[MyAppleMenu] Oct 3, 2006

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[News]

*** Intel Praises Apple, But Calls For Open Standards
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/10/03/intel/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service

*** Exploit Released For Mac OS X Flaw
<http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-6122015.html?part=rss&tag=6122015&subj=news>
Joris Evers, CNET News.com

Computer code that exploits a flaw in Apple's Mac OS X was released over the weekend. The code takes advantage of a weakness in core parts of Mac OS X and coult let a user gain additional privileges. Apple provided a fix for the error-handling mechanism of the kernel last week, but the exploit appears to have been authored before then.

*** NJ To Start Charging iTunes Tax This Sunday
<http://macenstein.com/default/archives/429>
Macenstein

*** DVD Jon Fairplays Apple
<http://featured.gigaom.com/2006/10/02/dvd-jon-fairplays-apple/>
Liz Gannes, GigaOM

DRM-buster DVD Jon has a new target in his sights, and it's a big piece of fruit. He has reverse-engineered Apple's Fairplay and is starting to license it to companies who want their media to play on Apple's devices.

[Opinion]

*** Apple Ain't Scoared O' No Zune
<http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2006/10/apple_aint_scar_1.html>
Jim Thomson, Houston Chronicle

In the long run, Microsoft may yet create that superior product, but in the near term Zune is far from superior product, but it the near term Zune is far from superior, and it's hardly something for Apple to be scared of -- concerned about, yes, but not scared of.

*** Zune Won't Kill The iPod
<http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,71896-0.html?tw=rss.index>
Leander Kahney, Wired News

*** 10 iPod Vs. Zune Myths
<http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Home/9F60D74A-0E27-4F5F-B88D-835974628809.html>
RoughlyDrafted

According to proponents of Ten iPod vs Zune Myths, the Zune is technically superior, with brillant wireless sharing features, and will be able to compete with Apple's iPod as a cheap loss leader. Ahem. They're wrong, here's why.

*** It's No Bother... It's Overkill!
<http://education.zdnet.com/?p=555>
C. Marc Wagner, ZDNet

*** Brand New
<http://daringfireball.net/2006/10/brand_new>
John Gruber, Daring Fireball

Lightroom is different than all existing Adobe applications -- and in some ways it's different than all existing applications, period. Lightroom's marketing should reflect that.

[Review]

*** New iMac Is Simply Best Yet
<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/drmac/4231419.html>
Bob LeVitus, Houston Chronicles

*** iTunes 7
<http://music.thoughtmechanics.com/2006/10/02/itunes-7/>
Thought Mechanics

*** Back Up Photos On The Road
<http://www.macworld.com/2006/10/secrets/novdigitalphoto/index.php>
Jeff Carlson and Glenn Fleishman, Macworld

*** Messenger For Mac 6
<http://www.applematters.com/index.php/section/comments/messenger-for-mac-6-reviewed/>
Aaron Wright, Apple Matters

*** Montage 1.0: Screenwriting Software Misses The Mark
<http://www.macworld.com/2006/10/reviews/montage1/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Anton Linecker, Macworld

Seasoned screenwriters won't find the tools they need in this initial release, and it was rather buggy.

*** Fixing iTunes' Visualizer
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/mac911/2006/10/visualizer/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

[Sidetrack]

*** Why I Would Like An iPod Phone
Heng-Cheong Leong

So that when I am commuting on the train, listening to podcasts, and my wife calls, I can actually hear the phone call and pick up the phone call, and have my iPod automatically pause the podcast, and my wife can actually tell me what to pick up at the store on my way home.

Oh, and a phone that can sync all my contacts and calendars and such with my Mac would be good too.

How long, oh Apple, should I wait for this phone? You do know I am putting off any purchases of new iPods until this phone, don't you?

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

[News]

*** Teens: E-Mail Is For Old People
<http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061002-7877.html>
Nate Anderson, Ars Technica

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

[World]

*** Briding A Racial Rift That Isn't Black And White
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/us/03georgia.html?ex=1317528000&en=99829a2d166a3e12&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Rachel L. Swarns, New York Times

For centuries, the South has been defined by the color line and the struggle for accommodation between blacks and whites. But the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Hispanic immigrants over the past decade is quietly changing the dynamics of race relations in many Southern towns.

[Tech & Science]

*** Fly Away Home
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/science/03butter.html?ex=1317528000&en=1a4feb95185332f7&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Donald G. McNeil Jr, New York Times

The 4,000-mile round trip made by millions of monarchs holds a central mystery that Dr Taylor and a network of entomologists are tying to solve.

[Life]

*** The Score
<http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/061009fa_fact>
Atul Gawande, New Yorker

How childbirth went industrial.

[Expressions]

*** Landfill
<http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/content/articles/061009fi_fiction>
Joyce Carol Oates, New Yorker

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

[Ramblings]

*** So, What Kind Of Common Good Do We Want To Pay For?
Heng-Cheong Leong

A Singapore Economist <http://a-singapore-economist.blogspot.com/2006/10/lifts-are-public-good.html> argues (it seems to me) that lift upgrading is a common good. And if we don't get everyone pays for it, there will free riders galore. Or there will not be even any upgrading.

There are common goods; and then there are common goods.

Television broadcast, as argued by A Singapore Economist, may be a common good. (This particular example can probably be argued both ways.) But one would be hard-pressed to argue that a cable system that delivers "free" channels such as HBO and TVBJ to be common good that everyone, rich or poor, should pay for with their tax money.

National defense is a common good that everyone should pay for. But a underground bunker system with personal rooms for everyone is not a common good that everyone wants to pay for with their tax money.

Similarly, a lift system is a common good that everyone pays in the form of the purchase price and the town council monthly payment. But a lift system that stops at every single floor -- when there is already a working lift system -- is not a common good that everyone should pay for.

Certainly, the elderly and the handicapped deserve our help to make life easier. I'll have no objections to using monies collected via taxation -- where there is already a system in place where abled and privileged citizens contributing progressively more to the pool -- to help them. Perhaps a heavier subsidisation, or even outright payment for the entire cost of upgrading, may be what the country should do for them.

But, one should not deny that lift upgrading is a luxury item for many of the poorer residents that they can do without. Lift upgrading is a common good that they can ill afford to pay additional for. A single mother struggling to make ends meet would rather her young children to walk up and down a few flights of stairs everyday than to being forced to fork out a few thousands dollars just because the new lift system also happens to benefit her, whether she likes it or not.

The income gap among Singaporeans, by many indications, is widening. We, the richer among the society, should never unnecessarily impose, in the idea of fairness, a heavier cost of living on the less fortunate just because we can afford and want "world-class" standard of living.

A system where only those who want pays for it -- by voting "Yes if cost per apartment is less than $x", for example -- may well generate extra free riders. But we should rather have a few additional free riders than families that will have to skip breakfasts or dry up their retirement funds just because others think that these families shouldn't have to walk up and down flights of stairs everyday.

[News]

*** KL Notes Explanation By MM Lee, Hopes Remarks Won't Be Repeated
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/233765/1/.html>
May Wong, Channel NewsAsia

Malaysia has noted Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's explanation for his recent remarks about Chinese Malaysians but wants assurances it will not happen again.

*** Malaysia Gives Icy Reply To Lee Kuan Yew Apology
<http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-03T125835Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-270431-1.xml>
Reuters

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he had received Lee's written apology but declined to say whether he accepted it and instead repeated his objections to Lee's original comments.

*** Kuan Yew's 'Sorry' Widely Reported In Singapore Media
<http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=222878>
Jackson Sawatan, Bernama

The Singapore media has reported widely on the content of a letter by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in which he apologised to the Malaysian Prime Minister for the discomfort caused by his recent remarks about the way Malaysia treated its Chinese community.

*** Telecom Deal By Singapore Roused Thais
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/business/worldbusiness/03singapore.html?ex=1317528000&en=b412b46c16e8a81c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Wayne Arnold, New York Times

Among the many measures of a successful foreign investment, helping to set off a coup d'etat is definitely not one of them. Now, Mr Thaksin is in exile, Temasek has lost roughly $700 million and Thai officials, including those from the Ministry of Commerce, are investigating whether it was illegal.

*** Haze Cuts Back Singapore Activities
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=113317>
DPA

Smoky haze brought to Singapore by winds from raging Sumatran fires prompted many people to curtail strenuous activities on Tuesday while authorities kept track of the worsening air quality.

*** Lee Kuan Yew Says Sorry To Prime Minister
<http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=222846>
Bernama

"Singapore understands the reality of Malaysian politics. We have never protested at these attacks on our multi-racial system or our policies, except to clarify our own position when necessary. But we have to explain to our people the root cause of these difficulties in our bilateral relations. Otherwise Singaporeans will believe that their own government is doing wrong either to our own people or to Malaysia."

*** Lee Says Sorry
<http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Tuesday/Frontpage/20061003075017/Article/index_html>
New Straits Times

Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has apologised to the Prime Minister over his remarks that the Chinese had been systematically amrginalised in Malaysia. But he appeared to be steadfast in what he had earlier said, repeating some of the very commetns that had infuriated Malaysians.

*** Mahjong, 4-D Not Gambling But Recreation, Says 1 In 2
<http://straitstimes.asiaone.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.c2aef3d65baca16abb31f610a06310a0/?vgnextoid=6fadbe120b93a010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:42d39e2f72a0e010VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD>
Yap Su-Yin, Straits Times

About one in two Singaporeans does not consider the weekend mahjong game or the occasional flutter on 4-D, Toto or Singapore Sweep as gambling. Instead, they see these as recreational activities, with about one in three going as far as to say it was good way of bonding socially with friends.

*** DBS Exits Consumer Finance Venture With Thailand's Shin Corp
<http://straitstimes.asiaone.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.c2aef3d65baca16abb31f610a06310a0/?vgnextoid=6fadbe120b93a010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:de4b9e2f72a0e010VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD>
Azrin Asmani, Straits Times

[Opinion]

*** Love Thy Neighbour
<http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/Tuesday/Opinions/20061003110406/Article/index_html>
Yushaimi Yahaya, Malay Mail

*** The Lee Kuan Yew Remarks: Here We Go Again (2)
<http://suara-rustam.blogspot.com/2006/10/lee-kuan-yew-remarks-here-we-go-again.html>
Vox Populi

*** LKY Says Sorry, Attacks Dr M And Makes AAB Look Good
<http://kabilank.blogspot.com/2006/10/lky-says-sorry-attacks-dr-m-and-makes.html>
Ruth Square

*** This Is How You Apologise...
<http://empty-vessels.blogspot.com/2006/10/this-is-how-you-apologise.html>
Empty_vessels

... without actually doing so.

*** Why Did Lee Kuan Yew Say That?
<http://www.yvonnefoong.com/archives/2006/10/why-did-lee-kuan-yew-say-that/>
Yvonne Foong

The fact that I have to rely on the authorship of foreigners to learn about my own country is ironic.

*** LKY's Words Do Resonate In Malaysia
<http://sreejitpillai.blogspot.com/2006/10/lkys-words-do-resonate-in-malaysia.html>
Malaysian Muses

I believe these are the issues -- ignored by these writes in the New Sunday Times -- that provide the oil to feed the flickering flames of distrust and suspicion that leads many non-Malays to believe a foreigner's words and not their own leaders.

*** Lifts Are A Public Good
<http://a-singapore-economist.blogspot.com/2006/10/lifts-are-public-good.html>
A Singapore Economist

Those that vote no will hope to be free riders, benefiting from knowing that others with a greater need for an upgrade will vote yes.

*** Sympathy, Not Brickbats, For LKY
<http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=15657>
Tan Siok Choo, Malaysia Sun

Instead of hurling brickbats at Singapore's former premier, Malaysian politicians should offer Lee several mega-litres of sympathy. It is much needed. Two events in September and one in July have added up to a summer of discomfort for Lee and Singapore's top leaders.

*** MM's Apology An Important Move To Mend Ties With Pak Lah's Government
<http://singaporepatriot.blogspot.com/2006/10/mms-apology-important-move-to-mend.html>
Gerald Giam, Singapore Patriot

It is in Singapore's interest that Abdullah retains the confidence of his party and his people, because such a rational and moderate Malaysian leader does not come by often.

*** Acts Of Affection "Wrong" And "Unacceptable" In Singapore
<http://bendecidestoblog.wordpress.com/2006/10/02/acts-of-affection-digusting-in-singapore/>
Illegitimis Non Carborundum

*** Which Is The Greater Travesty, PDA Or Just Plain Stupidity?
<http://kitana.wordpress.com/2006/10/02/which-is-the-greater-travesty-pda-or-just-plain-stupidity/>
Alterius Non Sit Qui Suus Esse Potest

*** Consider Public Transport Operators' Earnings In Perspective
<http://straitstimes.asiaone.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.c2aef3d65baca16abb31f610a06310a0/?vgnextoid=7532758920e39010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:605a9e2f72a0e010VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD>
Cindy Lim, Press Secretary to the Minister for Transport, Straits Times

The returns are healthy but not excessive, compared to companies with similar industry structures and risk profiles.

[Entertainment]

*** A Tropical Christmas In Singapore
<http://www.travelbite.co.uk/news/asia/singapore/a-tropical-christmas-in-singapore-$453520.htm>
Travel Bite

If you are fed up of the cold but still want a Christmas break with grat shopping opportunities and plenty of bright festive lights then Singapore has both.

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

[Tunes]

*** Pay The Price
<http://www.127band.com/music.html>
127 Band
<http://www.127band.com/pay-the-price.mp3>