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Subway map artist and Naughty Dog settle The Last of Us complaint
Naughty Dog has apologized for the unauthorized use of an unofficial Boston subway in The Last of Us. The map, examined intently by protagonist Joel above, wasn't made by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or Naughty Dog. It's the work of a Portland-based artist named Cameron Booth, who posted earlier this week that it was used "without permission or payment." e attacked Naughty Dog for stealing the work, and wrote (in a since-deleted post version) that he believed it unacceptable "to casually appropriate someone else's work and incorporate it into their game without any discussion." Since Booth revealed his complaint, Naughty Dog has reached out to him and Booth has now deleted his initial post, replacing it with the news that an agreement has been made. "It seems as if matters will be resolved to everyone's satisfaction shortly," Booth now says. Booth also apologized for his "initial vitriolic post," adding that both sides share "a lot of mutual respect for each other's creative work."
Daily Update for November 12, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
iPhones substitute for tickets on Massachusetts commuter rail
While it's not the first US use of an iPhone app to substitute for a paper ticket on a rail line -- Amtrak has been doing this for several months -- the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) has just rolled out the new mTicket app (free) to allow the purchase and display of digital tickets on the South Shore line. The MBTA notes that about half of its 140 commuter rail stations don't have ticket booths or machines, so riders have to resort to the time-consuming task of purchasing a ticket onboard. By putting a virtual ticket booth into the pockets and purses of riders, MBTA is providing a way to streamline the ticket purchasing and validation process on its trains. The app rollout today comes after a limited trial on the South Shore line and at this time all rail trips out of the Boston North Station can be paid for using the app. Later this month, the MBTA is expected to expand use of the app for riders going south of Boston and for those riding commuter ferries. The mTicket app still won't replace the "Charlie Card" tickets on the Boston subway and bus system, although that's entirely a possibility for the future. [via The Verge]
MBTA and Masabi team up for first smartphone rail ticketing system in the US, launching in Boston this fall
In Boston this fall, you won't need to keep up with your train ticket anymore -- as long as you don't leave your smartphone at home. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Masabi have joined forces to bring a rail ticketing to handheld devices via iPhone, Android and BlackBerry apps. Headquartered in London, Masabi has launched similar tech for transit companies in the UK, eliminating ticket lines for many smartphone-wielding passengers. Software will allow riders to purchase tickets and passes that are validated with a barcode scan by conductors equipped with mobile devices of their own. MBTA is looking to cut costs and provide added convenience with the new system instead of adding more ticketing kiosks to its stations. The aforementioned apps will be developed alongside focus groups and a small pilot group this summer with a full rollout to all MBTA customers expected to happen this fall. Looking for a bit more info? Hit the coverage and source links below to read on. [Image credit: Masabi on Flickr]
MBTA affirms that vulnerabilities exist, judge lifts gag order on MIT students
No surprise here, but the kids from MIT were (presumably) right all along. The three students who were muffled just before presenting their case at Defcon have finally been freed; the now-revoked gag order had prevented them from exposing insecurities in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ticket system, but during the same court setting, the MBTA fessed up and admitted that its current system was indeed vulnerable. Of note, it only confessed that its CharlieTicket system was susceptible to fraud, while simply not acknowledging any flaws in the more popular CharlieCard option. Pish posh -- who here believes it doesn't have dutiful employees working up a fix as we speak?
WiFi coming to Massachusetts commuter trains
It's coming to planes, so it was bound to make its way onto trains. According to a report, a 45-mile commuter railroad line in Massachusetts is about to get a WiFi upgrade, bringing wireless connections to more than 18,000 passengers across 17 stations. Utilizing Sprint's EV-DO service, this will be the largest deployment of train-based WiFi outside of Europe and will bring access to 45 coach cars in the line. "There is not one commuter rail system in the country that has this right now," said Kris Erickson, MBTA deputy chief of staff, adding, "We know there are going to be some technical glitches, but we want to get in there and test it in a real environment and get a much better idea how to do it." The plan is to eventually bless all 13 commuter lines in Massachusetts with wireless capabilities, thus allowing networked games of Sid Meier's Railroads! to actually be played while on a railroad.[Via Wi-Fi Networking News]
Three carriers now offering service on Boston's subway
It seems that one of the last few cellphone-proof havens in the world is giving in at a fairly brisk pace now, with New York most notably committing to adding phone service in train stations. After a couple of aborted attempts in years past, Boston's T has now signed up to do the same with AT&T lighting up service in four stations this week (Verizon and T-Mobile did the same earlier this month). Though your call's currently going to drop as soon as the train leaves the station, the plan is to eventually blanket tunnels and other stations -- assuming carriers see that customers are using the service and are willing to foot the bill. The transit authority has wisely already put up signs in trains encouraging folks to keep calls quiet and quick, though with any luck, the racket of the trains and the crowds will limit most usage to data and texting anyhow.[Via textually.org and ITBusinessEdge]
The Political Game: Censorship in Beantown
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:I don't much care for Grand Theft Auto.Aside from occasional review duties, I don't play Saints Row, either, or Reservoir Dogs or Scarface. Crime games are just not my thing; however, I don't dispute your right to enjoy those titles.In Boston, though, political pressure has forced the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) to agree that it will no longer carry ads for GTA or any other M-rated game. This came about after an organization known as the Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood objected to subway ads for GTA Vice City Stories on the MBTA's Green Line.Faced with a politically tenuous situation, the transit authority folded, deciding that it could ban M-rated game ads under the same rationale by which it refuses ads for X-rated movies. This is the games-as-porn approach that failed so miserably in Louisiana recently.
Boston transit system bans M rated game ads
The MBTA, Boston's public transit system authority, has decided to ban advertising in the system for all M and AO rated video games. According to The Boston Herald the transportation authority believed that if "X-rated movies" are banned from advertising, so should M and AO rated games. We're a little tired of trying to explain what The Boston Herald means in Boston. Let's leave it at they helped hype Susan Linn's Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood who said, "We are thrilled that the MBTA has been so responsive to community concerns ... The children of Boston can now ride the MBTA without being targets for advertising that glorifies violence." Meanwhile the MBTA continues to promote alcoholism with entire train cars full of Tanqueray and Bud Light advertisements. Obviously MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas finds video games a much greater concern to the community than alcoholism.
Boston Herald created GTA controversy, politicians followed [update 1]
The Political Game piece by Dennis McCauley of GamePolitics helped highlight a little story from Boston this week about controversial advertisements on the MBTA public transportation system, known as the T, for GTA: Vice City Stories. As a Boston native and resident it behooves me to give a little more context to the T and, more importantly, The Boston Herald who hyped this story.None of the organizations or politicians demanding the T pull the ads have a leg to stand on without admitting to massive hypocrisy. GTA: Liberty City Stories, released last year, had advertisements all over the T and nobody said anything about it. There is also a profusion of liquor advertisements and far more potentially "objectionable" advertisements on the T. The head of the T, Daniel Grabauskas, promised to begin the process of amending the MBTA's advertising guidelines to prohibit M- and AO-rated games in the future. How are liquor ads promoting something that can only be purchased by someone 21+ appropriate for the public transportation system, but games for 17 year-olds and older inappropriate?A little context probably needs to be given to how this story got to this level. The Boston Herald and their reporters pander to the lowest common denominator and have been the ones pounding the drums of war on this issue. The Boston Globe may initially report on a story, but The Boston Herald sensationalizes it. If you live in a two newspaper town you know there is typically one standard paper (The Boston Globe) and one white-trash yellow-journalism fear-mongering newspaper (The Boston Herald). The Boston Herald is dying, having laid off most of its staff, and in its death throes hypes trash to gain attention, attempting to sell bundles of newspapers nobody will buy, which are then given away for free on the streets to keep circulation numbers artificially inflated. As long as Boston politicians finally learn to ignore The Boston Herald -- the same way the readership and citizenry of Boston has -- then issues like this will not occur again. What's even better is for all their faux outrage now, in early November The Boston Herald said GTA: Vice City Stories and GTA: Liberty City Stories "may be the most entertaining games available for the PSP."(Update 1: Fixed a few minor bits of the grammar)
The Political Game: Banned in Boston
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Suddenly, the video game violence debate is big news in Beantown.The controversy began on Monday when a local advocacy group, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, delivered a letter to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which operates Boston's public transit system. The letter demanded that the MBTA remove poster ads for Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories from subway cars on Boston's Green Line.Sixty influential locals signed on, including the mayors of Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts legislators, religious leaders, top healthcare professionals, children's advocates and academics. Collectively, the signatories called it "unconscionable" to display the Vice City Stories ad on the train, saying, "Advertising on the MBTA enables Rockstar Games to reach countless children -- those who ride the trains and those whose neighborhoods the trains pass through."
