[MyAppleMenu] Oct 12, 2005

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[News]

*** Apple Hones 'One More Thing' Hype
<http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,69172,00.html?tw=rss.TOP>
Pete Mortensen, Wired News

Apple would not comment on its marketing strategy, but the role of secrecy and speculation in building excitement for the company's launches is undeniable.

*** Apple Intends To Open 35-40 Retail Stores In 2006
<http://www.tuaw.com/2005/10/12/apple-intends-to-open-35-40-retail-stores-in-2006/>
Dave Caolo, Unofficial Apple Weblog

*** A New Store Just For iPod Accessories Reveals The Evolution Of An Obsession
<http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzipod114464589oct11,0,3759557.story?coll=ny-business-headlines>
Richard J. Dalton Jr., Newsday

Soon after consumers buy their iPods, the obsession begins.

*** Deal Seals Anti-Apple Coalition
<http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,69180,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2>
Associated Press

A broad settlement between RealNetworks and its longtime foe Microsoft goes a lot further than simply ending the last major U.S. antitrust case against the tech heavyweight. The deal also aims to help the two companies better compete against Apple in the increasingly important business of online audio and video.

*** Club 21 To Open Asia's Largest Apple Shop
<http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/051012/15/3vkrv.html>
Dow Jones

Luxury fashion retailer Club 21 will enter the IT retail business by opening Asia's largest Apple store in Singapore next month, the Business Times reports.

*** New iPods For The Holidays
<http://news.com.com/New+iPods+for+the+holidays/2100-1041_3-5893332.html?part=rss&tag=5893332&subj=news>
Ina Fried, CNET News.com

"We think we did rather well with the prior lineup and believe that we will do even better with the new lineup that we have for the holiday season, including the new iPod nano and some very innovative new products that we have yet to introduce."

*** Top Line Topples Apple
<http://www.thestreet.com/_mktwrm/stocks/troywolverton/10246796.html>
Troy Wolverton, TheStreet.com

iPod sales were nowhere near the heady number bandied about on Wall Street.

*** Apple Earnings Top Estimates
<http://news.com.com/Apple+earnings+top+estimates/2100-1041_3-5893289.html?part=rss&tag=5893289&subj=news>
Ina Fried, CNET News.com

Apple reported on Tuesday earnings that narrowly topped analysts expectations, though sales fell short of what some were expecting.

*** Apple's Marketshare Climbs To 6.6%
<http://www.tuaw.com/2005/10/11/apples-marketshare-climbs-to-6-6/>
Dave Caolo, Unofficial Apple Weblog

*** Salling Clicker 3.0 Adds Wi-Fi, Windows Support, More
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/10/11/salling/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Peter Cohen, Macworld

*** Apple Changes iPodsubwaymaps.com
<http://www.tuaw.com/2005/10/11/apple-changes-ipodsubwaymaps-com/>
Victor Agreda, Jr., Unofficial Apple Weblog

Apple has come down with a cease and desist taking the word iPod outta there.

[Opinion]

*** Nano, Just Another Tool Of The Trade
<http://www.theeyeopener.com/storydetail.cfm?storyid=2202>
Gabe Knox, The Eyeopener

These sleak MP3 players bring out the worst in people.

*** Beware Of False Prophets...
<http://www.peterme.com/archives/000623.html>
Peter Merholz, Peterme.com

"Result-oriented design" doesn't make sense to me.

*** Greed Is Not Good: Why We Oppose Any iPod Tax
<http://lowendmac.com/musings/05/1011.html>
Dan Knight, Low End Mac

*** Bitter Recriminations In Cobb County iBook Fiasco
<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8053?CMP=OTC-13IV03560550>
Chris Adamson, O'Reilly Network

*** Updating "Software Update"
<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8057?CMP=OTC-13IV03560550>
Andrew Anderson, O'Reilly Network

Is there any better way to get updates, either batched for users who are often offline or a system where all applications can register themselves, where to look for their updates and how often to check?

*** No "New Music Tuesday"
<http://www.tuaw.com/2005/10/11/no-new-music-tuesday/>
Dave Caolo, Unofficial Apple Weblog

"[The] last time it wasn't updated Tuesday [we got] iTunes 5..."

[Review]

*** Kid-Proof Your Mac
<http://www.macworld.com/2005/10/secrets/novworkingmac/index.php>
Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

*** Web Browser Roundup: Mozilla's Firefox And The Omni Group's OmniWeb Help You Navigate Better
<http://www.macworld.com/2005/09/reviews/browserrdp/index.php>
Jeffery Battersby, Macworld

*** Internet Cleanup 3: Security Utility Works Well But Has Interface And Performance Problems
<http://www.macworld.com/2005/08/reviews/internetcleanup3/index.php>
Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

*** InCopy CS2: Upgrade Aligns InDesign CS2 Companion Program
<http://www.macworld.com/2005/08/reviews/incopycs2/index.php>
Galen Gruman, Macworld

The more distance you want between your editors and your layout files, the more sense InCopy makes.

*** What Is Quartz (Or Why Can't Windows Do That)
<http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/10/11/what-is-quartz.html?CMP=OTC-13IV03560550>
Matthew Russell, O'Reilly Network

Quartz is the heart and soul of Mac OS X's graphics layer, which directly supports the defining features of the Aqua desktop experience.

*** Rollercoaster Tycoon 3
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/gameroom/2005/10/railroadtycoon/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Peter Cohen, Macworld

*** Fast DVD Copy 4: Efficient DVD Copying Software Raises Questions Of Legality
<http://www.macworld.com/2005/10/reviews/fastdvdcopy4/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Anton Linecker, Macworld

Legal issues aside, Fast DVD Copy 4 is easy to use and intuitive.

[Sidetrack]

*** Rumor Today: Microsoft, Yahoo Have Instant-Messaging Deal
Heng-Cheong Leong

Associated Press <http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/rss/12879585.htm?source=rss&channel=siliconvalley_rss>: Microsoft and Yahoo have agreed to make their two instant-messaging programs work together, a partnership that could threaten market leader America Online, people familiar with the situation said.

*** One More Thing...
Heng-Cheong Leong

We'll find out what Steve Jobs' "One More Thing" is. Maybe it's the nano scratch protector. :-)

*** Solar Power
Heng-Cheong Leong

Yes, sir, this is how we dry our laundry <http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrkshy/51764384/> here in Singapore: solar power.

Too bad we cannot rely on the sun to power our air-conditioners... yet.

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

[News]

*** Thinking Is The Poor Man's Golf
<http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2005/10/thinking_is_the.html>
Dave Rosenberg, Open Resource

We as the technology population are not spending enough time thinking.

*** HP Pioneers Digital Storytelling
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/11/BUGU2F6AJ71.DTL&type=tech>
Benjamin Pimentel, San Francisco Chronicle

HP and KQED teamed up over the weekend to test new technology that allows anyone with an HP iPaq Pocket PC to listen to the history of a neighborhood while taking a walk around that community.

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

[Tech & Science]

*** A Big Debate On Little People: Ancient Species Or Modern Dwarfs?
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/12/international/asia/12island.html>
John Nobel Wilford, New York Times

Discoveries in Indonesia give additional support to the idea that a separate species of little people now extinct lived there.

[Life]

*** The Rise Anf Fall Of Pop Culture
<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2005/10/11/the_rise_and_fall_of_pop_culture/>
Don Aucoin, Boston Globe

It now grows so broad and so fast, it is no longer the great connector.

*** The Hand Of Time
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101844.html>
Bob Thompson, Washington Post

Time is moving backward in Kurt Vonnegut's living room. The writer perches on a sofa and grins.

*** Ramadan Ritual: Fast Daily, Pray, Head To The Mall
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/12/international/asia/12ramadan.html>
Hassan M. Fattah, New York Times

Once an ascetic month of fasting, prayer and reflectionon God, Ramadan has gradually taken on the commercial trappings of Christmas and Hanukkah, from the hanging lights that festoon windows to the Ramadan greeting cards and Ramadan sales and advertising campaigns that have become the backbone of commerce for the month.

*** America's New Jazz Museum! (No Poor Black People Allowed)
<http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2005/10/12/jazz/index_np.html>
Larry Blumenfeld, Salon

Jazz musicians warn against the Disney-fication of New Orleans.

[Expressions]

*** A Drop In The Bucket
<http://www.slate.com/id/2119907/>
Don Share, Slate

*** Parachute Girls
<http://www.zyzzyva.org/sp05.chen.htm>
Lisa Qi Chen, Zyzzyva

*** These Beautiful Territories
<http://www.longshot.org/ls25/Eliot_Katz.htm>
Eliot Katz, Long Shot

*** Music
<http://www.circlemagazine.com/issuethirtyfive/music.html>
Gary Charles Wilkens, The Circle

*** The Dancer
<http://www.pix.za/barefoot.press/esesame/esesame.htm#JANE%20FOX>
Jane Fox, Electronic Sesame

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

[Ramblings]

*** The "Hidden" Costs Of Your EZ-Link Card
Heng-Cheong Leong

We all know for each EZ-Link card that you purchase for travels in Singapore's public transport, you'd need to pay $3 as a refundable travel deposit, and $5 as a non-refundable card cost. So, on the set go, you are already out of $8 in order to enjoy the lower fare on the public transport system. (True, you can get $3 back eventually. But that's assuming you will never travel on public transport again using the EZ-Link card system.)

But did you know that part of your EZ-Link transaction also goes to Citibank? That's because of the Banking Act <http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=2003-REVED-19&doctitle=BANKING%20ACT%0a&date=latest&method=part&segid=1060659715-002552#1060659715-003007>, which prohibited anybody but the bank to issue stored value card that can be used to pay for goods and services not provided by the issuer.

So, in our public transport system, where you can use the same card to pay for service provided by both SMRT and SBS Transit, you need a bank to issue the store value card.

And that's why my earlier suggestion <http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/2005/09/07/#20050907bg000005> to the Cut Waste Panel to eliminate this banking fee by removing the non-transit applications of EZ-Link card was rejected. As Mr Leow Yew Chin, the Cut Waste Secretariat of Land Transport Authority replied, "irrespective of whether the ez-link card is used for payment beyond transit, the ez-link card is still considered as a Multi-Purpose Stored Value Card under the Banking Act... As a result, the Monetary Authority of Singapore requires the ez-link card to be issued by a bank to protect cardholders' interest in ensuring the availability of funds deposited by card holders in the ez-link card."

Furthermore, according to the LTA, "there is no cross-subsidization from commuters for the use of the EZ-Link card in non-transit applications, as the investment required to proliferate the card for non-transit applications is fully borne by a privately-owned company, QB Pte Ltd."

(QB Pte Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Green Dot Payment Services <http://www.apsca.org/event/meeting77/eventspeaker.php>, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of GreenDot Capital <http://www.greendot-payment.com/framecompany.htm>, which is a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Pte Ltd <http://www.miw.com.sg/publish/MIWPORTAL/public/news/press_release/2001/0.html>.)

(The previous magnetic card system will still come under the same Banking Act if the system is introduced today, says LTA. The system, however, was previously exempted by the Banking Act as the system was introduced earlier.)

[News]

*** U.S. Envoy Slams Singapore's Political Curbs
<http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-10-12T065108Z_01_MCC224622_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SINGAPORE-DEMOCRACY.xml&archived=False>
Reuters

The outgoing U.S. envoy to Singapore criticised the city-state's limits on political expression, saying governments will pay an increasing price for failing to give citizens freedom of choice and expression.

*** Tony Tan To Be SPH Chairman
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/77691.asp>
Christie Loh, Today

*** Sealed Lips In The Age Of Blogs?
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/77663.asp>
Loh Chee Kong, Today

"Singapore has flourished over the past 40 years, but is a 20th century model adequate for the 21st century?"

*** All My Fault, Fine Me More, Says Jam-Causing Mercedes Driver
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/77692.asp>
Vinita Ramani, Today

[Opinion]

*** Weekend NS, Thanks To My Company
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/77679.asp>
Yeo Suan Wei, Today

*** Why Did Bank Allow Merchant To Charge Unauthorised Amount In Credit Card Bill?
<http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,5562,346114,00.html?>
Lai Ti Luen, Straits Times

[Technology]

*** Club 21 To Open Asia's Largest Apple Shop
<http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/051012/15/3vkrv.html>
Dow Jones

Luxury fashion retailer Club 21 will enter the IT retail business by opening Asia's largest Apple store in Singapore next month, the Business Times reports.

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

[Tunes]

*** In Combat
<http://www.aberdeenmusic.com/index1.php>
Aberdeen City
<http://www.aberdeenmusic.com/music/in_combat.mp3>