Capital Tech

CAPITAL CAPITAL TECH TECH The Road to Automization

Ordinance’s Effects on Austin

Silicon Hills Scooters Take Austin

HORIZONS

T A B L E O F

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AUSTINS HIGHWAY

The past, present and future of traffic and road construction in Austin’s rapidly growing environment.

AUSTIN’S CODING EXPLOSION A look at Austin’s rapidly spreading coding industry.

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SCOOTERS TAKE AUSTIN

The pros and cons of Austin’s newest form of transportation; and their questionable legal standing.

THE ROAD TO AUTOMIZATION The status of self-driving car technology and how Austin companies play a role.

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C O N T E N T S

APPLE VS DELL

Two of Austin’s biggest tech companies go head to head to answer the question: Which laptop should you buy?

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RISING TECH

The newest and coolest upcoming technology for every tech enthusiast!

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“SILICON HILLS”

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A look at how local tech startups are affected by national giants setting up camp in Austin.

ORDINANCE’S EFFECTS ON AIRBNB How new city ordinances may be impacting AirBnB’s users and renters

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Luke Guequierre

My name is Luke Guequierre, and I’m a 15 year old freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. I am a native Austinite, having lived in this noble city for the entirety of my life. I chose the topic of current events in Austin because I have always contained a burning desire within myself to stay up to date on the latest news, and I enjoy technology. I have also always been deeply interested in the future, and that interest led to my speculative piece on automated vehicles.

Automated vehicles going to impact Austin greatly in the future, so I decided that they were a perfect topic for my feature article.

Sophia Chau

My name is Sophia Chau, and I’m 15 years old. I was born in Austin in 2003, and I’ve lived here ever since.

For me, the magazine topic wasn’t chosen because I’m particularly interested in tech — or even particularly interested in Austin — but because I enjoy learning about things that are going on in my world. I figured that if I was at least half interested in something, it might make the task of writing an entire article about it more bearable. That’s mostly why I chose to write about Austin’s Ordinances: It’s a topic that I wasn’t very familiar with, but it’s interesting enough to not bore me half to death.

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2019 Spring

Savitha Shanmugasundaram

My name is Savitha Shanmugasundaram, and I’m a freshman at LASA high school in Austin, Texas. I’ve lived in Austin for over 12 years, and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. I chose my magazine topic, investigating the tech hub in Austin, because it’s important to stay up to date with my city, and stay aware of my surroundings. I’ve always invested time learning more about Austin and it’s unique culture. When I heard about Austin’s growing tech hub, and as an individual interested in business, it made sense to wonder about Austin’s future and how this was going to affect local Austin businesses.

Charlie Sernovitz

My name is Charlie Sernovitz, I’m a freshman at LASA high school in Austin, Texas. I’m originally from New York City, but I’ve lived in Austin for 9 years now, so I consider it my home. I’ve always been part of a politically and socially conscious family, so a magazine with a current events theme makes a lot of sense for me. I’m interested in the topic of electric scooters because I’ve always payed attention to transportation.

Growing up in two big cities, NYC and Chicago, traffic is a big part of life. When I heard native Austinites complaining about scooters and all the bad traffic, I just had to investigate.

Capital Tech

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s r o it 2019 Spring|9

AustinĘźs Highways The Past, Present, and Future of Road Construction in Austin MoPac ay used to be one of c a sw the busiest roads in the p o res city. In 2011, plans were made M p to add a tolled express lane to speed Ex up commute times. It opened on Oct. 27,

by Charlie Sernovitz

2018. Drive times have been reduced by up to 25 minutes at rush hour.

3 South Project 8 th began in April, 2016.

1 u The $743 million project o consists of 6 new lanes and S renovations for existing lanes. The The 183

Loop 360 Construction Loop 360 is currently not a freeway.

Plans are currently being made to replace stop lights with overpasses. Not having to stop will speed up commute times along the loop significantly. Intersections are being replaced one at a time over the course of 2022 and 2023.

Highway 71 Toll Lanes

On Feb. 28, 2017, 2 new toll lanes were finished along Highway 71. The project began in 2015. The toll lanes run south of 183, very near the Austin Airport. Toll lanes are designed to reduce airport traffic during busy holidays.

10|Capital Tech

project was 50% finished on April 20, 2018, and will be Expanding 183 is crucial for finished in 2020. reducing traffic in Austin because it provides another North/South corridor besides I-35.

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Sources:  loop360project.com  183south.com  kvue.com  mobileauthority.com  statesman.com  communityimpact.com  vehicle graphics credit: macrovector / freepik.com

Photo by: Andrius Aleksandravicius

Five Bird scooters lined up at the edge of a parking lot along a road. Scooters are frequently found lining sidewalks where they block access to buildings.

Electric scooters provide cheap transportation, but are they safe?

by Charlie Sernovitz

Scooters Take Austin!

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2019 Spring

high injury rates. Unfortunately, several roadblocks have made putting safety regulations in place difficult.

Scooters fall into a difficult gray area between bicycles and cars. They are fast-moving, electric vehicles that face all of the dangers cars face on roads, but are small enough that they can be a nuisance and a danger to pedestrians on sidewalks.

Many scooter companies also utilize intimidating user agreements to shield themselves from lawsuits.

A man rides a Bird scooter on a bridge. Since riding on sidewalks is banned, many riders travel along roads.

Photo by: Denniz Futalan

T

he newfound presence of electric scooters all around the city of Austin in the last year can’t easily be ignored. Since April 2018, they’ve been omnipresent. All one has to do to see crowds of them is drive down Sixth Street, along Lamar Boulevard, or through an outdoor shopping area like Mueller or the Domain. Some corners are left looking like junkyards, with Birds laid in mounds like dark metallic corpses. Entryways of stores are blocked by orderly lines of Limes. On any sunny Saturday afternoon, hundreds are ridden every hour. Austinites need to be asking questions like: “How did they get here?” “Are they safe?” and “Should I be riding one?”

When electric scooters were first released on Austin streets, the issues accompanying the devices were apparent almost immediately.

Public authorities and medical professionals were quick to point out the many hazards riders face on any given journey. The combination of manufacturing flaws in the scooters themselves, the lack of rider training, and the chaotic nature of urban Austin roads has lead to alarmingly

Capital Tech

Looking at the scooter’s history in Austin, it’s clear that problems arose right away. City officials did see the wave of popularity coming.

Plans for the “dockless mobility” program were underway and set to be completed by May 1, but the two largest companies, Bird and Lime, released their respective fleets of scooters two weeks early, on April 16, 2018. The Austin Transportation Department immediately demanded the removal of the scooters.

According to attorney Jim Freeman, Bird’s business model entails not

“I think most people assume it’s safer than driving a car, which proves to not be true sometimes.

Particularly when they’re drunk.”

— Dr. Mark Ackrell asking permission of cities prior to releasing scooters. They just dump a bunch of scooters throughout the city and people start to use them. Eventually, the city takes note and decides they need to act.

Bird waits until the city has the scooters removed, but, by then, the demand for the scooters is too high. City officials are pressured into allowing them due to pressure from the populace who’ve become accustomed to the devices.

Major centers of commerce and local activity are swarmed with scooters. In addition to downtown, the Domain, Mueller, and the University of Texas (UT) campus all have high concentrations of scooters.

They may not be the safest mode of transportation available, but they have become a valuable part of Austin’s transportation network. In a city without reliable passenger trains or a subway system, scooters have filled a niche by providing pedestrians a faster and cheaper alternative to driving or using a rideshare service. The director of UT’s Parking and Transportation Service (PTS), Bobby Stone, said that scooters have become a valuable tool on UT’s campus.

“We have a very limited amount of parking and we encourage people to use alternative transportation whenever possible. Being able to provide them with a quick, easy and safe means of transportation from where the bus dropped them to the center of campus makes a ton of sense,” Stone said.

However, he said that UT is not without scooter related problems.

There are many faculty, staff and students on campus who use wheelchairs and need sidewalks to be open in order for them to get to and from class. If there are scooters blocking a whole sidewalk or a wheelchair ramp and someone can’t get into a building, then that’s a pretty big problem.

Parking of scooters is one of the main issues Austin has faced. The intent of the dockless mobility program was

2019 Spring|13

for the city to put a system of permits in place to control where scooters park. Large piles of parked scooters can easily block access to storefronts and entrances to buildings.

At UT, Stone and his department have made some significant progress.

PTS has instituted a pilot program consisting of 10 designated scooter parking areas around campus. PTS enforces this by placing a $150 impound fee on any scooter that isn’t left at one of those areas or at a bike rack.

“I think that we’ve seen a lot of behavior that’s changed in terms of users of scooters on campus, which have been all positive changes.

I think we’re headed in the right direction and I think that at the end of the day, the benefits will outweigh the potential risks,” Stone said regarding parking. “My opinion is that scooters have a lot of value for us at the university, so I support them being on campus.”

While there are risks associated with parked scooters, they’re easily overshadowed by the danger and

realistic possibility of injury faced on every ride.

“A lot of times people are driving them intoxicated because they feel that there’s less of a risk than driving,” Dr. Mark Ackrell, the head of emergency medicine at St. David’s Hospital South, said. “People go against traffic. They don’t treat themselves as vehicles, so they don’t follow traffic patterns. I think most people assume it’s safer than driving a car, which proves to not be true sometimes. Particularly when they’re drunk.”

Ackrell sees scooter injuries on a daily basis. He frequently encounters sprained wrists, broken arms and serious head injuries. Many injuries are caused by scooters flipping forward and throwing the rider on the ground.

The scooters don’t have the shock absorbers that a typical vehicle does.

When a rider hits a pothole, manhole cover or anything else in the way, there’s no give. The scooter flips the rider forward, according to Freeman.

Freeman has represented over 20

clients injured on scooters since April 2018 and has turned down an additional 30 cases, as of late January 2019. While working on scooter accident cases, Freeman’s research has turned up a few key issues with the vehicles and the companies owning them.

“There are several issues with some of the scooters. One of the scooter companies, Lime, has brakes that don’t always perform as they should.

I’ve had at least 10 people on a Lime scooter have some failure of the brakes,” Freeman said. Many of his cases hinge on proving that the scooter companies were negligent in maintaining their product. That means that the manufacturers were careless during production and put the lives of others in danger as a result.

Consistently faulty brakes are a pretty clear-cut example of negligence, but not many people end up suing scooter companies for damages.

The logic behind that lies in the user agreements riders have to sign, which state that the companies are never responsible for accidents. This isn’t true.

Lime scooters were Austin’s most commonly ridden scooters in 2018.

The company reported 275,000 individual rides over the course of the year.

Photo by: Julien Viry

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2019 Spring

“The problem that I see is, because those agreements are so heavy handed like that, people think that they don’t have a legal standing to sue; the companies are counting on that. The whole purpose of that really lawyered-up user agreement is to trick you into thinking that you can’t sue. I think that’s intentional,” Freeman said, “absolutely intentional.”

The City of Austin has a long journey ahead of it before dockless scooters can be a danger-free, safe part of the city’s transportation system. However, they reduce traffic, and more importantly, get Austinites outside, moving about and having fun as a part of the community. They certainly have a benefit. No one needs to swear off scooters after reading this.

Riders just need to remember to maintain a reasonable speed, be alert and keep safety in mind.

Photo by: Brett Sayles

Capital Tech

“The whole purpose of that really lawyered-up user agreement is to trick you into thinking that you can’t sue. I think that’s intentional, absolutely intentional.”

— Jim Freeman

Two boys share a Lime scooter on a downtown city street. The minimum age and single-rider requirement put in place

by Lime are almost never enforced.

2019 Spring|15

PROGRAMS

Many coding learning programs have sprung up in the past decade, including but not limited to Galvanize, Austin Coding Academy, SCI-tech Academy, Data Science Dojo, Web Fellowship, Southern Careers Institute, NYCDA, The Iron Yard, General Assembly, Dev Bootcamp, Hack Reactor, and Lumenbrite

The Austi Explo

by Luke G

Austin, Texas is curren coding programs, jobs experiences. Howeve this way. The Austin c exploded in the past t ing from a niche feild career so swiftly most Just how much has the exploded, and what d rapidly changing city?

INDUSTRY

Programming jobs are growing 12% more than the national average, there were seven million coding job openings in 2015 alone. Coding is the fastest growing industry today, and the world is finally recognizing it as such.

EDUCATION

AISD School District held an hour of code, encouraging children to enter the field of computer science. UT has several coding bootcamps, rigorous camps where coding skills are taught nonstop for an extended period of time, as well as coding classes.

in Coding osion

Guequierre

ntly bursting with s, and educational er, it was not always coding industry has two decades, evolvd to a mainstream t of us were unaware. e coding industry does this mean for our ?

ORIGINS

The majority of these programs have been founded in the years of 2012 to 2014, when a huge boom in the Austin coding economy seemed to have occured.

Sources:

 “Austin Coding Bootcamps and Schools.”, Built in Austin article.  “The Most Comprehensive Guide to Austin Coding Programs and Schools Ever Crafted.”, American Genius Article  “About Our Programs | UT Austin Boot Camps - Learn Coding, Data, UX/UI, Cybersecurity.”, UT website.

Photo By: Riccardo Bresciani

The view out of a car window shows a mountain countryside. Many believe that soon a drivers seat will be unnecessary as autonomous vehicles emerge.

The Road To Automization The Dawn of Autonomous Vehicles By: Luke Guequierre

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2019 Spring

G

liding smoothly down the black asphalt road, its gleaming white body reflecting the beaming sun above. Immersed in the heat of a sweltering Austin summer day, a vehicle that looks as if it came straight out of a science fiction movie arrives. Although it bears resemblance to a car, the body is rounded and compact, with a black protrusion extending from the top of its frame. Yet, what truly sets it apart from regular cars is, although there is a man sitting in the driver’s seat, his hands aren’t on the steering wheel and the car continues to move of its own volition.

This futuristic machination is a product of the Google “Waymo” project, which designs autonomous vehicles, or vehicles that can drive without the input of humans. These vehicles use sensors to detect objects in their general area, their programming allowing them to avoid obstacles and navigate to their destination. Autonomous vehicles are

being tested here in Austin, as well as cities in New Mexico and California.

Many people and corporations argue that autonomous vehicles are the future of transportation, while others still fear placing their lives in the hands of a machine. However, despite the debate, all parties agree on one thing: autonomous vehicles are going to be an important part of the future.

Robert Spillar, director of transportation for the City of Austin, has an optimistic view of the future, where autonomous vehicle technology will lead.

“Autonomous vehicles are going to be a positive change for our society.

They will reduce driving related fatalities and injuries, as well as significantly ease traffic,” Spillar said.

The theory that self driving cars will “reduce driving related fatalities” stems from the belief that car accidents, one of the leading causes of death in America, are caused by human error, a belief that orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Varqa Ruhipor, shares.

“There are a lot of bad drivers, there are a lot of distracted drivers, driving is a dangerous activity that we take for granted because it’s so common,” Ruhipor said.

The reason why the factors that Ruhipor shared are not present in autonomous vehicles is due to the fact that they are inhuman and not prone to error. If they are programmed correctly, they can cut mistakes out of the driving process.

Given that over half of the injuries that Ruhipor treats are caused by car accidents, he is eager to automate as soon as possible.

Car accidents are not the only things stemming from human error. Traffic is caused by indecision, hesitation to drive for fear of colliding with other automobiles, and other mistakes, such as crashes and irrational driving.

Every driver is traveling at a different speed. Drivers don’t know the speed at which other cars are traveling, which leads to standstills and bottlenecks.

“Autonomous vehicles are going to be a positive change for our society.

They will reduce driving related fatalities and injuries, as well as significantly reduce traffic.”

— Robert Spillar

Capital Tech

2019 Spring|19

Photo By: Vigan Hajdari

A car lies in a ditch after a serious accident, an accident caused by human error. Most believe that autonomous vehicles will seriously reduce car accidents.

Autonomous vehicles can ease all of these problems if administered correctly. Now, the next biggest question facing autonomous vehicles is simply the timeframe.

“Autonomous vehicles will be out of the testing phase within four to five years, although that does not mean that they will suddenly be very common.” Spillar said. Google and Uber have already tested autonomous vehicles countless times and seen success. They’ve stated that they plan on releasing their vehicles to the public soon.

Autonomous vehicles will not truly integrate into our society immediately because of the logistics of actually getting them onto the road. Ross Spencer Garsson, a lawyer at Dickinson Wright, explained some

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“There are a lot of bad drivers, there are a lot of distracted drivers, driving is a dangerous activity we take for granted because its so common.”

— Dr. Varqa Ruhipor

of the practicalities of replacing non-autonomous vehicles with their autonomous counterparts.

“Buying a car is a big investment, and not everyone will sell their current car to buy an autonomous model. People will favor buying autonomous models, but they will also likely be more expensive than non-autonomous cars.” Garsson said.

Those factors will likely slow the growth of autonomous vehicles in the consumer market, but the change is estimated to occur much sooner in the world of business.

Businesses, as opposed to people, have no sentimental attachment to vehicles, and are entirely willing to abandon old machinery to make way for newer, more cost effective technology. Uber is not investing

2019 Spring

in self-driving cars to sell them to the public, they are investing in self driving cars to automate their fleet. So far, all corporations have been able to do this with little to no oversight, due to the fact that there are few legal boundaries to testing autonomous vehicles, as Spillar explains.

“There are Texas-specific laws that regulate autonomous vehicles, such as one that allows driverless cars to be tested without a driver, as long as they act in accordance with traffic laws, have video recorders installed, and are insured,” Spillar said.

However, as long as autonomous vehicles are created in accordance with these laws, there are no regulations on how they have to be tested. Testing without someone in the vehicle having happened several times over.

It seems as if the integration of autonomous vehicles into society is inevitable, given the lack of substantial legal restrictions and heavy investment by major corporations. However, there is some philosophical opposed to autonomous vehicles, arguing that machines should not be responsible for human lives. Dr. Ruhipor combatted those arguments with his own viewpoint.

“When you go on an elevator, it’s just a machine deciding what you do, whereas a hundred years ago it was a person that was doing that, and when you fly on a plane most of what’s happening is a machine making decisions. It’s happening in all of our lives whether we realize it or not, and so, it’s just a car is one of the more obvious places

where this might happen,” Ruhipor said. He argued that it is far too late to attempt to halt the spread of autotomization.

It seems increasingly clear that, although the gleaming white autonomous vehicles of Google, Uber, and other corporations seem like science fiction now, soon they will be a key part of our society. Many people believe that in 20 years, fleets of cars will coast down every street, no one at the wheel.

Cars wait in traffic caused by human indecision and error. Experts predict that the introduction of Autonomous vehicles would put an end to traffic.

Photo By: Mikechei Esparagoza

Capital Tech

2019 Spring|21

APPLE VS

Austinʼs leading tech companies, Apple a competitors that although produce simila completely different from a variety of elem components. Which one is more beneficia Which one is the best for you?

•Operating System: Mac OS (preinstalled) •64 bit system that requires less hard drive space & money •Hardware: metal chassis •Intel Processes

COMPON

•Very light to utilize portability •Sleek modern design •Recently introduced more colors •Operating System: Mac OS (preinstalled) •Excellent built in software programs such as iTunes •Longer battery life •Optimized for best performance

•If you already own several Apple products •Helps with compatability •Aesthetically pleasing •High performing •OS X

DESIG

HOW IT STA

WHICH

S DELL

and Dell, are sincere ar technological devices, are ments from design through al for the average consumer?

NENTS

•Operating System: latest version of Microsoft Windows •32 or 64 bit system •Hardware: mostly plastic •Intel and AMD Processes

GN

•Matte black plastic •Traditional look •Variety of colors

ANDS OUT

H??

•Excellent variety: Inspiron, Latitude, XPS or Alienware •Very affordable

•More affordable •Meets your needs •More OS options •More variety •Exceptional quality

Sources: •David Perez, Azcentral.

•Dell vs. Apple Laptops 2019, Best Laptop World.

•Chuong Nguyen, Digital Trends.

•Dell Computer, SpowerSoft.

•Apple MacBook, PC. •Graphic Icons, Noun Project.

“SILICON HILLS” How Austin’s attractive entrepreneurial and tech hub can impact the city

by SAVITHA SHAN

Austin, Texas is a city full of life compromising of many Austin businesses Photo By: Carlos Delgado

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2019 Spring

A

ustin is a young city full of life, music and culture. The weather is clear, it’s bright outside and there’s a cool breeze. A city full of vividly decorated food trucks selling food from around the world, especially Tex-Mex. Depending on the week, there might even be local festival such as Austin City Lights or South by Southwest.

Austin, Texas, is not only rated one of the most beautiful and attractive cities in the nation, but it is projected to be the next entrepreneurial and tech hub. Austin had already been named “Silicon Hills” in anticipation of the next big tech boom. The title would place the city in the company of giants such as New York and Silicon Valley.

Entrepreneurs have already begun investing their time and effort in Austin. “Austin has an abundance of really strong startups but not enough capital to help them grow,” Dagney Pruner, the director of an Austin-based company, New Coast Ventures, said.

Silicon Valley because those areas

New Coast Ventures is a company that invests in local start-up companies based in Austin. One of the co-founders previously lived in Austin, and invited the other cofounder to move from California to Austin.

“They wanted a place where we could still get pretty big valuations, big exits, making sure we’re making good money for our investors, but that was outside New York or Dagney Pruner is a director at an Austin tech company called New Coast Ventures.

Photo Courtesy By: New Coast Ventures

are too saturated. Austin is kind of the perfect middle ground, and it has a great quality of life,” Pruner said.

Austin fulfilled all of the requirements that successful cities like San Francisco and New York possess, but without the crowding.

— Dagney Pruner

Capital Tech

New York and Silicon Valley are highly overpopulated, and it is becoming more difficult to find jobs, but Austin has the space and the resources to accept young professionals.

“You know there are no taxes here.

You know standard of living is a really important piece of the puzzle

2019 Spring|25

displays qualities many that attract investors and entrepreneurs, and

cities with the most traffic problems, and doesn’t yet make the top ten

distance from Seattle and they wanted to go closer to Europe, so it

Keri Stephens is a UT Profesor on communications technology

Photo Courtesy of: University of Texas at Austin. people have started to notice.

While Austin possesses certain traits that are desirable, the city lacks a critical feature that could possibly ruin their chance to be an attractive tech hub: infrastructure. Even though Austin has the potential to accommodate more people, the poor infrastructure prevents that. Austin is ranked second in the country for

26|Capital Tech

when it comes to the most populated cities in the U.S. For instance, Austin was shortlisted as one of the cities to be chosen for the site of Amazon’s second headquarters. However, there were some qualifications that Austin did not meet.

“They wanted to be graphic aid

made the East Coast a good choice.

Also, in comparison to Austin’s overflooding airport, New York has 3 considerable airports which makes fly time between there and Seattle much more convenient,” Anush Krishnamoorthy, a software engineer at Amazon said.

While some companies decide not to come to Austin, there were still

2019 Spring

residents from around the country immigrating to Austin. Keri Stephens is a professor at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. Before she relocated to Austin, she lived in California. According to Stephens, the California lifestyle required lots of commitment, hours of commute and long working hours.

“My husband and I knew the pace of

century. This may someday lead to an overcrowding issue in the same vein as Silicon Valley.

While Austin has taken steps in the right direction towards becoming an attractive tech hub, there are some doubts concerning Austin’s future.

“We can never be the next California.

We don’t have enough infrastructure to hold all these people like Silicon Valley can,” Stephens said. The city lacks some essential traits, like ocean access and a subway system.

Stephens predicted that tech companies will move to the suburbs and shift Austin’s industrial center away from downtown. Cross-city traffic on highways will become worse, but the pressure on downtown roads will be alleviated.

Local Austin businesses are similar to those in Silicon Valley.

Photo By: Kate Baucheral

life is slower in Texas; we would not have to work crazy hours, we could have a reasonable life and be able to afford a house,” Stephens said.

The couple specifically chose Austin because they were both offered jobs here, and Stephens was given a position at UT. But how is the tech boom affecting Austin? The city’s population has grown significantly in the 21st

Capital Tech

extremely expensive, and Austin is an affordable alternative. Apple just invested a billion dollars here, and Google has constructed a new office building.

Austin is a young, sustainable city with a rich, diverse culture that possesses many of the qualities necessary for a booming technology hub. Austin is predicted to grow tremendously in the next 10 years, but it is still too early to predict the extent of the growth. What is known for sure is that Austin isn’t falling off the map any time soon, and is bound to be a driving force in our nation’s economy in the years and decades to come.

Local Austin professionals benefit greatly from the presence of larger companies.

As Austin grows, so does the market for highly educated, skilled workers. This in turn attracts more of those workers. “The more big companies that come and recruit here the better it is for the talent ecosystem and the better it is for startups. So it’s a good thing for us as investors and definitely good for other startups here,” Pruner, said.

Austin is already welcoming many tech companies. Anush Krishnamurthy, an employee at Amazon, explained why Austin is a good place to settle. It’s got a good climate and affordable real estate.

California real estate has gotten

Employees are working hard in order to profit Austin.

Photo by: Arif Riyanto

2019 Spring|27

Ris Te

by Soph

Intro

Technology runs the world; it seems lik a UI,. With every new technological ad closer to a utopian--or dystopian--futur is changing, and it will only continue to new pieces of tech to look forward to.

CRISPR

Virtual Reality

Red Hydrogen One Red’s new Hydrogen One phone is just like any phone, except that it isn’t. From it’s surprisingly big and bulky design, to its 4-View holographic display, this phone has been both revered and jeered at, and it’s revolutionary ideas of what a phone can be will certainly change the outlook on mobile phones for years to come.

Revolution certainly isn’t cheap, however, and the phone clocks a starting price of $1,295.

CRISPR CRISPR is a new technology that utilizes an enzyme that can cut up DNA at will. This can mean many things, but one recent development has created a controversy: CRISPR’s ability to edit the genes of a human fetus.

Humans and genetically modified citizens beware: CRISPR is coming to town.

Virtual reality, or VR for short, is a complex computer-generated interactive interface that you can move around in. From video games, to social events, to even porn, VR is quickly becoming one of the most innovative--and controversial--technologies.

However, one thing is for certain, though: friend or foe, virtually reality is here to stay.

S

I m d c a F c in t t g t n t

sing ech

hia Chau

oduction

ke everything we do these days is through dvancement, humanity creeps closer and re. For better or worse, the World of Tech o get bigger and bigger. Here are a few

Self-Driving Cars

It’s easy to see why self-driving cars may seem like a lazy alternative to driving. For one, self-driving cars could literally solve traffic, but they also pose some ethical questions.

For example, what if the car has to choose between saving you and an nnocent pedestrian? While the technology certainly isn’t there yet, the concept of self-driving cars isn’t going away any time soon, and these moral and ethical questions need solutions that keep up with the tech.

Quantum Computers Quantum computers are computers that use one of the fundamental principles of quantum physics to quickly process information. In the quantum world, one thing can be both on and off at once.

Classically, computers have only been able to use a binary on/off system to process information, but the new quantum rules change everything.

Reusable Rockets Ever since the dawn of spaceflight nearly half a century ago, the expenses of flying someone into space have been astronomically high. However, with the recent invention of reusable rockets, this may soon be changing. What will the future hold for spaceflight?

More importantly: What will the future of spaceflight hold for us?

Sources CNET Article, Red Hydrogen One. Live Science Article, CRISPR. VRS, What is Virtual Reality?

ORDINANCE’S EFFECTS ON AUSTIN

by SOPHIA CHAU

The Renters Club headquarters stands in Austin, Texas. The Renters Club is a company that helps homeowners manage their homes for rent.

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photo by Sophia Chau

2019 Spring

photo by Sophia Chau Adham El-Effendi, the co-founder of The Renters Club, sits for a picture on February 10, 2019.

I

t’s easy to understand why Austin has become one of the most rapidly developing cities in America. Walking down the sweltering streets, a tourist can quickly jump from store to store, exploring a plethora of captivating gadgets and gizmos — all while enjoying the free air conditioning.

While it may be fun to explore the streets during the day, each tourist needs a place to sleep. One of the most popular platforms they turn to is Airbnb: an app and service that allows people to put their properties up for rent. Usually, renters’ homes are used as hotels; guests stay for

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However, that may change soon because of Austin’s new short-term rental ordinance.

also announced a complete halt on the issuing of licenses for type-2 short-term rentals. These laws are controversial, with some people questioning whether or not they are constitutional. Others say that they protect neighborhoods from becoming overrun by renters from sites like Airbnb and that they help level the playing fields between normal people and big businesses.

This ordinance, enacted in 2016, promised to phase out all type-2 short-term rentals by 2022. Type2 short-term rentals are properties that are being rented out and do not have an owner living on-site.

Alongside the ordinance, the city

“People can make a lot of money doing this, and it’s really kind of unfair to people that are trying to buy their first home,” Elizabeth Maurer, a renter with Airbnb, said. “When an investor can just keep buying houses and doing this to it, it makes it harder

short periods of time. The main attraction of services like Airbnb is that they provide a platform for people to rent out their houses as opposed to hotel rooms. After all, who doesn’t prefer a home over a hotel room?

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for normal working people to go buy their first house.”

Some organizations, however, believe that the ordinance is unconstitutional. Organizations such as the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a foundation committed to advancing free-market principles within the Texas Legislature, have sued the city of Austin, citing that the ordinance is unconstitutional.

“These laws violate constitutional rights to association, assembly, protection from unreasonable searches and seizures and equal protection,” Robert Henneke, general counsel at the TPPF, said.

Austin’s ordinance also prohibits any activity other than sleep occurring after 10 p.m. in a short-term rental; this effectively sets an adult bedtime for people that are staying in a rental property. In addition, the laws disallow more than six unrelated adults from being outside in a shortterm rental. So, if a guest wanted to have a barbecue outside their rental property, these laws wouldn’t allow that.

“The government saying how many people you can get together with, or what time you can get together with them, those kinds of restrictions are unconstitutional,” Henneke said. “Likewise, you have the Equal Protection Clause under the Constitution.”

The Equal Protection Clause states that all citizens have the same rights at all times. So, by singling out short-term rental guests, Austin’s new ordinance can be seen as infringing upon the Constitution of the United

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States. Legal arguments aside, some argue that there are other solutions besides a total stop on issuing type-2 rental licenses.

“There’s some noise monitors out there as well, but we haven’t found anything that works as well as just a Nest camera,” Adham El-Effendi, co-founder of The Renter’s Club, said. His company is currently in the design stage of a new program that would monitor noise levels and give a notification to the owner of a property. If an owner sees a large number of notifications, it can be an indicator to them that they may need to make a call to the renters.

According to El-Effendi, the main thing that swayed the decisionmaking process of enacting these laws were the harrowing firsthand accounts of disruptive Airbnb customers. “There were real problems,” El-Effendi said, “but it was not due to the fact that the regulations didn’t exist, it was due to the fact that those existing regulations weren’t being enforced.”

Moreover, the new ordinance potentially has negative effects. If the people who normally rent through Airbnb are unable to do so, they may not be able to find a trustworthy alternative. “We have so many guests who could save a little bit of money booking directly through our platform, but choose to book through Airbnb because they trust the name and the service that they provide,” El-Effendi said.

“One of the reasons why a lot of the actions the government takes are not challenged is just because of the cost and resources that are required for someone to stand up for and defend themselves,” Henneke said. Austin has a law firm-sized city attorney’s office, and organizations that have to fight these laws simply do not have the same scope of resources that the city does.

Despite the amount of resources it takes, people still want a better alternative to the ordinances, but it’s difficult to come up with one that will please everyone involved. The lack of any laws regarding shortterm rentals could destroy entire neighborhoods, but having too many of them can discourage business, not to mention the fact that they may be unconstitutional.

“It’s my wish and intention and hope for us to work together because home sharing is not something that’s going away,” El-Effendi said. “It needs to be figured out, and I believe that, for the most part, the city wants to figure it out correctly, but I do think that there’s been some missteps.”

Whether or not they’re negative or positive, the ordinance’s effects on how people go about their daily lives are hard to ignore, and Airbnb is just the tip of the iceberg. Sooner or later, those streets that are lined with tourists are going to change, for better or for worse.

It needs to be figured out, and I believe that, for the most part, the city wants to figure it out.

— Adham El-Effendi

2019 Spring

The Renters Club headquarters are run out of two rooms in an apartment building.

photo by Sophia Chau

These laws violate constitutional rights to association, assembly, protection from unreasonable searches and seizures and equal protection. — Robert Henneke

Capital Tech

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