How NOT to Fly Drones

Permit me to stray off path here, this will not be about wireless networking.
Drones have become immensely popular among hobbyists and ever more useful in a range of business and emergency response situations. It’s fairly amazing to be able to mail order what amounts to a legitimate aircraft, take it out of the box, and put it up into the sky.
Which brings us to the problem. Actually several of them.
Lots of Use Cases
But first- some context. If you zoom out and consider the current “drone landscape”, you’ll find a fairly diverse ecosystem, There are hundreds of individuals out there flying drones professionally, making their full-time living at surveys, mapping, inspections, and a range of other applications. Then there are people like me… we have other day jobs, but also became FAA-certified as Part 107 Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) pilots like the full-timers so we can legally do occasional drone work for pay. Both groups have demonstrated understanding of the rules of drone flight, and how our aircraft fit into the larger picture of all aircraft peacefully co-existing as part of a controlled system.
Finally, we  those other people.  If you are interested in getting into drones, you don’t want to be one of  those other people.  Let’s talk about them, and the associated problems they create.
The Stupid Runs Thick
Back to the fact that you can spend some money and have a powerful drone delivered to your doorstep. I don’t mean powerful in the military sense, but more so in the capabilities of the everyday drones a newbie might get into. Offerings from Autel Robotics (my current fleet),  DJI, and others in the mainstream market can go real high, real far, real fast, and take amazing photos and video. Anyone can get one, and better models are introduced frequently. Those other people  love them.
They love them in the stupidest ways.
I’m in several drone-related community forums. Some are for commercial pilots where the dialogue is about aircraft safety, regulations, business opportunities, and the future of the industry. Other forums are pure hobbyist, and where  those other people  weave tales of stupidity that make those of us who know better cringe. Here you’ll find several recurring themes:

I unboxed my new bird and immediately did a “range test” to see how high and far I could push it. (YouTube has no shortage of these.)
My new expensive drone just FELL OUT OF THE SKY and boy am I pissed at the manufacturer.
My new expensive drone JUST UP AND FLEW AWAY and boy am I pissed at the manufacturer.
I don’t know how to do some basic feature that the user manual covers very well.
Look at these awesome shots I took at this place, where I really shouldn’t have been flying.

You’re probably starting to get a feel for  those other people.  They do irresponsible drone things that give us all a bad reputation. They don’t...