[MyAppleMenu] May 6, 2004

Thu May 6 13:15:00 EDT 2004

MyAppleMenu Newsletter
Thursday, May 06, 2004

MyAppleMenu
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/index.html>
Mac News for Mac Users

[Top Stories]

*** Apple Sells 3.3 Million Songs On iTunes In Week
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=5049141&section=news>
by Reuters
500,000 downloads of free songs, and 20,000 custom playlists in a week too.

[News]

*** As Suspected, iMixing Is Popular
<http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=304410>
by Leander Kahney, Cult Of Mac
"It's kind of a social networking tool without really trying."

*** Microsoft Exec On iPod
<http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/002667.html>
by Todd Bishop, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"It's not in the same category, of course."

*** Apple Rejects Masturbation iMix
<http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=304235>
by Leander Kahney, Cult Of Mac
Hot on the heels of rejected iPod engravings comes the first rejected iMix: "One to Tango: Songs with a Masturbation Theme."

[Opinion]

*** Repeat After Me: Apple Is A Business
<http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=6954>
by Aaron Vegh, OSNews.com

[Review]

*** New iTunes Boosts Features, But Tweaks Copy Rules
<http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/8597099.htm?1c>
by Matthew Fordahl, Associated Press
All the improvements outweigh the tighter copyright restriction, but the fact that the rules are fluid lends credence to concerns that people are losing freedom and control over what's stored on their computers.

*** Does Size Really Matter? Debating The 12-Inch Vs. 15-Inch PowerBook
<http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1183>
by Vincent Laforet, SportsShooter.com

[Sidetrack]

*** Rumor Today: What's In 10.4? 
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/2004/05/06/#20040506bg000001>
by Heng-Cheong Leong
AppleInsider<http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=444> has some guesses.

*** Dear Clippy... 
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/2004/05/06/#20040506bg000002>
by Heng-Cheong Leong
Find out more about Clippy, or Microsoft Agent technology, in this piece by Chris Pratley<http://blogs.msdn.com/chris_pratley/archive/2004/05/05/126888.aspx>.

[Wintel]

*** Microsoft Plans Laptop Tune-Up With Longhorn
<http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5206891.html>
by Ina Fried, CNET News.com
With the next version of Windows, Microsoft is looking at the possibility of a separate user interface that could be instantly accessed for playing back movies, music and other media files. The company is even exploring ways that mediaf iles could be accessed without logging into Windows as a way to make the experience more comparable to consumer electronic devices.

Editor's Notes : I think it is great that Microsoft is exploring new ways to make life easier for users. However, it should keep in mind that people buy a computer because it is a computer, and not because it is a DVD player. There is a difference between making life easier, and dumbing down life.

*** Longhorn Tastes The Apple
<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1585533,00.asp>
by Richard Fisco, PC Magazine
Overall, Longhorn still had an Apple look to it. I suppose imitation is a form of flattery, after all.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/tomorrow/index.html>
Emerging Technology. Innovative Applications. New Economy.

[News]

*** Voice Recognition Without The Voice
<http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/05/05/HNnovoice_1.html>
by Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
NTT DoCoMo showed a prototype system that uses electromyography, or EMG, to measure the electrical acitivity in facial muscles used when a person speaks. Mouthing the words without sounds means the user of such a system could communicate in a noisy room.

*** The Bionic Running Shoe
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/technology/circuits/06shoe.html>
by Michel Marriott, New York Times
Shoes have long been sensible. Now some are getting smart.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/reader/index.html>
The other things in life

[Life]

*** Honey, They Shrunk The Newspaper
<http://slate.msn.com/id/2100012/fr/rss/>
by Jack Shafer, Slate
Reading the electronic versions of the New York Times and Washington Post.

*** Friends: A Great Soap Opera Masquerading As A Great Sitcom
<http://slate.msn.com/id/2100008/fr/rss/>
by Chris Suellentrop, Slate
There are flaws in the sitcoms-are-dead hypothesis, beyond the fact that it's the kind of story that gets published every time a major sitcom goes off the air.

*** Twilight Of The Sitcom Gods (Cue The Strings)
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/arts/television/06STAN.html>
by Alessandra Stanley, New York Times
Viewers grieving over the end of "Friends" and "Frasier" are not just bidding farewell to their favorite sitcoms, they are mourning the genre itself, and that may well justify some hoopla and hyperbole.

SingaporeSurf
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/index.html>
Life in the city

[News]

*** An Ikea Six Times Bigger In Pipeline?
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,249471,00.html?>
by Serene Goh, Straits Times
With NTUC and Mustafa, it is one of the three big retailers planning to exploit warehouse retail scheme.

*** Valuair Chief Lashes Out At Big AIrlines' Price Cuts
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,249505,00.html?>
by Karamjit Kaur, Straits Times
SIA, Cathay should fight each other, not budget carriers.