Linked List: February 28, 2019

Thursday, 28 February 2019

Energizer Releases Super-Thick Android Phone With Massive 18,000 mAh Battery ★

I mean this sincerely: I love the idea of this phone. I do question why it has a camera bump, though.

U.S. Bans Lithium Batteries From Cargo Holds on Passenger Flights ★

Taylor Hatmaker, writing for TechCrunch:

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration issued new rules designed to protect air passengers from the potential dangers of lithium ion batteries. The new interim final rule disallows lithium ion cells and batteries in the cargo area of passenger airplanes. The rule also sets new guidance for lithium ion batteries that travel on cargo-carrying planes, specifying that they not exceed a state of being 30 percent charged. […]

The FAA’s current fact sheet suggests that these batteries should be carried in the passenger area and not checked, though it doesn’t go as far as banning them outright.

I think it’s been up to individual airlines to police this. On American, they’ve been asking me for years whether my checked bags contain any lithium-ion batteries.

YouTube Is Disabling Comments on Almost All Videos Featuring Children ★

Julia Alexander, writing for The Verge:

YouTube will no longer allow the majority of channels featuring kids to include comment sections following a controversy over predatory comments being posted on videos of children.

YouTube will temporarily remove comments from videos that feature minors in the coming months. Only a select few channels with children will be allowed to include a comment sections, but even that comes with a caveat: they’ll be required to monitor their comments for safety.

“These channels will be required to actively moderate their comments, beyond just using our moderation tools, and demonstrate a low risk of predatory behavior,” YouTube wrote in a blog post.

“A low risk of predatory behavior”? How about zero tolerance?