Fatwa council equates vaping to drinking poison and rules e-cigarettes are unfit for human consumption.

Governments of both countries prohibit public festivities saying they could damage the Muslim faith.

Great news for fans of The Beatles: the Fab Four’s catalog is set to arrive on just about every streaming service a minute after midnight on 24 December 2015. The Beatles will be streaming on Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play Music, Microsoft Groove, Rhapsody, Slacker Radio, Spotify, and Tidal around the world. iTunes is still the only online music store where you can buy downloadable Beatles songs. Apple apparently couldn’t secure an exclusive this time around.

 

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If you live in the United States and own any sort of airborne drone that weighs between 0.55 and 55 pounds, you must now register it with the Federal Aviation Administration. Existing drone owners have until 19 February 2016 to register, but new drone owners must register them before flying them. Registration is free for the next month, but will cost $5 after that. The registration lasts for 3 years, and is applicable to all of your drones, not just one. So if you receive a drone as a Christmas present, be sure to register it, or you could face civil penalties of up to $27,500 and criminal penalties of up to 3 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Ouch.

 

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

An anonymous reader sends word that many online systems at the United States Patent and Trademark Office are down due to damaged equipment after a power outage. A statement from the USPTO reads in part: "A major power outage at USPTO headquarters occurred last night resulting in damaged equipment that required the subsequent shutdown of many of our online and IT systems. This includes our filing, searching, and payment systems, as well as the systems our examiners across the country use. We are working diligently to assess the operational impact on all our systems and to determine how soon they can be safely brought back into service in the coming days. We understand how critical these systems are for our customers, and our teams will continue to work around the clock to restore them as quickly as possible, though the impacts may be felt through the Christmas holiday. We know many people have questions regarding filing and payment deadlines. We are reviewing this topic and will provide an update when we have further information."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Youth group in Bangalore says all proceeds from visitors of 27-metre tall Santa statue will help poor children.

An anonymous reader writes that Facebook's plan to provide Indians with free access to a number of chosen internet services has run into some big trouble. FC reports: "Indian telecom regulators have reportedly halted Facebook's "Free Basics" mobile Internet service, formerly known as Internet.org, over net neutrality concerns. The controversial program allows mobile customers free access to a limited set of Internet services, including certain online shopping, employment and health sites, Wikipedia and, naturally, Facebook itself. While Facebook has said the program offers limited Internet access to more than 1 billion people, those who might otherwise have none, it's come under fire from net neutrality activists and others in the industry who say it limits users to a walled garden populated solely by Facebook's partners.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Israeli hardliner calls for Christmas ban, saying Christians need to be thrown out so they don't 'drink our blood'.

An anonymous reader sends the latest update on Eddie Tipton, the man who worked for the Multi-State Lottery Association who was convicted of rigging a lottery game so he could win a $14 million jackpot. BGR reports: "Not too long ago, Eddie Tipton was convicted of hacking into the Multi-State Lottery Association's computer system in order to rig a nearly $17 million jackpot in Iowa. Now comes word that an investigation into Tipton's hacking activities is expanding to include a number of other states. Thus far, lottery officials from Colorado, Wisconsin and Oklahoma have indicated that Tipton may have also gamed lottery jackpots in their respective states. What makes this saga all the more interesting is that Tipton actually used to work at the Multi-State Lottery Association as a security director. In that capacity, Tipton allegedly installed a rootkit onto his company's computer system that influenced the manner in which 'random' numbers were generated. As a result, Tipton was able to calculate and gain access to winning lotto numbers before their public unveiling. With the numbers in tow, authorities claim that Tipton would reveal the winning numbers to friends who would then buy 'winning' lotto tickets and then collect on big paydays."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.