by Shep McAllister on Deals, shared by Shep McAllister to Kotaku
Mpow’s Swift Bluetooth headphones dominated 2015, and the company’s ergonomic Cheetah line looks like a great sequel. If you want to try out a pair, promo code 2BOHN8NW will knock them down to $18, the lowest price we’ve seen by $7.
Since Tuesday, Olympic organizers have repeatedly assured athletes and fans that the pool is safe and that the situation was under control. Rio organizing committee spokesman Mario Andrada told reporters on Wednesday that “the pool should go back to its classic blue color during the day.”
That clearly didn’t happen. Instead, reports trickled in that the adjacent pool used for water polo and synchronized swimming also began to turn green.
There is nothing funny about the real Donald Trump, a raisin company mascot channelling the spirit of an internet commenter. What is funny is the voice actor behind Futurama’s Zapp Brannigan reading some of Trump’s dumbest quotes in character. UPDATE, SEP 28: Now featuring snippets from the first Presidential debate.
No, that doesn’t say Missouri’s governor appointed someone to represent a criminal defendant. It says someone appointed him to do it. How could that happen? Oh, I’m glad you asked.
As you likely know from endless viewings of Law & Order, or maybe from having been arrested, you have the right to an attorney and if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you. See Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963). The state is constitutionally required to make sure criminal defendants get a lawyer. The lawyers who do that work need to get paid, so the state pays them if a defendant can’t. Or at least it’s supposed to. As people who work in that field have explained better than I can, the public-defender system is important but chronically underfunded in most states. Missouri seems to be one of those states.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri’s criminal-defense attorneys—and I can never resist pointing out the importance of this hyphen, because “criminal-defense attorney” and “criminal defense attorney” are two very different things—those people handle something like 85,000 cases a year. And, in 2015, there were 376 criminal-defense attorneys in the state.
Handling 85,000 cases.
I did the math for you—that’s an average of almost 226 cases per attorney per year. Every case isn’t going to be active at the same time, but the guy featured in this article was said to be juggling 130 to 150 cases at any given time. That is a ridiculous caseload. They need more people. So the Missouri Public Defender System asked for an extra $23 million in funding, to which the governor responded by recommending $1 million. Public defenders aren’t getting paid piles of money, but that amount still wouldn’t make much difference. Legislators ended up compromising on $4.5 million—only to have the governor withhold the extra $3.5 million (which is apparently legal because state revenue is below projection).
So, the system’s director appears to be thoroughly fed up with the situation and he blames Gov. Jay Nixon for it. How do we know that? Here is how we know that. On Tuesday he wrote the governor a letter pointing out some of the facts above, noting that Missouri ranks 49th out of 50 in terms of funding (I assume that controls for state population, but don’t know), and saying that things had reached a critical point. Explaining that a state statute gives the director authority to “[d]elegate the legal representation of any person to any member of the state bar,” presumably meaning he can do that if necessary to meet constitutional requirements, he said he had decided to appoint one:
As Director of the Missouri State Defender System tasked with carrying out the State’s obligation to ensure that poor people who face incarceration are afforded competent counsel in their defense, I hereby appoint you, Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Bar No. 29603, to enter your appearance as counsel of record in the attached case.
Emphasis added.
Can he do that? Well, he did it. Does he expect the governor to show up in court? Probably not. According to the governor’s spokesguy, only a judge can appoint (order) a private attorney to represent someone; the public defender’s office is only authorized to “delegate” representation, which he said means they can hire private attorneys to help, but they have to consent. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m pretty sure the governor has no intention of playing ball here.
It’s probably not a coincidence that the agency has already sued the governor to try to force him to restore the $3.5 million. Actually, according to this report, “an initial hearing on that case is set for Monday.” So no, not a coincidence.
See also Scott Greenfield, “Jay Nixon for the Defense,” Simple Justice (Aug. 4, 2016) (for the views of an actual, and hyphenated, criminal-defense lawyer).
After nearly a year of rumors, teardowns, a vague announcement, and a false start, Google Play's Family Library is finally going live today. It will begin rolling out over the next few days to users in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Other countries will surely join the list in time, but those will be the first.
Nintendo UK and Nintendo of America have announced via late night tweets that their highly anticipated Pokémon Go Plus accessory has been delayed until September.
The #PokemonGO Plus accessory will now be released Sept 2016 instead of the originally expected end of July launch. https://t.co/QgjZf1aAV6
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 27, 2016
The Pokémon GO Plus is a small device that lets you enjoy Pokémon GO while you're on the move and not looking at your smartphone. The device connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth low energy and notifies you about events in the game—such as the appearance of a Pokémon nearby—using an LED and vibration.
Pokémon GO Plus will begin to blink and vibrate whenever you're within range of a PokéStop. Press the Pokémon GO Plus button to search the PokéStop for items. If you find any items, swipe or tap them to add them to your inventory.
When a Pokémon is near, the light on the Pokémon GO Plus will flash. It will also flash and vibrate when you pass a PokéStop.
Once a Pokémon is close, press the button on the Pokémon GO Plus to throw a Poké Ball. You'll only be able to throw a Poké Ball using Pokémon GO Plus if you've caught the Pokémon before. The Pokémon GO Plus will flash and vibrate to let you know if you were successful in catching the Pokémon.
Sadly, we all have to wait until the fall for this new way to catch Pokemon. The delay of this highly anticipated companion device for the Pokemon Go app is just one disappointment coming out of the Big N today as the company also reported a wider than expected Q1 loss after the market close in Japan.
A Maplewood postal worker told the 40 South News editor on Saturday that 40 South was partly right about the Maplewood post office planning to close, then added details. The employee said Maplewood’s postal service is set to move to the Southwest Station Post Office, at 3232 Clifton Avenue. According to Google Maps it’s 2.1 miles […]
Hackers have made it relatively simple to see what monsters are lurking nearby in Pokémon Go. (credit: Github / PokemonGoMap)
One of Pokémon Go's defining characteristics is that you never quite know the precise location of nearby Pokémon, since the game only gives an imprecise "radar" with general distances. A group of hackers has set out to change that situation, exploiting Pokémon Go's server responses to create an easy-to-use map that reveals those hidden Pokémon in your immediate area.
The hack is the result of efforts by the PokemonGoDev subreddit, which is working to reverse engineer an API using the data sent and received by the Pokémon Go servers. So far, the group has managed to parse the basic server responses sent by the game, which can be acquired through an SSL tunnel and deciphered using relatively basic protocol buffers.
From there, a little bit of Python scripting work can convert the usually hidden data on nearby Pokémon locations into an easy-to-use Google Maps picture of your augmented reality surroundings. There are step-by-step installation instructions for anyone with even a basic understanding of a command line, as well as recent attempts at a self-contained desktop app and Web-based app for those who want a one-step Poké-mapping solution.
by Bryan Menegus on Gizmodo, shared by Riley MacLeod to Kotaku
Several Redditors discovered decompiled code
in the Android and iOS versions of Pokémon Go earlier this week that indicated a potential sponsorship deal with global burger chain McDonald’s. Now a well-placed source has confirmed with Gizmodo that the sponsorship is moving forward, and is set to launch in one country in Asia.
Dragon Quest VII was one of the biggest games of its time, a significant leap over its predecessors in terms of raw size. So when the developers at Square decided to remake it for 3DS, they ran into some issues.
Android users who’ve been hungering for access to WU’s Storm app, which debuted in 2015 on iOS devices, have cause to celebrate: Storm is now available for you! Android users can download Storm within the Google Play Store. For iOS users, it’s available within iTunes or the App Store.
Storm builds on the usefulness and clean design of the main WU app, and the data and forecasting strengths of WU and The Weather Company, to provide an array of featur...<br /><a href="http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3334">Read More</a>
Last month Nintendo started a closed beta program for Pokémon GO, the augmented reality catch-em-all game that the company has been working on with Niantic. It looks like we're very close to a public release, at least according to Nintendo's presentation at the massive E3 gaming convention. As reported by Polygon, Nintendo announced that the game will be released on smartphones sometime in July.
Nintendo also says that Pokémon Go Plus, a fitness tracker-style Bluetooth gadget that will allow players to get alerts or even catch "wild" Pokémon without taking out their phones, will also be available sometime in "late July," at least according to previous Nintendo posts on the subject.
For decades, avid runners and casual joggers have had their ups and downs with the running shoe. Some argue that the shoes’ spongy soles help us bound comfortably across our unforgiving urban landscapes of concrete and asphalt. Others, however, think the shoes simply run off with our body’s natural spring-like steps. During the last 40 years, skeptics are quick to point out that the rate of running injuries hasn’t stumbled.
Now, with a new study on the mechanics of running, researchers suggest that running shoes actually do a little of both—cushioning and altering our innate bounce. It just doesn't happen the way we may have expected, the researchers report in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
To track down the impact of running shoes, researchers at the University of Queensland outfitted 16 healthy volunteers with intramuscular electrodes that recorded the muscle activity in their feet. Then they had those wired volunteers run—both barefoot and shod—on a treadmill rigged with force sensors. The researchers paid particular attention to the muscles in their longitudinal arches, which have a natural spring-like action, bending as the foot lands and recoiling on the lift.
Build and manage a desert paradise, cultivate equipment and form a party to explore dungeons and solve puzzles in Ever Oasis, a new RPG coming to the 3DS from developer Grezzo.
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past will be out in North America on September 16. There’s a new trailer and everything! Dragon Quest theme music always makes me smile.
A chunk of meat that bursts open once eaten and unleashes a robot that crawls around inside of your stomach sounds like something from a horror movie. But the real-life stomach-roaming meat robot actually means no harm—on the contrary, it was designed to doctor your stomach troubles from the inside.
On Thursday, researchers at MIT revealed the origami meat robot that they designed to patch stomach wounds, deliver medicine, and remove dangerous foreign objects that patients may have accidentally swallowed. In early simulations with pig esophagus and gut tissue, the robot traveled down to the stomach in an ice capsule that melted along the way. Once there, the robot unfolded and could be steered around the stomach using external magnets. In a demonstration video provided by MIT News, the researchers show that the robot can move a button battery in their simulation stomach. The researchers presented their robot this week at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation.
“It’s really exciting to see our small origami robots doing something with potential important applications to health care,” said Daniela Rus, lead researcher on the study and director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Didn't know if this might affect you in some way or not
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) will continue its sewer line work in Maplewood — up Bellevue Avenue to Richmond Heights — beginning Monday morning, according to MSD. Beginning May 9 at 9 a.m. crews contracted with MSD will reduce lanes on Manchester Road near the intersection of Bellevue Avenue. The turn lanes from Manchester […]
In just two days, the fire engulfing the Canadian city of Fort McMurray in Alberta has seared itself into the North American consciousness. This appears to be the first time in the continent’s history we have seen a city of more than 60,000 residents (officially an “urban service area” rather than a city), located hundreds of miles from any comparable population center, forced to evacuate a furious wildfire. The fact that a city this large is also so remote ow...<br /><a href="http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3297">Read More</a>
The trademark main entrance, the visitor center and a damaged fence from Jurassic Park, all built around a lucky Leopard tortoise called Louie by Oliver Turpin.
Editor's note: Though this isn't usual Ars Technica fare, we're publishing a non-tech story because we had a reporter with deep personal experience relevant to a topic of national interest.
In 2005, both of us became fixated on a late-night infomercial that promised access to "hundreds of billions of dollars" in "free government money." As journalism grad students at the time, our evenings often ended with a couple beers as we decompressed by watching whatever was on our tiny 13" TV. And what was on at the time—repeatedly—was a half-hour advertisement for an outfit called "National Grants Conferences" (NGC).
Why did the NGC infomercial captivate us? It wasn’t the charisma of the commercial’s star, ex-football player and former Congressman J.C. Watts (R-Okla.), who was busy making a mockery of whatever credibility he once had. And it wasn’t the enthusiastic couple who founded NGC, Mike and Irene Milin, proclaiming that numerous government grants were there for the taking.
So, one of the bigger UI changes I’ve been adding for the next build is the ability to close most pop-up windows by right-clicking off of them.
Well, that’s pretty neat. But.. uh… it isn’t really good for screenshots. The screenshots just look like the window open, or the window closed. They don’t even show the mouse cursor!
So, instead, have a ferret. The new build should actually be out fairly soon, and then I’ll be back to working on new content and system goodies.
Today is the 47th annual Earth Day, a day to celebrate the beauty of the atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere of the planet that sustains us. This week I’ve had the distinct pleasure of picking a few of my favorite WunderPhotos uploaded to our website over the past year, in keeping with the Earth Day tradition established by Dr. Jeff Masters (who’s off today). The photos below are all drawn from our World View Gallery, which is updated weekly with the top WunderPho...<br /><a href="http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3288">Read More</a>
Opera Software has become the first major browser maker to introduce a built-in VPN client for its Web users.
The Norwegian company said that the latest version of its browser is only available via its "Developer" channel, and added that the VPN service is currently free of charge, and has no limits in traffic or usage time.
Opera users can choose between the firm's VPN servers in the US, Canada, and Germany—with the promise that the list of locations will grow longer soon.
Welcome to Ars Cardboard, our weekend look at tabletop games! Check out our complete board gaming coverage right here—and let us know what you think.
Several weeks ago, Ars Cardboard asked a seemingly odd question: “Can you play board games if you don’t have a group?” The answer, surprisingly, is yes.
But what if you have a gaming partner and not a gaming group? Or maybe a non-gaming friend has been sniffing around your board game shelf and wants to dip their toes in the water without committing to a full-fledged game night. Again, you've come to the right place—today we're going to look at a few of our favorite two-player games. The majority of board and card games support two players, many of them quite well, but certain games work best when your table is set for two.
Last month Nintendo started a closed beta program for Pokémon GO, the augmented reality catch-em-all game that the company has been working on with Niantic. It looks like we're very close to a public release, at least according to Nintendo's presentation at the massive E3 gaming convention. As reported by Polygon, Nintendo announced that the game will be released on smartphones sometime in July. 
But.. uh… it isn’t really good for screenshots. 
The screenshots just look like the window open, or the window closed. 
