[MyAppleMenu] Dec 24, 2005

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[News]

*** iPod Overseas Report: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
<http://ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/ipod-overseas-report-kuala-lumpur-malaysia/>
Jeremy Horwitz, iLounge

*** As iPods Proliferate, An All-Online Music Industry Is Born
<http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=60963&section=business>
Alex Veiga, Associated Press

*** Pricing Of Downloaded Songs Prompts Antitrust Subpoenas
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/24/business/24music.html?ex=1293080400&en=d56b7c7dc362b56a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Jeff Leeds, New York Times

Tne New York attorney general is investigating whether the four record companies that dominate the industry have violated antitrust laws in the pricing of songs that are sold by internet music services, according to people involved in the inquiry.

*** Shoppers Still Find iPods In Short Supply
<http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=IPOD-POPULAR-12-23-05>
Joyzelle Davis, Scripps Howard News Service

*** Mac Mini: Not Just For Your Desk
<http://www.macobserver.com/article/2005/12/23.8.shtml>
Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer

Apple had its own vision for the Mac mini, but many adventurous users have taken the diminutive powerhouse far beyond what Apple had in mind.

*** Macs And iPods Sell well This Christmas
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=13446>
Macworld UK

Resellers across the US are expecting to sell more iPods and Macs this Christmas than they did last year, according to analysts at Piper Jaffray.

[Opinion]

*** Should Apple Port The iLife Suite?
<http://www.applematters.com/index.php/section/comments/695/>
James R. Stoup, Apple Matters

*** The Cult Of Mac
<http://www.rexblog.com/2005/12/23#a9141>
Rex Hammock, Rexblog.com

Mac people, listen up: Don't blame the customer when something Apple does screws up.

[Review]

*** My (New) Mate, TextMate
<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8844?CMP=OTC-13IV03560550&ATT=My+(new)+mate+TextMate>
Giles Turnbull, O'Reilly Network

TextMate offers everything I like in BBEdit and plenty more.

[Sidetrack]

*** Rumor Today: Mysterious New Desktop Machine Coming?
Heng-Cheong Leong

Jared Schmidt <http://iam.jaredschmidt.com/2005/12/23/weirdness-on-the-mac-page/>: I noticed something in the top global navigation bar... a grey box that is just about the correct size for a slice of a new system, equal in size to the Mac mini and iMac slices...

Hmmm... Or maybe it was the eMac that was removed?

*** The Key To iTunes Happiness
Heng-Cheong Leong

In my opinion, the key to being happy in using iTunes/iPod is not to think of the underlying file system. Throw away whatever you've learnt about the Finder and the file system and directories and file names and such. If you do so, you'd end up like Dave Winer <http://www.scripting.com/2005/12/23.html#aCaseStudyIllustratesWhyTheIpodIsTooFancyForItsOwnGood>, not being happy because of the additional "layer on top of the filesystem."

Instead, think of iTunes as a database. You don't go poke around inside an Oracle or MySQL or Frontier database to see the bits and bytes; so you don't go inside the iTunes library folder to see the individual files and such.

Manage your iTunes library with iTunes. (Or if you are adventurous, write your own Applescripts or ActiveX container.) Embrace ID3 tags. Embrace playlists and smart playlists.

Then you will be happy.

:-)

*** Lessons For The Day
Heng-Cheong Leong

1. Never ever expect <http://q.queso.com/archives/001829> IE to exhibit predictable behavior.

2. When you bundle your umbrella back up after it's been drying overnight, you might want to open it up <http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2005/12/you_learn_somet.html> and peek in real quick or you just might be carrying around a live tree frog for most of a day.

*** Yule Log For Your Pod
Heng-Cheong Leong

This Christmas, remember to bring along a burning yule log <http://www.boingboing.net/2005/12/23/portable_yule_log_mo.html> home.

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

[News]

*** France May Sanction P2P Downloads
<http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/0,39020645,39243632,00.htm>
Anne Broache, CNET News.com

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

[World]

*** The History Behind Munich
<http://www.slate.com/id/2133085/>
Aaron J. Klein, Slate

Separating truth from fiction in Spielberg's movie.

[Life]

*** A City Bereft Without Its Living Room
<http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4c9ebbec-723c-11da-9ff7-0000779e2340.html>
Francesco Guerrera, Financial Times

In most cities in the world, refurbishment of a hotel would barely register with long-term dwellers. But in Hong Kong, news that the lights at the Mandarain will go dark to allow for refurbishment has caused consternation and disappointment among the bankers, lawyers, ladies-who-lunch and, if truth be told, journalists who make up the expat community.

*** Family Values
<http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5323679&no_na_tran=1>
The Economist

Capitalism and sex-toys in China.

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

[News]

*** Premier Shopping Hub In Singapore A Fantasy Of Lights
<http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/12/24/nation/12954137&sec=nation>
The Star

*** It Isn't Feedback Fatigue
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/91950.asp>
Loh Chee Kong, Today

"More direct channels of feedback have opened up and that's encouraging. A lot of people are writing to the ministries directly."

*** Singapore Tips
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2005/12/24/ettip24.xml&sSheet=/travel/2005/12/24/ixtrvhome.html>
Mark Rowe, Telegraph

It seems a natural evolutionary process for Singapore's well-behaved, ultra-trustworthy cabbies to become tour guides in their own right.

*** SM Goh Hints General Election Likely To Be Earlier Than Mid-2007
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/185140/1/.html>
Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia

"The economy will be good next year, so I can tell you the PM is thinking when to hodl the elections."