Gizmodo: sued

In-the-Closet Lesbian Sues Netflix for Releasing Her Movie Preferences

Dan Nosowitz — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:40:00 EST

A mother of two, who also happens to be gay (and not broadcasting it), is anonymously suing Netflix for releasing her movie preferences in that contest they held awhile back. Basically, she's Borking them.

In the course of releasing boatloads of data to contestants in its "Beat Netflix's Recommendation Algorithm" contest, they may not have disguised where that data came from as well as they should. The plaintiff, known here as Jane Doe to preserve privacy, alleges that her identity could be divined from the data, and thus threatens her civil right to privacy. Apparently, two researchers compared Netflix reviews to IMDB reviews and figured out some identities that way.

The suit seeks a cash settlement for each of the 2 million Netflix customers involved, and also seeks to stop the upcoming sequel to the original Netflix contest. We'll keep you updated on the suit—it's a pretty interesting one, for sure. [Wired]

The Netbook Hackintosh Video Apple Made Wired Take Down

matt buchanan — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:01:29 EST

Gadget Lab writer and Giz friend Brian X. Chen said earlier today via Twitter that Apple "is suing Wired for my video tutorial on hacking netbooks to run Mac OS X." Updated.

Update 2: Wired got back to us. The official story is that they're not being sued, it was just a misunderstanding by Chen. But Wired has pulled the video after reviewing Apple's complaint about it.

Update 1: Brian just tweeted that they're not being sued, but notably, Gadget Lab's video has still been taken down.

Brian actually loaned his personal MSI Wind Hackintosh for the Giz Gallery. It seems more likely that Apple is actually sending Wired a cease-and-desist rather than asking for money—telling them to pull the tutorial, which explicitly lays out step by step how to put OS X on a netbook, including trips to The Pirate Bay to get the software, diving into the notebook's guts and other grisly details in a fantastic, super-complete guide to Hackintoshing a netbook.

We'll update with more details as we get them, but be sure to check out this awesome guide to building a Hackintosh netbook in the meantime—which is now sure to be seen by more people than ever before. Way to go, Apple.

Microsoft Lowered Vista Hardware Requirements to Appease Intel

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST

The class-action lawsuit against Microsoft for its misleading "Vista Capable" marketing let loose another scandal when emails between Microsoft and Intel execs surfaced (PDF link), suggesting Microsoft cut Vista's hardware requirements to help out Intel. Originally, Intel's 915 series chipsets didn't qualify for the important "Vista Capable" sticker, but after a scheduling mix-up, Microsoft decided to throw Intel a bone by pretending the chipsets are up to Vista standards.

Apparently, Microsoft decided to begin their "Vista Capable" marketing program three months earlier than expected, which left Intel a bit in the dust, without time to ramp up production on their newer, more powerful chipsets. Intel execs complained to Microsoft execs through email that the losses would be severe, and Microsoft decided to appease their partner by relaxing their standards for Vista capability, even though the 915 series is incapable of running Aero.

This is a pretty damning piece of evidence, especially given emails like this one from Jim Allchin, then-co-president of platform products and services: "I believe we are going to be misleading customers with the Capable program. OEMs will say a machine is Capable and customers will believe that it will run all the core Vista features." He concluded, "We must avoid confusion. It is wrong for customers." Well said, Jim. [The Inquirer]