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Epic drone footage captures wolf fighting a moose in the Canadian wilderness

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Nature holds so many amazing sights the world never gets to see. Thanks to the proliferation of digital cameras and drones in the last decade or so, though, now there’s the chance that we can. It’s not that there are more people going out and looking for these sorts of things. When they do happen, though, it’s more likely that somebody’s got a camera handy to film it.

In this particular instance, that somebody is Ontario resident, Dan Nystedt. While out filming with his Phantom 4 Pro recently at Achigan Lake, Dan came across a moose. This moose sighting already excited him. But he definitely wasn’t prepared for what happened next, as a wolf comes running out of the trees to attack.

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FAA restricts drones over Statue of Liberty and nine other major landmarks

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FAA has announced that they are restricting drone flights over 10 major landmarks in the U.S. As stated, they are concerned about unauthorized drone operations over these landmarks, so they are imposing restrictions. From October 5, 2017, drone operators will not be able to fly their aircraft over 10 Department of the Interior (DOI) sites. The Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore and Hoover Dam are some of the landmarks where the drone use will be prohibited from now on.

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Town tries to limit drone pilots. Pilot draws FAA regulations card and wins a lawsuit – could have US-wide implications

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The FAA has relaxed his drone regulations a little in the USA. People no longer have to register them, and guidelines for hobbyists and professionals are quite clear. When Newton Massachusetts attempted take things further with local regulation, though, one resident fought back. Dr Michael Singer, a professor at Harvard, claimed the proposed ordinance was preempted by federal law and violated his rights.

His case won. The court ruled that it was indeed in violation of his rights. sUAS News went live on Google hangouts today with Dr Singer, along with Loretta Alkalay and attorney Jonathan Rupprecht. It’s a very interesting discussion going over what happened and the potential implications for the rest of the USA.

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DJI offer $30,000 bounty to hack its products and find security threats

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Well, I guess now we know why the US Army pulled all of its DJI products from service. DJI have removed the JPush plugin from the DJI Go and DJI Go 4 apps. It turns out that it had been collecting user data without its knowledge. Not without the user’s knowledge, without DJI’s knowledge. DJI blame the third party developer who created the JPush plugin.

The Verge reports that JPush wouldn’t have needed to collect a lot of  data to do its job. But DJI say the app actually collected personal information, including a list of apps installed on the user’s Android device. In addition to this update, they’ve also announced a bug bounty programme rewarding up to $30,000 for those who can find exploits in their systems.

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Drone pilot “amazed” to land on deck of Britain’s largest warship without being noticed

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I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this one. The HMS Queen Elizabeth (Ro8) is the Royal Navy’s largest warship. It’s brand new. It cost £3 billion ($3.9 billion) to build. It was only officially named last month, and it’s not even been formally commissioned yet.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth began sea trials on June 26th. During a recent visit to Scotland as part of this tour, a gentleman who is not being named managed to land his drone on it. And he did it completely unnoticed.

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DJI will soon let you fly their drones without internet data transfer to protect data privacy

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Not long after US Army banned DJI drones for “cyber vulnerabilities,” the leading drone manufacturer announced launching the new “local data mode.” It will allow users to fly without transferring data, in order to enhance security and data privacy. Although it’s not officially related to the US Army’s decision, DJI Vice President of Policy and Legal Affairs, Brendan Schulman, says that this feature is aimed at customers who use DJI technology to perform “sensitive operations.”

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US Army ends DJI drone usage over “cyber vulnerabilities”

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Well, it looks like the US Army aren’t to happy with DJI, after releasing a memo stating their discontinued use of DJI products. They quote “cyber vulnerabilities” as the reason, although they don’t say specifically what those vulnerabilities are.

What’s interesting is that it doesn’t seem to target a specific drone. In fact, while it does mention “DJI Unmanned Aircraft Systems”, the ban doesn’t seem to be restricted to just drones, at all. The memo specifically states that the Army must “halt use of all DJI products”.

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How to set up your drone’s exposure to get great cinematic footage

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Out of the box, drones, like most cameras, aren’t set up for shooting epic cinematic footage. No matter how silky smooth your movements, or the thought that goes into the composition, bad settings can ruin your shot. The camera has to be set up right, both from an exposure standpoint, and filters you may choose to use.

This video from YouTuber Atti Bear goes through the various settings, and filters he uses to create his drone footage when filming with the Mavic Pro. But the principles are the same for any drone. Atti also talks about some of the camera movements that can help get more cinematic shots.

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Mandatory drone registration is coming to the UK

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It may have recently been tested and defeated in the American courts, but drone registration is coming to the UK. The government have announced plans to introduce the registration along with “safety awareness courses” for owners of SUAs (Small Unmanned Aircraft). This registration, they say, will be required for anything weighing more than 250g (~8oz).

The BBC report that DJI have weighed in and are in favour of these measures. They have not announced a timeframe, nor plans on exactly how the rules will be enforced. The Department of Transport told the BBC that “the nuts and bolts still have to be ironed out”.

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There’s a drone flying around the International Space Station – and it’s adorable

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Looking like something pulled right out of Wall-E, there’s a spherical object floating around the International Space Station. This object is Int-Ball, a camera drone that explores the ISS autonomously or via remote control from earth. Developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) the first videos of it in action have now been released.

Int-Ball’s objective is to help alleviate some of the work done by the crew. JAXA estimates that the onboard crew spend about 10% of their working hours with a camera in hand. Being able to have Int-Ball explore the ISS instead of the crew frees up valuable time for other duties.

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