Tag Archive for Netflix

Netflix Recommendation Algorithm Gone Awry

So I was checking out the new stuff on Netflix and noticed something a bit odd or off with the Netflix recommendation algorithm.. They have those ‘because you watched’ sections with things that are supposed to be related to what you watched and you might enjoy as they are similar.. Well I came across these rather odd ones that just don’t look right to me…

So because I watched The Exorcism of Molly Hartley Netflix thinks I might like these:

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Because I watched Uncommon Valor… the Penguins move I might see as being related, but the others?

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Because I watched The Relic… Book was much better, but movie was ok, but I don’t think Chicken Little could be called a horror movie or have anything in common with The Relic?!

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Yes I watched Little Dead Rotting Hood, it was meh, I was bored and looking fro something different… but somehow I don’t think Tarzan, Nutjob and The Little Prince are related at all to Little Dead Rotting hood…

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Hmmm… something just might be broke over at Netflix, it could be me, but I don’t know, these recommendations just seem a little off to me…

Why Is Amazon Prime Video Censoring Anime?

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I love Anime, I’ve been watching since I was in my teens and still very much enjoy it today, a couple decades later. I’ve been watching a lot of it on Netflix but they haven’t really been adding anything new so I’ve started to watch it on Amazon Prime Video as they have a lot more and different ones from Netflix and they seem to be updating it every month with new ones. I’ve noticed that Amazon is censoring the Anime though, and many other people have noticed as well and are complaining in the reviews/comments about it but it doesn’t seem to be changing.

I watched High School of the Dead a long time ago on Netflix and it went away as things do on there but then it appeared on Amazon so I thought I’d watch it again but it’s not the same, it’s censored. It’s not just the nudity that’s censored either, some of the censoring makes no sense. High School of the Dead is about zombies obviously and it’s goofy at time as a lot of anime is. For example Amazon censored a fully clothed boob grab, it’s meant as comedy and they had cloths on but they censored it which makes no sense to me at all or anyone else.

I just don’t understand why they’re censoring it, or censoring anything. I’m an adult last I checked and there is worse things on prime time TV than some of the things they’re censoring so why are they censoring it?

What gives them to right to censor anything at all really since I’m paying for it technically?

I don’t understand what gives them the right to say what I can watch and cannot.

It’s not just anime either that they’re censoring, they’re censoring some movies and TV shows as well from what I’ve read in the comments.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but then again others are complaining as well.

Netflix Because You Watched Halloween Resurrection…

Was browsing Netflix this morning as I like to have something playing on my other monitor while I’m writing and came across on of Netflix’s recommendations for me and it sort of baffles me as to this relationship…

Because You Watched Halloween: Resurrection they suggest a bunch of other horror movies of course but in there also was The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and Hardball…. I just don’t see how Spongebob is related to Halloween and the other horror movies in there?! Hardball I might understand as it was a rather bad movie and some might consider it a horror since it was so bad…

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So off to find something else to watch besides Spongebob or Hardball….

Netflix New Interface Redesign is Horribly Not User Friendly

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I love my Netflix. I have cable, Verizon FIOS, but I can’t remember the last time I turned on the box to actually watch something. There’s never anything on and the commercials are ridiculous so most everything I watch is through Netflix. I have Amazon Prime too and I watch a few things on there that I can’t get on Netflix but I’ve got a feeling I’ll be watching it more.

I’ve been a Netflix subscriber for many years and I’ve dealt with the price increases, it’s worth it to me as I more than get my money’s worth from it.

I also dealt with the last interface update and didn’t like that one either but I got accustomed to it as they did revert my list back to the way it was originally and I could go to a page and there was everything. The last interface wasn’t that bad, at least you could go to a page for the movie or show, but now you can’t do that it seems.

This new interface is horrible, it’s dark and you can’t go to a shows page anymore.

I’ve been catching up on SHIELD and there is no page for it anymore with the episode listings. You have to actually click on it, it starts playing, you have to hit the X button up in the corner and then you’ll see sort of a list of episodes which you have to scroll through. What the hell was wrong with the old way as just having the list of episodes there for you? (oh wait I just noticed an arrow there at the bottom when you hover that opens the overview and episode listings, not exactly intuitive is it?)

What’s with all the clicking I have to do now? Before I could go to a page and there it was. Just hover over and click ‘more info’ and I was taken to the shows page with everything right there for you. Now I have to hover, click the arrow, click the episodes, click the ‘more like this’, click the details, and of course I have to click the arrows to scroll through the episodes. Who thought it was a good idea with all the clicking now? What was wrong with having everything on the same page for you to EASILY read with basically one click?! Reviews are now overlaid on the screen so more clicking there yet again. Going through it, it’s hover, click (to open/expand), click (episodes), click,click (to scroll through episodes, with more clicks for more episodes as it only shows 5 at a time ), click (to start episode), click (more like this), click (details), click (reviews), click (to close reviews), click (to close expanded view). It’s basically 10 clicks to watch a show?! Even more clicks if you want to find a certain episode to watch as the screen only shows 5 eps at a time. Who though that was good idea?

And what happened to clicking the section title on the homepage? I used to be able to click something like ‘New Releases’ or ‘Watch it Again’ and it would take me to that page so I can see them and sort them as well. Now I can only scroll through them left or right on the main page. Some of them you can click, but the ones I want to be able to click I can’t.

Who thought this new interface was a good idea?

Also the interface is broken:

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Where’s the rest of the screen? And no I can’t scroll anymore. That’s the sci-fi section that I sorted A-Z, so where’ the rest? It’s just cut-off, I thought there was supposed to more?!

I refreshed the page and got this:

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A little more but that’s it?! It just stops at ‘Big Fish’!  Where’s the rest of the movies? Where are my movies?

I do most of my watching on my PC and it’s not exactly a mouse friendly site. It might be easier to use on a tablet, but on desktop, no it isn’t.

Also, why is it so dark? Nighttime mode I guess right?

As I said I’ve been a Netflix customer for many years and through everything I’ve dealt with it, never really thought about seriously cancelling my membership until now. This new design is just horrible and it makes the user do more work than they should have to.

Amazon Versus Netflix Instant Video Comparison

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Just posted this over on TestFreaks…

 

Link: http://blog.testfreaks.com/information/amazon-versus-netflix-instant-video-comparison/

Quote:
" When it comes to instant video watching online you’ve really got two big choices, Amazon or Netflix. Yes there are other options but these two are the big ones really, the others are just there trying to compete and play catch up really, it’s only a mater of time before they disappear altogether I think. I loved Netflix at one point but I’ve become increasing unhappy with them as they just keep changing things for the worse it seems. I do the majority of my watching on my computer and sometimes on my PS3 and very rarely on my phone or tablet. Amazon Prime is what I would call a work in progress and it seems to be getting better and better while Netflix is going down hill with all of these so called improvements that really aren’t. At the present time I have both Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix Instant Video and I’m really thinking of dropping Netflix but maybe just not quite yet. I did have Netflix with the DVD/Blu-ray option up until they raised the prices, then I dropped as really I was getting like maybe one of two movies per month sent to me and it just wasn’t worth the cost. So I’ve compiled a list of pros and cons and just observations of both Amazon and Netflix that are really in no order, just more of a random thing as I thought of them or as I noticed them. It’s a list, a big list with my comments about them."

WTF Netflix? Why Do You Keep Changing Everything?

So a week or so ago I noticed my Instant Queue was gone from the top of my Netflix page. WTF? It was replaced by a horrible scrolling bar called ‘Your List’. Why? Why change things? I hate the damn scrolling bars for the movies, I try and always click through to the sort of old style pages. Now they’ve forced me to use that horrible scrolling bar system by just totally eliminating my instant queue.

I’ve been seriously thinking of trying Amazon Prime, and I think now is the time to do it really.

There’s an old adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and that very much applies here to Netflix. Sure I get the whole changing it for the iPad and mobile interfaces and even the TV interface but why not at least give the people who are giving you money a choice at how they want it? You just force these changes upon us.

When it first happened I tweeted about it to the Netflix support or helps or whatever it’s called and apparently they didn’t even know it changed as they told me oh just refresh your browser or login and logout and then it should reappear. Yeah, none of that worked, I’m stuck with the sucky scroll bar for my Instant Queue now. I have 19 things in my queue right now and it takes 7 seconds to scroll to the end to see them all. Can you imagine if I had say 30 things in my queue?  That’s ridiculous.

The PC interface is not a mobile interface, so why do I have to scroll? It’s slow and I hate it.

My Instant Queue list right now is small and I keep deleting things from it as it takes so damn long to scroll through it. What the hell was wrong with having the Instant Queue? it worked just fine, everything was listed right there on the page for you to see and pick what you wanted to watch.