Pokemon and pikachu

[Preacher]

https://www.facebook.com/mary.nicholspoynor/posts/10205626659540416

Lmao!

It's a current topic so

 

[waltky]

Granny says he gonna go broke...

Man in New Zealand quits his job to play Pokemon Go full-time
Sat, 16 Jul 2016 - Tom Currie worked as a barista and bartender near Auckland but decided to give it up to catch Pokemon all day.

He says he's relying on friends and family to help out but admits his parents are "a little bit baffled". "When I resigned, I didn't tell my manager I was going out into the world to hunt Pokemon," he told Newsbeat. "But after my story got picked up I gave him a courtesy call to update him just in case the media contacted him. "I got an absolutely lovely response, 'Good on you Tom. It is really funny. I hope everything is OK. Have fun for your Pokemon trip.' "My dad sent through a text message saying he always knew I would be famous." Since beginning his quest to find all the monsters, Tom says he's caught 91 of the 151 Pokemon available in the game.

He says the travel has been the best part of playing instead of going to work every day. "I get to walk around and explore towns I've never been to," he says. "I have been meeting heaps of people, tourists travelling the country and other Pokemon trainers at the small (sometimes huge) public gatherings. "When you and your friends have to physically go for a walk or run to catch a rare Pokemon in the area and you all catch it, that is definitely a highlight." Tom says he's also starting to get recognised in New Zealand after various websites and newspapers ran his story.

John Robinson and his daughter, Kairi​

He says people around the world are getting in touch to wish him good luck. "I have been approached by a few other Pokemon trainers who recognised me and wanted a chat," he says. "I have had people asking for photos and one guy even called me his hero for doing what I'm doing. "I have received messages on Facebook from around the world, messages of support from America, Ireland, Canada, India and Nepal. "The story has gone global, so no doubt I'll be getting a bit more fan mail."

This cat is refusing to take part in the game​

Tom says he will go back to work once his Pokemon adventure comes to an end. "When I finish the trip and get back to Auckland, I will be looking for work and working on my new business. "And of course still catching Pokemon."

Man in New Zealand quits his job to play Pokemon Go full-time

 

[waltky]

Top New York cop concerned about Pokemon...

NYPD's Bratton Sick and Tired of Pokemon Go
July 15, 2016 - NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said he is concerned that players are going to make more work for his cops by winding up as crime or accident victims.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton didn't hide his disdain Thursday over the latest craze, "Pokemon Go," saying he couldn't figure out what the heck all the fuss was about. "I haven't the faintest interest in that stupid craze," Bratton told reporters. "I think too many people have been watching the zombie shows on TV. Basically our millennials seem fascinated about making themselves walking zombies looking for Pokemon."

Yet it may not just be those born after 1980 -- generally considered the starting point for millennials -- who are obsessed with what is described as an augmented reality game where people go on electronic hunts using their smartphones to catch creatures depicted in the cartoon. Bratton acknowledged that there were reports of a few cops in the Rockaways seen on social media, possibly engaged in a "Pokemon Go" hunt. The NYPD department was looking to see if there was any "inappropriate behavior on their part," Bratton said. The "Pokemon Go" trend has proved to be not all fun when it comes to the game.

NYPD's 19th Precinct Tweeted Monday: "Yeah we know Charizard is rare but don't let Officer Monello & his new partner catch you! Don't #CatchEmAll & drive!"​

Late Wednesday afternoon, three men armed with a handgun robbed a 19-year-old man in Lake Ronkonkoma of his iPhone as he played the game. Although a police spokeswoman Thursday said there is no indication the victim was lured to the spot by the suspects, the game has a "lure module," a feature that can draw players to a specific location. Nationwide, there have been reports of players being lured and then robbed. In the Southern California beach city, Encinitas, just north of San Diego, two men playing "Pokemon Go" fell off an ocean bluff Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. The pair climbed through a fence while playing the game. One man fell about 50 feet down the side of the unstable bluff and the other fell about 90 feet to the beach. They were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries.

As far as Bratton is concerned, don't expect him to take a shot at "Pokemon Go." He seemed irritated that he even had to spend 30 seconds talking about it with reporters. He is more concerned that players were going to make more work for his cops by winding up as crime or accident victims. "People are putting themselves at great risk being lured in to neighborhoods that they have no knowledge of that neighborhood, being potential victims of crime . . . at same time they are putting themselves at great risk of accidents, etc."

NYPD's Bratton Sick and Tired of Pokemon Go | Officer.com

 

[waltky]

Playin' Pokemon can get ya shot...

Florida teens, mistaken for thieves, shot at playing Pokemon Go
Sun, 17 Jul 2016 - Two teenagers playing Pokemon Go late at night in their car in Florida are shot at by a householder mistaking them for burglars.

The man said he shot at their car after they refused to stop when he challenged them on Saturday. They were not hurt. He said that earlier he had heard the pair say "did you get anything"? Police in Florida have used the incident as an opportunity to issue guidelines for teenagers and parents on safely playing the game. Police say they received a call from the parents of one of the teenagers when it was noticed later that bullets had caused a flat tyre, News4jax reported. The parent said the teenagers did not realise they were being shot at, and thought that the man was only trying to scare them.

A Pokemon Go player​

The guidelines issues by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office include best practice tips for Pokemon Go players. They advise players to:

* Be alert at all times and stay aware of their surroundings
* Not to drive, ride a bike or skateboard while playing
* Not to trespass, or go on to private property while playing
* Be aware of "Pokestops" where players could fall victim to crime

The sheriff's office also advises parents of Pokemon Go players to:

* Talk to their children about strangers and set limits on where they can go
* Be aware of third-party software apps claiming to enhance the gaming experience - because many allow access to sensitive personal data

According to data from SimilarWeb, people are now spending more time playing Pokemon Go than they are on Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp. The game has also been installed on more Android smartphones in the US than the dating app Tinder.

Florida teens, mistaken for thieves, shot at playing Pokemon Go - BBC News

 

[waltky]

How did Pokemon grow so fast?...

How Pokemon Go took over the web
18 July 2016 - In the week that political resignations, leadership battles and market turmoil dominated news headlines, a certain monster-hunting mobile game was busy making waves online.

Pokemon Go's mixture of gaming and reality has proved a huge success. While Twitter remains a firm favourite for political chatter, app analytics firm SimilarWeb says Pokemon Go now has more daily users on Android phones in the US than the social media firm. SimilarWeb says players are using Pokemon Go for an average of 43 minutes a day - that's more than Whatsapp, Instagram or Snapchat. Since the game makes players walk around to hunt Pokemon, it means an average man playing the game for seven days would burn 1,795 calories - and a woman would burn 1,503. Converted into a tastier measure, that could be seven small chocolate doughnuts for a man - or six for a woman.

Gamer with a Pokemon phone​

There were 15.3 million tweets worldwide about Pokemon Go in its first week. That's more than the 11.7 million for Brexit in the week of the UK referendum - and double the 7.5 million tweets about the Euro 2016 football championships in its first seven days. Online searches for the game have spiked too - there have been almost as many Google searches worldwide for Pokemon Go as there were for Brexit on the day the UK voted to leave the European Union. Even pornography, an enduring internet fascination, has been overtaken by interest in the app. Now something for the players.

While the main method of catching Pokemon is simply to find them, to get the rarer ones you could try hatching some eggs. Players can collect eggs at Pokestops - real world landmarks that appear in the game - but you have to walk a certain distance for them to hatch. The rarest Pokemon hatch from eggs after a 10km (6 mile) walk - then 5km and 2km for the more common creatures. There's a handy breakdown in the graphic below. With the game now having been released in the UK and expected to be released in many more countries soon, it is a fair guess that Pokemon Go's popularity will continue. Find out why Pokemon is more than just a game in the lastest edition of our technology podcast Tech Tent.

How Pokemon Go took over the web - BBC News

See also:

Frenchman caught in Indonesian military base hunting Pokemon
Jul. 19, 2016 — Indonesian police say they detained a Frenchman who trespassed on a military base while playing the augmented reality game "Pokemon Go."

A spokesman for West Java police said that Romain Pierre, 27, was caught at a checkpoint on Monday evening after initially running away when challenged by security guards at the military complex in Cirebon. Pierre was released a few hours later because it became apparent "he unintentionally entered the complex as he was hunting Pokemon while jogging," the police spokesman, Col. Yusri Yunus, said Tuesday.

"Pokemon Go," which uses Google Maps and a smartphone to overlay reality with Pokemon creatures, has been a blockbuster hit in the U.S. and other countries where it is available. It has not been officially released in Indonesia but is already popular. Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung told reporters last week he had captured a number of Pokemon at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

The governor of Jakarta has said it could be used to boost tourism to the city. But some security officials have voiced worries that the game could pose a security threat. Police said Pierre works for a company in Jakarta and was visiting Cirebon, about 190 kilometers (118 miles) east of the capital.

Frenchman caught in Indonesian military base hunting Pokemon

 

[waltky]

Ya gonna get a floggin' if ya play Pokemon in Saudi Arabia...

Saudi Clerics Renew Fatwa against ‘Pokemon Go’ Due to ‘Gambling’ and ‘Polytheism’ Elements in Game
July 20, 2016 – An old fatwa banning the original Pokemon card game has been renewed because of the new Pokemon Go craze, according to Arab News.

“The General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, on the website of the General Presidency for Scholarly Research and Ifta, has explicitly renewed the fatwa of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas banning the controversial mobile game,” Arab News reported on Wednesday. The old fatwa was issued in 2001 and it considered Pokemon a form of gambling, something which is forbidden in Islam. The fatwa cited a number of prohibitions that justify the banning of the game, including “gambling practices” and “the belief in and worship of many gods,” as well as “the promotion and advertising of disbelief, logos, forbidden images.”

Many prominent voices in the Arab world have condemned the game, including Abbas Shuman, deputy chair of Al-Azhar University in Egypt, who said, “This game makes people look like drunkards in the streets and on the roads while their eyes are glued to the mobile screens leading them to the location of the imaginary Pokemon in the hope of catching it,” reported Gulf News. “If such a game can deceive youngsters, I do not know where have gone the minds of adults, who can be hit by a car while being busy searching for Pokemon,” the cleric added.

Aljazeera reports that Hamdi Bakheet, a member of Egypt's committee of defense and national security, told parliament: "Pokemon Go is the latest tool used by spy agencies in the intel war, a cunning despicable app that tries to infiltrate our communities in the most innocent way under the pretext of entertainment. But all they really want is to spy on people and the state."

The concern over use of the game for spying was echoed by Dr. Khalifa Al-Makhrazi, head of the Family Consultative Council in Dubai, in a Sky News Arabia TV interview posted by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “Any person playing this game is a spy, because the pictures he takes go straight to the global servers,” he claimed. “All the places, all the streets and even inside the homes, all the way to the bedrooms – the pictures go straight to the global servers, where they are saved, in order to expose all that is private. This game is the number one modern spying tool worldwide. A person unknowingly turns into a spy by playing this game."

Dr. Khalifa Al-Makhrazi also linked the game to “Darwinism” in the interview. “It is prohibited because it is connected to things we are not aware of. It is connected to one's faith. This game is genuinely and directly linked to Charles Darwin's doctrine of Darwinism,” he said, “to the theory of evolution and to the transmutation of the species, where a weak species transforms into a superior species. In our religion, this doctrine is forbidden. Therefore, Al-Azha issues a clear fatwa prohibiting playing this game.”

Saudi Clerics Renew Fatwa against ‘Pokemon Go’ Due to ‘Gambling’ and ‘Polytheism’ Elements in Game

 

[waltky]

Driver hits patrol car while playin' Pokemon Go...

Driver Playing 'Pokemon Go' Hits Cruiser
July 20, 2016 - A driver was playing Pokemon Go when he sideswiped a parked patrol car early Monday in Southeast Baltimore.

"You guys OK?" an officer asks passengers of the Toyota RAV4. The wreck near Patterson Park was captured on an officer's body camera. "That's what I get for playing this dumb a— game," says the driver, a young man. It's the latest incident raised by police to demonstrate how oblivious Pokemon hunters can stray into danger. Two people playing Pokemon Go were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday on Graceland Avenue in Southeast Baltimore, police said.

Also, three people were playing Monday afternoon in Clifton Park, police said, and they were robbed. The cellphone game has captivated fans who wander neighborhoods in search of the fantastic creatures. Distracted players have also been robbed in Parkville and at the University of Maryland.

Baltimore police said they're working to determine charges for the driver who sideswiped the patrol car. They have not released his name. "You can't wander aimlessly around," said T.J. Smith, a Baltimore police spokesman. "Pay attention to your surroundings. There are way too many people that have their heads buried in their phones trying to catch a Pokemon and the criminals are catching you."

Video: Driver Playing 'Pokemon Go' Hits Baltimore Police Car

See also:

N.H. Police Use Pokemon Go to Lure Fugitives
July 19, 2016 - The Manchester Police Department enlisted a new partner in its war against crime Saturday night -- Pokemon Go character Charizard.

The police department enlisted a new partner in its war against crime Saturday night — a Pokemon Go character. But while the recruit generated a lot of interest in social media, it’s yet to be responsible for a single arrest. On Saturday night, Manchester police posted a notice of the department’s Facebook page, announcing that the Charizard — a rare Pokemon Go character — is in the department’s booking area.

The post includes a drawing of the dragon-like creature with its tail aflame. The post explains that only specific people would be invited to capture Charizard. Then it gives a link to a list of people wanted by the police department. “If your name appears on the following list you are one of the lucky ones. Come down to the station to capture Charizard. Hurry before the Charizard leaves!” the post reads.

The Manchester Police Department enlisted a new partner in its war against crime Saturday night -- Pokemon Go character Charizard.​

Pokemon Go’s supernatural powers have proved so strong that across the country, gamers have actually left couches and ventured outside. In Nashua, a Pokemon Go player found a dead body in a downtown creek. While no one on the wanted list checked in at the Manchester police station, the effort did generate a lot of interest for the department.

Some 30,000 Facebook users liked the post, nearly 14,500 shared it, and nearly 3,400 commented on it. “Anyone like this post as much as I do,” wrote I am Addicted to Surf. “Troll level = Master,” wrote John Paul Heldt. Others were critical of it. Some questioned if it constituted entrapment on the part of police. Others said the ploy may have worked if the user didn’t have to maneuver through three clicks to reach the list.

New Hampshire Police Use Pokemon Go to Lure Fugitives | Officer.com

 

[waltky]

Guess dey didn't see the robber avatar...

Pokemon GO players robbed at gunpoint in London park
Sat Jul 30, 2016 - Three teenagers playing the hit game Pokemon GO have been robbed at gunpoint in a north London park and forced to hand over their mobile phones, British police said on Saturday.

Armed robberies are rare in Britain and police said they were hunting three suspects thought to be aged around 16 or 17 in relation to the incident on Tuesday evening. While one suspect demanded that the three teenagers hand over their phones, a second revealed what the police said was a handgun from his waistband. The three teenagers handed over their phones and left the scene unhurt.

A man uses a mobile phone in front of an advertisement board bearing the image of Pokemon Go at an electronic shop in Tokyo, Japan​

Nintendo Pokemon GO has become the unexpected and runaway smash hit of the year, with players looking at their mobile screens to find virtual Pokemon characters that are appearing at office spaces, restaurants, museums, parks and other sites via the augmented reality technology.

The game has already been blamed for a rash of accidents and a slew of mishaps stemming from distracted players. First rolled out just over three weeks ago, the game has driving up Nintendo's market value by 50 percent.

Pokemon GO players robbed at gunpoint in London park

 

[waltky]

Playin' Pokemon Go can land ya in court in India...

Pokemon Go in Indian court for 'hurting religious sentiments'
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 - Pokemon Go lands up in an Indian court over allegations the game is hurting the religious sentiments of millions of vegetarians.

The high court in Gujarat state was asked to ban the game because its images of eggs in places of worship were "blasphemous" to Hindus and Jains. The court has asked the makers of Pokemon Go to respond to the charges. It is unclear if the makers, Niantic Inc, will do so. The court move has been met with derision on social media. Pokemon Go has not been officially released in India, but many still play thanks to workarounds.

The game can be accessed from an Indian phone by signing into an iTunes account of any country where the game has been released. Many reports say temples are often Pokestops - especially marked landmarks where players can gather supplies. The petition also cited infringement of privacy, and a possible threat of life to the players searching for Pokemon animals as further grounds for banning the game.

The news invited ridicule on social media, with Pokemon Go trending on Twitter in India. Many criticised the "frivolity" of the case, including former minister Shashi Tharoor who tweeted: "To file in the "Only in India" category! Would be funny if such frivolous cases didn't clog our judicial system."

Pokemon Go in Indian court for 'hurting religious sentiments' - BBC News