[MyAppleMenu] Nov 10, 2006

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[News]

*** iTunes Lets Users Publish iMixes On MySpace And Blogs
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&newsID=16435>
Jonny Evans, Macworld UK

Apple has extended iMix with the new ability to publish iMix playlists to the web.

*** Disney Sells Nearly A Half Million Films Through iTunes
<http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2222>
AppleInsider

Disney said it expects movie downloads to generate $50 million in added revenue during the first year of the program.

*** Bare Bones Yojimbo Adds Tagging Support
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/11/09/yojimbo/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Peter Cohen, Macworld

*** Missing Sync For Windows Mobile Links iPhoto, iTunes
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/11/09/missingsync/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Peter Cohen, Macworld

*** New And Improved
Heng-Cheong Leong

VoodooPad <http://www.flyingmeat.com/voodoopad/>: A garden for your thoughts. Plant ideas, images, lists and anything else you need to keep track of.

Life Balance <http://www.llamagraphics.com/LB/LifeBalanceMacSheet.html>: Coaching software that provides a dynamically ordered To Do List deiven by the importance of your goals.

Smultron <http://smultron.sourceforge.net/index.html>: Text editor designed to be easy and intuitive to start off with and to become more and more able as and when the user wants it.

[Opinion]

*** Will The iPhone Save The iPod?
<http://hardware.silicon.com/storage/0,39024649,39163988,00.htm>
Seb Janacek, Silicon.com

The best thing for the MP3 player might be to morph into a mobile phone.

*** Are Mac Fans A Dying Breed?
<http://www.macnightowl.com/2006/11/10/are-mac-fans-a-dying-breed/>
Gene Steinberg, Mac Night Owl

So are Mac fans truly a dying breed, being replaced by folks who don't possess those old loyalties,w ho would abandon the platform on a moment's notice if tempted by a few bad experiences? That's Apple's challenge.

*** Why I Won't Buy An iPhone
<http://networks.silicon.com/mobile/0,39024665,39163768,00.htm>
Jo Best, Silicon.com

Nokia's durability and battery life, Apple's intuitive software. It's a marriage made in heaven.

*** iPod Killed The Radio Star
<http://www.straightupsearch.com/archives/2006/11/ipod_killed_the.html>
Straight Up Search

*** 2G Shuffle And The Hiss, Boo, Bah!
<http://playlistmag.com/weblogs/ipodblog/2006/11/hissboo/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Christopher Breen, Playlist

[Sidetrack]

*** Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Heng-Cheong Leong

Some things in life are bad / They can really make you mad / Other things just make you swear and curse / When you're chewing life's gristle / Don't grumble / Give a whistle / And this'll help things turn out for the best / And...

Always look at this video of a laughing baby <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqk>, and be reminded that, sometimes, laughters can come just so easily.

*** Is This How You Compete With The Pod?
Heng-Cheong Leong

Looks like Microsoft is not targetting customers that do not like Apple's closed ecosystem of the iPod, and all that RIAA-friendly DRM evils.

Not only is Microsoft's Zune a closed system too, it also have an DRM that is arguable more strict than iPod/iTunes. Worse, every time you buy a Zune, one dollar goes to Universal <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061109-8187.html>, one of the RIAA labels -- even if you are Creative Commons/Podsafe advocate and vow never to give a single dollar to the RIAA companies.

And, of course, no Ogg Vorbis support either. :-)

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

[Life]

*** For Cooks, The Joy Of Winning
<http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/travel/escapes/10cooking.html?ei=5088&en=f71f03f9e2bf0b6a&ex=1320814800&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1163167350-uymdupp3/ehq179gSZ1DVg>
John Freeman Gill, New York Times

When the oven mitts came off and the knives came out at the 16th annual Build a Better Burger contest in St. Helena, Calif., this fall, a 35-year-old sociology professor named Camilla Saulsbury was the first to draw blood. Unfortunately, it was her own.

*** Bare Down There Or Square
<http://www.wired.com/news/columns/sexdrive/0,72097-0.html?tw=rss.index>
Regina Lynn, Wired News

When Darpa created the internet, its engineers probably did not envision how the web would affect our most intimate grooming rituals.

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

[Ramblings]

*** Why Don't *You* Stop Whining First?
Heng-Cheong Leong

"A nation of compaliners"? That's what some MPs are, apparently, labelling <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/240522/1/.html> some Singaporeans.

Fine. When PAP stops whining that they cannot find any good people to serve the nation unlessq the system pays them tons and tons and tons of money, and the systems guarantees them a easy win in General Election, I'll stop whining too.

*** Okay, Abort, Retry?
Heng-Cheong Leong

What's worse than a warning system telling you that something went wrong? A warning system telling you that something went wrong and you cannot do anything to correct the error.

That's essentially the Book-Drop system used by our National Libaray.

In this letter <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/153762.asp> from the National Library Board, we are told there are two "warning system" that a customer can check when returning books. Firstly, the "Returned" indicator sign will light up, and a buzzer will sound. Secondly, online systems that check whether any loans is still outstanding.

What is missing in this letter, of course, is any recourses for the poor customers who have returned books, but which the system didn't capture the return. (What prompted this reply from NLB, I believe, was a customer whose returned book didn't register in the system, and the customer had to manually go find the book on the shelf to prove that he had indeed returned the loan.)

So, if you dropped a book into the Book Drop system, and something goes wrong, all you can do is pray.

And we wonder why there are many people who continues to resist automation and computerization, eh?

[News]

*** Budget Carriers Keen To Fly Singapore-KL Route
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/240605/1/.html>
Ng Shing-Yi, Channel NewsAsia

*** PM Affirms Visit To Singapore Did Not Include Talks On Economic Investment
<http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=194386>
ThaisNews

The Prime Minister said that his visit to Singapore did not include discussions of economic investments, while adding that the Singaporean government has commended Thailand's excellent management of the southern unrest situation.

*** Singapore Sex Laws Draw Anger Gays
<http://uk.gay.com/headlines/10638>
Associated Press

"If the government aims for an open, inclusive society, it should be doing all it can to overturn prejudice and discrimination, rather than give people reason to remain close-miinded through retaining (the ban) for symbolic purposes," People Like Us, a gay rights group, said in a statement.

*** Press Digest - Singapore Newspapers - Nov 10
<http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061109/3/2sn1c.html>
Reuters

*** Singapore To Tighten Curbs On Free Speech
<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ba2e6088-704a-11db-9da6-0000779e2340.html>
John Burton, Financial Times

Singapore is proposing to tighten laws governing the internet and public gatherings as part of an overhaul of the city-state's penal code.

*** MPs Decry Whining Singaporeans, Call For Soul Searching
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/240522/1/.html>
Leong Wee Keat, Today

"A nation of complainers" and "a society increasing reliant on the government for help" were among the sadder -- and harsher -- labels mentioned.

*** Malaysia-SIngapore Aviation Sector Might Be Liberalised Earlier
<http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=228931>
Saraswathi Muniappan, Bernama

The Malaysian Ministry of Transport is studying the possibilities of bringing forward liberalisation of the aviation sector between Malaysia and Singapore, its minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said Thursday.

[Opinion]

*** A Charmed (NSF) Life: A New Beginning
<http://singaporearmystories.blogspot.com/2006/11/charmed-nsf-life-new-beginning.html>
Days Were The Those

Great, I was whisked to Woodbridge Hospital the 3rd day after I was enlisted, man, my NS life is just going great.

*** Minimum Wage: Proceed With Caution
<http://www.singaporeangle.com/2006/11/minimum-wage-proceed-with-caution.html>
Singaporeangle.com

*** Boss Still Comes Before Family
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/153724.asp>
Liew Chin Yong, Today

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

[Tunes]

*** Do What You Wanna Do
<http://www.acidhousekings.com/>
Acid House Kings
<http://labrador.se/mp3/Acid_House_Kings_Do_what_you_wanna_do.mp3>