[MyAppleMenu] Jun 22, 2001

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu Newsletter

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

Laptops Of Luxury (Far Eastern Economic Review)
<http://www.feer.com/_0106_28/p037innov.html>
Get over the G4's drop-dead gorgeous looks. There's a reason business-class tray tables are PC-heavy: you need practicality.

Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.0.4 (MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0106/21.osx.shtml>
According to the information included with the update, Mac OS X 10.0.4 delivers a significant number of improvements for USB devices, including additional external device support for iTunes burning; improved battery life for many PowerBook G3 systems; and Classic compatibility improvements.

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

Mactrivia to open July 1st! (Mactrivia)
<http://www.mactrivia.com>
On July 1, 2001, The MacTrivia Network (http://www.mactrivia.com) will open the doors to the largest Macintosh-only collection of interactive trivia on the web today! 

We are hoping to reach over 1,000 questions by then, ranging from super-easy to incredibly hard--and yes, there will be a contest or 2 along the way for the Mac Geniuses out there. Do you think you have what it takes? 

We think---YOU DON'T KNOW MAC! 

___ 

(We are also accepting advertising on the site, so head over and contact us before we open--we want your prizes to give away and we want your banners on our site!) 

Apple Education Solutions To Be At Macworld (MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0106/22.education.shtml>

LaCie Ships PocketDrive CD-RW (Macworld UK)
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=3080>
LaCie has launched its palm-sized PocketDrive 8x-8x-24x CD-RW.

Apple Shares Up As iBook Drives Sales (Macworld UK)
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=3075>
Apple's fortunes were bolstered last week when an analyst from US investment-management company, Sanford Bernstein, raised third-quarter earnings and year-end estimates for Apple, citing strong notebook sales.

Mac OS X's Finder: Cocoa Rewrite Not The Answer (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/19871.html>
"The Carbon engineers have done an amazing job. The fact that you can run the same application on both OS 9 and OS X is a really amazing thing that should be celebrated, not called a kludge."

Maxtor Cutting Up To 1,500 Jobs (Reuters)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-6345187.html?tag=owv>
Hard drive maker Maxtor will lay off up to 1,500 employees, or about 14 percent of its workforce, accelerating its cost-cutting amid weakness in the PC market.

Schiller Talks QuickTime In Streaming Media Keynote (MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0106/21.quicktime.shtml>
Phil Schiller, vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing for Apple, outlined Apple's arguments for QuickTime as the "complete solution" for Open Source rich content delivery over the web. Citing over 20,000 applications that "not only support, but also ship with QuickTime" as well as "150 million" QuickTime 4 players distributed in its 24 month existence, and "15 million QuickTime 5 players from Apple's US servers alone in the past 2 months," Schiller pointed to QuickTime as a long-term streaming solution that "will still be here 5 years from now."

60,000 Expected For Macworld New York (MacNN)
<http://www.macnn.com/news.php?id=7402>

Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.0.4 (MacCentral)
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0106/21.osx.shtml>
According to the information included with the update, Mac OS X 10.0.4 delivers a significant number of improvements for USB devices, including additional external device support for iTunes burning; improved battery life for many PowerBook G3 systems; and Classic compatibility improvements.

== AppleSurf (Opinion) ===============

OS X Pricing Fears Coming Soon (Macinstein)
<http://www.macinstein.com/pressrelease.cfm?ID=983>
For all the work the developers have to invest, this retail pricing may be a necessary evil, but it is going to hit Mac consumers hard.

Apple's Buried Treasures (osOpinion)
<http://www.osopinion.com/perl/story/11456.html>
Apple has a treasure trove of canceled products buried in its backyard and doesn't even realize it. The company that "thinks different" has created a lot of worthwhile products that have been discontinued or abandoned for unknown or unstated reasons. The Mac users who enjoyed these products have sometimes petitioned Apple to revive them -- only to be disappointed. Apple apparently sees no reason why these products should be revived.

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

Laptops Of Luxury (Far Eastern Economic Review)
<http://www.feer.com/_0106_28/p037innov.html>
Get over the G4's drop-dead gorgeous looks. There's a reason business-class tray tables are PC-heavy: you need practicality.

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

Get Real: MS Reprises Browser Tactics With AOL Bundle (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/19889.html>
You might not be alone in thinking that today is Groundhog Day - and that we're doomed to see a reprise of the Browserwars, circa 1997, everyday.

Does A Snake Lurk In Windows XP? (Wall Street Journal)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2779251,00.html?chkpt=zdnn_rt_latest>
Last week, at a day-long get-to-know-you session that Microsoft Corp. hosted for venture capitalists, one attendee told a fable in which she compared Microsoft to a snake and asked Microsoft executives to respond. And in an on-the-spot audience poll, only 40 percent of the attendees agreed that the Redmond, Wash., software company would make a good partner for the fledgling companies in their investment portfolios.

WiN XP Needs PasspoRT TO Travel (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5093082,00.html>
Critics argue that by using Windows XP to encourage Passport account sign-ups, Microsoft is drawing on its dominance in operating systems to gain a foothold in the nascent market for online services and subscriptions. Passport integration raises the specter of antitrust hanging over the operating system, they contend.

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

Intel Speeds Pentium 4 Ramp With 1.9, 2.2GHz Chips (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/3/19903.html>
Intel will roll out a 1.9GHz Pentium 4 processor in addition to the expected 2GHz P4 it is expected to unveil during Q3, according to the latest roadmap to leak out of the company.

Get Real: MS Reprises Browser Tactics With AOL Bundle (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/19889.html>
You might not be alone in thinking that today is Groundhog Day - and that we're doomed to see a reprise of the Browserwars, circa 1997, everyday.

Does A Snake Lurk In Windows XP? (Wall Street Journal)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2779251,00.html?chkpt=zdnn_rt_latest>
Last week, at a day-long get-to-know-you session that Microsoft Corp. hosted for venture capitalists, one attendee told a fable in which she compared Microsoft to a snake and asked Microsoft executives to respond. And in an on-the-spot audience poll, only 40 percent of the attendees agreed that the Redmond, Wash., software company would make a good partner for the fledgling companies in their investment portfolios.

Microsoft Pushes Its Legal Luck (IT-Director.com)
<http://www.it-director.com/article.asp?id=1933>
It must be getting harder for Microsoft to think of new ideas to persuade us all to upgrade our desktop operating systems.

Microsoft's Problem Child (Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31331-2001Jun21.html>
Former ally RealNetworks has dominant role in Internet media.

MS Masters NC Mind-Set (InfoWorld)
<http://iwsun4.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/06/18/010618oppetreley.xml>
Wake up, open-source community.

Laptops Of Luxury (Far Eastern Economic Review)
<http://www.feer.com/_0106_28/p037innov.html>
Get over the G4's drop-dead gorgeous looks. There's a reason business-class tray tables are PC-heavy: you need practicality.

Intel To Aim Itanium At Tough IT Crowd (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-6341146.html?tag=owv>
Intel, in the midst of a stagnant market for new PCs, will use a technology show next week in New York to drum up interest in its powerful new processors.

Toshiba Postpones Updated Notebooks (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-6345917.html?tag=owv>
After skipping a second-quarter launch of updated notebooks, Toshiba will release four revamped models next month.

Intel: Linux Has 'No Place' On Desktop (ZDNet UK)
<http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2778923,00.html>
Intel chief executive Craig Barrett concedes that Linux has its uses, but doesn't see much of a future for it on the desktop until it can compete with Windows in the number of applications available.

Windows XP To Get Fewer Microsoft Smart Tags Outside United States (InfoWorld)
<http://iwsun4.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/06/21/010621hnsmartags.xml>
International versions of Microsoft's forthcoming operating system Windows XP will likely be shipped with fewer Microsoft-developed Smart Tags than the U.S. version. Many of the U.S. tags are useless to foreign users, according to Microsoft.

WiN XP Needs PasspoRT TO Travel (ZDNet)
<http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5093082,00.html>
Critics argue that by using Windows XP to encourage Passport account sign-ups, Microsoft is drawing on its dominance in operating systems to gain a foothold in the nascent market for online services and subscriptions. Passport integration raises the specter of antitrust hanging over the operating system, they contend.

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

Amazon Outlives Lehman's Early Obituary (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-6346736.html?tag=owv>
Don't look now, but Amazon.com still has money.

No Harmony On Streaming Standards (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,44722,00.html>
Opposition is mounting against both Microsoft and RealNetworks as they race to create and own a standard language for streaming.

This Is How Microsoft Will End Up Running The Internet (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/19882.html>
Not just a Microsoft-owned Net though. There'll also be an AOL/Time Warner-owned Internet. And if we're lucky a third, conglomeration Internet for homepages and the like.

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

Get Real: MS Reprises Browser Tactics With AOL Bundle (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/19889.html>
You might not be alone in thinking that today is Groundhog Day - and that we're doomed to see a reprise of the Browserwars, circa 1997, everyday.

True Confessions: Only In Person (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,44608,00.html>
An ancient form of anonymous chat -– confession -- doesn't count if done over the Internet, Catholic Church officials say.

Amazon Outlives Lehman's Early Obituary (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-6346736.html?tag=owv>
Don't look now, but Amazon.com still has money.

Microsoft's Problem Child (Washington Post)
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31331-2001Jun21.html>
Former ally RealNetworks has dominant role in Internet media.

No Harmony On Streaming Standards (Wired News)
<http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,44722,00.html>
Opposition is mounting against both Microsoft and RealNetworks as they race to create and own a standard language for streaming.

DoubleClick Heges Its Bets In A Bid To Stay On Top (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-201-6325096-0.html?tag=owv>
Frustrated by a lack of research on the effectiveness of online advertising, DoubleClick Chief Executive Kevin Ryan recently decided to start compiling some of his own.

This Is How Microsoft Will End Up Running The Internet (The Register)
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/19882.html>
Not just a Microsoft-owned Net though. There'll also be an AOL/Time Warner-owned Internet. And if we're lucky a third, conglomeration Internet for homepages and the like.

AOL Pursuing More "AIM"-sters (CNET News.com)
<http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6345628.html?tag=lh>
On the heels of winning the rights to several Aimster-related domain names, AOL Time Warner has notified the creator of a fledgling instant messaging project that his work is unauthorized and may violate company trademarks.

== PenguinSurf (Top Stories) ===============

Intel: Linux Has 'No Place' On Desktop (ZDNet UK)
<http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2778923,00.html>
Intel chief executive Craig Barrett concedes that Linux has its uses, but doesn't see much of a future for it on the desktop until it can compete with Windows in the number of applications available.

== PenguinSurf (News) ===============

MS Masters NC Mind-Set (InfoWorld)
<http://iwsun4.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/06/18/010618oppetreley.xml>
Wake up, open-source community.

Intel: Linux Has 'No Place' On Desktop (ZDNet UK)
<http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2778923,00.html>
Intel chief executive Craig Barrett concedes that Linux has its uses, but doesn't see much of a future for it on the desktop until it can compete with Windows in the number of applications available.

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

Exams Shouldn't Be Held During Holidays: Ministry (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/story/0,1870,52707,00.html?>
It was responding to queries on Yio Chu Kang Secondary's move to hold the mid-year exams for 300 O- and N-level students during the current month-long break.

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

DBS Makes S$9.4 Billion Bid For OUB (Reuters)
<http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010622/3/14vg0.html>
DBS Group stepped up domestic bank consolidation on Friday by making an unsolicited bid for Overseas Union Bank (OUB) at S$9.50 per share to cement its position as the biggest bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Exams Shouldn't Be Held During Holidays: Ministry (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/primenews/story/0,1870,52707,00.html?>
It was responding to queries on Yio Chu Kang Secondary's move to hold the mid-year exams for 300 O- and N-level students during the current month-long break.

Service Remains Top Priority (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,1870,52734,00.html?>
Our new mobile solution will translate into better service for our commuters, and will help address those issues raised by Mr Lee.

Singapore Accused By Stokes Of Snooping (Sydney Morning Herald)
<http://www.smh.com.au/news/0106/22/biztech/biztech1.html>
Mr Stokes said it had been reported that the Singapore Government eavesdropped on phone calls and interrogated computers.

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

SCV's New Pricing Plan Wins Many Converts (Project Eyeball)
<http://eyeball.asia1.com.sg/Eyeball/Story/0,1381,18452,00.html?>
SCV MaxTV's new price plan does seem to give better value, but there are a few unhappy voices about sports channels like ESPN being dropped, and more costly premium channels.

Teahouse Delights Leave Diners Satisfied (Bueinss Times Singapore)
<http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/life/story/0,2276,12255,00.html?>
There's nothing here that will make you jump up and go 'wow', but you will have a satisfying meal - something which is harder to come by these days.

A Feast For The Chocoholics (Business Times Singapore)
<http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/life/story/0,2276,12265,00.html?>
The Courtyard's chocolate buffet - available on Fridays and Saturdays from 8.30pm to 11.30pm - is an ideal way to add a dash of sweet decadence to your weekend.