Why Pokemon Go Is A Positive Impact For Communties

Pokemon Go was undoubtedly one of the biggest smash hits of the summer, taking over town hot spots and streets all over the world. Now with the wait for the 2nd generation of Pokemon to enter the fray it’s always nice to take a step back and look at the positive impact Go had in communities around the world. From big cities to rural towns that were struggling to bring business into their shops the rampant chasing of Pikachus throughout streets caused a lot of positive changes.

First off, if you’re a local business owner you celebrated if your shop became one of the coveted Poke Stops that all the trainers gathered at. If you were a restaurant you could sell food and drinks all day long by just simply putting a lure up. For more retail based shops you could offer discounts for showing your app or the team you liked best. Online artists even made extra money just by making T-shirt designs for Valor, Instinct, and Mystic to sell to excited fans. Local Walmarts and chain stores even jumped on board with most of them having pop up poke-sections with plushies and portable phone chargers on display.

For players of the popular app, Poke hunting was a great way to find a new favorite restaurant or store. I can’t count the amount of people who have said they found a great coffee shop because they were running low on Pokeballs. Maybe you even went to exploring through the city for a Charmander that popped up on your radar and found a new comic shop to spend your time at? The benefits of just exploring your local area were huge since our society has become so much less inclined to go searching for hidden treasures throughout town.  Not to mention on the flip side of being a trainer probably earned you quite a few discounts at these places!

If shopping isn’t your thing you can’t deny the benefit of all the exercise you got from just walking around to hatch eggs.  The smallest egg you can hatch may just be 2KM, but that’s still just about a mile of exercise for you that you may not have gotten otherwise. Even chasing down Pokemon that you desperately wanted helped out with perseverance a lot. So, what if it was a few streets over, that Dragonite was had 1,500 CP and was more than worth it for your team. Pokemon Go turned into the ultimate secret workout routine for many and with the hot summer days and nights it had to be one of the best workouts you could get!

Lastly, how many new social interactions did you have when trying to find new Pokemon? All over the world people found themselves teaming up with all types of different trainers to try and hunt down Pokemon popping up on their radars. Some even teamed up in order to lessen the cost of keeping lures going at popular spots. Maybe if you were lucky you may have even found a significant other or the best friend you never knew you wanted?

All in all the interactions created by the original 151 Pokemon have already been amazing and hopefully, Generation 2 will do even better when it launches!

Man Sentenced to 5 Years for Playing Pokemon Go in Church

Earlier last month, on August 11th, in Yekaterinburg, Russia, at the Church of latter Day Saints, a young vlogger by the name of Ruslan Sokolovsky took video of himself playing Pokémon Go. This incident has led to his arrest and a possible sentencing of up to 5 years. Why do you ask? Because they believe it is sac-religious and incites hatred upon their beliefs and the church in general.

Just 4 years prior to this, two women from the band Pussy Riot were sentenced to 2 years in prison for the exact same charges. The difference between these cases is that 5 members from Pussy Riot formed a stage and put on a concert at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This action began as a protest against Vladamir Putin (Which they believe to be a dictator in the likes of Stalin.) and the church officials that supported him. This eventually became a music video called “Punk Prayer – Virgin Mary (Mother of God), Chase Putin Away!” Due to this, Patriarch Kirill I, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, stated that “…they were doing the work of the devil.”

Now, any some what intelligent and logical person should easily be able to see the major differences in these cases. Which is this…
As seen in the video, Ruslan Sokolovsky, who was protesting the church and its decision to forbid playing Pokémon Go while in the temple (Which has a Gym at its location.), merely walked in, caught a few Pokémon and then left. The members of Pussy Riot actually staged a musical protest inside of a church, called out their countries leader for being bribed by the officials of so said church and others, while making an actual music video out of it.

This blows my mind. That Ruslan Sokolovsky, is looking at serving 3 years longer in prison, than the 2 members of Pussy Riot, all though, all he did was walk in, burn some incense (Not the churches mind you.) and walked out. The ladies of Pussy Riot can be seen mocking the church, while the nuns are trying to force the women out of the temple. Am I the only one who sees this as utterly insane and mind boggling?

As the human species, we have supposedly come to an age where reason/science and religion can be seen as one. In 1981, Pope John Paul II stated that “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” Also, as seen in “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, paragraph 159, it states… “Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.”

So, what has happened since then, to cause them to believe that a young man must be sentenced for 5 years in prison for playing Pokémon Go? Is Pokémon and Pokémon Go, really sac-religious and inciting hatred upon the church? In my opinion, no it is not and must not be seen that way. It is what childhood dreams are made of. It is something that has brought communities together and has shown, that people of all races, age and belief, and opinion can be seen and acts as one. That shows that we can love and respect each other as we should and must, for the benefit of the human species. To me, this is an act of the Russian government and the church, which states otherwise. I believe, we must rally in support of Ruslan Sokolovsky and the let world know, that we will not stand for this nonsensical punishment and form of justice, no matter where it takes place. I’m not saying that he doesn’t deserve to penalized for his actions, but, a 5 year prison sentence? I find that to be quite harsh, even though he did break some rules that are being forced in his region of the world. And again, this is only my opinion and no one else’s.

And, as always… Go Team Mystic!

Battery Guide for Pokémon on the GO

In a world of mobile devices, one thing we all could use a little more of is power. With the rise of gaming, maps and augmented reality, phone and tablet batteries are going to need to step it up on capacity, but for now, there’s portable charging docks. Batteries come in a whole array of sizes, shapes, capacity, and amperage options. Some charge one phone while others can be used to charge a phone and tablet simultaneously. We’ve gone through and collected the best ones for Pokemon GO players. All of these are small enough to fit in your pocket or a small bag, are lightweight and work for both Android and iPhone.

Anker PowerCore+ mini 3350mAh

Anker PowerCore
Anker PowerCore- Lipsticks Sized Battery

Pros: Inexpensive, adds roughly one full charge to most iPhones and Android phones, PowerIQ Fast Charging up to one amp

EasyAcc Monster 20000mAh Power Bank

EasyAcc Monster
EasyAcc Monster Battery with Light

Pros: Charges up to 4 devices at once, Fast charging for phones up to 7.5 times, Smart shut-off prevents over charging, Duel input reduces charge time by 50%, small built-in flashlight, 18 month warranty

EMTEC Power Pouch 6000 mAh for Apple iPhone (Android sold separately)

EMTEC Power Pouch
Emtec Power Pouch Battery

Pros: holds and protects phone when not being used, clips to belt loop or lanyard for safety, up to 2 full charges

Neptor 2800mAh 1.0A Clip On Lipstick External Battery

Nestor Clip On
Nestor Clip-On Battery

Pros: Very small, loop can be attached to keychain, fast charging, flashlight with SOS and solid illumination, least expensive

Mophie Juice Pack Air – Slim Protective Mobile Battery 

Mophie Juice Air
Mophie Juice Air Battery

Pros: Protects phone from scratches, no cables to carry with you in order to charge, looks much sleeker than most external batteries