[MyAppleMenu] Nov 22, 2005

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[News]

*** iPod DRM Faces Another Reverse-Engineering Challenge
<http://playlistmag.com/news/2005/11/21/ipoddrm/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Jim Dalrymple, Playlist

A company that specializes in rights-management technology for online stores has declared its plans to reverse-engineer the FairPlay encoding system Apple uses on iTunes Music Store purchases.

*** Intel Starts An 'Apple Group'
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1891873,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594>
Daniel Drew Turner, eWeek

Industry analysts and others have confirmed that Intel has formed an internal "Apple group," comprising of engineers and sales staff.

*** Online Music's Elusive Bottom Line
<http://businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2005/tc20051121_661846.htm>
Burt Helm, BusinessWeek

As competition grows and costs rise, the key question is this: Is this a black-ink business or just a loss leader to promote a broader brand?

*** His Goal Was To Make It Simple To Use And A Joy To Look At. He Succeeded. The Result Was The iPod
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/19/nive19.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/11/19/ixnewstop.html>
David Derbyshire, Telegraph

There are two things you need to know about Jonathan Ive. First, he is the most important British industrial designer of our time. He changed the way millions listen to music and helped liberate computers from dull beige boxes. Second, he is rather shy.

*** iTunes Outsells Traditional Music Stores
<http://news.com.com/iTunes+outsells+traditional+music+stores/2100-1027_3-5965314.html?part=rss&tag=5965314&subj=news>
John Borland, CNET News.com

Apple's ITunes music store now sells more music than Tower Records or Borders, according to analyst firm the NPD Group.

*** Apple Sews Up long-Term Flash Memory Deals
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/11/21/memory/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Peter Cohen, Macworld

Apple on Monday announced that it has reached long-term supply agreements with five major manufacturers of NAND flash memory.

*** TiVo Speaks On Mac Desktop Software, iPod Support
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/11/21/tivointerview/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Peter Cohen, Macworld

[Opinion]

*** Group Therapy For iPod Users
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08334>
Steven Sande, TidBITS

Hi, my name is Steve S. and I have an iPod problem.

*** Not So Fast With The Apple Praise
<http://q.queso.com/archives/001811>
Q Daily News

Te charge means that adding an extended warranty to your iPod isn't $59, it's actually a minimum of $89 -- you have to pay the $59, and then each time you need to send your iPod in for service, you'll have to pay another $30. Bleah.

*** Let's Get Small
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2005/11/nano/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Dan Miller, Macworld

Now that I've been living with the nano, I find I like it because it forces me to be more selective about the music I put on it.

[Review]

*** Fairies 1.0a
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/gameroom/2005/11/fairies1/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Peter Cohen, Macworld

Fairies is a beautiful puzzle game with enough variation that you can lose yourself for hours.

*** Getting The Video Out Of Your New iPod -- For Cheap!
<http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/11/18/video-ipod.html?CMP=OTC-13IV03560550&ATT=Getting+the+Video+out+of+Your+New+iPod--for+Cheap!>
Erica Sadun, O'Reilly Network

You don't have to fork out for an outrageously priced "proprietary" Apple video cable. You don't even have to buy an expensive dock.

[Sidetrack]

*** If You Really Really Must Have DRM, Why Not Knock On Audible's Door?
Heng-Cheong Leong

First, it was Real. Now, Navio Systems <http://playlistmag.com/news/2005/11/21/ipoddrm/index.php?lsrc=mwrss> is trying to reverse-engineer FairPlay so that others can sell DRM-ed music that can be played on iPods.

Why do such "illegal" (your mileage of the legality might differ from RIAA lawyers....) and prone-to-failure manuveur?

If you really must sell DRM stuff, why not go through Audible, whose DRM system is also available on the iPod? (Or is there a secret contract between Apple and Audible that forbids Audible from selling music, something like that little contract between Apple and Apple?)

But really, why use DRM in the first place? That says a lot about the attitute towards honest customers. If you're really scared, try watermarking instead, which allows you to trace who're the "criminals" while not punishing the honest customers.

*** Why Microsoft Is So Good...
Heng-Cheong Leong

Long period between announcement and delivery; Service patches almost immediately after release; Marketing hype. All these are already perfected even during the days of Windows 1.0 <http://www.downloadsquad.com/2005/11/20/happy-birthday-windows/> days. :-)

*** The First Step Is The Most Frightening
Heng-Cheong Leong

I've been to Saigon, and I totally agree with what Kottke <http://www.kottke.org/05/11/traffic-flow> says: "American pedestrians are taught to fear cars[...] and trusting them to avoid you while you're basically the frog in Frogger... well, it takes a little getting used to."

To cross a street, as Kottke reminds me, is simply to more or less ignore the cars. Just wait till there's a smaller opening, step onto the road, and walk across slowly. And watch, in amazement, as the cars filter around you.

Taking that first step is the most frightening part. After I get used to that, cross roads was so much easier.

[Wintel]

*** Microsoft To Give Office Access To Rivals
<http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e9f5c0f8-5ab7-11da-8628-0000779e2340.html>
Maija Palmer, Financial Times

Microsoft will on Tuesday announce it is opening up access to its Office file formats to competitors, as part of a move to ensure the software giant does not lose lucrative government markets for its Office software.

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

[News]

*** Outsourcing To The Heartland
<http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,69585,00.html?tw=rss.TOP>
Emma Johnson, Wired News

Rural Sourcing claims to provide information technology services at 30 to 50 percent below most U.S. consulting firms by tapping into the increasing number of IT professionals in rural America, where overhead and wages are lower than in metropolitan areas.

*** So Why Do We Need Skype, Anyway?
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1891036,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594>
David Coursey, eWeek

Do we need Skype or just want it? And is just wanting it worth the risk -- even a small one?

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

[World]

*** President Thelma
<http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051205/goldstein>
Richard Goldstein, The Nation

The heat this show generates suggests that men have calmed down enough to contemplate the pleasures of female power.

[Life]

*** In A Losing Race With The Zeitgeist
<http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/goldstein/cl-et-goldstein22nov22,0,3365622.column?coll=cl-home-more-channels>
Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

The era of moviegoing as a mass audience ritual is slowly but inexorably drawing to a close.

*** What If They Open This Hotel And Nobody Comes?
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/international/middleeast/22damascus.html>
Michael Slackman, New York Times

The bravest man in Syria these days may well be a mild-mannered hotel manager named Markus W. Iseli.

*** 75-Year-Old Jewel Thief Looks Back
<http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10072306/>
Angie Wagner, Associated Press

Style and cunning allowed her to confuse store clerks.

[Expressions]

*** Love And Obstacles
<http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/content/articles/051128fi_fiction>
Aleksandar hemon, New Yorker

*** Self-Protrait, Masturbating -- after Egon Schiele
<http://www.slate.com/id/2120099/>
Steve Gehrke, Slate

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

[Ramblings]

*** Repeat After Me: Innocent Before Proven Guilty In Court
Heng-Cheong Leong

Another letter-writer in Today, this time a fellow going by the name Lionel de Souza, assumed anyone who has been arrested to be guilty.

The description, "people choosing to break the law", was used by him to describe suspects being arrested.

[News]

*** Europe MPs Urge Singapore To Spare Austrlian's Life
<http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1335937>
Reuters

European parliamentarians criticized Singapore's mandatory death penalty on Tuesday and urged the government to stop next week's scheduled execution of a 25-year-old Austrlian drug smuggler.

*** CNN's Latest Coverage Of Van's Case
<http://singabloodypore.blogspot.com/2005/11/cnns-latest-coverage-of-vans-case.html>
Singabloodypore

*** ERP Changes Impact Retail Business
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/85860.asp>
Jasmine Yin, Today

Retailers report drop of between 4 and 14 per cent.

*** Hanging In The Balance
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17320870%255E28737,00.html>
Florence Chong, The Australian

Australia's campaign to save convicted drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van from the hangman's noose has created an increasingly dangerous undercurrent in an otherwise stable bilateral relationship.

[Opinion]

*** Joy In The Morning
<http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2005/11/joy_in_the_morn.html>
mr brown

Please welcome hte latest little brown!

*** At The Heart Of The Death Penalty
<http://puck.globbo.org/?p=39>
A Floating Life

Why do Singaporeans remain silent on those instances?

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

[Tunes]

*** I Don't Wanna Lose You Yet
<http://www.supersuckers.com/downloads.php>
Supersuckers
<http://www.supersuckers.com/media/mp3/06%20I%20Don't%20Wanna%20Lose%20You%20Yet.mp3>