[MyAppleMenu] Jan 31, 2005

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[Top Stories]

*** Apple Bumps PowerBooks To 1.67GHz, Lowers Price
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/01/31/powerbook/index.php?lsrc=mcrss-0105>
Peter Cohen, MacCentral

Apple on Monday announced a modest speed bump to its line of PowerBook G4 laptops, increasing the high-end processor from 1.5GHz to 1.67GHz. The refreshed laptop line gains 512MB of standard RAM, faster grpahics, faster hard drives and 8x "SuperDrives," as well as 802.11g-based wireless networking, Bluetooth 2.0 and two patent-pending technologies -- the scrolling TrackPad and the Sudden Motion Sensor.

*** Hallelujiah, The Mac Is Back
<http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2005/01/31/mac_is_the_future/index_np.html>
Farhad Manjoo, Salon

Weary of spyware, tired of virus attacks, a nation turns its lonely eyes to... Apple?

[News]

*** Using A Suitcase As A Speaker For The Apple iPod
<http://www.geekmac.com/content.asp?contentid=3940>
GeekMac

*** Loading Digital Music: Popular Portable Players Create Cottage Industry
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/31/BUG3RB288K1.DTL>
Benny Evangelista, San Francisco Chronicle

While that process may seem relatively simple for savvy computer users, Robins knows there are many more consumers who don't have the time to convert an entire collection, especially if ripping one CD takes five to 10 minutes.

*** Beyond iPod, Apple Grows Healthy Software Business
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/31/BUG46B1RL11.DTL>
Matthew Yi, San Francisco Chronicle

More user-friendly software could prove critical for Apple as it tries to increase its base of Macintosh users.

*** Boom Of The iPod Add-Ons
<http://news.com.com/Boom+of+the+iPod+add-ons/2100-1047_3-5555420.html?part=rss&tag=5555420&subj=news.1047.20>
Ina Fried, CNET News.com

Stratospheric iPod sales have created a vast opportunity for other companies to sell companion gear, but the spoils have gone to those able to keep pace with Apple, which has introduced at least a half dozen kinds of iPods since the first model arrived in late 2001.

*** Apple's iPod Shuffle At The Origin Of A Price War
<http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2005/01/apples_ipod_shu.html>
ubergizmo

*** School Laptops Win Hearts And Minds
<http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/living/education/10763209.htm?1c>
Megan Boldt, Pioneer Press

A five-year, $1.75 million Apples-for-everyone deal met resistance but now is embraced.

*** Apple Edges Google As Top Brand
<http://www.macminute.com/2005/01/30/apple-brand/>
MacMinute

"Apple's just done an extraordinary job with innovation, technology and desing."

*** What The iPods Are Wearing These Days
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/technology/circuits/27site.html?ex=1264741200&en=559d3df052230c8b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt>
Rachel Metz, New York Times

For the iPod, perhaps the toy with the most toys, a couple in Sydney, Australia, want you to consider one more accessory: a sort of sleeping bag, better known as the foofpod.

*** iPod Fanatics Just Can't Help Themselves
<http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MTImZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY2NDYyNjcmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3>
Leslie Koren, North Jersey Media Group

*** Me, Myself And iPod
<http://www.dailypress.com/entertainment/dp-55162sy0jan30,0,5997003.story?coll=dp-entertainment-front>
Sam Mcdonald, Daily Press

The iPod revolution has pushed through the ranks of young, trendy consumers and into the very heart of the local populace.

*** Name That Tune: iTunes Lets You Eavesdrop On What The Stars Are Groovin' To
<http://theedge.bostonherald.com/artsNews/view.bg?articleid=65882>
Sean L. McCarthy, Boston Herald

More celebs are making their "mix tapes" available to the public on Apple's successful online music service.

[Opinion]

*** Dell: Beware The Beigh-Box Blahs
<http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2005/tc20050131_5798.htm>
Nicholas G. Carr, BusinessWeek

The PC maker shouldn't dismiss Apple's design-driven success. Markets historically evolve past commoditization to value style and special features.

*** Putting The i Into The Pod
<http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2005/01/30/local_news/opinion/opinions02.txt>
Les Minor, Texarkana Gazette

[Review]

*** Railroad Tycoon 3
<http://www.macaddict.com/issues/0502/rev.railroad.html>
Mary Tyler, MacAddict

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

[News]

*** Activists Urge Free Open-Source Software
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/10778556.htm>
Alan Clendenning, Associated Press

Activists at a leftist gathering where Microsoft is viewed as a corporate bogeyman urged developing nations Saturday to leap into the information age with free open-source software.

*** How To Make (Almost) Anything
<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/01/30/how_to_make_almost_anything/>
Katharine Dunn, Boston Globe

MIT's 'Fab Labs' project aims to give ordinary people around the world the technology to design and make their own stuff. Is this the dawn of the age of 'ersonal fabrication'?

*** SBC To Aquire AT&T For $16 Billion
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50690-2005Jan31.html?nav=rss_technology>
Yuki Noguchi, Washington Post

*** Area Codes Blur Boundaries
<http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,66437,00.html?tw=rss.TOP>
Elisa Batista, Wired News

Thanks to cellular and internet phones, anyone can make a call from anywhere -- and use any area code in the country. But the added mobility doesn't always bode well for businesses trying to operate in a messy world of multiple personal phones, calling numbers and area codes that differ from a person's home address.

*** Taking The Pulse Of Technology At Davos
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/technology/31newcon.html?ex=1264827600&en=ff3f2b8180b1a7a8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt>
John Markoff, New York Times

Nicholas Negroponte, the technology guru from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory, prowled the halls of the World Economic Forum holding the holy grail for crossing the digital divide: a mock-up of a $100 laptop computer.

*** Steal This Show
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/arts/television/30manl.html?oref=login>
Lorne Manly and John Markoff, New York Times

Homemade cable boxes. Episodes swiped off the Web. TV is becoming a do-it-yourself affair, and the industry is terrified.

*** Government IT Blunders Common
<http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,66445,00.html?tw=rss.TOP>
Associated Press

Experts blame poor planning, rapid industry advances and the massive scope of some complex projects whose price tags can run into billions of dollars at U.S. agencies with tens of thousands of employees.

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

[Life]

*** How Q Found Her Groove
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/nyregion/thecity/30feat.html?8hpib>
Jiro Adachi, New York Times

Young Japanese see New York City as a place to dance, to dare and to shine.

*** New-SAT Takers: Confused Yet?
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/nyregion/thecity/30WE.html?oref=login&pagewanted=all&position=>
Jennifer Medina, New York Times

Beyond the bare bones lies a huge gray area.

*** 14 Years Later, My Hollywood Ending
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/movies/30wein.html>
Bernard Weinraub, New York Times

Only in my 14 years [in Hollywood] -- most of it spend covering the movie industry, the rest covering television and music -- did I come face to face with some of the more startling, and not always pleasant, truths about human behavior, my own included.

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

[News]

*** Singapore Unemployment Rate Rises
<http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/31/bloomberg/sxsing.html>
Amit Prakash, Bloomberg

Unemployment in Singapore rose in the fourth quarter of last year as graduates joined the work force and students sought vacation jobs, the government said Monday.

*** An Ace To Trump Macau's
<http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GB01Ae03.html>
Lam Leng Kuan, Asia Times

Aside from Singapore, many other Asian countries are following in Macau's footsteps.

*** Betting On Casinos
<http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501050207/casinos.html>
Michael Schuman, Time

*** No Special Privileges Or Racial Quotas For Immigrants: Singapore PM
<http://www.deepikaglobal.com/latestnews.asp?ncode=25003>
UNI

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has assured the city state's citizens of Indian origin that the government will never compromise on meritocracy and multi-racialism even as it rethinks its policies and plans.

[Technology]

*** StarHub To Bring Popular i-Mode Service To Singapore
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/130086/1/.html>
Chua Chin Chye, Channel NewsAsia

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

[Tunes]

*** Cover
<http://www.lookoutrecords.com/catalog/item.php3?matrix_id=1020&bnd_id=380>
Engine Down, Engine Down
<http://www.lookoutrecords.com/mp3/879d2acc9cc8da2d/1106798766/10897/EngineDown-Cover.mp3>