way they can get ahead. It’s like we pay them the privilege to broadcast their music. For those who can’t find a sugar daddy to cover our costs or have enough disposable income to cover the costs we all reach a point where we fold up and move on once our drive to share is spent.

So, where to now? I have already dropped my listing on iTunes which contributed to about %60 of my listener hours. I will also drop my current Shoutcast server in favor of a cheaper Icecast server. This will also shed a number of my SL and web based listeners. I’ll be using .OGG format which will give me a superior sound for the same bit rate. There will also be no advertising and station breaks will be less frequent. The station name will also change to “KONA Stream” to match the station website name. If you wish to listen or continue listening to email me at ravishal@konastream.com or look my profile up in SL.

Rav

================================================================================

September 2, 2010

Just for clarity, this is for immediate release. I guess.

It’s another afternoon spent writing e-mails, posting videos, and eating Lucky Charms. And somewhere in all this, dear reader, I realize the need to write a press release or some sort of official document chronicling the impending release of a brand new recording project.

I could write that in the third person and tell you that “Heath’s latest release is sure to be a winner, complete with happy-go-lucky piano tunes that will melt your heart” or that “this upcoming solo piano album will be more fun than a day at the beach.” But you don’t really want to hear that, do you? I thought not.

And you know what, you’re exactly right. How do I make ‘solo piano’ fun? That’s a tough call.

Well, how about I start by telling you the release date? OK, here goes. It’s October 5, 2010. See, that wasn’t so bad. “Well, Heath, what sort of songs are going to be on the album?”

A very valid question! And in case didn’t figure it out, this album is solo piano. Mostly.

Let me start with the title piece, “Whimsy.” One day, while I was driving to work, I got this picture in my head of an album cover. And on the album cover, you see a pianist, or rather, the pianist’s feet, while he or she is sitting at the piano. From the attire of the individual, you would think they are playing a formal event, and the tone of the evening would be one of hushed silence and little talking. From the vantage point of the photograph, one can make out both feet of the performer, and on one foot, a shiny black formal dress shoe, but on the other, a fuzzy rainbow-colored sock like the stockings you might find on a birthday clown. And that’s it. Amusing. Funny. Quirky. And reflective. For the kiddos, there is “The Dreamers,” a solo piano piece with some added cello. There’s always room for cello, right? Children are a very big part of my life. From teaching piano to children, to spending time with my nieces, nephews and the children of my friends, there is something innocent, pure and magical about childhood. And for some reason, waltzes always remind me of lazy days as a kid, letting my imagination run wild and seeing what new adventure waited over the horizon. This song is for children everywhere, and for the child within each one of us.

“Edgewater” is another piece from “Whimsy,” highlighting recent and not-so-recent travels along the Gulf Coast. I have always loved the water. And I have always loved the South. It’s something in the air, and something about the way of life down here that is inescapable. And so that is where “Edgewater” tells its story, in drives up and down the coast, in sunsets watching the waves crash along the shore, and in adventures to have every single day.

“Te Deseo,” also Spanish for ‘I desire you’ is a piece written for my wonderful wife. I wanted to capture the sound of what it feels like every time I look in her eyes, run my hands through her hair, or hold her in my arms. I wanted to capture in this piece all the sensuality that is loving a woman in the most romantic way possible. This song is written for kisses in the rain, candlelight, whispers, and dreams on the lips of two people who are deeply in love. And it is for something much deeper. This piece is written for a woman whose beauty goes so deep that mere words can fail to describe it.

And that’s just a small sampling of the 11 pieces that appear on the release. So come on in, rest your weary head, and laugh a little. Love life. That’s what this album is all about.

…………………………..

There is more to come. More music videos. Performances. But it all begins with you.

=====================================================================================

I have all 11 tracks now in rotation on the stream. You can also sample  some of his music here: http://www.heartsparkmusic.com/

Heath’s indicated to me there will be some giveaways to KONA Radio listeners so be sure to listen and visit the KONA Radio website in the upcoming weeks!

to play KONA Radio on your parcel use this URL : http://gold.slserver.com:8030

Also important is that Thai gamers are affected and you can imagine that video content and possibly VOIP is getting killed too.

Are any Thai Second Lifers feeling this pinch too?

================================================================================

KONA is throttled to a STOP, and its not your fault!

The ISPs in Thailand are throttling torrent bit streams and KONA comes on-and-off every minute or so.  Man, it is so irritating.    Here’s an answer I got on a forum:
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What throttling does is constantly drop peer to seed or seed to peer connections. It can also disrupt any longer term outside connection originating outside Thailand that it suspects is engaging in file transferring.

This is why even online gaming is being effected.
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I am forced to listen to my own music.   Argggh!    Just wanted to let you know why you’re not seeing me signed on lately.   Not sure what the policy is going to be moving forward, but right now I am throttled to a stop on listening to KONA, and I don’t do any torrents at all……

Take Care,

Toivo

So, if you’re interested in advertising on the most popular Second Life radio station as well as a popular iTunes radio station please contact me in world or send me an email at Ravishal.Bentham@gmail.com .