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TikTok owner ByteDance limits younger users to 40 minutes a day in China
Following a crackdown on gaming by Chinese authorities, ByteDance is introducing new youth controls for Douyin, its TikTok equivalent app in China.
Facebook is running a national ad campaign to encourage voting
Facebook is launching a national consumer awareness campaign around voting, with information on registering, a “vote-a-thon” and in-app consumer marketing campaign.
Adobe Max 2020 will be virtual and free for all
Adobe's Max 2020 virtual conference begins October 20th.
Games For Change opens free registrations for its virtual 2020 festival
For the first time in its 17-year history, the Games For Change Festival will be free to attend. As in past years, they'll also be an awards ceremony honoring those in the game industry who have had a significant social impact. Games For Change also announced four additional keynote speakers.
UK introduces mandatory drone registration and pilot test
There have been calls for more regulation of drone flights in the UK, especially since drones caused chaos last Christmas at the country's second-busiest airport. Now, the UK's Civil Aviation Authority is requiring operators to register their drones.
DJI’s Mavic Mini is so small it doesn’t require FAA registration
DJI's new drone, the Mavic Mini, is a palm-sized device that's so light it doesn't require FAA registration. DJI hasn't officially announced Mavic Mini, but it hasn't done a great job of keeping it a secret, either. Today, a listing on the online retailer Newegg's Canadian site confirmed rumors about the tiny drone and leaked photos.
Snapchat drives voter registration inside its app
The November midterms are just weeks away, and following efforts from Instagram and Twitter to engage users in the voting process, Snapchat has now joined the fold. Starting today, all US Snapchat users aged 18+ will see a voter registration link on their user profile page. Tap it, and you'll be taken to a made-for-Snapchat TurboVote mobile site, where you can register to vote quickly and easily, as well as get all kinds of other info about the election. Team Snapchat will send a video message to all of its 18+ US users, encouraging them to sign up, and those that do get a special filter. Everything will be available in Spanish, too.
US once again requires that you register your drone
The US' brief period of registration-free drone flight is over -- President Trump has signed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2018, and it revives the registration requirement for civilian drones. Robotic fliers between 0.5lbs and 55lbs need to be submitted to a database if they're going to remain legal. A Washington, DC appeals court had struck down the FAA's original requirement in May, arguing that it didn't have the authority to regulate model aircraft, but that clearly wasn't a deterrent. The FAA had said it would rethink its approach to the regulation after its earlier defeat.
Airbnb helps hosts in San Francisco get city approval online
Airbnb has had a bumpy ride in San Francisco. After the city passed a law that required all short-term rental hosts to register with the city, only a small percentage did (thanks largely to the onerous process involved), and many of those who didn't were hit with fines totalling $1 million. Differences were set aside in January though, when the parties agreed on a way to automatically register all hosts in the city. That service rolls out today, with hosts now able to apply directly through the Airbnb site for their Short-Term Residential Rental Certificate and Business Registration Certificate, instead of schlepping down to City Hall. New hosts will only be able to list their properties once they're registered, while existing hosts will have to input their registration number to keep their listings active.
Google cancels neo-Nazi site's registration in a matter of hours
If the white supremacists at Daily Stormer thought they were going to get a warm reception from other web service providers after GoDaddy gave them the boot, they were clearly mistaken. Google says it's cancelling the neo-Nazi website's domain registration a mere 3 hours after it signed up. A Google spokesperson tells us that DS was "violating our terms of service." The domain is still listed as registered with Google as of this writing, but it's likely going to take some time before the change is reflected in public databases.
FAA offers registration refunds for casual drone pilots
Remember when you had to register your drone, regardless of whether it was hulking thousand-dollar pro model, or some cheap toy off Amazon? Then, remember when the FAA then realised it violated its own rules? Well, that decision in the US Court of Appeals means that the ever-growing drone pilots of America can now apply for a refund if they had previously registered their flying 'bot.
You don't have to register personal drones with the FAA anymore
In March, the FAA noted that over 100,000 hobby drone owners had registered their machines since the year began, bringing the total in the US over 770,000. Owners have filed their non-commercial UAVs with the agency ever since the DoT passed a law in December 2015 that made registration mandatory. But a Washington, D.C. court has struck down that legislation, freeing just-for-fun drone owners from notifying the government of their purchases -- for good and ill.
There are over 770,000 registered drone owners in the US
Over 770,000 drone owners have registered to fly in the US since the FAA made it mandatory in December 2015, Administrator Michael Huerta told drone group AUVSI yesterday. As Recode notes, that's up from 670,000 at the beginning of the year, meaning 100,000 users have signed up in the last three months alone. The FAA has also issued 37,000 Remote Pilot Certificates that let drone owners do filming, inspection and other commercial operations.
Over 45,000 drone pilots have registered with the FAA
Now that the FAA's mandatory drone registrations are open, how many people are rushing to sign up? Quite a few, actually. The administration reports taking over 45,000 registrations since the program opened up two days ago, on December 21st. In fact, the demand was sufficiently "overwhelming" that the FAA's site has occasionally buckled under the load. It's temporarily shutting down the site overnight (between the 23rd and 24th) to make sure that it can cope with the likely flood of registrations from people getting robotic flyers as gifts.
US drone operators must register with the FAA by February
If you fly a drone, the Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration wants to know about it. The FAA's online drone-registration program goes live on December 21st, and anyone who's ever operated an aircraft between the weights of .55 pounds and 55 pounds needs to sign on before February 19th. There will typically be a $5 fee for each registration, but the FAA is making it free for the first month, through January 20th.
FAA task force recommends drones over 250 grams be registered
Private companies including Google, GoPro, DJI, Amazon and others have submitted their recommendations to the FAA concerning drone registration. The group determined that all drones over 250 grams should be registered with the government with an owner's name and street address. During the process there would also be an educational presentation about when and where to fly. The idea is that if one of these flying machines falls out of the sky and causes havoc, the authorities will be able to track down the owner. The task force recommended that registration process be electronic and have an API so new owners could register via the device's app if the manufacturer adds that functionality. If you're curious about the weight limit, the team of companies figured that anything 250 grams and lighter would be unlikely to cause the death or serious injury of a person on the ground. Of course these are only recommendations right now. The FAA still has to implement them. But it's good to know it's talking to the industry about the future of our skies.
US will reportedly require consumers to register their drones
If you get a new drone this holiday season, you might have to register it with the US government. According to a report from NBC News, the US is ready to announce new requirements for consumers purchasing drones, the most notable of which is that you'll need to register it with the department of transportation. It's part of a plan to make sure that drones don't end up colliding with aircraft flying in and out of airports, something that has the government rightly concerned.
Pakistan orders cellphone users to provide their fingerprints
Pakistan is determined to prevent terrorists from using untraceable cellphone accounts to coordinate attacks like that in Peshawar, even if it means eroding civil liberties in the process. The country has ordered cellphone users to have their SIM cards verified through fingerprints, theoretically discouraging extremists from relying on local carriers to communicate or trigger bombs. People have until April 13th (carriers have to comply by April 15th) to get their digits on the record if they want to keep their cell service intact.
Twitter makes it easier to decide who you'll follow first
Twitter said early this year that it would do more to help first-timers follow people, and it's now making good on its word. The social network has just revamped its sign-up process to help you tailor those first follows to your interest. Rather than simply toss out a bunch of suggestions, Twitter now asks you to choose topics you like (such as music or technology) and offers recommendations to match. You'll also see recent tweets from those accounts, so you'll have a better sense of whether or not that celebrity or news outlet is really a good fit.
PAX South tickets go on sale
The newest PAX has finally opened its virtual doors to registration! PAX South tickets are now on sale on the official website, although at the time of this writing there was a queue to purchase them. Attendees can buy one-day passes for $30 or a three-day pass for $65. PAX South is limiting purchases to four badges per person, with children six and under admitted free with a paying adult. There are no refunds. The convention will take place in San Antonio, Texas, from January 23rd through the 25th, 2015.