Apple Rejects Violence, Sex, Politics in Video Platform

News over the weekend report that Apple rejects violence, sex, and politics in the company’s video platform.

The result is an approach out of step with the triumphs of the video-streaming era. Other platforms, such as HBO and Amazon.com Inc., have made their mark in original content with edgier programming that often wins critical acclaim.

And other platforms are free to do so. I personally don’t see a problem with this, and it should come as no surprise since Apple has always positioned itself as family-friendly. It may not explicitly call itself such, but it is. And that’s fine. If I want sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, I can find it on Netflix.

Remembering Charles W. Moore

I am not so pleased to report that a venerable, distinguished member of the technical journalist community has left us: Charles W. Moore. The link below has the story of his work, achievements and battle with illness. I am, however, pleased to say that I had the honor of working with him at Applelinks as well as MacOpinion [both now defunct] in the late 1990s. I remember Charles as an exceptionally hard worker and an incredible champion of all things Apple. He always amazed me. And he continued to do amazing work after that. He will be missed. [Photo credit: Elizabeth Sheppard.]

The iPhone XS Giveaway

Our friends at Stack Commerce have put together a giveaway for an iPhone XS! To enter, all you have to do is sign up for our deal newsletter, which you should do anyway. If you’re already signed up, you can simply click the “Enter to Win” button. You can get extra entries by sharing the giveaway on social media, too. This is a 512GB Space Gray model, so get on it!

Google Engineers Brainstorm About Political Search Tweaks

An email thread obtained by the Wall Street Journal shows Google engineers talking about political search tweaks related to President Trump’s 2017 travel ban. They specifically discussed using Google search to highlight pro-immigration organizations.

“To the extent of my knowledge, we’d be breaching precedent if we only gave Highlights access to organizations that support a certain view of the world in a time of political conflict,” one email said, according to WSJ.

Google said they were just brainstorming. This seems likely to me. Google might favor its own products in search results, but going so far as to interfere with political issues? I’m not so sure. But it made me wonder how easily a roque engineer could secretly alter the search algorithms.