Crowds
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Google Maps no longer has to guess how crowded your transit line is
Google Maps will help you dodge large crowds on the subway with a new update.
NFL teams are using drones and robots to limit virus spread
Despite a recent COVID-19 outbreak in the NFL that resulted in cancelled games, some teams are planning to welcome back fans over the next few weeks. The Atlanta Falcons are one of those, and to reduce the risks, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS) will be among the first sports venues to sanitize key areas using drones (via CNN).
Fox Sports will pack MLB broadcasts with virtual crowds
Major League Baseball's shortened, 60-game season kicks off today, but teams won't be taking the field to the customary roar of the crowds. The idea of silent, empty stands isn't just odd to players -- it's weird for broadcasters too, which is why Fox Sports will be fleshing out stadiums with virtual crowds when it starts airing MLB games this weekend. Fox Sports isn't the only player trying to reintroduce fans to live sporting events in some way.
Google shows the waiting times at your favorite restaurants
If weird food trends (cronut, anyone?) have taught us anything it's that people are prepared to wait a long time for a seat at a restaurant, so whether you're visiting a popular local eatery or Time Out's latest gastro-pick, you're faced with two choices. Attempt to beat the crowds by having dinner at 4pm, or rock up whenever and hope the people in the line ahead give up before you do. Now though, in a development we can't believe didn't happen sooner, Google will show you the wait times of nearly a million sit-down restaurants around the world.
MIT finds actual wisdom in the wisdom of crowds
To paraphrase Men In Black's Agent K, a person is smart, but people are dumb, panicky and dangerous animals. Researchers at MIT and Princeton wanted to see if, despite this, they were able to extract better information from crowds. They appear to have succeeded after developing an algorithm that looks at what people answer, but also what they believe other people will answer too.
FAA considers rules allowing small drones to fly over people
Late last year the FAA implemented rules on drone registration, and now its working group of experts has submitted another set of recommendations. This time the focus is on rules for unmanned aircraft flights over people (who aren't directly involved in the flight of the aircraft), and just as earlier rumors indicated, the group decided that the best way to set regulations is based on the weight of the machine in question. Small drones weighing under 250g (0.55 pounds) could fly over people, depending on their design, while larger drones up to 4 - 5 pounds (the DJI Phantom 4 pictured above weighs 3 pounds) could do the same, depending on their design, if they stay 20 feet overhead or 10 feet away laterally.
Bring the noise of the crowd home with Football Sound Effects
Here is a new sports app for your iOS devices. But unlike most sports app you won't find scores, or statistics, or game reports, or sports news, or really anything else you might expect to get in a sports app. Football Sound Effects offers just what the title says, the sounds of the game, that you control. The free universal app requires iOS 7.0 or later. The app has two in-app purchase options, one to remove ads and the other to allow users to record and save their own sounds. Each are US$0.99. One of the fun parts about watching a football game in person at a full stadium is the noise and cheers that reverberate through the crowd. Now you can get some of that same excitement even if you are watching the game at home alone or with friends or even in your favorite watering hole with other fans. Just tap the sound you want and it plays over your device's speakers. Football Sound Effects offers twenty-seven different sounds. Most of the audio cuts are pretty natural although a couple border on being cartoonish. But overall I think you will find enough you like to add some flavor to your TV viewings. The sounds are broken into three categories, cheers and yells, in game sounds, and penalty calls. In the cheers and yells segment, users will find six or seven sounds that i think are useful. First you get the cry used when the other team has the ball: Dee-fense with rhythmic clapping. Another popular cheer is one that includes two sounds of the crowd stamping their feet followed by a loud clap. You will also find two separate "Boos", another sound intended to be used when a kickoff takes place, Let's Go Team, and a couple more than kind of just fill out the segment. The second section includes sounds from in game activities. Users get the natural sound of two different tackles, a hard hit, the referee's whistle blowing, an air horn blowing, an announcer proclaiming a kick was good, a rather lame effort of "he could go all the way", and an even less convincing touchdown call. The final segment deals with referee announcement of penalties such as offsides, personal foul, delay of game, and six others. Overall Football Sound Effects provides sounds that could be fun to use to try and bring the atmosphere of the game to where you are watching on TV. Some are really close to what you would hear at the game while others come up a bit short. I suggest you download it and try it. If you are alone you can bring a crowd to you right on your phone.
The Daily Grind: What areas feel the most overcrowded?
One of the realities of a multiplayer game is, you know, the fact that there are multiple players. That means that public areas can get very crowded in short order, leaving players to feel just a little claustrophobic. Newbie areas on launch day are generally filled to the brim, as are new zones on an expansion launch, central locations for farming valuable resources, and so on. But there's crowded and then there's overcrowded -- areas with so many players that it becomes difficult or impossible to get anything done. No developer wants to have parts of the game that are stuffed to the brim with players alongside completely empty regions, but it still happens. What areas in various games do you feel are the most overcrowded with other players? Are they high-level regions, starter points, or just areas that have such a spectacular set of rewards that everyone flocks to them? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Do you like gaming conventions?
As you read this, PAX East is entering its final day for the year, and the Massively writers have been working on covering the event as best we can. Of course, some people would rather be on the ground instead of reading about the show second-hand because there's nothing quite like the thrill of being knee-deep in a convention. For others, though, the idea of standing around in a convention hall with thousands of other people sounds like a special kind of torture. Do you like gaming conventions? If you do, what's your favorite element of the shows -- the new games, the special giveaways, or just the energy level? If you don't, what bothers you -- the crowds, the spectacle, or the necessity of travel and cramped scheduling? Or are you the sort of person for whom it really depends on the show, i.e., you've been to some you loved and some you couldn't stand? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Hong Kong line for iPhone 4S numbers in the thousands
We mentioned in passing that the iPhone 4S had sold out in ten minutes at the Hong Kong Apple Store, but given these pictures that have been posted online since, a statement like that doesn't really do the launch justice. That place looks like a madhouse -- thousands of people lined up to buy Apple's new iPhone, and the police were out in force with barricades and dogs to make sure everything went smoothly. Black market salesmen were buying and selling iPhones outside the store, apparently, and leaving the queue got your picture taken and your number checked. There were even "professional queuers," low income workers that were paid to simply stand in line and buy the phone when it became available. The whole thing is a little shocking, actually -- here in the States, waiting in line for a new game or a new iPhone is kind of a silly thing to do to show your appreciation for a new product, but in Hong Kong it is serious business apparently. I hope nobody got hurt at the launch out there, and though it seems unlikely, I also hope everyone who wanted an iPhone day got one. [photo by M.I.C gadget]
Star Wars: The Old Republic highlights the PAX East experience
The number of people who stood in line for hours just for the chance to play Star Wars: The Old Republic at PAX East is incredible. We have heard reports of people going through the hours-long wait two and three times just because they enjoyed the game so much, which just goes to show the dedication these fans have not only for the game but for the Star Wars brand. To commemorate that experience, the community team for SWTOR has put together a video of the drama that was this year's PAX East. The crowds, the lines, and the fans really brought the experience together. The video runs just over three minutes, and it takes you through the crowds rushing to the booth, fans experiencing the game, and exhibitors showing off one of the most anticipated MMOs of the year. Pop past the break to see the video and taste the a little bit of the SWTOR PAX experience for yourself.
A leveling server, just for leveling
Reader Tiago sent us an interesting idea I thought was worth sharing. He suggests that Blizzard create a "leveling server" -- a server that would be marked as specifically for new characters, so when you rolled a new toon on there, you'd be surrounded by a bunch of other people pre-80. And the key here would be that when you hit 80 on this server, then you would get a free server transfer off. In other words, Blizzard would have one server (completely optional, of course) designed for people to level on, with a realm full of people playing in the old world and leveling through the old quests.Sounds good, right? Like most of our ideas, Blizzard probably won't go for it -- they've already knocked down the idea of vanilla realms, and while this isn't the same thing (you'd be able to level to 80, the idea is just that you'd leave the server when you got there), it does mean creating a different ruleset for a brand new type of server. Plus, to a much lesser extent, it could create an even more lonely existence on the normal servers. Not to mention that Blizzard has been focusing on speeding past the low levels, not emphasizing them.But I like the idea anyway -- it doesn't seem too tough to do (mark one realm recommended, and provide free server transfers off of it), and it seems like an excellent way to get people who enjoy leveling up all together in the same place. And that's really what MMOs like this are all about, right?
Blizzard releases EU Wrath launch video
Blizzard has released some launch night video from the Wrath of the Lich King release over on their EU site, and it looks like things were pretty crazy across the pond. There were costumes aplenty, and there were crowds in London, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. Plus, the video even has a nice appearance by the man/demon himself, as you can see above.Unfortunately, the US site hasn't posted any such video yet, so while you can definitely read here on this site about all of the crowds and chaos that went down on this side of the world, there's no video to compare. My guess is that while the EU folks were definitely excited, over there it was more contained to the big events and the big cities, while over here in the US even small towns had lines outside the gaming stores.But it was definitely a night to remember for WoW fans, no matter where you were.[via WorldofWar]
The Warhammer Online open beta test has begun
Mythic Entertainment just opened the virtual gates for the Warhammer Online open beta test. After fans spent half the morning expressing their impatience and Rickrolling one another on the game's various forums, the log in program/patcher suddenly stopped telling everyone they didn't belong and said, "Come on in and play!" Well, for most people anyway. It turns out that some folks still can't log in, but be patient; your time will surely come.We're sure you can expect massive lag and overcrowding if you try to play today (or probably at any point in the open beta, really) but if you're willing to weather such tribulations, then by all means, grab your own Warhamma' and log the hell in!If the lag proves too much for you today, or if the servers just explode, feel free to continue reading our extensive coverage. Otherwise, we'll slay you, err, see you there! Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
iPhone Crowd Control
So, any of you as hyped up and anxious to get their hands on a iPhone as I am? Well, if you're reading this I'm guessing you probably are. For those of you who are counting the moments until that sleek, shiny block of touch-screen goodness is actually in your hands, I have a word of warning for you -- especially if you intend to line up early and be the first kid on your block to have a new iPhone. This warning comes via the safety-minded folks over at the Boy Genius Report wherein they feature a document from "official" channels at AT&T which outlines how retail store managers are to handle the teeming masses who will no doubt be lining up early for the device come June 29th. Among the methods featured in the document to help ease the situation and control the crowd, is an outline of a mock conversation where AT&T store managers explain to the stores near them why they need to stay open late and what steps they will be taking to help ensure the crowds don't spill into the surrounding stores and do all kinda damage. The document also reveals the super-secret method that will actually accomplish this miraculous controlling of the crowd. What is this miracle you may wonder? Stanchions. Yes, the proverbial "velvet rope" they use to keep people in line at events across America will be standing guard and providing security for the giant iPhone launch event.Having been at a few Apple retail store events and openings (including the first one at the Glendale Galleria) I can attest to the fact that when Apple does almost anything, crowds of devoted users do show up -- and in really big numbers. For something like the iPhone, which really isn't just for Mac people but for anyone interested in a cool new device, I can only imagine how big the crowds are going to be. Reading this document doesn't really fill me with confidence that AT&T really has a complete grasp of what they're getting into here. I hope they do because we sure don't want a repeat of the iBook debacle from a couple years ago. So, just so I can get a rough count and maybe help AT&T realize the scope of this launch, how many of you are planning to line up early for an iPhone?
Wii stampede crushes Joystiq blogger
Joystiq's Blake Snow lost his media badge Friday morning when he was nearly trampled by hundreds of Wii procrastinaters stampeding towards the Nintendo booth. The assumption that the line would thin out on the final day of the expo was apparently shared by a large number of fans -- fans who were suddenly willing to push, shove and claw their way to a motion sensing controller as the West Hall doors opened. A shaken Blake lost his media badge in the crush, but he was able to...er...trade it for another one that fell to the carpet. He will now be posting as Quang Nguyen.
