Linked List: January 18, 2016

Monday, 18 January 2016

NYT: ‘Netflix’s Opaque Disruption Annoys Rivals on TV’ ★

John Koblin, reporting for the NYT:

Likewise, Mr. Landgraf said in an interview, “If Ted doesn’t give ratings, he shouldn’t then be saying, ‘This is the biggest hit in the history of blah blah blah.’ He shouldn’t say something is successful in quantitative terms unless you’re willing to provide data and a methodology behind those statements. You can’t have it both ways.”

Pretty sure Jeff Bezos and Amazon have proved that you can. Netflix is just following their playbook.

Mr. Wurtzel provided data from a firm named Symphony Advanced Media, which uses audio content recognition installed on phones to recognize what is being watched and when. According to Symphony’s data, the Netflix show “Jessica Jones” was viewed by 4.8 million people within the first 35 days of its premiere in the 18- to 49-year-old bracket important to advertisers. In that demographic, Mr. Wurtzel said that, according to Symphony’s data, “Master of None” had 3.9 million viewers, “Narcos” had 3.2 million and Amazon’s “The Man in the High Castle” had 2.1 million viewers.

What a crazy methodology. Who has software like this installed on their phone? What’s the app called, Big Brother?

Trump Says He’ll Get Apple to Manufacture ‘Their Damn Computers in This Country’ ★

Donald Trump, in a speech today at Liberty “University”:

“We’re going to get Apple to build their damn computers in this country instead of other countries.”

Good luck with that.

New York State Introduces Bill to Ban Sale of Encrypted Smartphones ★

Dave Mark on a bill in the New York State legislature that bans encryption on mobile phones. Let’s hope sanity prevails and this goes nowhere, but it’s ominous that this has gotten as far as it has. (And why is the bill written in all caps?)

CNet: ‘Widow Says Apple Told Her to Get Court Order to Secure Dead Husband’s Password’ ★

Chris Matyszczyk, writing for CNet:

Some might muse that Bush’s story is proof that Apple really does take your privacy very seriously. But if it indeed wanted Peggy Bush to get a court order, doesn’t that seem a touch extreme?

In times of death, a little sensitivity doesn’t come amiss.

Passwords are like locks. There’s no magic way to break into a safe after your spouse dies, unless they shared the combination with you. It’s the same with passwords, as it should be. I don’t mean to make light of the tragedy of this woman’s husband’s death, but there’s no way that she should simply be able to ask for a password reset. It’d be a huge security risk — a ripe target for social engineering exploits.

‘Life’s Most Persistent and Urgent Question Is, “What Are You Doing for Others?” ’ ★

Nice tributes to MLK from Apple and Google.