[AppleSurf Inbox] May 28, 2000

[applesurf at myapplemenu.comapplesurf]

AppleSurf Inbox

== Listen Up! (Opinions around the web) ====================

Maybe It's Time For Apple To Up The Chips? (Mac Toolbox)
<http://www.mactoolbox.com/poll/may_poll.html>
Motorola has proven themselves as a great right hand, but times are changing and the demand on computers to be all powerful and embracing open source is upon us.

The New Apple (MacWEEK.com)
<http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/05/21/0527dkeonappleii.html>
The company under Gil Amelio and Steve Jobs.

== Reviews (The good and the bad) ====================

Sabrina, The Teenage Witch: Brat Attack (MacCentral)
<http://www.maccentral.com/news/0005/28.sabrina.shtml>
Although the character of Sabrina the Teenage Witch does not ooze with political correctness, this Sabrina software title does conjure a substantial amount of fun factor.

== Know Thy Enemy (Keeping track of the Wintel empire) ====================

For Microsoft Legal Action, Timing Is Key (San Jose Mercury News)
<http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/ms052800.htm>
At the heart of the Microsoft antitrust case is a race with time.

== Breaking Barriers (About the internet and the web) ====================

Singapore Online Adspend To Cross US$67m (Business Times Singapore)
<http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/1/news/nfrnt05.html>
This will work out to a robust 80 per cent annual jump in online ad-spending between now and 2004, higher than the Asia-Pacific region's average compounded growth of 76 per cent yearly, IDC said.

NeoPlanet's Latest Browser Really Rocks (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2577366,00.html>
A new deal with Universal Pictures will deliver movie-themed browsers to PC desktops. Analysts say custom applications may move online advertising out of the Stone Age.

India Eyes Role In Net Regs (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36625,00.html>
The populous nation doesn't want to be left out of determining the rules and regulations for the Internet, so it is creating a national forum to do just that.

Boo.com Sold For $372,500, Paper Reports (Bloomberg News)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1973048.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni>
Two weeks after the online clothing retailer collapsed, Boo.com has been sold to Bright Station, a newspaper reported today.

What Net Malaise? Dotcoms Party On! (Reuters)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2578329,00.html>
Internet stocks may be taking a hit on Wall Street, accompanied by a pink slip or two, but you'd never know it by the lavish bash that went down in SF this week.

Flters Kowtowing To Hate? (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36621,00.html>
[Blocking software firms] suspiciously hesitant to block powerful groups like Focus on the Family -- even if the anti-gay and anti-lesbian statements are exactly the same [as homophobic sites].

SETI at home A Success But Still No Word From E.T. (Scripps Howard News Service)
<http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,500208994-500292584-501591955-0,00.html>
Just by using computers that might otherwise be idle, more than 2 million PC users worldwide have already donated more than 280 millennia worth of computing time to a search for extraterrestrial intelligence across the galaxy.

British Telecom Ordered To Let ISPs Offer Unmetered Access Over Its Network (Associated Press)
<http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,500209011-500292624-501594107-0,00.html>
The ruling by the Office of Telecommunications paves the way for the spread of American-style, flat-rate Internet service and offers the prospect of lower phone bills for millions of British Internet users.

24-Hour Internet Doorman (San Jose Mercury News)
<http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/gate052800.htm>
The result is turbocharged links to the Internet in every phone jack and, possibly, every room in the house. All it takes besides a gateway is the right kind of adapter plug for your computer, printer, laptop or other Internet-friendly device.

Disabilities Portal Has CanDo Attitude (San Jose Mercury News)
<http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/dp052800.htm>
It's tremendously hard to build a new Internet brand from scratch today, particularly given the financial killing freeze that's swept over the Internet content industry in the past two months.

== Technology (The Technology Scene In Singapore) ====================

Singapore Online Adspend To Cross US$67m (Business Times Singapore)
<http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/1/news/nfrnt05.html>
This will work out to a robust 80 per cent annual jump in online ad-spending between now and 2004, higher than the Asia-Pacific region's average compounded growth of 76 per cent yearly, IDC said.

Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council Launches Website To Improve Estate (Channel NewsAsia)
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/articles/2000/05/27/singaporenews28391.htm>
The Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council has started a community project on the internet to encourage students and residents to be more active in looking after their HDB estates.

ThatWeb.com Offers Email Access From WAP Devices (CNET Singapore)
<http://singapore.cnet.com/news/2000/05/27/20000527a.html>
Uni.WAP Mail is currently available on a 30-day trial free from ThatWeb.com's Web site to users of any WAP mobile phone or personal digital assistant. To continue using the service after the trial period, users will be subject to a S$3 subscription fee per month.

$20,000 Awaits You If You Squeal On Your Firm's Secrets (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri7_0528.html>
More than 1,000 people were rewarded last year for exposing employers who used illegal software. The top reward of $20,000 still remains unclaimed.

== Entertainment (The Entertainment Scene In Singapore) ====================

Kampung Artist Draws Inspiration From Home (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life15_0529.html>
Chronicling, in his work, the Malay kampung where he grew up, the artist Jai expresses the things that matter most to him in a simple, honest way.

E-mail, Meet Jackie Chan (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life22_0528.html>
The gongfu star will be in town for this paper's school holiday programme and the premiere of Shanghai Noon.

== Around Town (News out of Singapore) ====================

MHA Clarifies Report (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri8_0529.html>
"The review of the cases and the calling of the press conference were done before the PM commented on the subject in response to a question from a member of the audience at the Family Forum.''

Why Build Flats So Close Together? (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/for2_0529.html>
Wong Yew Kwan: Yes, we are short of land, but with better planning -- more space at ground level for neighbourhood parks and some other greenery -- we can still bring back some semblance of gracious living.

Is West Best When it Comes To Ads? (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life1_0528.html>
When Giordano first used Caucasian faces last year in an advertising blitz to launch its khakis series, the results were stunning.

"Adapt Regulations To New Economy" (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/sin1_0528.html>
Even rules that have served the country well, like zoning laws, may need to be changed: BG George Yeo.

No Go For Civil Service, Says PM (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri6_0528.html>
[I]nstead of a blanket ruling for the whole civil service to work a five-day week, he will leave it to the individual departments to decide on their own working hours.

Govt Relents On Ban Of HIV-infected Alien Spouses (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri2_0528.html>
Deputy Secretary Tan Boon Huat also said that the ministry would be sympathetic when considering appeals concerning HIV-infected foreign spouses whose social-visit passes are running out.