Tuesday, December 15, 2015

My new Hoverboard

I had to get one.  Sometimes called a Segway, the box says self-balancing wheel or or the public calls them a hoverboard!  Hoverboard seems to be the term that is catching on.  I did a bit a research online and mostly on YouTube.  I guess these things have recently become the rage.  Mostly for catching on fire, but that is just media hype.

I have seen prices from $228 from Wish.com to $1700 for IO Hawk brand.  They are all mostly made in China and the cheapest ones are shipped directly from China distributors.  There was an original inventor, Shane Chen had them made in China and soon after, companies started out creating knock offs brands.

I originally ordered mine from Wish.com.  I saw it taking 3-4 weeks, so I order from http://www.smartselfbalancewheel.com/ and recieved it within 4 days and this model even had a bluetooth speaker built into it.  I paid about $100 more, but it is shipped from stock from the States.


Monday, December 14, 2015

TNC Regulations in Austin

It has been over a year since the city of Austin legalized Uber and Lyft in Austin.  The new council has taken up the issue and is looking to make the original ordinance permanent with a number of additional regulations.  One of the additional regulations would require all drivers to submit to a fingerprint background check.  Lyft does not operate in any city with a mandatory fingerprint check.  Uber only operates in Houston with the check, but only reluctantly.  KEYE interviewed me on my thoughts.  They actually spread out my comments over a few news cycles.