[MyAppleMenu] Dec 13, 2005

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[News]

*** Music Downloads Stall As Apple Counts On Vouchers As Revnues Ticket
<http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/81299/music-downloads-stall-as-apple-counts-on-vouchers-as-revenues-ticket.html>
Simon Aughton, PC Pro

Apple is hoping that 'off the charts' sales of iTunes Music Store vouchers will rejuvenate digital music sales after Nielsen SoundScan reported a fall in average weekly downloads.

*** iPod Dominates US Search Terms
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=13349&Page=1&pagePos=1>
Jonny Evans, Macworld UK

iPods will be under Christmas trees worldwide this season, new web statistics suggest.

*** Apple iPod: The New Public Access?
<http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051212-100448-6935r>
Michelle Alexandria, UPI

While Apple seems focused on making mainstream "repurposed" broadcast network programming its focus, it's the independent producers who really seem keen on the idea of taking advantage of the platform.

*** What We Learned From 'Cost Plus 5 Percent'
<http://news.com.com/2061-10786_3-5992261.html?part=rss&tag=5992261&subj=news>
Scott Ard, CNET News.com

It turns out that CompUSA apparently makes a pittance on Apple (and other) hardware.

*** Video Podcasts
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/magazine/11ideas_section4-15.html>
Robert Mackey, New York Times

*** Accessories For iPod: To The Tune Of $300m
<http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2005/12/12/accessories_for_ipod_to_the_tune_of_300m/>
John P. Mello Jr, Boston Globe

The iPod accessories market has become a powerhouse in its own right, to the tune of more than $300 million annually.

*** Steve Jobs Gets BusinessWeek Cover -- Again
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=13341>
Jonny Evans, Macworld UK

*** Yet Another MP3 Player Bites The Dust
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=13337>
Jonny Evans, Macworld UK

Thomson is to sell the last of its consumer electronics assets by June 2006, in order to focus on providing media industry services.

*** RIP, iPod Mini? No Way, Fans Say
<http://news.com.com/RIP%2C+iPod+Mini+No+way%2C+fans+say/2100-1041_3-5991748.html?part=rss&tag=5991748&subj=news>
Michelle Meyers, CNET News.com

Even though Apple discontinued the iPod mini in September and replaced it with the nano, some consumers have been reluctant to take the mini off their gift lists -- and they're willing to pay top dollar to nab one.

[Opinion]

*** Apple's Next Move
<http://www.slate.com/id/2132095/>
Adam L. Penenberg, Slate

If Steve Jobs can make the iPod an entertainment hub, Apple will be the company to beat, a feat it could never accomplish with personal computers.

*** Apple May be Holding Back The Music Biz
<http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_51/b3964063.htm>
Peter Burrows and Tom Lowry, BusinessWeek

*** Learning To Live With Thunderbird
<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8716?CMP=OTC-13IV03560550&ATT=Learning+to+live+with+Thunderbird>
Giles Turnbull, O'Reilly Network

Mail's continui9ng inabiility to work fast was just annoying; but last week, when it decided to stop displayin threaded messages in a logical manner, I lost my temper very quickly.

[Review]

*** And iPods Were Snug In Their Cases...
<http://www.suntimes.com/output/tech/cst-fin-ipod13.html>
Howard Wolinsky, Chicago Sun-Times

It's now raining cases.

*** Getting Video Into The iPod Video
<http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=36186>
Kevin Schmitt, Digital Video Editing

*** Mathematica CalcCenter 3: Easy-But-Powerful Math Software
<http://www.macaddict.com/issues/2005/12/reviews/calccenter>
Carey Myslewski, MacAddict

*** You've Got (Specific) Mail...
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macgems/2005/12/dockstar/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

[Sidetrack]

*** Rumor Today: Here Comes The Intel Chime
Heng-Cheong Leong

AppleInsider <http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1410>: Sources say prototypes of the first Intel Macs currently sport an unfamiliar boot chime, suggesting that Apple is at least toying with the idea making the change.

Maybe, just maybe, the chime will include a watermark to trace who leaked the Intel Mac OS? :-)

*** Rumor Today: AppleXnet's Early Look At MWSF Floor Plan
Heng-Cheong Leong

AppleXnet <http://applexnet.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1673>: We've been sitting on this PDF we "found" for a little while now...

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

[News]

*** An Industry Unwilling To Play By Rules Of 'Fair Use'
<http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-golden12dec12,1,2853707.column?coll=la-headlines-technology>
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times

Scarcely a week passes without the entertainment industry warning us that its business model is about to be exterminated by some new technology.

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

[Tech & Science]

*** Children Learn By Monkey See, Monkey Do. Chimps Don't.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/science/13essa.html?ex=1292130000&en=fc49d61dca899a21&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Carl Zimmer, New York Times

We don't appreciate just how automatically we rely on imitation, because usually it serves us so well.

[Life]

*** Becoming Mary Poppins
<http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/051219fa_fact1>
Caitlin Flanagan, New Yorker

P.L. Travers, Walt Disney, and the making of a myth.

*** A Storybook Beginning
<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/12/12/a_storybook_beginning/>
David Mehegan, Boston Globe

Like most winners of a big prize, Jeanne Birdsall is bemused, stunned, and happy. But winning the 2005 National Book Award last month for her first children's novel, "The Penderwicks," seems not to please her as much as bonding with her lifelong literary heroes.

*** Japan Loves Its Little Villages, But Wants Fewer Of Them
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/international/asia/13japan.html>
James Brooke, New York Times

Tokyo is resorting to a financial sleight of hand that is largely invisible to visitors to the countryside. It is cutting the numbers of towns and villages nearly in half.

[Expressions]

*** Twenty Grand
<http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/content/articles/051219fi_fiction>
Rebecca Curtis, New Yorker

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

[Ramblings]

*** NTU Raises Hostel Rates
Heng-Cheong Leong

Today <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/89860.asp>: The [NTU] spokesperson said the university conducted a market survey and found that its current rental rates were "much lower" than that of other local universities.

Read: We just discovered that we can charge more and get away with it.

[News]

*** Free Checkup, But There's A Blood 'Fee'?
<http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,98762,00.html>
Maureen Koh, New Paper

It was to be a public service to senior citizens above 55 years old. But to their surprise, they claimed they soon learnt that this 'free' service came with a condition: Some elderly participants said they were told they had to sign a consent form to agree to take part in a study.

*** Singapore Reaffirms Casino Plan
<http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/ManageArticle.asp?C=280&A=16208>
Gambling Magazine

Singapore will stick to its "basic principles" of governance and land pricing for its second planned casino resort, despite a decision Friday by two bidders to drop out of the race for the first site, a government official said.

*** Will Andrew Kuan End His Legal Battles?
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/89862.asp>
Derrick A Paulo, Today

[Opinion]

*** Singapore Is Not A Bloodthirsty City
<http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1213tuelets134.html>
Jeff Bock, Arizona Republic

Singapore is not China, where executions take place the same day as the trial.

*** Employer Would Be Less Critical If She Had To Work As A Maid
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,5562,358427,00.html?>
Chang Nam Yuen, Straits Times

*** NSmen Under Pressure To Donate Blood
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,5562,358572,00.html?>
Tan Hong Wui, Straits Times

Organisers of blood-donation drives should refrain from pressurising potential donors through the use of rewards.

*** Move On, Singapore
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/89849.asp>
Patrick Duffy, Today

As Singapore has focused on the tangible and material elements of this, it appears to have failed to notice the world moving on.

The Shuffle by MyAppleMenu
==================================================
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/podcast/>
Life is random. More tunes, less talk.

[Tunes]

*** Missed The Train
<http://www.cubcountry.com/discography.html>
Cub Country
<http://www.cubcountry.com/Missed%20The%20Train%201.mp3>