[MyAppleMenu] Sep 3, 2000

Sun Sep 3 21:05:01 EDT 2000

MyAppleMenu Newsletter

== AppleSurf (Top Stories) ==============

For The User Who Has Everything (New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/sunday/090300biz-diary.html>
Once Apple Computer's multicolored iMacs and sleek G4 Cubes had injected hip fashion sense into computer hardware and peripherals, it was only a matter of time before someone came up with a way to give the stuff the decadent gleam of conspicuous consumption.

For Pro keyboard keys Dead On Older Macs; Refund Offered (MacCentral)
<http://www.maccentral.com/news/0009/02.keyboard.shtml>
Customers awaiting Apple's newest Pro keyboard are being told by the company that four keys are not functional when the keyboard is used on Mac systems shipped prior to July 19 and is offering buyers the opportunity to cancel their orders and receive a full refund.

== AppleSurf (News) ==============

Apple Seeking 'Junkies For Circuit City Demo Days (The Macjunkie)
<http://www.themacjunkie.com/archives/9.1.00.demodays.html>

For The User Who Has Everything (New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/sunday/090300biz-diary.html>
Once Apple Computer's multicolored iMacs and sleek G4 Cubes had injected hip fashion sense into computer hardware and peripherals, it was only a matter of time before someone came up with a way to give the stuff the decadent gleam of conspicuous consumption.

For Pro keyboard keys Dead On Older Macs; Refund Offered (MacCentral)
<http://www.maccentral.com/news/0009/02.keyboard.shtml>
Customers awaiting Apple's newest Pro keyboard are being told by the company that four keys are not functional when the keyboard is used on Mac systems shipped prior to July 19 and is offering buyers the opportunity to cancel their orders and receive a full refund.

PDF Editing Tools Debut At Seybold (MacWEEK.com)
<http://macweek.zdnet.com/2000/08/27/0901pdftools.html>
Lantana and Enfocus both used this week's Seybold San Francisco 2000 conference to introduce new Adobe Acrobat plug-ins that let users modify graphics and/or text within Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

== AppleSurf (Reviews) ==============

Disney's Mickey Mouse Kindergarten (MacCentral)
<http://www.maccentral.com/news/0009/03.mickeykinder.shtml>
This title offers a suitable supplement to a kindergarten-level curriculum, with all the charm of Mickey and the gang.

== The Wintel Empire (Top Stories) ==============

Dell Fights Its Sobering Midlife Crisis (Wall Street Journal)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2623275,00.html>
Dell is trying to recapture the fire of its upstart youth as growth slows amid a PC industry slump and its once-soaring stock glides toward earth.

== The Wintel Empire (News) ==============

New Philippines Virus A Low Risk (MSNBC)
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/455061.asp>
The U.S. National Infrastructure Protection Center has issued a warning about a new computer computer virus originating from the Philippines which bears a resemblance to the now-infamous LoveBug. The virus was first detected on Friday, and has been infecting some computer users this Labor Day weekend. But antivirus experts told MSNBC that there have not been any reports of widespread infections.

Dell Fights Its Sobering Midlife Crisis (Wall Street Journal)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2623275,00.html>
Dell is trying to recapture the fire of its upstart youth as growth slows amid a PC industry slump and its once-soaring stock glides toward earth.

For The User Who Has Everything (New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/sunday/090300biz-diary.html>
Once Apple Computer's multicolored iMacs and sleek G4 Cubes had injected hip fashion sense into computer hardware and peripherals, it was only a matter of time before someone came up with a way to give the stuff the decadent gleam of conspicuous consumption.

Intel Hits A Speed Bump (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-2666313.html?tag=st.ne.1430735..ni>
A glitch in Intel's fastest chip forced Dell Computer and IBM to stop shipping PCs that use the chip, opening the door for rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices to possibly profit from the gaffe.

== Breaking Barriers (Top Stories) ==============

Amazon.com Move Worries Privacy Pros (TechWeb)
<http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000903S0001>
Consumers who have heretofore ignored privacy issues on the Internet might want to sit up and take notice. Dot-com kingpin Amazon.com is changing its privacy policy and can -- at its own discretion -- make customer information available to partners and others.

I Guess The Only Solution If The MPAA Has Its Way Is To Shut Down The Internet (InfoWorld)
<http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/09/04/000904opprophet.xml>
Does it strike anyone else as strange that a person is liable for providing a link whereas a machine is offered "safe harbor" under the DMCA?

IOC Bans Athletes From Net Storytelling (The Industry Standard)
<http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,18187,00.html>
The Olympic Code of Conduct states that competitors cannot post personal stories about the Games.

Elephants In The Living Room: The Destructive Roll Of Denial In Web Design (Ask Tog)
<http://www.asktog.com/columns/039Elephant.html>
Good engineers may well declare that your design is unimplementable, but the next day they will show you how they cleverly overcame that impossibility through the brilliance of their coding.

== Breaking Barriers (News) ==============

'Opting In': A Privacy Paradox (Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63843-2000Sep1.html>
While companies that capitalize on the Internet's powerful potential to invade privacy are denounced as villains of the information age, millions of people type out highly personal data and send it off to Web sites they've barely heard of, with no strong legal protection against misuse of the information.

5-Year-Old eBay's Success Is Its Network Of Traders (San Jose Mercury News)
<http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/ebay090300.htm>
It is eBay's huge network of buyers and sellers that defines the identity of the wildly successful San Jose company. Unlike a traditional company, which may be defined by its products, employees and suppliers as much as by its clientele, eBay is uniquely shaped by its customers: the community of hobbyists, collectors, dealers and entrepreneurs who trade through the site.

Amazon.com Move Worries Privacy Pros (TechWeb)
<http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000903S0001>
Consumers who have heretofore ignored privacy issues on the Internet might want to sit up and take notice. Dot-com kingpin Amazon.com is changing its privacy policy and can -- at its own discretion -- make customer information available to partners and others.

Fox, WB Crack Down On Simpsons, Buffy Fan Sites (Scripps Howard News Service)
<http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,500246668-500366248-502163949-0,00.html>
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bart Simpson are about as disparate as two fictional characters can get, but their fans share a common bond: they can't fully express their ardor for the shows online.

Assembling A Brain Trust To Retail To The Masses (Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2179-2000Sep2.html>
CEO Jeff Bezos is assembling a brain trust that he hopes will make Amazon.com bigger, even profitable.

Project Communication Via The Web (InternetWeek)
<http://www.internetwk.com/lead/lead082300.htm>
ActiveProject links together hundreds of participants in AEC-oriented tasks.

But Would You Do It For Free? (ABCNews.com)
<http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/DailyNews/workforfree000902.html>
Some dot-com workers are proving they are very dedicated -- by working long hours for free. Find out why.

I Guess The Only Solution If The MPAA Has Its Way Is To Shut Down The Internet (InfoWorld)
<http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/09/04/000904opprophet.xml>
Does it strike anyone else as strange that a person is liable for providing a link whereas a machine is offered "safe harbor" under the DMCA?

IOC Bans Athletes From Net Storytelling (The Industry Standard)
<http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,18187,00.html>
The Olympic Code of Conduct states that competitors cannot post personal stories about the Games.

Elephants In The Living Room: The Destructive Roll Of Denial In Web Design (Ask Tog)
<http://www.asktog.com/columns/039Elephant.html>
Good engineers may well declare that your design is unimplementable, but the next day they will show you how they cleverly overcame that impossibility through the brilliance of their coding.

Shopping Site Ordered To Pay Trademark Infringement Damages (Associated Press)
<http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,500246504-500365909-502160547-0,00.html>

== The AppleSurf Reader ==============

Words Of Wisdom (Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/columns/barrydave/A1502-2000Sep2.html>
I work in customer service, and my co-workers and I are having a big debate about whether we should say that your call is "very" important to us, or "extremely" important to us. We argue about this all day long! My question is, how do we stop these stupid phones from ringing? By Dave Barry.

The Urge To Kill (The Advocate)
<http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/820/820_basher.html>
The violence of antigay attacks -- which far outstrips the brutality of other bias crimes -- shows just how personal the motivation is for such crimes. Bashers are not only trying to kill the victim; they are, in some sense, trying to kill their own gay side and resasure themselves and their friends about their own masculinity.

New Model High School: Was Your Yearbook An Unintended Reality (Lingua Franca)
<http://www.linguafranca.com/print/0009/hypo.html>
The next time you hear someone say, "Il n'y a pas d'hors texte," it will probably be an untenured professor of English at some Midwestern university. But it might be a model theorist talking French.

== SingaporeSurf (Top Stories) ==============

"Government Not Tracking Hong Lim Speakers" (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri7_0904.html>
The Government will not respond to allegations made by speakers at the Speakers' Corner as it does not keep track of what they say, said Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng yesterday.

"Tom, Dick And Harry" Of Singapore Tasting Freedom Of Speakers' Corner (New York Times)
<http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,SAV-0009030265,FF.html>
Free speech is a difficult issue for Singapore, a tiny, multiethnic city-state of 4 million people. To muffle any ethnic conflicts and build its resource-poor economy, it has chosen th epath of tight government controls on just about everything, from financial investment to artistic expression to chewing gum, which is forbidden.

Free-To-Air Channels Via SCV May Be Charged (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri1_0903.html>
If move is put in place, broadcasters or viewers may have to bear the cost for such channels now being carried free on the operator's cable network.

== SingaporeSurf (News) ==============

"Government Not Tracking Hong Lim Speakers" (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri7_0904.html>
The Government will not respond to allegations made by speakers at the Speakers' Corner as it does not keep track of what they say, said Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng yesterday.

Curio King C.K. Tang Dies, Aged 98 (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri2_0904.html>
The shopping magnate, whose full name is Tang Choon Keng, died at his home with his family by his side, nine days before his 99th birthday.

"Tom, Dick And Harry" Of Singapore Tasting Freedom Of Speakers' Corner (New York Times)
<http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,SAV-0009030265,FF.html>
Free speech is a difficult issue for Singapore, a tiny, multiethnic city-state of 4 million people. To muffle any ethnic conflicts and build its resource-poor economy, it has chosen th epath of tight government controls on just about everything, from financial investment to artistic expression to chewing gum, which is forbidden.

Singapore's Speakers' Corner Opens (Ananova)
<http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_51537.html>
A deliveryman has become the first person in Singapore to make a public speech without holding a permit at the country's new Speakers' Corner.

No Eavesdropping At Speakers' Corner: Wong Kan Seng (Channel NewsAsia)
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com.sg/articles/2000/09/03/singaporenews15823.htm>
"We do nothing like that. So we leave it to them to say what they wish to say and let you report what you wish to report."

Do They Have A Place In Modern Singapore? (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/sin8_0903.html>
Clan leaders may argue that Chinese clan associations are still relevant to modern Singapore, but only two out of the 20 Chinese Singaporeans surveyed by The Sunday Times agree with them.

Soapbox Sputter (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life1_0903.html>
Free speech is wasted if no one can hear you, as speakers at Hong Lim Park found out. Sunday Plus asks the experts how they make themselves heard.

Free-To-Air Channels Via SCV May Be Charged (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/pri1_0903.html>
If move is put in place, broadcasters or viewers may have to bear the cost for such channels now being carried free on the operator's cable network.

== SingaporeSurf (Entertainment) ==============

Fun Feast In The East (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life1_0904.html>
Pasir Ris Resort has been revamped into Downtown East and the result is more expatriates and middle-class folk flocking to this gem of a fun place.

My Date With Vampire (Sci-Fi Asia)
<http://www.scifiasia.com/content/article/tv/20000828121527O/1>
Gone are the days when vampires in Chinese drama series had long dangling tongues and hopped around like stoned zombies dressed in Qing dynasty costumes.

TV Host Guo Liang Lands New Plum Job (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/life8_0903.html>
The fast-talking compere at MediaCorp Studios has moved to MediaWorks for a sparkling new career. It's a long way from being a tongue-tied child in China.