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The advancement of technology with AI has driven the creation and popularity of “smart glasses.” Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook and CEO of Meta, holds the dream of fulfilling the “metaverse,” a world where life and virtual reality blur, and smart glasses are a huge step to get there. Meta partnered with Ray Ban in 2021 to introduce their first version of smart glasses that could perform basic functions of taking photos and videos and listening to music, but in 2025 they launched three AI-powered models that could perform much more complex tasks. The AI usage skyrocketed the popularity of smart glasses, however, the glasses were quickly met with privacy concerns over data sharing and recording without consent. 

Major tech companies have been chasing the idea of smart glasses for years. The first public model was the Google Glass Explorer released in 2013. It featured a thick rectangular screen in the corner of the right lens and could perform very basic skills through voice activation, such as taking photos and short videos, making a call, and, of course, the ability to Google things. Ten thousand glasses were given to tech developers to test out in public who were known as “explorers.” However, the public rather chose to call them “glassholes.” Numerous technical difficulties and low demand led to the glasses being discontinued in 2015, but they only accelerated the smart glasses race even more.

The Ray-Ban Stories released in 2021 as Meta’s first model, and were met with surprising affirmation. The glasses had the basic functions of a phone, but only communicated through a speaker, not a display screen. So with the release of their three new AI-run models in 2025, Meta successfully implemented a screen to display apps and notifications into the Meta Ray-Ban Display. Most notably, the display glasses are controlled by the Meta Neural Band, which uses electromyography sensors to detect tiny movements in the wrist. The display model is a more limited item, only sold at 14 Ray Ban stores nationwide.

The most commonly bought version of the glasses is the Wayfarer, which is non display but still fully run by AI. It doesn’t have the screen on the lens, but can communicate to the wearer through the speaker. Along with taking photos and videos and playing music, the glasses can identify objects seen through the camera, offer live translation, or just have a conversation with you. The glasses are very versatile, but most seem to be drawn to the hands free recording. “I mountain bike, so it’s nice that one object is my sunglasses, my go pro, and my headphones,” said a Ray-Ban store employee.

Most people buy the glasses with transition lenses that automatically tint and turn into sunglasses when in contact with the sun, while others can have prescription lenses placed inside. Most recently, Meta released two exclusively prescription glasses that buyers have to specially order and can’t just buy off the shelf. They are a bit softer on the frame to make wearing them for longer periods of time more comfortable. “As somebody who wears prescription, if I'm going to be wearing glasses anyway, why not make them do other things,” said the Ray-Ban employee.

With the easy recording access, issues have arisen over privacy. Although there is a light that goes off when a user is recording, there are many easy hacks for covering it up or even removing it. The responsibility of when and what to record is completely up to the user, which has led to issues with recording other people without their consent or knowledge. “If you continuously record, maybe you just happen to catch someone entering their password onto their phone or computer at a coffee shop, or broadcast someone’s bank details when you’re standing in line at an ATM,” security and privacy activist Thorin Klosowski wrote for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Klosowski acknowledges that phones and cameras have long been able to record without consent, but smart glasses are designed to be discrete, so it is much harder to know when they are recording.

The glasses have helped create a popular trend of creators on social media recording their interactions with people on the smart glasses, pulling public pranks or purposely trying to get a reaction out of people for views. Wired Magazine notes that many of the creators don't have permission before recording, and even if they don’t upload the video they still could have it saved. These pranks for social media can spin widely out of control, and are often forms of harassment. 

Meta has also faced backlash over privacy concerns about users' private data. The Meta app makes it clear that they collect the footage for further AI training and development, but Swedish journalists discovered that some human workers in Kenya were reviewing inappropriate footage that users had taken. Meta states deep in their terms of service for the glasses that the footage would be used for AI training and could be human reviewed. However, they are being sued for violating privacy laws and false advertising due to their constant message that privacy is their number one priority. Users could have no idea that their sensitive footage was being watched all the way across the world, which does not really suggest that Meta is completely focused on privacy.

Privacy concerns have continued around Meta’s future plans to introduce facial recognition technology into their glasses. They first implemented facial recognition on Facebook in 2010 to make tagging people in photos easier, but got rid of it after lots of criticism. Meta then considered adding it into their first model of smart glasses in 2021, but removed it due to technological and ethical issues. But now, they want to bring the technology back with the “name tag” feature that would let wearers identify people and get information on them with the use of AI. There are two options that Meta is considering, one where the glasses would just recognize your friends on Meta platforms like Instagram or Facebook, and another where it could recognize all people who have an account on a Meta platform. But nowadays, most people have an account. Nathan Freed Wessler of the American Civil Liberties Union said that “Face recognition technology on the streets of America poses a uniquely dire threat to the practical anonymity we all rely on.”

Walls of water surged through neighborhoods, farmland disappeared under muddy currents, and thousands lost power as powerful storms hit Hawaii in March 2026. What started as short term steady rain quickly escalated into severe flooding, damaging homes, land and local economies across the islands. 

The flooding was caused by two back-to-back kona low systems, which are slow-moving subtropical storms that pull in warm, moist air from the tropics. According to NASA, some areas received more than 30 inches of rain between March 11 and March 15, with cities like Honolulu and Hilo breaking daily rainfall records. Because the storms moved slowly, rain continued falling over the same areas, saturating the ground and increasing runoff, which led to widespread flooding.

On O’ahu, communities such as Mokulē’ia and Waialua were heavily impacted. Homes and farmland were submerged, roads were blocked, and winds up to 75 miles per hour caused additional damage. Around 115,000 people lost power during the storm. Roads were destroyed, making it hard to journey to safe high ground. Rescue teams performed extensive evacuations of people stuck in their homes or cars. The damages exceeded 1 billion, according to Hawaii’s Department of Emergency Management, something that is impactful to Hawaii’s economy.

Businesses have been forced to close, families are struggling to rebuild their lives and houses, but through all the troubles the community of Hawaii has come together to give.

“There are lots of organizations that have been very active, not only providing money, but volunteers to help clean up the sites of the ruined houses,”  said local Larry Johnson. While Johnson did not first hand experience damage due to the floods, he knows how much the floods have affected Oahu’s economy and infrastructure as well as way of life. He explained the many organizations focused on rebuilding the Hawaii community and highlighted the good work that The Red Cross and Salvation Army have done. “I really admire those who are making it their mission to repair our island. I also see how the mainland has responded to the disaster and it makes me proud. The news coverage has helped a lot and there are certainly people who care.”

The environmental impact was also greatly significant. Floodwaters carried sediment from the land into the ocean, turning coastal waters brown in areas, specifically Kaiaka Bay. In Hilo, volcanic soil rich in iron and aluminum oxides contributed to the reddish color of the runoff. This type of sediment flow can affect marine ecosystems by reducing water clarity and disrupting habitats. 

Beyond physical damage, the flooding affected Hawaii’s cultural connection to land, or ʻāina. Land plays a central role in Hawaiian identity, and damage to farms and communities represents more than economic loss, it disrupts traditions and daily life. Many family run businesses were also impacted, making recovery more difficult. 

In the weeks after the storm, recovery efforts have been steady. Towns like Hale’iwa have reopened, and most businesses, restaurants and airports are operating again. State leaders are encouraging tourism to help support the economy. Governor Josh Green has urged visitors to keep their travel plans, emphasizing that tourism supports jobs and local businesses. Officials have repeated the message that “Hawaii is open for business” as part of the recovery effort. Local leaders have also highlighted community resilience. State Representative Sean Quinlan noted that residents are working together to rebuild, and visitors can help by supporting local businesses and communities. 

Relief efforts are ongoing through programs like the Hawaii Flood Response Fund, which focuses on helping farmers and rural areas. These efforts include providing food, organizing cleanup crews, and distributing supplies. However, not all areas have fully recovered. Places like Waialua and Mokulēʻia are still dealing with damage, and some residents continue to struggle to rebuild their homes. Officials are asking visitors to respect closures and be mindful of affected communities.

Climate change is a big topic of discussion within most natural disasters as of late, and the Hawaii floods are no different. The accelerated sea-level rise and more frequent and intense storms all factored into the floods. The Kona low-pressure systems produce more intense and concentrated rain downpours in a shorter amount of time, leading to torrential floods. The erosion caused by the higher seas has also compromised the infrastructure, leading to more safety risks to the houses as well as the drainage system, making it harder to control the level of water entering the areas.

Although the storms have passed, their effects remain. The March floods highlight how vulnerable island communities are to extreme weather, while also showing their resilience. In many ways, Hawaii is not just recovering from a storm, but adapting to a changing climate reality that is becoming harder to ignore. And while the damage left behind is significant, so is the response. Support from both residents and visitors will play an important role in helping Hawaii further rebuild, and across these islands, recovery is not only visible in rebuilt roads and reopened shops, but in the steady return of everyday life. This effort is shaped by determination, cooperation, and a deep connection to the land itself. 

The storms reshaped the landscape for a moment, but the people of Hawaii are shaping what comes next.

For years, Austin commuters have been plagued with traffic problems on Loop 360. Standstill traffic, stop lights that take several cycles to move through and cars crawling towards some intersections at nearly a walking pace.  After years of planning and debating, a resolution has been reached and work is well underway. The goal is to turn one of the most congested corridors in Austin into an efficient network, with enough capacity to cope with the rapid growth Austin is expecting.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) officially broke ground on the Loop 360 Improvement Project in 2023. The project targets six major intersections, replacing traffic lights with ramps and overpasses and adding pedestrian and bike paths along the 14 mile stretch between Mopac and 183. These upgrades aim to increase safety for all people who use the roadway and give proper separation to avoid accidents between cars and cyclists.

Loop 360 is classified as a scenic highway due to its winding route between and through the hills and across the iconic Pennybacker Bridge. These design elements along with the number of traffic signals create significant traffic congestion. When the Pennybacker Bridge was constructed in 1982, the Austin population was 360,000. The number of cars on the road was a mere fraction of the over 60,000 cars TxDOT claims are traveling on Loop 360 today. Our infrastructure has not kept pace with the population growth, and in recent years Loop 360 has consistently ranked in the TxDOT Texas top 100 most congested roadways list. 

The City of Austin found that the intersections at Westlake and Courtyard Drive were the worst chokeholds, making them the most important areas to start the project. TxDOT representative Brad Wheelis said to Fox 7 Austin, “Westlake was the most congested intersection by far, so we knew we had to focus all of our efforts there initially.” Already, tens of millions of dollars have been spent on the Westlake phase alone, with a total budget of $72 million allocated for the Westlake-Courtyard section. If you have driven through this section you would have noticed the deep trenches and excavation machinery. This is due to the nature of Austin’s hills which are composed of Edwards limestone, which is extremely dense. The cost is so high due to the round-the-clock effort to continue cutting through and clearing rock for the underpass. 

Wheelis feels confident with the progression, telling Fox 7 Austin, “We have good momentum, we are both on time and on budget.”  Notably, he mentions short term struggles and inconveniences that affect drivers, including unplanned lane closures, and blockages. He assures residents of methods to combat this, further saying, “If we get funding for all the projects along Loop 360 that we have planned, we can spread them out a little bit so that you don't have back-to-back congestion during construction.” 

Austin’s population growth due to migration from California and other high-cost states, has expedited the timeline on the project. Families and tech workers drawn to Austin seeking lower taxes and a fertile job market have pushed the metro area close to 2.5 million people. The influx has caused these areas to become intolerable, and the long term projects initially discussed for the 2030s have been rushed to commence now and over the following years. Project manager Sam Graham said to CBS Austin, “Growth doesn’t wait for roadwork. We’re building to keep Austin moving.” 

As the work carries on we will see improvement sooner than we think, and when the first phases are done, the City of Austin expects rush hour delay times to be cut by around 40%, crucially bringing partial relief as the project makes its way towards total completion. 

In 1966 César Chávez brought 100 farm workers on a 300 mile pilgrimage from Delano to California’s capital Sacramento in order to spread awareness about the injustice being served to those working in the fields. Farm workers across Texas marched in unity to demand $1.25 an hour. If you work 12 hours a day every day of the year, that is only $5,475 a year, a meager salary for a full time job. Chávez was known for his peaceful protests and bravery while being a civil rights activist. He and Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and later the United Farm Workers (UFW). Through their work, they secured higher wages, better working conditions (like toilets and water permission while working), and secured health benefits for farm workers. However, a darker side to his legacy in an article published in March has been recently announced. 

According to a New York Times article, published in March of 2026, numerous anonymous women came forward claiming Chávez had sexually abused them during and prior to the labor movements. Two out of the three women who have come out to announce their past with him are Ana Murguia (age 66) and Debra Rojas (66). Murguia was first sexually abused by Chávez at the age of 13 and was told by him to not tell a soul about their encounter. She goes on to say that this continued on until she was 17. Rojas was first abused by him at the age of 12, and according to the California law, sexually abused by him at the age of 15 in a motel located in California.

Not only did Chávez sexually abuse underage girls, he also had numerous one sided encounters with his partner in the movement, Huerta. According to the New York Times report, Dolores was 36 when she was driven out to a secluded grape field in California and raped by Chávez. Six years prior to this she said she felt pressured to commit adultery with him in a hotel room during one of their work trips. Both of these interactions resulted in two daughters, Juana and Maria. This is a fact Huerta kept a secret for 60 years. The Times also said they have found at least a dozen other women who were sexually assaulted by Chávez who want to remain unnamed and uninvolved.

  Austin, Texas is responding to this newly spread information by erasing many symbols of Chávez. The mural of Chávez located in East Austin has been removed and the city is beginning the process of renaming Cesar Chávez street, located in downtown Austin and Lady Bird Lake. However, the process is not as easy as it seems. According to KUT, the city has to include community input in the proposed renaming process, so there will need to be public surveys and cost assessment. Austin will issue a report on the process that will go back to the council on May 27, 2026. 

The Chávez celebration that happens annually was canceled this year and many AISD schools renamed the celebration to honor Dolores Huerta instead. AISD schools and teachers have also been told to modify their lessons to not focus on Chávez. The NFWA and UFW both fought for a cause to serve justice. The people leading the cause helped raise attention to the problem that was being ignored nationwide. Despite the challenges and information coming out today about the corruption of Cesar Chávez it is still important to remember the cause and remember the brutal conditions that sparked the cause. 

Though just as important as Chávez, Dolores Huerta has arguably not gotten as much recognition. According to the National Women's History Museum, Dolores Huerta is the Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association. She led the Chicano civil rights movement, which was a campaign that included fighting for the rights of farm workers. She was born April 10th, 1930 and says that discrimination shaped her into the person she became. When Huerta was in high school she was accused of cheating on her exam because her paper was too well written for someone who is Hispanic. Her brother was also beaten very badly for wearing a “zoot-suit,” which was a suit very popular in Latino fashion. Later in life Huerta began teaching at a school in the central valley of California. While she was working there she saw the hunger and discrimination her students faced, which inspired her to do something about it. Huerta founded the agricultural workers association in 1960 and helped organize the Delano strike on September 8th, 1965. Despite the “ethnic and gender bias, Huerta helped organize the strike of 5,000 grape workers and was the lead negotiator in the workers’ contract that followed,” said Debra Michaels, in the Women’s History Museum article.

 Throughout her work with the UFW, Huerta organized workers, negotiated contracts, and advocated for safer working conditions including the elimination of harmful pesticides. She fought for the unemployment and healthcare benefits of agricultural workers, and was the driving force behind many nationwide table grape boycotts in the late 60’s (which led to a successful union contract by 1970). Huerta worked as a lobbyist from the 60-80’s to improve agricultural worker’s legislative representation. From all of Huerta’s hard work and determination to create change for those in need she earned the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award in 1998, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Huerta was a board member of the Feminist Majority Foundation, the Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus of the UFW, and the President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Without Huerta’s leadership within this labor movement and without her putting forth so much bravery and willingness, the many freedoms the farm workers gained would not have occurred as quickly, if at all.

History can be complicated and the more we learn and investigate our history the more questions we may have. The United Farm Workers Movement was a significant chapter in our country's past but it should have brought recognition to more than one individual. For a long time this movement had one leader whose name was known. However, the reality of history has taught us that there are many people whose stories and actions have had a huge influence and impact yet their story has stayed untold for too long. 

​ A steady flow of people made their way on foot to Zilker Park from opening at 9 a.m. until closing, only thinning with the rain. Zilker through-roads and primary dirt parking lots were closed off to prevent erosion of the park's landscape facilitated by muggy weather conditions. This forced a 15–45 minute walk to the park from nearby churches or public parking lots. Shuttles came every 10 minutes from the Burger Stadium, about 15 minutes south on Mopac. By 11a.m., there was an average 50-minute wait to board the bus and a $7 one way transport fee.

"This is the longest-running [kite] festival in the United States. Now it's not the biggest festival but it is the longest running," claims Andrew Scott from the Go Big or Go Home Kite Exhibition group. In 2017, the ABC Kite Fest was postponed a week from May 5th to May 12th and then cancelled altogether due to persistent bad weather creating poor field conditions. The festival was founded and run by the Exchange Club of Austin but after that year ABC, a long standing sponsor, assumed the role of title sponsorship and organizer. Last year, the Kite Fest had light morning showers that, along with rain during the week, led to muddy and cold conditions for the festival. This year saw much of the same, with a consistent drizzle starting late morning and sporadic heavy showers in the mid-afternoon. Talk of cancelling the festival persisted both years, but ABC never wavered. If this weather trend continues, the kite festival's devoted fans and long history might not be able to counteract the inevitable loss in revenue, but for now our festival continued into its 98th year. 

Around 10 a.m., the mood was light and expectant on the way to the park, for those who had accepted the chance of rain and came anyway. The crowd was a mix of first-timers who'd seen the fest advertised online and veterans going on their 60th year. You could see the kites as dots in the sky once you left the feeder road off Mopac. They looked small and fairly insignificant until the trees cleared and your eyes adjusted to see that those dots were larger than you and flying on over 150 feet of string. They were dragons and race cars, butterflies and Disney princesses, traditional Japanese and Guatemalan kites, homemade and decorated with leaves, glitter, spray paint, and love. But they were just painted paper on thin sticks, and they were not why our community showed up through the clouds, rain, and lack of wind.

"One of my childhood memories was when my brother built me a kite with a stick and cloth, and I love that memory," said a festivalgoer on his way to the park. He came this year to share this core tradition with his girlfriend.

People drive into Austin for the Kite Fest from all over Texas, with families arriving from Pflugerville, Georgetown, and as far as the Rio Grande Valley. Jenna, an elementary school girl, drives over an hour with her family for the festival every year, determined to win every competition possible. She lines up for the 50-yard dash with an impressive 12-foot red scorpion trailing behind her. There are a variety of competitions for kids ages 7-12 with an adult division as well. Last year Jenna won second place and went home with a trophy almost taller than her younger sister, and she plans to do the same this year. "Even if it rains, there's still a children's museum and other things; we can still make a day out of it," explains Jenna's mom as KXAN announced the periodic weather updates from the main stage. 

Companies and food trucks rent festival stalls, and their tents line most of the park's edge. Kurty's Cookies, founded and run by the Brenner twins, can be found at weekly farmers markets and most Austin-based festivals, with the brothers tag-teaming to do both simultaneously. Last year was their first time at the Austin ABC Kite Festival, and the poor weather resulted in relatively low profit for an event of this size. Kurtis Brenner, the brother who attends festivals, was not planning on returning this year until ABC reached out and offered a discounted rate. Though he assumed the discount was due to the expected rain, it was actually a returning customer rate. The next stall featured folded tables, a Jeremiah's Italian Ice sign, and groups of people huddled under the tent protecting their tacos from the persisting light showers. There were three additional empty tents, a result of late cancellations, likely influenced by forecasted weather or other unexpected circumstances. Shawarma Point, a Mediterranean eatery based on Congress Ave, is a longtime participant in the festival. "This year has been very slow," says the co-owner running the truck, but as long as the festival is open, they will come. Most vendors signed up before rain was forecast and didn't see a reason to cancel if the festival was still on.

Marimba's Bakery and Restaurant was invited to display a Barriletes de Guatemala, a traditional Guatemalan kite, circular and grounded, with intricate patterns and colors decorating the front and three flags above, one U.S., Texan, and Guatemalan. Handmade traditional six-sided Japanese kites, Rokkaku, fly among classic American kites with prints from pop culture and famous brands. This cultural blend that is Austin is one of the most unique aspects of the festival.

"Flying a kite is just relaxing," says Leane Kiker, "It's very focused because you just have the wind in the air and you're very focused, you're not looking at a phone." "No stress involved, no worry," her boyfriend Christian Baden Powell adds. Powell is the unofficial leader of the Go Big or Go Home Kite Exhibition Group and a world renowned kite maker. They have come out for the past 11 years, roped off about half a football field of the park, and fly kites that can be bigger than a school bus.

The group is relaxed under a large tent, rendered temporarily useless due to wind and rain. Boudreaux, a massive octopus that requires six people to operate, is one of their most consistent attractions currently folded up under the tent. "Usually, we get him up every year. I don't think he's been up this year. Rain and the wind haven't been cooperative; it's gusting to 25, not consistently 25," explains Andrew Scott. Go Big or Go Home assures us that they will be returning every year they are asked to, because of the connection they have built with ABC. Though how many years will ABC pay for an exhibition group that is unable to present due to wind and rain? 

Scott, though, comes for more than just the kites. "We deal in wholesale joy, all of the kids running and screaming and having the time of their lives, and, like, the old people watching the young people and vice versa and you just get to, like, live the fact that you're not just here but you're helping create the atmosphere that facilitates that."

Though half century old festivalgoers will claim nothing has changed, this festival, as most things, is ever evolving. The High Flyer Club VIP pass was introduced around 2010 and offers three free meals, covered areas and a DJ that takes requests. This year it was priced at 100 dollars a ticket for adults, free for children, with the money going to support the non-profit donors and supporters of the festival. Dogs have been recently allowed at the festival in the last decade, and are a total crowd pleaser. Cindy, who's been coming for the last 48 years, loves them and would not change anything else about the festival. Some of her younger counterparts have a few ideas from free water stations, maps, and cheaper food to "parking less than 40 minutes away," but when asked if they plan to return, most say yes.  

"Every year, [the rain] is part of the adventure," said Jenson, who looked around the tent at his smiling friends. Scott laughed, "This is our family too, it's our family away from family, our kite family."