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In October 2006, Netflix launched a contest that challenged entrants to improve its recommendation algorithm by 10%. The winner(s) would receive $1 million, dubbed the Netflix Prize . It was a win-win: Netflix received relatively cheap R&D, while everyday statistics enthusiasts had a shot at making a big payday. The results of the competition came down to a buzzer-beating finish , with a group called BellKor Pragmatic Chaos submitting the winning entry just four minutes before the contest was over. The Netflix Prize was a resounding success. It generated tons of publicity for Netflix and BellKor Pragmatic Chaos was obviously glad to take home the prize. This past August, Netflix announced it would follow up the Netflix Prize with a sequel. But the initial contest also attracted the attention of  the FTC and of certain Netflix users, who were concerned that the anonymized data Netflix provided to contest entrants compromised Netflix users’ privacy. Today, Netflix announced on its company blog that it would be canceling its Netflix Prize Sequel, after completing negotiations with the FTC and settling a private lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that Netflix gave away private information, even though it anonymized the movie rental information, such as movie choices and movie ratings. But in 2007, two researchers from the University of Texas released a paper demonstrating that they could determine a user’s identity if that user had also left movie ratings at another site, such as IMDB.  “Simply removing names does not ensure that data will remain anonymous,” one of the researchers insisted. “And the implications stretch far beyond the world of Netflix.” In its announcement today, Netflix promised: We have reached an understanding with the FTC and have settled the lawsuit with plaintiffs. The resolution to both matters involves certain parameters for how we use Netflix data in any future research programs. In light of all this, we have decided to not pursue the Netflix Prize sequel that we announced on August 6, 2009. We will continue to explore ways to collaborate with the research community and improve our recommendations system so we can constantly improve the movie recommendations we make for you. So stay tuned. Releasing anonymous user data has proven ill-advised in the past, even when companies thought it could do no harm. In 2006, the New York Times was able to determine the identity of an individual just by using her anonymous AOL search data, which AOL released to the general public without permission. Interestingly, Forbes points out that Netflix could have avoided this issue the first time around by employing “data masking,” which would have allowed the data to retain its usefulness while making it untraceable. While protecting user privacy is always a good thing, it’s too bad we won’t see a Netflix Prize sequel in the near future; I may never get a good follow-up recommendation for Atanarjuat now… Netflix Adds Hundreds of Indie Films to Watch Instantly Retail Conspires Against Redbox by Limiting DVD Purchases Netflix/WB Updates: A Chat with Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, First Two Movies to Be Delayed Disney’s Re-Negotiation with Starz Could Limit Netflix Ability to Offer Streaming Movies Netflix Rental Patterns by Zip Code: Who Rents What, and Where? Netflix Brings Streaming Service to the Nintendo Wii

Is it crazy to say ” 2012 ” — a film about the fire- and tsunami-strewn obliteration of planet Earth as we know it — was one of the most fun theatrical experiences of the year? The audience at the screening I caught in mid-February was hooting and hollering at each successive catastrophe , gleefully ignoring the cataclysmic loss of life because the whole thing was just so darn fun. Was it kinda silly? Sure. But chuck away any sense of realism and it was an amazing big screen spectacle that had to make you smile. The rest of the world certainly agreed . Director Roland Emmerich’s disaster-film-to-end-all-disaster-films grossed almost $770 million worldwide. With the “2012″ DVD arriving in stores on Tuesday (March 2), Emmerich gave MTV News a call to chat about the challenges of CGI filmmaking, an alternate ending he almost inserted in the final cut and the kooky conspiracy theorists he met while promoting the film. MTV News: There were so many huge CGI set-pieces in the film. Is there one that you’re particularly proud of or that took the most work to pull off? Roland Emmerich: The most fun was the earthquake scene, because it was the most complex. Or maybe because I live in Los Angeles and I’m always afraid of earthquakes. MTV News: You mean the scene in the beginning, when John Cusack is driving his family through LA in a limo while the entire city basically disintegrates around them? Emmerich: Yeah, we shot with nothing there but the limo. And when you think about that — that everything was completely created — it was quite impressive. At first we wanted to shoot stuff in real and we realized pretty fast that in an earthquake everything is buckling, everything is cracking and you really can’t use any real things. We had to build everything in the computer and put it together. MTV News: Did you look at footage from actual earthquakes? Emmerich: We did, but there is not much there. There is some footage from video surveillance cameras, but it’s rare. What you can see is the aftermath and then you imagine what happened. MTV News: Have you put any cool deleted scenes onto the DVD? Emmerich: There is very little in this movie that was cut out. We have an alternative ending, which is quite interesting. Two characters who die in the final cut are actually alive. The two jazz musicians survived. At the end you see their cruise ship on top of a mountain. For us it was always a Noah’s Ark symbol. But it didn’t work because it put everything in question. Why did we have to build these huge ships to rescue hundreds of thousands of people in the first place? And anyway, the ending felt kind of long. It went on and on and on, and when we took that ending out, it was all of a sudden streamlined. MTV News: You traveled all over the world promoting the film. Did you have some wacky interactions with 2012 conspiracy theorists? Emmerich: Oh yeah, they’re everywhere. It’s quite funny. I always said I don’t believe in aliens even though I did “Independence Day.” In the same way, I have the same attitude toward 2012. It’s an interesting theory, maybe it will happen and maybe not, but no one can say what really will happen. But some people really believe and they come up to you and either they’re really pissed they say, “This shouldn’t be a disaster, it’s a new rise of human consciousness” or they’re like, “You’re so right, this is going to happen,” and they tell you where to go to escape it. They say, “You should be very thankful!”

Though met with somewhat mixed reviews there’s no doubt that Oldboy director Park Chan-Wook’s vampire tale Thirst has been one of the most anticipated and talked about titles of the past year and now the impatient will get their chance to see it with the arrival of the Korean 3-disc DVD release on March 17th. Subtitles? The feature itself has them, though I wouldn’t bank on them being on any of the special features.

The director is set to bring his epic doomsday thriller to DVD and Blu-ray this March.

We’re giving away some action DVD’s and a one-sheet poster for the film.

by Cristina Ramos With his adaptation of “Where The Wild Things Are” set for DVD release on Tuesday, March 2, Spike Jonze took a night to chat about the intimate documentary about the witty and wise author Maurice Sendak, along with co-director Lance Bangs. “Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak” takes you through enchanting, funny, and sometimes sad moments of the “Wild Things” creator’s life as he recounts his childhood, the controversy surrounding his recently adapted book, his late partner of fifty years, Eugene Glynn, and his obsession with death. The 40-minute film exposes life as Sendak views it, quirks and all. In the film, Jonze and Bangs combine detailed stories with photographs and illustrations that take us on an emotional tour through what matters most in Sendak’s life. Through the past couple years they taped several casual conversations with the writer and illustrator in his Connecticut home. During these chats, he speaks candidly about his eight decades of life, starting with his early memories of being a two year old. Sendak’s life is as full of wonder as the tales in his books. You can’t help but fall in love with him and his stories as they are as inspiring as his passion for creating his wonderful works of art. After the screening, Jonze called upon long-time friend Mike Myers to help moderate a Q&A with the audience. The two directors spoke of the creativity behind the film, naming Sendak as an inspiration in and of himself. “I find his imagination is certainly inspiring. I think that’s what really drew me to him,” Jonze explained. “But what I find deeply inspiring is his ferocious honesty and his fearlessness to be honest both as a person, as a friend, and as a mentor in helping us make this movie. As the thing about him is, he has no ability of small talk or chitchat. He wants to engage in something real. He is who he is and he doesn’t have the energy to pretend to be someone else.” Jonze also spoke about Sendak’s approval of the “Where The Wild Things Are” adaptation. “Not that he hated it, but it was the fact that Max didn’t go to his room and the bedroom didn’t turn into the forest. That was something early on in writing Dave [Eggers] and I realized didn’t make sense with this movie we were writing. He didn’t hate it, but he did challenge me on it”. Despite Sendak’s eccentrities — or perhaps because of them — Jonze and Bangs were able to capture the essence of who this old man really is in their documentary. Whether it was his creepy obsession with mortality or how strange yet captivating his books are, “Tell Them Anything You Want” is a wonderful look into the life and success of one of literature’s most creative minds.

Nettops keep getting better, and thinner too if Shuttle’s latest is anything to go by. It’s the XS35, a 3.3cm thin affair packing a a dual-core Intel Atom D510 at 1.6GHz and Ion 2 graphics with HDMI output for easy connectivity to your high definition display of choice. Somehow the company has also found room for five USB ports, VGA and discrete audio outputs, an Ethernet jack, and a card reader. It’s passively cooled, so the only noise you’ll hear will be the spinning platters of its 2.5-inch hard disk or the spinning of an optical disc, which yes somehow fits in there too (making it perfect for watching your Thunderbirds DVD collection). No price yet but it’ll be on display at CeBIT in just a few days and shipping sometime in the second quarter of this year. Gallery: Shuttle XS35 nettop Shuttle’s XS35 nettop is 3.3cm thin, too nice to hide behind your HDTV originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Take a look inside this highly-anticipated DVD before it arrives in stores.

One of best surprises from Frightfest last year was Christopher Smith’s mind-boggling horror Triangle . On the face of it, a straightforward nautical slasher, it evolves into so much more with a devastating climax that leaves you reeling. I wasn’t overly fond of Smith’s previous features – Creep was nostalgic fun, but uneven, and Severance ’s mix of lad’s mag humour and gore paled in comparison to the horror comedies it so fervently emulated. Triangle , though, betrays a previously untapped sophistication, with a meticulously constructed plot and a genuinely terrifying premise that certainly warrants multiple viewings. Just don’t be sure you’ll finish it any less troubled, or any more certain of the outcome. Triangle is out to buy on UK R2 DVD from 1st March via Icon Home Entertainment.

The F. Gary Gray film tops DVD sales, rentals and Blu-ray sales.