[MyAppleMenu] Feb 9, 2006

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[News]

*** iPod People Land Hot Spot
<http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060209/ENT04/60208011/1111>
Kyle Munson, Des Monies Register

You've heard about the sort of bar where everybody knows your name. Well, this is the place where everybody knows your music.

*** Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid Of The File-Slurping iPod
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060209.TWEINSIDER09/TPStory/Business>
Shane Schick, Globe And Mail

It's not that he has anything against Apple's portable media player, exactly. But where most of us see an iPod as a repository for hours of musical entertainment, Abe Usher sees a hiding place for thousands of company files, with which a smart thief can walk out of a building completely undetected.

*** Digital Music Players Worse Than Walkman Fo Ears
<http://www.wral.com/technology/6844635/detail.html>
WRAL

Some audiologists say digital music players are different because the old Walkman-style player was analog sound. When you turned up the volume too high, the sound got distorted. But with digital players, you can turn the volume up as loud as you want and still get a clear sound.

*** Norhtern California Judge Gives Green Light To Monopolization Suit Against Apple
<http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/2095/northern_california_judge>
Alexander Grundner, eHomeUpgrade

*** Protecting Your MP3, And What To Do When You Don't
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/09/technology/circuits/09basics.html?ex=1297141200&en=042e61373dc310de&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Sean Captain, New York Times

The very portability of an MP3 player can be its undoing -- too often, the pocket-size gadgets are dropped, scratched, drowned, or exposed to extreme temperatures.

*** Apple Confirms Reports Of Video Problems With MacTels
<http://www.channelweb.com/sections/allnews/article.jhtml?articleId=179102038>
Antone Gonsalves, TechWeb

Apple on Wednesday confirmed reports of video-display problems in the new iMacs that are based on Intel processors.

*** Apple Releases Backup 3.1 For .Mac Users
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/02/08/backup/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Peter Cohen, Macworld

*** Apple's In The Eye Of Flaw Finders
<http://www.theregister.com/2006/02/08/apple_vulnerability/>
SecurityFocus, The Register

"The OS X platform may be based on a Unix platform, but Apple seems to be making mistakes that Unix made, and corrected, long ago."

*** Apple Not Threatened By Internet Rivals
<http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/02/08/apple.not.threatened/>
MacNN

While its pure internet competitors may have online resource advantages, many are scrambling to keep up with Apple's ability to deliver seamless user experience.

*** iTunes Estimator Helps Users Win iTunes Prizes
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=13803&Page=1&pagePos=4>
Jonny Evans, Macworld UK

*** Apple Broadcasts Into The Future
<http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/07/apple-podcast-itunes-cx_0208oxford_podcast.html>
Oxford Analytica, Forbes

The iPod has helped Apple recover from a battle it largely lost with Microosft and the PC industry.

[Opinion]

*** Travels With My Mac
<http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2006/tc20060209_181868.htm>
Arik Hesseldahl, BusinessWeek

The gulf between OS X and Windows made my trip to the Demo confab a cumbersome, two-laptop affir. But new Mac offerings made it worthwhile.

*** Why The 1GB iPod Won't Do Video; RIP Shuffle?
<http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=91>
Jason D. O'Grady, ZDNet

No other iPod model other than the video has this DSP in it making video playback impossible on the nano.

*** Subpixel Antialiasing Achilles Heel
<http://www.michelf.com/weblog/2006/subpixel-antialiasing-achilles-heel/>
Michel Fortin

It is simply impossible to draw subpixel antialiasing on a transparent background.

*** Apple's Video iPod: A Success?
<http://www.tvpredictions.com/appledownloads020806.htm>
Phillip Swann, TV Predictions

12 million downloads over four months is far from compelling evidence that downloading videos and watching them on a 2.5 inch screen will become the next big thing.

*** I Still Want My HBO
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2006/02/hboredux/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Philip Michaels, Macworld

This Apple-Showtime agreement is a significant one, and not just because it adds to Kirstie Alley's income stream. Rather, I take it as a sign that the iTunes Music Store is attractive territory for any broadcaster, whether they reside on the VHF portion of your dial or int he upper three-digital reaches of your cable box.

*** A Return To Apple's Orchard
<http://www.applematters.com/index.php/section/comments/793/>
Julie Salickram, Apple Matters

It's like the 80s resurgence. Apple by no means ever went away.

*** No, No, Nano
<http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/technology_internetcritic/2006/02/no_no_nano.html>
Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune

How, then, to explain the nightmare in our home occasioned by the arrival of a brand new iPod nano portable music player? Call this a cautionary tale about believing the Apple-simplicity hype.

*** The New PC Wars
<http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/02/08/113659.php>
Craig Lyndall, Blogcritics.org

Intel is now in a position that they have never been in before. They are enemy number one for Microsoft and Dell.

*** Apple And Fashion Accessories
<http://blogs.zdnet.com/carroll/index.php?p=1536>
John carroll, ZDNet

It doesn't mean that it's not possible to compete with an Apple. It just means that you can't expect the same people who design your busines-oriented products to do a good job designing the next computing fashion accessory.

*** Woz, Hardware Philosophy And Philonumerical Trumphs
<http://cultofmac.com/index.php/2006/02/08/woz_hardware_philosophy_and_philonumeric>
Cult Of Mac

[Review]

*** iPhoto Postcards
<http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2006/02/iphoto_postcards.html?CMP=OTC-13IV03560550&ATT=iPhoto+postcards>
Francois Joseph de Kermadec, O'Reilly Network

All in all, except for a couple inexplicable quirks, the iPhoto cards convinced me.

[Sidetrack]

*** Rumor Today: 24/7 Apple Instant Gratification
Heng-Cheong Leong

Think Secret <http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0602gm.html>: Apple's upcoming midtown Manhattan retail store will mark a first for the company as sources report the location will be open 24 hours a day.

*** Pulling Out All Your Hair, Literally
Heng-Cheong Leong

Do you literally get sick hearing and reading all those misuse of the word "literally"? Heartaches? Headaches? Vomit?

Well, Literally, A Web Log <http://literally.barelyfitz.com/> is for you.

*** Calling iPod Geeks
Heng-Cheong Leong

Calling all iPod geeks: can you help out? Harrison Ford <http://www3.cjad.com/content/cp_article.asp?id=/global_feeds/CanadianPress/EntertainmentNews/e02089A.htm> has an iPod, but he has no time to load it up with music. Can somebody help?

[Wintel]

*** No. 2 To The iPod -- And Doing Just Fine
<http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/13825078.htm>
John Boudreau, San Jose Mercury News

One does not usually think of flash-memory card maker SanDisk as a leader in fashion technology. But the Sunnyvale-based company has quietly become the No. 2 seller in the United States of the hottest tech trend -- digital music players.

*** Why Did Dell Discontinue Its Hard Drive MP3 Player?
<http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1705097,00.html>
Charles Arthur, The Guardian

The decision to stop selling the player may be the final indication that the economies and tactics of the PC market -- where different companies make the computer, the operating system and the software -- really don't work in the consumer electronics space.

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

[News]

*** Survival Of The Unfittest
<http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1705106,00.html>
Charles Arthur, The Guardian

Lotus Notes is used by millions of peple, but almost all of them seem to hate it. How can a program be so bad, yet thrive?

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

[Life]

*** Sweet Surrender
<http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-choco8feb08,0,2577768.story?coll=la-homepage-calendar-widget>
Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times

>From San Diego to Sonoma, artisan chocolatiers are coming into their own. L.A.? That's where the mavericks are.

*** Chocolate That Flashes Its Passport
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/dining/08choc.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>
Kim Severson, New York Times

So it has come to this. Chocolate, a comfortable world that for many people exists between the downscale joy of a Kit Kat bar and the exhilaration of a well-made ganache, now requires a sommelier.

*** Valentine's Day Poetry
<http://www.slate.com/id/2135749/>
Robert Pinsky, Slate

Love isn't always pretty.

*** He Says Lingerie, I Say Underwear
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/09/fashion/thursdaystyles/09online.html?ex=1297141200&en=3c9a2ebd19c9fde3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Michelle Slatalla, New York Times

Forced to live in an era when underwear has become outewear, thanks to the legacy of Madonna, I teeter on the brink of Valentine's Day -- the official kickoff date of my annual underwear upgrade season -- and wonder: Is there anything out there that would satisfy everyone in my marriage?

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

[News]

*** Singapore Labeled Unethical Investor
<http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=38750>
Simon Montlake, South China Morning Post

The Thai press, backed by protesters, is accusing Singapore of acting unethically in its business dealings with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

*** Danes Not Welcome In Singapore Coffee Shop
<http://www.scandasia.com/viewNews.php?news_id=2146&coun_code=dk>
Satirat Dam-ampai, TMCNet

Muslim cafe owner angry enough to bar customers; but police demand sign be removed.

*** 69m Use Causeway Every Year, Choking Johor Baru, Says Expert
<http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Thursday/National/20060209082242/Article/index_html>
Ravi Nambiar, New Straits Times

"The only way out of this gridlock is to build an integrated new bridge and CIQ complex to divert traffic away from the CBD."

*** Singapore Muslims Oppose Violence In Cartoon Conflict
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/08/content_4154135.htm>
Xinhua

Several Islamic organizations in Singapore have expressed their opposition to any form of violence by Muslims in the recent cartoon conflict.

[Opinion]

*** Cycling Track Or Obstacle Course?
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/100017.asp>
Elke Eskes-Frey, Today

Pedestrian bridges along park connector ive cyclists a back-breaking experience.

*** I Don't Get It
<http://atypicalsingaporean.blogspot.com/2006/02/i-dont-get-it.html>
Atypical Singaporean

How does guessing which minister leading a GRC matter, when we should be evaluating whether the canddiate can run a ministry in the first place?

[Entertainment]

*** The Resurrection Of Cathay
<http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/MM/Thursday/Entertainment/20060209114205/Article/index_html>
Amir Hafizi, Malay Mail

Movie exhibitor with proud history in region is making its presence felt again.

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

[Tunes]

*** Pirate Fish
<http://www.skybucket.com/release/the_guest>
The Guest
<http://www.skybucket.com/audio/pirate_fish>