Doubt it was free. That's some super clean audio for a thunderstorm recorded on a phone.

It's a pokemon product - unless you're in middle school the answer should automatically be "no".

Several adults I know who hadn't previously played Pokemon, or many games at all, seem to be enjoying it. I'm trying it (having not played any Pokemon games before) and it's not really grabbing me. I do feel kind of self conscious playing it which is probably not helping.

Well, if you like living in an Orwellian panopticon, I guess it's fun! There's been a lot of criticism over this game's permissions list - it's a straight-up "we will track you everywhere you go, monitor everything you do on your phone, and report whatever we find to the NSA" kind of terms of service. Which shouldn't be surprising, given the corporate money behind it: Pokemon Go was developed by a company called "Niantic Labs", which is an internal start-up/ shell company created by our technocratic overlords, Google. The businessman chosen to head Niantic is John Hanke, the guy who developed Google Earth with funding from the CIA's own personal venture capital group, In-Q-Tel. In other words, this 'permissions controversy' (which the media is currently burying under their somewhat-ludicrous "Pokemon allows strangers to rob and murder your kids" narrative) is no accident: Pokemon Go is a spy-app designed by notorious capitalists whose entire business model revolves around mining your data and spying on you.

So as it turns out, the public face of Big Brother is not going to be some old dude with a bushy mustache and an enigmatic expression. Big Brother is Squirtle.

One upshot is that Pokemon Go is supposed to help people get exercise, so maybe CWC could lose his gut by playing (nah, he'd just drive around at slow speeds to look for Pokemon)

I know people in their 30s and 40s who are scheduling their evenings around this.

But hey, it gets them outside and at least one is the sort of person who doesn't really like going outside much normally, so that's good I guess.

You probably don't need to be self-conscious, it's a craze so you will never be doing it alone. So far, every video game reviewer driven outdoors by it (which is funny in itself) has run into other people already playing it.

I know people who leave lures at science centers and other educational places and landmarks.

The reviews all seem to like the idea of it more than the execution, but it's popular enough already to be a new trend, so better games along this idea are inevitable.

There's apparently a "gym" at one of the warehouses i work at.

I'm not 100% on the mechanics of this iteration but, the prospect of some little kid showing up and making a 40+ year old man, surrounded by co-workers, cry would be the best thing to come out of this game.

Homer is just butt hurt that playing the game means the FBI has access to every website he lurks at

Re: the security controversy over Pokemon Go:

It's basically nonsense. There's nothing remotely intrusive or unusual about the app in any way, it's just that people have to have their little dumb, invented crusade du joir to pretend they're somehow socially conscious.

There are literally HUNDREDS of apps on phones right now that violate terms of service and probably actual laws regarding privacy that you will never hear a peep from Congress or Wired magazine or Salon or whoever because nothing gets ad clicks (and tracer cookies) in your browser like sensational bullshit headlines invoking Pokemon.

Here is the list :

In-app purchases : Because it's a vidya game and Poppa-N needs some yakuza cash.

Identity : Because it's a phone what might ring while playing and it needs to know that.

Location : So the game knows when you and the Pokemon are in proximity for animal cruelty.

Photos/Media/Files : It wants to save shit on your phone, probably evidence of animal cruelty for if you become a serial killer.

Camera : So you can be horrified that you are outdoors, then be awed that the vidya game monsters look like they are too, only you really are, suckers.

Bluetooth connection information : So you can use the Pokemon GO Plus pager device to never be away from your Pokemon Go infected phone again. Like being in the womb.

The weather radar app I have is way worse than this, and often spams me with ads saying "they're coming for you, you know they are."

Now that I think about it, the weather radar app is like a Star Trek game where you can see giant red and purple pulsating energy monsters coming for your space colony to devour the life there.

It's pretty rad.

Sure, but who cares?

The real question we should be asking is: Is it funny?
Answer: ehh... kinda. It had me chuckling until he took off his shirt, and then... well... really? That's a lame way to end a skit and/or video.