Linked List: September 23, 2019

Monday, 23 September 2019

Yet Another ‘Far Larger Than It Had Previously Acknowledged’ Facebook Fiasco 

Kate Conger, Gabriel J.X. Dance, and Mike Isaac, reporting for The New York Times:

Facebook said on Friday that it had suspended tens of thousands of apps for improperly sucking up users’ personal information and other transgressions, a tacit admission that the scale of its data privacy issues was far larger than it had previously acknowledged.

The social network said in a blog post that an investigation it began in March 2018 — following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a British consultancy, had retrieved and used people’s Facebook information without their permission — had resulted in the suspension of “tens of thousands” of apps that were associated with about 400 developers. That was far bigger than the last number that Facebook had disclosed of 400 app suspensions in August 2018.

400 apps, 10,000 apps, what’s the difference?

If these privacy violations weren’t so serious, and if Facebook weren’t so powerful and influential to the daily lives of billions, it would be comical the way they vastly underestimate any and all privacy or security problems, only to come back months later with a more accurate number. They do it every time, and the errors are always in the direction of underreporting severity.

Brooklyn Nets Going Gray for Fresh New Look 

Zach Lowe, writing for ESPN:

But Marks wanted change, to put his artistic imprint on the franchise he has helped reinvent, and he had a radical idea: a gray floor meant to evoke blacktop courts, the streets of Brooklyn, and the borough’s “industrial vibe,” he says. Gray has been on the fringes of the team’s Brooklyn-era palette, including on the alternate Brooklyn Dodgers-themed uniforms they wore in past seasons. […]

The only trick was getting the shade right — dark enough to come across as gray on television, but not so dark as to muck up the visual experience.

The first stain proved too light during a test broadcast on Aug. 13, team officials say. Both the league and the team agreed that the manufacturer (Connor Sports) and painters (Ohio Flooring Company) should darken the stain. Time was getting tight. The final version arrived Wednesday.

This is magnificent design work. I love everything about it — the colors, the typography, the subway-tile motif. It is very distinctive and original without being radical or distracting in the least. Except for one thing: why in the world did they put the “Barclays Center” logotype in blue in the final version, when in all the mockups it was black and looked way better?

We can easily guess one answer: some idiot at Barclays insisted upon it. Not only does the blue ruin the monochromatic scheme, it’s harder to read.

A ‘Grass Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded by Amazon’s Biggest Rivals 

James V. Grimaldi, reporting for The Wall Street Journal:

Free and Fair Markets accused Amazon of stifling competition and innovation, inhibiting consumer choice, gorging on government subsidies, endangering its warehouse workers and exposing consumer data to privacy breaches. It claimed to have grass-roots support from average citizens across the U.S, citing a labor union, a Boston management professor and a California businessman.

What the group did not say is that it received backing from some of Amazon’s chief corporate rivals. They include shopping mall owner Simon Property Group Inc., retailer Walmart Inc. and software giant Oracle Corp., according to people involved with and briefed on the project. Simon Property is fighting to keep shoppers who now prefer to buy what they need on Amazon; Walmart is competing with Amazon over retail sales; and Oracle is battling Amazon over a $10 billion Pentagon cloud-computing contract.

Walmart is the most dominant retailer of my lifetime — and still 50% bigger than Amazon by revenue. Embarrassing to see them resort to disingenuous efforts like this. It’s an indication of just how scared of Amazon they are.

Oracle? I expect such nonsense from them.

Dog Bites Man, Retail Edition 

I was too busy last week to link to this story by Dana Mattioli in The Wall Street Journal:

Amazon.com Inc. has adjusted its product-search system to more prominently feature listings that are more profitable for the company, said people who worked on the project — a move, contested internally, that could favor Amazon’s own brands.

Late last year, these people said, Amazon optimized the secret algorithm that ranks listings so that instead of showing customers mainly the most-relevant and best-selling listings when they search — as it had for more than a decade — the site also gives a boost to items that are more profitable for the company.

I’m all for scrutinizing big tech companies, and there’s a lot to scrutinize about Amazon. But “retailer promotes profitable store brand products” is not a story. A good story would be if you could find a retailer who didn’t do this. Calling a proprietary algorithm a “secret algorithm” is a not-so-subtle way of implying there’s something nefarious going on here, when there isn’t. Amazon is not an ostensibly neutral search engine — they’re a retailer.

A Week on the Wrist: The Apple Watch Series 5 Edition in Titanium 

Stephen Pulvirent, writing for Hodinkee:

I also really like the finish on the titanium. Apple describes it simply as “natural,” but there’s a bit of brushing to it so that the light bounces off of it in a cohesive way. I especially like the way that this brushing accents the curves around the corners and lug area of the case. It has a slightly powdery feel to the touch, which is likely due to a combination of the finishing of the metal itself and a nano-coating that Apple applies to prevent patina from developing. Would I personally prefer a case that takes on some character over time? Sure. But I think I’m probably in the minority there and I appreciate Apples’s attention to detail there.

‘Meet Joshua Cohen, Apple University’s Resident Philosopher’ 

Philip Elmer‑DeWitt has a brief interview with Apple University faculty member Joshua Cohen on his Apple 3.0 podcast:

What is Apple University? And how did it persuade a distinguished intellectual like Professor Cohen (Yale, Harvard, MIT, Stanford) to join its full-time faculty and deliver lectures to Apple executives on such esoterica as the discovery of the Higgs boson and Glenn Gould’s recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations?

I caught up with Prof. Cohen as he was packing for Toronto where the Glenn Gould Foundation has invited him to share with the public two of his “extraordinary” Apple talks.

Well worth a listen.

‘Donald Trump vs. the United States of America’ 

Speaking of Dear Leader Trump, David Leonhardt’s latest column for The New York Times is a nice rundown of where we stand: “Just the facts, in 40 sentences.”

Apple’s New Mac Pro to Be Assembled in Texas 

Apple Newsroom, emphasis added:

The new Mac Pro will include components designed, developed and manufactured by more than a dozen American companies for distribution to US customers. Manufacturers and suppliers across Arizona, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont, including Intersil and ON Semiconductor, are providing advanced technology. The US manufacturing of Mac Pro is made possible following a federal product exclusion Apple is receiving for certain necessary components. The value of American-made components in the new Mac Pro is 2.5 times greater than in Apple’s previous generation Mac Pro.

Tim Cook, quoted in the post: “We thank the administration for their support enabling this opportunity.”

I suppose “the administration” is better than “Dear Leader”.