Linked List: December 12, 2016

Monday, 12 December 2016

Apple Activates iCloud.com Calendar Spam Reporting Feature 

AppleInsider:

Apple on Sunday instituted a new junk content reporting feature on its iCloud.com web portal, the first step in what appears to be an activation of countermeasures against iCloud Calendar spam invites users began to receive in volume last month.

A good first step, but the iCloud web interface is surely the least used client for iCloud calendaring. That said, after that burst of calendar spam around Thanksgiving, I haven’t seen any in the last week or two. So I’m hoping they now have some server-side filters that are keeping it from even appearing.

Uber’s Privacy Data Problems 

Scathing investigative report by Will Evans, writing for Reveal:

For anyone who’s snagged a ride with Uber, Ward Spangenberg has a warning: Your personal information is not safe.

Internal Uber employees helped ex-boyfriends stalk their ex-girlfriends and searched for the trip information of celebrities such as Beyoncé, the company’s former forensic investigator said.

“Uber’s lack of security regarding its customer data was resulting in Uber employees being able to track high profile politicians, celebrities, and even personal acquaintances of Uber employees, including ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, and ex-spouses,” Spangenberg wrote in a court declaration, signed in October under penalty of perjury.

After news broke two years ago that executives were using the company’s “God View” feature to track customers in real time without their permission, Uber insisted it had strict policies that prohibited employees from accessing users’ trip information with limited exceptions.

But five former Uber security professionals told Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting that the company continued to allow broad access even after those assurances.

They’re currently under investigation by the FTC:

The Federal Trade Commission, the consumer protection agency, is investigating Uber’s information security practices and recently deposed Sullivan, according to security sources.

iOS 10.2 Emoji Changelog 

Finally: 🥃.

Netflix, Amazon, and HBO Combined for 70 Percent of the Best TV Show Golden Globe Nominations 

Nathan McAlone, reporting for Business Insider:

The only network that beat the streaming giants in top TV show nominations this year was HBO, which got three nominations. Netflix and Amazon individually got as many nominations as all the broadcast networks combined, and more than the cable ones (minus HBO).

I despise awards like the Golden Globes. But I think the TV awards generally are more reflective of actual merit than the movie awards. (Seriously, don’t get me started on the Oscars.)

But in the big picture, these Golden Globe nominations have it right: the best TV shows are on HBO, Netflix, Amazon, and cable networks like AMC. Netflix and Amazon have no part in traditional cable TV, and the most traditional producers of TV content — the commercial broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox — produce almost nothing but garbage.

One can reasonably argue that the broadcast networks have always produced mostly garbage, but the real change is that the broadcast networks have completely missed the boat on the megamovie revolution — shows that “take television seriously as a medium”. That’s obviously true for dramas like Game of Thrones and Westworld, but I think it’s true for comedies, too. Consider the elimination of the laugh track.