[MyAppleMenu] Oct 20, 2004

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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<http://www.myapplemenu.com/>
Mac news for Mac people

[News]

*** iPod Bribe For UK Retailers
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=9949&Page=1&pagePos=11>
Macworld UK

Apple has been promising retailers: "Let us come and pitch our product to you for an hour and we'll give you an iPod."

*** Apple iTunes Wins Digital Music Awards
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=9937>
Jonny Evans, Macworld UK

Apple iTunes Music Store won recognition once again last night, at the Digital Music Awards.

*** Kids Make The News As Presidential Election Nears
<http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_18273186.shtml>
Jean Peerenboom, Green Bay Press-Gazette

Parkview Middle School eighth-graders are learning as much about sound bites, newscasts and movie-making as they are about the election with their iMovie production.

*** Due For Reassessment: Sony
<http://www.lnreview.co.uk/music/004469.php>
London News Review

Song has rebranded themselves as thugs who are playing also-rans to the iPod.

*** Mac OS X V10.4 Tiger: Developer Overview
<http://developer.apple.com/macosx/tiger/index.html>
Apple

This article will highlight some of the most exciting new technlogies in Tiger and show what they will mean for developers.

*** 10 Years Of OpenStep
<http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/19/130243>
Slashdot

Today, the OpenStep API celebrates its 10 anniversary. What started out as a joint adventure of NeXT and SUN to define an application development standard that would run on all machines, making 'write once, compile everywhere' a reality, is still unfolding within the vivid and active community of GNUstep, old NeXT, and Apple lovers.

*** Apple VP: No New PowerBooks Before The Holidays
<http://www.macminute.com/2004/10/19/powerbooks/>
MacMinute

According to Dvaid Moody, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Mac Product Marketing, Apple fans shouldn't expect new or revamped PowerBooks before Christmas.

*** Apple Offers Tiger Early Start Kit For Developers
<http://www.macminute.com/2004/10/19/tigerkit/>
MacMinute

The Tiger Early Start Kit for Developers is priced at US$500 and includes: a year-long ADC Select membership, pre-release versions of Tiger and Xcode 2.0, and more.

[Opinion]

*** Quiz Tests How Well You Know Your Mac
<http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1098185721149913.xml>
Al Fasoldt, The Post-Standard

How well do you know your OS X Macinotsh? Here's a 10-part quiz.

*** Today's Theme: Themes
<http://daringfireball.net/2004/10/themes>
John Gruber, Daring Fireball

Consistency in and of itself has been a fundamental pillar of the Mac user experience from 1984 onward. But with Apple no longer leading the way, it's fading. "At least it's still more consistent than Windows" is not high praise.

*** Nowhere To Run: Why Mac Programs Don't Work On Your PC, And Why They Will Soon
<http://slate.msn.com/id/2108399/fr/rss/>
Paul Boutin, Slate

I can't imagine that a generation from now, people will still tolerate incompatible breeds of digital devices, any more than we'd accept a Sprint phone that couldn't take calls from an AT&T phone... My hope is that, in another decade, when I find a cool new piece of software, I'll be able to run it anywhere I want.

*** Microsoft Movves In On Music Downloads
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/19/msn_music_npd/>
Faultline, The Register

Investors, at least, don't think that Microsoft can undo everything Apple has worked for over the past three years, in one single announcement.

[Review]

*** Second-Class Software? Not Anymore
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2004/10/secondclass/index.php>
Jason Snell, Macworld

I thought I'd join in the fun and add a handful of the great low-cost Mac programs I use constantly on my Mac.

[Sidetrack]

*** New On MyAppleMenu
Heng-Cheong Leong

Here are some of the new things here on MyAppleMenu:

This site is now licensed under a Creative Commons License <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/>, which allows you to copy, distribute, display, and to make derivative works, so long they are for non-commercial purposes.

The web page layout has been cleaned up a little, but it shouldn't be noticeable.

The monthly archive <http://www.myapplemenu.com/2004/10/> will list all the daily contents throughout the month, instead of just individual links to the daily archives. (However, note that I have not converted most of the older archives to the new format yet.)

The Google ads (on the web page) has been moved to the right, so as to be less intrusive (I hope.)

Enjoy, and do report any bugs <mailto:webmaster at myapplemenu.com> to me. Thank you.

*** Some Random Thoughts From A (Newly) Cocoa Programmer
Heng-Cheong Leong

I've signed up on a new project at work, and it's a job that invovles programming on the Mac OS X. Yeah! My last Macintosh project (for real money) was working on some multimedia stuff on System 7/8 long long time ago, so this is really the first time I'm playing around with Cocoa and Mac OS X as a developer.

Anyhoo, here are some of my first impressions:

Cocoa is great -- much better than MFC. (I have not really examined .Net up close yet, so no comparison from me.)

Is it me, or does the FileMerge application need some work on the UI front? I've already lost work a few times using that little beast. Now, I am super-careful when using this application.

I want my Think Reference updated for the 21st century. In fact, Apple needs to strive for the quality of Inside Macintosh for its current documentation, which is somewhat lacking.

Why, after so many years, it is still so "difficult" to create a full-screen application on the Macintosh?

*** Cheered Me Up
Heng-Cheong Leong

For some reason that I'm not too sure, I really like this little poem <http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=9249> by John Mazur.

*** Rumor Today: Expanded Multi-User Controls, QuickTime Sharing Spotted In New Tiger Builds
Heng-Cheong Leong

AppleInsider <http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=702> has apparently gotten hold of a recent build of Tiger. If you are eager to find out what's new in multiple user control and QuickTime player, do take a look.

*** Amazon Is Guessing
Heng-Cheong Leong

Now, Amazon.com has a "June 30 <http://www.macminute.com/2004/10/19/tiger/>, 2005" ship date tagged for Mac OS X Tiger. As I've said <http://www.macminute.com/2004/10/19/tiger/> before -- Amazon is guessing. Just like the rest of us.

[Wintel]

*** Microsoft To Debut 'Istanbul' Applicaton
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Microsoft-Unified-Communication.html?oref=login&ex=1256011200&>
Associated Press

Microsoft introduced on Tuesday a desktop computer application that aims to seamlessly integrate e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, traditional phone service and Internet-based calling.

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

[Top Stories]

*** Is The Software License Dead?
<http://news.com.com/Is+the+software+license+dead%3F/2100-1014_3-5418168.html?part=rss&tag=5418168&subj=news.1014.20>
Alorie Gilbert, CNET News.com

The business of selling software is due for an extreme makeover, industry executives said at the SoftSummit conference in Santa Clara.

[News]

*** The State Of Java
<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/editors/java_1004.html>
chromatic, O'Reilly Network

Is the Java revolution over? Has the big business-frinedly approach turned Java into the new COBOL? Is the momentum behind .NET and Mono stealing away the cool factor that Java once enjoyed? Are those even bad things?

*** Pay-As-You-Go Software Licensing Going Slow
<http://news.com.com/Pay-as-you-go+software+licensing+going+slow/2100-7784_3-5418184.html?part=rss&tag=5418184&subj=news.7784.20>
David Becker, CNET News.com

Pay-as-you-go software might sound like a fine idea in principle, but it's a bear to put into practice.

*** HP Offers Peek At Future Computer Monitors
<http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/hardware/story/0,10801,96779,00.html>
Scarlet Pruitt, Computerworld

It's working on a high-resolution paper-like display using plastic instead of glass.

*** Why Web Publishers Fear A LIttle Sharing
<http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2004/nf20041019_9800_db016.htm>
Olga Kharif, BusinessWeek

Surfers are increasingly sharing passwords to gain access to online content, threatening ad revenue at registration-only sites.

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

[Winners Of City Paper's Fiction & Poetry Contest]

*** The Town Of McManus
<http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=9245>
Stephen Peterson, City Paper

*** Permachuck
<http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=9246>
Susan Lantz, City Paper

*** In July, 2057, My Great-Granddaughter Considers An Old Photograph
<http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=9247>
Kevin Coll, City Paper

*** The Biker Mermaids
<http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=9248>
Mark S. Sanders, City Paper

*** Grandpa Was A Fisherman
<http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=9249>
John Mazur, City Paper

*** I Love You When You're A Real Dog
<http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=9250>
Susan Olson, City Paper

[World]

*** No Jokes Or Spin. It's Time (Gasp) To Talk.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/20/arts/television/20watc.html?ex=1256011200&#38;en=6a518d5fce265b76&%2338;ei=5088&%2338;partner=rssnyt>
Alessandra Stanley, New York Times

There is nothing more painful than watching a comedian turn self-righteous. Unless of course, the comedian is lashing out at smug and self-serving television-news personalities.

[Tech & Science]

*** From A Physicist And New Nobel Winner, Some Food For Thought
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/science/19phys.html?ex=1256011200&#38;en=a0966c8ead6987de&%2338;ei=5088&%2338;partner=rssnyt>
Dennis Overbye, New York Times

As reflected in the talks at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, the history of physics is, like the universe, a story of expansion.

[Life]

*** Breaking Ramadan's Fast With A Family Meal
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/20/dining/20RAMA.html>
Joan Nathan, New York Times

For millions of Muslims in the United States, food takes on a new significance this month: in a land of gratification they spend a month denying themselves pleasure.

*** Looks Like Diversity, But It Tastes Like Tuna
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/20/dining/20SAME.html?oref=login>
Frank Bruni, New York Times

Behind a comforting illusion of diversity lies an even more comforting reality of sameness. In a city of supposedly inexhaustible options, there seems to be one meal, shaped by tyrannical culinary trends, pervasive nutritional fads and the economics of supply and demand.

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

[News]

*** Singapore Schools Think Out Of The Box To Achieve 5-Day Work Week
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/112579/1/.html>
Ca-Mie De Souza, Channel NewsAsia

Letting teachers come to school at a later time, tightening the curriculum and spending less time on it -- these are some of the ways schools are thinking out of the box to maximise time in school and achieve a five-day work week.

*** Sing Sing For Singapore Pirates
<http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,11127694%5E15405%5E%5Enbv%5E15306-15322,00.html>
The Australian

Singapore will next year introduce jail terms and stiff fines for people who break software and internet copyright laws, the government warned.

*** Singapore Optimistic That Bilateral Ties With Malaysia Can Progress To New Level
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/112403/1/.html>
Ken Teh, Channel NewsAsia