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SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

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Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#51

Post by wpasc »

shuckles wrote: post #48
undefined3840 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Can’t wear sandals anywhere either for fear of stepping into a used needle and contracting something.

Counter-point: every fourth person wearing Birkenstocks this weekend.

Counter-counter-point, of course you'll see people in open footwear but in many busy, populated areas (especially near where people work) such as around market, civic center, soma you'll see needles and feces everywhere. Open toed shoes near those things is probably unadvisable

Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#52

Post by shuckles »

wpasc wrote: post #51
shuckles wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counter-point: every fourth person wearing Birkenstocks this weekend.

Counter-counter-point, of course you'll see people in open footwear but in many busy, populated areas (especially near where people work) such as around market, civic center, soma you'll see needles and feces everywhere. Open toed shoes near those things is probably unadvisable

That's not a counter-point, it's movement of goalposts.

Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#53

Post by lotsofpulp »

avocado4 wrote: post #22
jpochtar wrote: post #20

Welcome to New York! [1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0N3C6DsisQ

Too hot in summer and too cold in winter. Not enough VC money relatively to SF. Otherwise I'd move.

Lack of humidity is a huge advantage for the west coast.

Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#54

Post by SkyMarshal »

aphextron wrote: post #8

Just one more nail in the coffin for SF/bay area as an innovation center. It's been really sad to see that rent seeking and bureaucracy have completely choked that place out. I'm not sure if there will ever be another time and place like existed in silicon valley from the 70s-2000s where forward thinking creative individuals can come together in a critical mass, with an environment that allows risk taking and innovat…

Silicon Valley proper (Palo Alto to San Jose) is still alive and well. All sorts of cool things happening in the corridor between Stanford and Santa Clara, as they have since radar and transistors were invented there a half century ago.

Startups locating in SF was done more recently because young startup employees wanted more of a city-based, young adult social life, vs the more college student or family-oriented one in Silicon Valley. But if SF is choking itself out, those startups will just move back down to South Bay/Silicon Valley or in some cases the Berkeley/Oakland area.

SF screwing itself up as an innovation hub isn't the best thing for the Bay Area, but it's far from the end of the Bay Area as a whole as an innovation center.

Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#55

Post by semiotagonal »

undefined3840 wrote: post #23

Too comical. Scooters are a threat to society but not record level property crime, car break ins, and opioid addiction and mental health issues among the homeless

For the most part, I already know how to not step in shit on the sidewalk, but I don't know which way to jump when a scooter comes barreling through, or whether or not I can throw a scooter in the garbage if I find it in my yard. Dealing with new issues shouldn't be contingent on solving every prior issue.

Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#56

Post by Aperocky »

wpasc wrote: post #30
undefined3840 wrote: post #23

Too comical. Scooters are a threat to society but not record level property crime, car break ins, and opioid addiction and mental health issues among the homeless

Not to mention re emergence of medieval diseases like Typhoid [1], large and widely spread amount of human feces (which is a biohazard), and lack of housing supply which contributes to untenable housing costs. [1]: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/03/typhus-tu...

At this point it's strange how the property price in SF haven't been affected by a homeless population almost as large as the housed population.

I haven't been to SF anytime recent, but upon visiting New York I found that McDonalds there doesn't have _anything_ within public reach, no fountains, no trays, not even napkins, and I imagine that is totally justified judging by the amount of homeless people residing in/around it. It would be a nightmarish place to live and I'm surprised people would pay so much for properties in these environments.

Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#57

Post by undefined3840 »

semiotagonal wrote: post #55
undefined3840 wrote: post #23

Too comical. Scooters are a threat to society but not record level property crime, car break ins, and opioid addiction and mental health issues among the homeless

For the most part, I already know how to not step in shit on the sidewalk, but I don't know which way to jump when a scooter comes barreling through, or whether or not I can throw a scooter in the garbage if I find it in my yard. Dealing with new issues shouldn't be contingent on solving every prior issue.

It’s called prioritization

Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#58

Post by undefined3840 »

shuckles wrote: post #48
undefined3840 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Can’t wear sandals anywhere either for fear of stepping into a used needle and contracting something.

Counter-point: every fourth person wearing Birkenstocks this weekend.

I don’t understand what this proves other than the individual risk tolerance of every fourth person you saw this weekend.

Re: SF to Establish Office of Emerging Technology

#59

Post by yonran »

Here is the file for the proposed ordinance (https://sfgov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4160578...). Any company operating an “Emerging Technology Device” is required to apply for a $2,006 permit prior to operating on sidewalks and public rights of way, and these devices are limited to 3mph, are prohibited from parking on the sidewalk, and are required to operate only on sidewalks wider than 6ft. Any violations are subject to $1,000 per day administrative fine, $500 per day civil penalties, and up to $500 per day criminal penalties. The definition of “Emerging Technology” means any new technology which has characteristics including a “beta” label or absence of a federal or state safety certification. The permit application is subject to a public hearing. The OET Director is required to evaluate, e.g., “effects… on public health, safety, welfare, and convenience,” “whether the Emerging Technology … are likely to have a measurable economic and/or social impact in the three- to ten-year period following the use,” “effects … on the labor market,” etc., and the OET Director may reject applications on the basis of these potential impacts.

In my opinion, this definition of “Emerging Technology” is vague and expansive enough that Public Works employees could give you a $1000 ticket for playing Pokémon Go, wearing Google Glass, operating an electric skateboard, or perhaps even vaping.

The author, Norman Yee, is the councilman who in May 2017 became alarmed at autonomous delivery robots on the sidewalks and introduced an ordinance that required delivery robot startups to apply for a permit, capped them to 9 testing robots per permit, and required an operator to be present at all times (https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/o0244-17.pdf).

Relatedly, councilman Aaron Peskin introduced ordinances to require permits for bike rentals on the sidewalk in Feb. 2017 (https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/o0081-17.pdf) and for scooter rentals on the sidewalk in March 2018 (https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/o0099-18.pdf).

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