USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham gives his list of what he thinks are the coolest tech innovations of 2017. LOS ANGELES -- When you can get a drone to respond to your commands by waving your hands, it's hard to top that as one of the most fascinating tech innovations of the year. You don't have to know much about operating the DJI Spark Drone. Want to go up or to the side? This is fun stuff that takes a lot of the learning curve out of flying a drone.

After 10 months in detention, on Nov. 27, the People's Court of Ha Tinh Province found Hoa guilty of inciting social unrest and promoting anti-state propaganda. He was sentenced to seven years in prison with a subsequent three years of house arrest for "sharing and disseminating articles, videos, images with negative content, inciting, distorting the truth," according to the court.

Fat Shark, the de facto name in drone-video goggles, is moving into the drone game proper with the 101 "drone training system." As the name suggests, the 101 is a quadcopter with new pilots in mind. There are many options at the entry level -- Parrot has plenty -- but these tend to be aimed at casual users. The 101 targets those who might eventually want to move on to something more serious but aren't ready to invest in a full kit yet. Or maybe this will appeal to those who are curious about first-person view flying (FPV) but don't know where to start.

Drone startups are transforming the way data is collected, property is inspected, and goods are delivered. Drone companies saw a record number of deals last year. On a quarterly basis, Q1'17 was the most active quarter historically for deals, reaching 32 investments worth $113M. Within the space, terrestrial imagery, infrastructure inspection, and delivery have emerged as some of the primary use cases for drone technology. Using CB Insights data, we identified over 70 leading private companies in the drones space and categorized them into the twelve main categories in which they operate.

If you're hoping for a DJI drone this Christmas, be prepared for one teeny-tiny roadblock as you rush into the back garden with controller in hand. Today, the company has announced a mandatory "Knowledge Quiz" for all of its customers in the UK. It will live in the DJI GO 4 app -- which is basically required to use the company's snap-on controller -- and pose eight questions about safe, common sense flying. In short, you won't be able to fly until you've answered them all successfully. DJI launched a similar quiz for US pilots earlier this year.

As travelers take to the beaches in Australia in the summer, they'll now have the benefit of drones to warn them if a shark is close to shore. A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. As travelers take to the beaches in Australia in the summer, they'll now have the benefit of drones to warn them if a shark is close to shore.

Theresa May has defended the use of drone strikes against British citizens, saying the killing of Islamic State's Reyaad Khan in 2015 was "necessary and proportionate" and that she would authorise such strikes in the future. The prime minister said there had been no alternative to the killing of Khan in a precision airstrike in Syria because "a direct and imminent threat was identified by the intelligence agencies". There was "a clear legal basis for action in international law", she added. May was responding to the publication on Wednesday of a series of reports on counter-terrorism, cyber-security and other intelligence issues. The legality of drone strikes against a country's own citizens is controversial both in the UK and the US.

The Elko County Sheriff's Office says it has acquired a new drone which it plans to use during special events, search and rescue missions, missing persons, crime scenes and traffic collisions.

File photo - An airplane flies over a drone during the Polar Bear Plunge on Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York Jan. 1, 2015. While it seems unlikely that everyday drone hobbyists would want to make a beeline for their nearest nuclear facility to grab some aerial shots, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has nevertheless announced a ban on drone flights over such locations in the U.S., namely: As you can see, they're mainly labs, while the Hanford Site, for example, is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex. Another of those listed, the Pantex Site, is an active nuclear weapons assembly and dismantlement plant. The restrictions, which come into force on December 29, have been put in place "to address concerns about unauthorized drone operations over seven Department of Energy (DOE) facilities," the FAA confirmed on its website. It added that "operators who violate the airspace restrictions may be subject to enforcement action, including potential civil penalties and criminal charges."

Boeing's defence arm has unveiled a radical unmanned drone that can refuel fighter jets in mid air. The small, unnamed craft will be carried on warships and catapulted into the air in the same way fighter jets are. It will be able to refuel the F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, and F-35C fighters - and means they can stay at the battlefront for far longer. Boeing's MQ-25 unmanned aircraft system is completing engine runs before heading to the flight ramp for deck handling demonstrations next year. The aircraft is designed to provide the U.S. Navy with refueling capabilities for the F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, and Lockheed Martin F-35C fighters The MQ-25 'Stingray' will be launched from the deck of a warship using the same catapult used to launch fighter jets.