Teen playing Pokemon game finds corpse instead

[spaminator]

Teen playing Pokemon game finds corpse instead
Postmedia Network
First posted: Saturday, July 09, 2016 08:16 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, July 09, 2016 08:24 PM EDT
The recently launched 'Pokemon Go' app, a new smartphone game based on cute Nintendo characters like Squirtle and Pikachu, led one of its Wyoming users to a site where she discovered a dead body.
Nineteen-year-old Shayla Wiggins says she was playing the game on Friday morning when she stumbled upon a man's body in the Wind River in Riverton, Wy.
The mobile game, which layers gameplay onto the physical world, encourages players to trek to prominent local landmarks to capture as many Pokemon as possible.
Wiggins says she was trying to get into the water underneath a bridge when she spotted the body face down in the river.
"It was pretty shocking," Wiggins told County 10, "I didn't really know what to do at first. But I called 911 right away and they came really quickly."
Authorities say the man's death appears to be accidental.
Teen playing Pokemon game finds corpse instead | World | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

Police in Missouri say teens used Pokemon Go to rob victims
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Monday, July 11, 2016 12:43 AM EDT | Updated: Monday, July 11, 2016 12:47 AM EDT
O'FALLON, Mo. -- Police in Missouri say four teens robbed victims after luring them to a specific location using the new Pokemon Go smartphone game.
Police said Sunday that four teens used the game to draw victims to a spot in O'Fallon, just outside of St. Louis, and then robbed them.
The recently released game sends players to locations to collect various creatures. Police say the robbers used the game to lure victims by putting a "beacon" at a location to draw in players.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports police arrested the four teens after responding to a call for a robbery near a gas station Sunday. The suspects are between the ages of 16 and 18.
Police said the suspects may have been involved in similar robberies around St. Louis.
Police in Missouri say teens used Pokemon Go to rob victims | World | News | Tor

 

[spaminator]

Pokemon Go leading players to dead bodies, causing accidents
Postmedia Network
First posted: Monday, July 11, 2016 04:40 PM EDT | Updated: Monday, July 11, 2016 06:54 PM EDT
A new video game in which players try to capture cartoon creatures using their smartphone is getting couch potatoes outside, but not always with positive results. They're getting in accidents, getting robbed and one even stumbled on a dead body.
Shayla Wiggens, 19. spotted a man's body in the Wind River in Wyoming on Friday while playing Pokemon Go, which encourages players to trek to prominent local landmarks to capture as many Pokemon as possible.
Police are still investigating how the man died.
It comes as police in Missouri say four teens used Pokemon Go to lure victims to a location and rob them.
Police said the boys put out a "beacon" to draw victims to a remote spot in O'Fallon, just outside of St. Louis, and then robbed them.
Go Pokemon became the top grossing app in the iPhone app store just days after its release last week.
But so many people wandering the real world with their eyes glued to their smartphone screens has also led to more than a few spills.
Kyrie Tompkins, a 22-year-old freelance web designer, fell on the sidewalk and twisted her ankle while wandering in downtown Waterville, Maine, on Thursday night.
"It vibrated to let me know there was something nearby and I looked up and just fell in a hole," she says. Her parents had to drive her and her fiance home.
Pokemon Go leading players to dead bodies, causing accidents | World | News | To

 

[spaminator]

Holocaust Museum: Stop catching Pokemon here!
Andrea Peterson, Washington Post
First posted: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 04:07 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 06:12 PM EDT
WASHINGTON - Almost everywhere you turn, it seems, people have their eyes glued to smartphone screens playing Pokemon Go. Since its launch last week, the app has quickly become a cultural phenomenon that has fans of all ages hunting around their neighbourhoods for collectible digital creatures that appear on players' screens as they explore real-world locations.
But there's at least one place that would really like to keep Pokemon out: the Holocaust Museum.
The museum, along with many other landmarks, is a PokeStop within the game - a place where players can get free in-game items. There are three PokeStops associated with various parts of the museum.
"Playing the game is not appropriate in the museum, which is a memorial to the victims of Nazism," Andrew Hollinger, the museum's communications director, told The Post. "We are trying to find out if we can get the museum excluded from the game."
The Holocaust Museum's plight highlights how apps that layer a digital world on top of the real one can create awkward situations, especially since the owners of the physical locations often cannot weigh in on how their spaces are being used.
One image circulating online appears to show a player encountering an unsettling digital critter inside the museum: a Pokemon called Koffing that emits poisonous gas floating by a sign for the museum's Helena Rubinstein Auditorium. The auditorium shows the testimonials of Jews who survived the gas chambers.
The image, which appears to have originated from a now-deleted post on the photo-sharing site imgur, might be a hoax: That particular Pokemon didn't appear nearby when this Post reporter visited the museum Monday afternoon, although the specific Pokemon that appears in each location does vary from time to time. Hollinger said that the museum is concerned about the potential Koffing appearance.
Niantic did not immediately respond to inquiries about the alleged Koffing sighting or if there was any way to honour the Holocaust Museum's request to stop Pokemon from popping up inside its building.
Hollinger stressed that the museum is generally pro-technology and encourages visitors to use social media to share how their experiences with the exhibits moved them. "But this game falls very much outside that," he said.
On Monday afternoon, there were plenty of people inside the museum who seemed to be distracted from its haunting exhibits as they tried to "catch 'em all," as the Pokemon slogan goes. A player even used a lure module, a beacon that attracts Pokemon to a specific PokeStop, on the museum's marker - making double-headed bird-like creatures dubbed Doduos and rodent-like Rattatas practically swarm on users' screens.
The player behind the lure, a 30-year-old visiting from North Carolina named Dustin who declined to share his last name with The Post for privacy reasons, was excited to catch a crustacean-like Krabby while waiting in the museum's lobby with a group of friends to pick up tickets for a scheduled tour.
Although the museum is uncomfortable with its Pokemon infestation, most of the players building up their digital critter collection inside the building at least didn't seem to mean any disrespect.
"It's not like we came here to play," said Angie, a 37-year-old member of Dustin's group who also declined to share her last name for privacy reasons, "But gotta catch 'em all."
Holocaust Museum: Stop catching Pokemon here! | World | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

Cemetery asks Pokemon players to stay off game
By Nick Westoll, Toronto Sun
First posted: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 06:05 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 06:12 PM EDT
The sudden, meteoric rise of the new Pokémon Go app is having some unintended negative consequences.

There have been reports of app users following the game into solemn spaces.

In the United States, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., had to ask users not to participate inside the museum out of respect for Holocaust victims and their families.

Locally there has been a report of players entering Pine Hills Cemetery near Kennedy Rd. and St. Clair Ave. E. in Scarborough to find a game location at the veterans’ section.

A cemetery spokesman told the Toronto Sun Wednesday that although he wasn’t aware of an incident, cemetery staff are asking visitors to refrain from using the game on the grounds in honour of the veterans.

The app was released on July 6 and re-imagines the vintage game on iPhones and Android phones.

It encourages gamers to find and ‘catch’ characters in real life locations using their phones.

The app itself hasn’t been officially launched in Canada, so users have had to find ways to work around the restriction.

Staff from the HMCS York naval reserve in downtown Toronto are cautioning people from trespassing onto the base.

“A friendly reminder that we will catch you before you can catch #PokemonGO at a @CanadianForces base,” a post on Twitter read.

Meanwhile, police services in Ontario are starting to field complaints about gamers using their phones.

The Greater Sudbury Police have found drivers and pedestrians being distracted by the app, creating an increased collision risk, a spokeswoman told the Sun.

Representatives from Toronto, Peel and York Police said they weren’t aware of similar concerns locally.

However, Ontario’s minister of transportation weighed in with a Pokémon-related message for people on foot trying to “catch ‘em all.”

“Don’t be a pidgeot. Look where you’re walking and keep your head up when crossing the street,” Del Duca said on Twitter.

NWestoll@postmedia.com
Cemetery asks Pokemon players to stay off game | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto

Auschwitz memorial says playing 'Pokemon Go' not allowed
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 01:53 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 02:08 PM EDT
WARSAW, Poland -- The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum says it does not allow people to play Pokemon Go on their smartphones during visits to the former German death camp because it is "disrespectful."
Museum spokesman Pawel Sawicki told The Associated Press on Wednesday that its authorities are asking game producers to exclude the site of the former Nazi German death camp from games.
He said allowing such games to be active on the authentic grounds of the former death camp is "disrespectful to the memory of the victims of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp on many levels and it is absolutely inappropriate."
The museum is a site of commemoration for the estimated 1.1 million people killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau and to the survivors who suffered as camp inmates. Most of the victims were European Jews who perished in the gas chambers, but there were also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and others.
Pokemon Go is a hugely popular new reality game that uses GPS and allows players to search locations in the real world to find virtual little creatures.
Earlier in the day the Auschwitz memorial wrote on Twitter: "Do not allow playing #PokemonGO on the site of our Memorial and similar places. It's disrespectful on many levels."
Auschwitz memorial says playing 'Pokemon Go' not allowed | World | News | Toront

'Pokemon Go' nude selfies? Of course it's a thing
Postmedia Network
First posted: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 01:35 PM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, July 13, 2016 01:51 PM EDT
It didn't take long to make the latest gaming fad X-rated.
Naughty gamers caught up in the Pokemon Go craze have taken to posting nude selfies, featuring Pokemon characters in suggestive places.
The new game allows players to take photos with their phones as they hunt for virtual Pokemon characters in the real world.
The biggest star in the nude selfie trend is a phallic-looking Pokemon called Diglett, who has shown up in several pics, strategically placed you-know-where.
The trend has gotten so far as to get its own sub-category on Reddit.
The Peekanude selfies are just the latest in a string of controversies since Pokemon was launched in the U.S. and other select countries last week. It's not available in Canada yet.
'Pokemon Go' nude selfies? Of course it's a thing | Weird | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

Police forces across Canada warn of risks involved with playing Pokemon Go
THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Thursday, July 14, 2016 01:44 PM EDT
TORONTO -- Police forces across Canada are warning of the risks involved in playing augmented reality games such as Pokemon Go as reports mount of people getting injured or landing in trouble as they play the wildly popular game.
The cellphone-based game sends players into the real world to search for digital monsters known as Pokemon, who appear on screen when users hold up their iPhones or Android devices in various locations at various times.
While not officially released in Canada yet, many residents have found workarounds to access the game, which has become a blockbuster hit since launching in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Japan last week.
Police forces, however, are worried about the game luring people into potentially dangerous situations and are cautioning players to use their common sense.
In Quebec City, police said two officers suffered minor injuries when a car they observed driving strangely reversed into their cruiser in a parking lot.

"The driver said 'I'm sorry, I was playing Pokemon Go," said Const. Nancy Roussel, who said police are calling on players to be aware of their surroundings.

"Be careful, watch out, even if you are in a car, on your feet or on a bicycle, be careful and watch where you're going, please."

Every time the Pokemon Go app is opened, a warning from game maker Niantic pops up, telling players to be aware of their surroundings. Players must also agree to fine print saying they cannot enter private property without permission.

There's also a disclaimer that says Niantic is not liable for any property damage, injuries or deaths that result while playing.

But despite the warnings, some people playing the game have wandered into private yards, driveways, cemeteries and, in one U.S. case, even an off-limits police parking lot in search of the app's cartoon monsters.

In Vancouver, police have observed the game's colourful digital characters inside their own headquarters and have cautioned city residents over what they termed the "the Pokemon Go invasion."

"Are you about to step into traffic? Are you going to crash into someone or something? You could end more than just your game," they said. "It is very easy for any stranger to know your gathering spots. Make sure you go with a group, and that younger kids tell parents or another adult where they're going."

Some police forces have also been employing the hashtag ‚DontCatchAndDrive" as players roam community streets.

"Please do not look for¥Pokemon while driving. If you've gotta catch 'em all, do so safely.¥DontCatchAndDrive," tweeted Edmonton police.

Winnipeg police and Manitoba RCMP sent out similar missives, urging players to be responsible.

In Ontario, provincial police have put out a short video on Twitter in response to the "potential risk and harm" they are seeing related to the game.

"People are getting injured, people in the U.S. are having their cellphones stolen when they show up at given locations where Pokemon are supposed to be in hiding," said Sgt. Dave Rektor.

The cops aren't the only ones issuing warnings -- Montreal's metropolitan transportation agency has asked riders to respect safety rules when going in search of Pokemon near it's facilities, posting a photograph of one of the game's monsters by a railway track as a train approaches.

South of the border, police in the U.S. have cautioned players that trespassers could get arrested or worse, especially if they cross paths with an armed property owner.

In Utah, a teen was slapped with a trespassing ticket that he worries could cost him up to $200 after he and a couple of friends went on an early morning Pokemon chase at an abandoned grain silo.

Meanwhile, in western Pennsylvania, one woman told a local TV station that her 15-year-old daughter was hit by a car while playing the game and crossing a busy highway. The girl was hospitalized with an injured collarbone and foot, as well as cuts and bruises, her mother said.

-- with files from the Associated Press
Police forces across Canada warn of risks involved with playing Pokemon Go | Can

 

[Blackleaf]

Me and my neighbour were out playing his Pokemon Go game in the early hours of the morning the other day. We didn't return to our flats until about 5am when it was daylight. A street map of the local area appears on the screen and there are flashing symbols at certain locations at the map that are where monsters are and you have to actually physically walk to the location on the map to do battle with a monster there. We fought monsters down scary, dark back streets, in Heywood Park and in front of the church (which is only around 100 yards from our flats). It's brilliant. A computer game which keeps you fit.

 

[Locutus]

Not enough win! in Darwin to describe this

Video: Two Pokemon Go players fall off cliff in San Diego

Two men were hurt after they plunge off a cliff while playing Pokemon Go. KUSI’s Elizabeth Alvarez has the story.

Jul 15, 2016, 1:16 PM

Video: Two Pokemon Go players fall off cliff in San Diego - 680 NEWS

 

[B00Mer]

POKEMON GO FAIL: Man Falls In Pond Trying To Catch ‘Em All

POKEMON GO FAIL: Man Falls In Pond Trying To Catch ‘Em All

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzPtFz-baMg

Add this pond to the running list of places you should not play Pokemon Go.

The good news is this guy seems to take getting soaked while trying to catch some Pokemon pretty well.

“Holy $#!%, I didn’t know that was water,” says the man. “That was funny.”

Close call. Dude was almost PokeGone.

POKEMON GO FAIL: Man Falls In Pond Trying To Catch 'Em All

 

[Locutus]

'youth vote'

we need a cleansing, badly.

 

[Blackleaf]

A group of teenage boys who entered an underground cave network to search for Pokemon got stuck 100ft below ground.

The "glum and embarrassed" foursome had to be rescued after entering the complex, known as the Box mines, in Hawthorn, Wiltshire.

They had entered while playing smash hit smartphone game Pokemon Go, where users search real-life locations for digital creatures.

One member called for help when he "miraculously" found a phone signal.

The caves cover an area of about 72 square miles.

 

[Locutus]

Koffing the poison gas Pokemon 'found at Holocaust Museum' on new Pokemon game | Metro News



ISIS is watching this in amazement of how easy it is to kill these people.

 

[petros]

Pokemon is normal

 

[Curious Cdn]

Pokemon is normal

"Pokemon" is an old Japanese word for "cash flow"

 

[spaminator]

Florida Man shoots at 'Pokemon Go' players outside house
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Sunday, July 17, 2016 12:19 AM EDT | Updated: Sunday, July 17, 2016 12:45 AM EDT
PALM COAST, Fla. -- Authorities say a Florida man fired shots at two late-night "Pokemon Go" players in a car outside his house but no one was injured.
Flagler County Sheriff's Office spokesman James Troiano says in a news release that the homeowner awoke to a noise outside about 1:30 a.m. Saturday and saw a car sitting in the road in front of his house. He told authorities he got a handgun and approached the vehicle.
Troiano says the two teens in the car sped away and the man fired several shots at them.
Later that morning, he says, the mother of one of the teens called the sheriff's office when they realized the car had a flat tire and several bullet holes in it. She told officials the two had been playing the smartphone app.
The release says the investigation is ongoing.
Florida Man shoots at 'Pokemon Go' players outside house | World | News | Toront

 

[spaminator]

Wynne advises Pokemon Go players to look up from their phones at intersections
The Canadian Press
First posted: Monday, July 18, 2016 11:19 AM EDT | Updated: Monday, July 18, 2016 05:48 PM EDT
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is advising Pokemon Go players to keep their eyes off their phones when walking, especially at intersections.
Wynne says she always advised her children to make eye contact with drivers when crossing the road, and points out you can't do that if you're looking down at your phone.
She says it's really about common sense, and people understanding that they can put themselves at risk by focusing on their phone instead of their surroundings.
The province last week dismissed a request from the city of Toronto to amend the Highway Traffic Act to ban people from texting while walking on roads, saying the city could pass its own bylaw if it wanted to.
Wynne says she's only interested in regulations and bylaws that are enforceable, suggesting she thinks it's impossible to actually stop people from texting, emailing or playing games on their phones while walking.
Pokemon Go officially became available in Canada on Sunday, but many users had already figured out how to download the app, which superimposes animated characters onto a map-like interface using the video camera in smartphones.
Wynne advises Pokemon Go players to look up from their phones at intersections |

 

[Cliffy]

 

[petros]

Do you have a life beyond Facebook and YouTube?

BTW you can add a rape in New Westminster to poke and go follies.

 

[spaminator]

Don't 'lure' Pokeman GO players to Sick Kids
By Aaron D'Andrea, Toronto Sun
First posted: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 11:26 AM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 11:52 AM EDT
Pokemon Go is a no-go at Sick Kids. The Hospital for Sick Children is asking players not to drop “lures” at the facility after the widely popular smartphone game was officially released in Canada on Sunday. “Our patients are some of the sickest in Ontario and may be going through a very difficult time in their lives. We ask that individuals respect their privacy and the hospital space,” the hospital tweeted Monday. Pokemon GO allows players to jump into the real world to try and catch various Pokemon across the city. Players of the augmented reality game can drop “Lure Modules” to attract creatures for capture at different “PokeStops” in the game.
Don't 'lure' Pokeman GO players to Sick Kids | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Su

Frenchman caught in Indonesian military base hunting Pokemon
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 02:40 PM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 02:51 PM EDT
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- 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 kilometres (118 miles) east of the capital.
Frenchman caught in Indonesian military base hunting Pokemon | Weird | News | To

 

[Curious Cdn]

We had a cluster of geeky Pokemon players shuffle by on the street on Monday evening, noses presssed in their I-Phones. My son tells me that there is a (pokey?) in the Canada Post Super-Duper box that was installed, nearby. That ought to be enough to make CUPW walk out.