Resources

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/

https://www.maketecheasier.com/

http://canadajournal.net/category/technology/

http://next.reality.news/

http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/technology

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/ces-2017-the-big-names-launching-new-wearables-1.3231557

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/ideas-how-to/workshops.html

• https://www.youtube.com/user/RONAinc
• http://www.rona.ca/en/construction-plans
• http://www.rona.ca/en/construction-plans
• https://www.lowes.ca/articles/collect-a-critter_a1894.html
• https://www.lowes.ca/articles/ideas-tips_a1019.html

• https://ca.news.yahoo.com/lg-unveils-ultra-thin-wallpaper-tv-which-sticks-to-the-wall-like-a-poster-using-magnets-120713236.html

http://www.accountingweb.com/technology/

https://9to5google.com/

Transport Canada unveils new tool to report illegal drone use

http://www.cantechletter.com/2016/12/transport-canada-unveils-new-tool-report-illegal-drone-use/

Tis the season to be finding a nifty new drone under your Christmas tree, and just in time, the federal government has announced a new set of initiatives on drone usage. Transport Canada’s plans include a No Drone Zone public awareness campaign about restrictions on where to fly your gadget as well as an online tool for citizens to report unsafe drone usage.

The new moves aim at supporting the commercial use of drones while at the same time “keeping Canadians safe from reckless drone use.” “In the past few years, the use of drones in Canada has increased tremendously and it’s a good time to be working with this industry,” says Transport Minister, Marc Garneau, in a statement. “Transport Canada is taking a number of steps to improve safety and innovation in this sector, including engaging retailers so new drone users are aware of the rules from the start; introducing an efficient tool for Canadians to report safety issues; and helping drone users test new technology.”

Flying a drone (otherwise known as an unmanned air vehicle or UAV) currently falls under the regulations for Model Aircraft and UAVs, which requires that operators should not fly their drones higher than 90 metres above the ground, closer than nine kilometres from airports or closer than 150 metres from people, animals, buildings or vehicles, nor near highways, bridges or busy streets.

Transport Canada also plans to update in the coming months regulations on flight rules, permits and minimum age limits for drone flying, something that the ministry says will help develop the rapidly growing field while avoiding potentially dangerous mishaps. “We need to regulate to make sure that we don’t have a disaster,” said Aaron McCrorie, Transport Canada’s director general of civil aviation, in an interview with CBC News. “The recreational users are going to have to meet more stringent safety requirements now.”

Currently, while any use of a drone for commercial purposes must be certified, the recreational use of drones weighing less than 35 kg (77 lbs) does not require permission from Transport Canada.

The report-a-drone website for unsafe drone use is meant to give citizens a one-stop portal for responding to safety concerns about drone usage but citizens can also call their local police if they suspect the illegal use of a drone. Recently, an Edmonton man was charged for operating a drone downtown near Rogers Place (which is close to a helipad), reportedly the first time the EPS have laid such a charge.

During the last few years, drones have been increasingly in use for video and photography services, taking aerial pics for mappers and realtors, for example, but the field is about to literally take off as businesses begin to develop the drone’s delivery capabilities. In agriculture, drones have potential to deliver fertilizers, pesticides and water to crops, and in package delivery, drones are already being put to work by global retailer, Amazon. The company just completed its first test delivery by its Prime Air super-fast drone service in Cambridge, U.K., where a customer received a package containing an Amazon Fire TV box along with a packet of popcorn a mere 13 minutes after placing his order.

Canada to introduce more drone regulations

http://www.citynews.ca/2016/12/23/canada-introduce-drone-regulations/

If you find a drone under your Christmas tree this year, you’ll have a new set of regulations to go along with it in 2017.

Transport Canada says the changes will address the growing popularity of these flying objects and increasing number of drone-related incidents.

“Transport Canada is exploring changes to the regulations that will address the growing popularity and economic importance of drones and integrate them safely into Canadian airspace,” a rep told CityNews in a statement.

The changes include new flight rules, registration requirements, knowledge testing, minimum age limits, and permits.

“Recreation drone use could become unreasonable,” Fraser Hahn, Manager at Drones Plus explains. “If you need a licence and you need to pay fees over and over again, I don’t think that would make sense for a recreational user.”

There are already some regulations in place that stipulate where drones should and shouldn’t be used, but the government says more is needed to address the growing number of drone users.

Currently, commercial drones and those weighing more than 35 kg must be certified for use, which stipulates how and where the objects are allowed to be used. The Transport Canada chart below shows how many Special flight Operations Certificates were issued since 2010. In Ontario that number has gone from 20 to 1,038 this year.

Hahn says his store has already sold 120 drones in December alone, adding that while the government is looking to increase safety measures, the industry is also starting to self-regulate.

“A lot of higher-end drones have no-fly zones built into them, so they won’t fly in areas where there are risks, like near an airport for example,” Hahn said.

The government introduced a new feature Wednesday where residents can report a drone incident to Transport Canada online.

Ontario hasn’t seen too many fines, but with the new changes coming, and the ability for people to police drone users, violators could see stricter regulations coming their way.

Canadians will be given an opportunity to add their feedback prior to the new rules coming into effect in 2017.

New tools launched to educate Canadians about drones, report misuse

http://globalnews.ca/news/3140872/new-tools-launched-to-educate-canadians-about-drones-report-misuse/

Canadians unwrapping a shiny new drone on Christmas morning are being cautioned by the federal government to use it responsibly — or else.

In response to the flood of affordable, hi-tech drones into the market this year, Transport Canada is using the week before Christmas to remind everyone that the machines come with rules attached.

A new public awareness campaign makes it clear, for example, that airports, national parks, the border between the U.S. and Canada, highways, military bases or secure areas, forest fires, bridges and any heavily populated area are all “no drone zones.”

Parliament Hill is also a no-no, for the record.

“Transport Canada is proud of the work that’s been done over the past year to improve safety for Canadians and support innovation for the drone industry,” said MP Kate Young, who serves as parliamentary secretary to Transport Minister Marc Garneau, in a release.

Anyone who is unsure of the existing regulations surrounding drones can find out more on the department’s website. Additional regulations will be coming in 2017, the government has said.

Your neighbours can also now report you directly to the department if they feel you’re flying a drone in an unsafe or irresponsible manner.

Anyone spotting a drone being flown in a way that poses an immediate threat to safety, security, or privacy can still call local police, but the new reporting tool allows Canadians to report misuse of drones that isn’t necessarily an emergency.

A drone being flown closer than nine kilometres from an airport would qualify, for example.

“Please note that the department cannot respond directly to every report it receives.”

While many drone operators in Canada need a special permit to operate their machines, some commercial drones qualify for an exemption to that rule.

Transport Canada is reminding everyone to check whether  they need a permit, depending on their circumstances. You can do that by clicking here.

In first, road paved with solar panels powers French town

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/in-first-road-paved-with-solar-panels-powers-french-town-1.3214517

France on Thursday inaugurated the world's first "solar highway", a road paved with solar panels providing enough energy to power the street lights of the small Normandy town of Tourouvre.

The one-kilometre (half-mile) "Wattway" covered with 2,800 square metres (30,000 square feet) of resin-coated solar panels was hooked up to the local power grid as Environment Minister Segolene Royal looked on.

"This new use of solar energy takes advantage of large swathes of road infrastructure already in use... to produce electricity without taking up new real estate," Royal said in a statement.

The minister announced a four-year "plan for the national deployment of solar highways" with initial projects in western Brittany and southern Marseille.

An average of 2,000 cars use the road in Tourouvre each day, testing the resistance of the panels for the project carried out by French civil engineering firm Colas, a subsidiary of construction giant Bouygues.

The idea, which is also under exploration in Germany, the Netherlands and the United States, is that roadways are occupied by cars only around 20 percent of the time, providing vast expanses of surface to soak up the sun's rays.

Colas says that in theory France could become energy independent by paving only a quarter of its million kilometres of roads with solar panels.

Sceptics are waiting to see whether the panels can withstand the ravages of time and weather, as well as the beating they will take from big trucks.

Solar panels installed on a 70-metre stretch of a cycling lane north of Amsterdam experienced some damage last winter but the problem has been resolved, the project's company TNO said.

The Wattway project, which has received a state subsidy of five million euros (dollars), began with four pilot sites around France, in parking lots or in front of public buildings, on much smaller surfaces of between 50 and 100 square metres each. 

One drawback of the system is that solar panels are more effective when angled towards the sun, typically on slanted rooftops, than when they are laid flat.

And the cost question is far from being resolved. Each kilowatt-peak -- the unit of measure for solar energy -- generated by Wattway currently costs 17 euros, compared with 1.30 euros for a major rooftop installation.

But Colas hopes to make the cost competitive by 2020, noting that the cost of producing solar energy decreased by 60 percent between 2009 and 2015 according to a French renewable energy association, SER.