[MyAppleMenu] Thursday, Dec 25, 2003

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu Newsletter
Thursday, Dec 25, 2003

MyAppleMenu : Top Stories
-------------------------
Many Are Singing A Sad Tune Over The iPod (Jon Fortt, San Jose Mercury News)
<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/7569501.htm>
The scarcity of the iPod, a smooth, white, digital music player about the size of a computer mouse, affirms its status as the It-Thing, the tech industry's answer to pilates and Orlando Bloom. Oprah, Moby and 50 Cent all like it. At 5.6 ounces, it's an inanimate celebrity.

The Sound Of The Future (Paul Jackson, Daily Yomiuri)
<http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20031225woa1.htm>
Far from being pessimistic about the state of music in the digital era, the major labels in Japan are excited about the prospects in front of them.

MyAppleMenu : News
------------------
Apple Offering PowerBook G4 Trade-In Program (Nick dePlume, Think Secret)
<http://www.thinksecret.com/news/pbg4upgrade.html>
Apple is giving customers the option of trading in their PowerBook G4 laptops for credit toward the purchase of the latest 15-inch and 17-inch notebooks.

Macworld Expo Primed For Enterprise (Daniel Drew Turner, eWeek)
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1421385,00.asp>

MyAppleMenu : Reviews
---------------------
Gear Junkie: Software Helps Map Out Trips (Stephen Regenold, Billings Gazette)
<http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=2&display=rednews/2003/12/25/build/outdoors/50-gearjunkie.inc>

Protecting Your iPod (Aoife White, Electricnews.net)
<http://www.electricnews.net/news.html?code=9385627>
If you're planning to buy an expensive piece of music kit now or in the sales, make sure you protect your investment.

Your Mac Doesn't Do Windows? (Walter S. Mossberg, Smart Money)
<http://www.smartmoney.com/mossberg/index.cfm?story=jan2004&nav=ibs>
Virtual PC 6.1 is simultaneously impressive and frustrating.

Wireless Optical Desktop 2.0 (Mike Apps, Inside Mac Games)
<http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=445>
Microsoft's Wireless Optical Desktop 2.0 is a decent keyboard with some useful function keys and a merely adequate mouse. It does have potential though.

MyAppleMenu : Wintel News
-------------------------
Microsoft's Festive Advice: Don't Plug Our PCs Into The Web (Charles Arthur, Independent)
<http://news.independent.co.uk/digital/news/story.jsp?story=475921>
Its slogan is "where do you want to go today?" But Microsoft asks that if you get a Windows computer for Christmas,don't take it to one particular place: the internet.

More Wintel news at <http://www.myapplemenu.com/wintel/>

MyAppleMenu Tomorrow: Top Stories
---------------------------------
The Return Of The Internet (Farhad Manjoo and Katharine Mieszkowski, Salon)
<http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/12/24/year_in_review_2003/index_np.html>
In 2003, Howard Dean scored big with the Web, while India took advantage of online communications to grab thousands of white-collar jobs from the West. The Net, it turns out, still matters.

'Get Me Rewrite!' 'Hold On, I'll Pass You To The Computer' (Anne Eisenberg, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/technology/circuits/25next.html>
Using several methods, including statistical techniques borrowed from gene analysis, two researchers have created a program that can automatically generate paraphrases of English sentences.

MyAppleMenu Tomorrow: News & Opinions
-------------------------------------
Sites Lag As Shoppers Throng Online (Paul Festa, CNET News.com)
<http://rss.com.com/2100-1025_3-5133320.html>
Calling it a "perfect online shopping storm," a survey of major retailers reported that events have conspired this season to send hordes of shoppers to the Internet, slowing major sites to a crawl.

Will DVD Acquittal Mean Tougher Copyright Laws? (Evan Hansen, CNET News.com)
<http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5133152.html>
The acquittal of a Norwegian programmer charged with breaking Hollywood's DVD encryption scheme could lend new urgency to the entertainment industry's efforts to enact tougher global copyright laws.

MyAppleMenu Reader: Life
------------------------
Survivors All, This Family Makes Its Own Holiday Spirit (Lily Koppel, New York Times)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/25NEED.html>
It was a peaceful day. A happy one. It was also a respite from much harder days -- days in which the family, rather than coming together, felt as if it was coming apart.

MyAppleMenu Reader: Expressions
-------------------------------
The Oxen (Thomas Hardy, Slate)
<http://slate.msn.com/id/2093013/>

MyAppleMenu SingaporeSurf : News & Opinions
-------------------------------------------
Sexy Singapore Santas Hand Out Condoms (Associated Press)
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-christmas-condoms,1,6720814.story?coll=chi-news-hed>
Young women dressed in skimpy Santa outfits have distributed 50,000 free safe-sex stocking stuffers -- condoms -- to holiday shoppers in the city-state's glitzy tourism and shopping district.

Singapore: Slaps Six-Year Ban (Straits Times)
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,226976,00.html>
AVA stipulates that any country seeking to export beef to Singapore must be certified free of mad-cow disease for six years. This means that it will be at least six years before US beef can be imported here again.AVA stipulates that any country seeking to export beef to Singapore must be certified free of mad-cow disease for six years. This means that it will be at least six years before US beef can be imported here again.

---
Modify your subscription at <http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/applesurf-list>

MyAppleMenu is edited by Heng-Cheong Leong. This site is not affiliated with Apple Computer, Inc., or any other companies in any manner. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, PowerBook, iMac, iBook, iPod, and eMac are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other brands or product names are trademarks of their registered holders. Copyright (C) 1996-2003 Heng-Cheong Leong. All rights reserved.