Jupiter “Drone”, Speed Traps, iPhone Falls … and More

Reports say she attempted to “lose the drone” on her way to a shopping center. When she failed, she called Police Scotland’s general complaints line for help. According to police via Daily Record, when she arrived at her station, "she was found standing in the police yard with her hood up trying to hide from the 'drone' and pointed out the bright white dot in the sky." When the senior officer looked up at the light, they realized that the drone she'd been afraid of was actually just Jupiter.

Want to fight your ticket? Welcome to mayor’s court, where your accuser is also your judge. Louisiana's traffic enforcement system punishes individuals in multiple ways when they exercise their constitutional rights. But none of the pressure tactics are unusual. Small towns all over the United States run speed traps and then use rigged local courts to convert citations into revenue—like a one-two punch that robs people of due process. The resulting fines and fees supplement tax collections, and many municipalities grow addicted to the funds. Extra revenue for perks quickly becomes essential for daily operations.

The company just announced that the latest Canalys market report shows that it has passed Apple to become the second-largest smartphone maker in the world. That leaves Samsung to battle Xiaomi for the top spot. Based on the company’s impressive growth rate, it may only be a matter of time before it overtakes Samsung as well.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 725.81 points, a bit more than 2%, slipping below 34,000 for the first time in nearly a month. It was the index’s worst day of 2021 and its biggest single-day point drop since last October. After the U.S. showed steady progress through the spring in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, infection rates have spiked in much of the country. Vaccination rates, meanwhile, have leveled off, leaving many Americans vulnerable to the Delta variant. That combination has sparked worries of new lockdowns or other restrictions on commercial activity.

While Black Widow’s initial $80 million domestic theatrical box office was nothing to sneeze at by covid-19 pandemic-era standards, the movie made just $26.3 million the following weekend—a steep drop that has many theater owners apoplectic. In response to Black Widow’s second weekend box office drop, the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) released a public statement detailing the organization’s concerns about the movie’s “stunning collapse” and how Disney+’s Premiere Access stunts revenue by depressing theater turnout.

A sense that wealthy countries with typically mild climates won’t really be affected by extreme weather may have made the death toll worse in Germany. Some have criticized the effectiveness of warning systems in the affected states, arguing they didn’t communicate the seriousness of the rainfall, which meteorologists had flagged early last week. In the hard-hit village of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, people told DOCKS they had gone to sleep and were only alerted to rapidly rising water by their dogs barking. In at least four instances, people drowned in their basements, some of them trying to save their belongings, rather than flee. “We have to get rid of this thought that somehow extreme and severe weather cannot impact us”