R help - Nov 2008 - not R but consumer choice contest that has statistical implications

a friend of mine sent me the following and I'm thinking that there are 
people on this list  that might be interested and could also hit the 10% 
improvement mark possibly ? i don't know any more about it than the 
article says so, if someone is interested, I guess you would have to 
contact netflix. a "thank you for telling
me about it" gratuity  on the prize money is of course welcome !!!!!!!!!

 
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/magazine/23Netflix-t.html?_r=1&ref=technology