Linked List: November 16, 2010

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

OpenTable From a Restaurant’s Perspective ★

Fascinating look at the relationship between OpenTable and restaurants, from restauranteur Mark Pastore:

The access fees can be substantial, particularly for restaurants operating on thin margins. One independent study estimates that OpenTable’s fees (comprised of startup fees, fixed monthly fees, and per-person reservation fees) translate to a cost of roughly $10.40 for each “incremental” 4-top booked through OpenTable.com. To put that in perspective, consider that the average profit margin, before taxes, for a U.S. restaurant is roughly 5%. This means that a table of 4 spending $200 on dinner would generate a $10 profit. In this example, all of that profit would then go to OpenTable fees for having delivered the reservation, leaving the restaurant with nothing other than the hope that that customer would come back (and hopefully book by telephone the next time).

In short, restaurants pay a lot for each reservation booked through OpenTable.

Twitter Adds Push Notifications for Its Official iPhone Client ★

But it’s only for its own official client — third-party Twitter clients that want push notifications need to run their own servers. (That’s what Boxcar and Notifo have done for a while now.)

In other news, the Twitter iPad app is much improved over its initial release. It’s the same basic multi-panel slide-to-the-left premise, but the interaction is much improved — it’s easier to flip your way back to the “root”, and a selected tweet no longer stays pinned to the top of the list as you scroll down.

Hard-Coding Bias in Google ‘Algorithmic’ Search Results ★

Benjamin Edelman:

I present categories of searches for which available evidence indicates Google has “hard-coded” its own links to appear at the top of algorithmic search results, and I offer a methodology for detecting certain kinds of tampering by comparing Google results for similar searches.

I’d never noticed the “Google Health” results before.

Huawei Ascend: $130 Android Phone ★

Now this is interesting: an Android 2.1 phone from Cricket that sells for $150 (currently on sale for $130), with no rebate, and no contract. It does require one month of prepaid service, though, which costs $55. But for $185 you can get a seemingly decent Android phone. Here’s Engadget’s review; here’s CNet’s.

Airports Can Opt-Out of TSA Screening ★

Byron York, writing for The Washington Examiner:

Did you know that the nation’s airports are not required to have Transportation Security Administration screeners checking passengers at security checkpoints? The 2001 law creating the TSA gave airports the right to opt out of the TSA program in favor of private screeners after a two-year period. Now, with the TSA engulfed in controversy and hated by millions of weary and sometimes humiliated travelers, Rep. John Mica, the Republican who will soon be chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is reminding airports that they have a choice.

I did not know that. (Via Mike Rundle.)

Less IMDb ★

Safari extension from John August and Ryan Nelson; vastly improves the layout of IMDb web pages. More from August here. (I’m so old that I remember when the “interface” to IMDb was email — you’d email them the title of a movie, they’d email you back with cast, credits, etc.)

Astronut ★

Fun new game from The Iconfactory. Looks great, sounds great, feels great. (I’m addicted to the bonus level music.) My six-year-old son gives it a thumbs-up, too.

Interesting business model: there’s just one app, no separate “lite” version. It’s free to download, but not all levels are included — the upgrade to the full game is a $1.99 in-app purchase.

TSA Opens Investigation on John Tyner ★

Robert J. Hawkins, reporting for The San Diego Union-Tribune:

The Transportation Security Administration has opened an investigation targeting John Tyner, the Oceanside man who left Lindbergh Field under duress on Saturday morning after refusing to undertake a full body scan. […]

Michael J. Aguilar, chief of the TSA office in San Diego, called a news conference at the airport Monday afternoon to announce the probe. He said the investigation could lead to prosecution and civil penalties of up to $11,000.

How tone-deaf are these idiots? If they harass Tyner, he’s not going to lack for public support. Of course, as John Cole points out, this isn’t so much about harassing Tyner as it is about sending a message to the public: “Don’t submit to the police state, and we’ll come after you.”

Google Voice for iPhone Now Available in the App Store ★

So ends the most controversial “study” in App Store history.

Fly With Dignity ★

Seems like a great site from the Reddit community.

Ray Sun on Facebook’s New Email/SMS/Messaging Thing ★

Ray Sun:

In other words, the tagline of Facebook’s blog post is indicative of everything that’s wrong with this feature: “Joel Seligstein, a Facebook engineer, is relieved he no longer needs to keep track of which friends like texts vs. email vs. chat.”

He designed this feature to abstract away texts vs. email vs. chat. But 99% of real humans don’t care about this, and won’t experience his “relief” because this was never a problem in the first place. Teens always text each other, because they always have their cell phones and this is the way to reach them. And to reach your grandma, you use email. Simple. No mixing up grandma with your girlfriend.

Nexus S to Sport Near-Field Communication for Payment Processing? ★

Michael Liedtke, reporting for the AP:

The new phone will feature a Near Field Communication, or NFC, chip that will enable phones to transmit the payment information of the device’s owner to vendors using compatible technology. The transactions will be completed by tapping a physical point, such as a payment terminal or other objects encoded with the information needed to complete the purchase.

RIM Releases Video Pitting PlayBook Against iPad in Web Rendering ★

Impressive demo.

Gizmodo Uncovers Saved Images Body Scanner at Federal Courthouse ★

Joel Johnson, for Gizmodo:

At the heart of the controversy over “body scanners” is a promise: The images of our naked bodies will never be public. U.S. Marshals in a Florida Federal courthouse saved 35,000 images on their scanner. These are those images.

A Gizmodo investigation has revealed 100 of the photographs saved by the Gen 2 millimeter wave scanner from Brijot Imaging Systems, Inc., obtained by a FOIA request after it was recently revealed that U.S. Marshals operating the machine in the Orlando, Florida courthouse had improperly — perhaps illegally — saved images of the scans of public servants and private citizens.

The government keeps insisting it “can’t” save images from these machines, where what they really mean is that they “won’t”, because they have a policy against it.

Engadget Reviews the Nook Color ★

The Nook is interesting. It costs a lot more than a Kindle, but has a color display and touchscreen. It costs a lot less than an iPad, but is smaller and the software isn’t as nice. It’s not just in between the Kindle and iPad price-wise, either. The Kindle is a reader. The iPad is a tablet computer. The Nook Color sounds like it’s primarily a reader, but with its Android foundation and color touchscreen, it’s far more of a general-purpose device than the Kindle.

Video of TSA Screener Accosting 3 Year Old Child at Security Checkpoint ★

Despicable.

The Beatles on iTunes ★

Huge promotional push.

Love this from the PR:

“I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when the Beatles are coming to iTunes,” said Ringo Starr.