[MyAppleMenu] Dec 27, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Shutterbug <http://www.macnn.com/reviews/shutterbug.html>
by Scott Gureck, MacNN
ShutterBug is a simple to use yet powerful web site creation program that is remarkable bargain for $39.95, and like Macs in general, it just works!

**** iPod 'Equalizer,' Endless Possibilities <http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2007/12/26/school_news/doc476d27efa8571562216253.txt>
by Jessica Jones, Baldwin County NOW
Portable technology changes the way W.J. Carroll students improve their reading.

**** Bliss In A Box: How iPods Insulate City Dwellers <http://www.wired.com/gadgets/portablemusic/news/2007/12/bull>
by Jenna Wortham, Wired
Michael Bull is a professor in media and film at England's University of Sussex who stides the cultural impact of digital music devices. Wired News talked to Bull about the rise of the digital "urban Sherpa" and why the iPod is a one-stop for total bliss and daily rebellion in busy cities.

**** UK iPhone Users Love Their Data <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/12/26/uk-iphone-users-love-their-data>
by David Chartier, Ars Technica

**** Apple's Antipriacy Patent Similar To Microsoft's WGA <http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205203045>
by Elena Malykhina, InformationWeek
The application, titled "Run-time Code Injection To Perform Checks," describes a DRM system that validates the authenticity of the software maker's products.

**** Switching <http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=938>
by Unshelved
Now that Apple has gotten their software and hardware act together, it's just too much fun not to use as my everyday work machine.

**** Moving From Windows To A Mac? 16 Ways To Get Up To Speed <http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/12/26/moving-from-windows-to-a-mac-sixteen-ways-to-do-it-right/>
by Smauel Dean, Web Worker Daily

**** Apple In Online Film-Rental Deal With Fox Studio <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/91d21b3c-b3ee-11dc-a6df-0000779fd2ac.html>
by Matthew Garrahan, Financial Times
The agreement will allow consumers to rent the latest Fox DVD releases by downloading a digital copy from Apple's iTunes platform for a limited time, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Apple will also for the first time extend its FairPlay digital rights management system beyond its own products with the launch of iPod-ready films on DVD.

**** iPhone And Me: A Love Story <http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/26/iPhone-and-me-a-love-story_1.html>
by Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
iPhone has never disappointed me, and has so far been an unfailingly loyal and faithful companion.

**** Peggle For iPod <http://www.macworld.com/article/131298/2007/12/peggle.html?t=206>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
It's a fun arcade-style game that borrows a bit from pinball, a bit from the Japanese game pachinko, and a bit from Breakout. The combi8nation is an incredibly addictive concept lets you wile away hours.

**** 2007 In Review: The Year In Music <http://www.macworld.com/article/131288/2007/12/2007music.html>
by Christopher Breen, Macworld
The year brought significant changes to the musical landscape in regard to online music distribution and digital rights management. And in most cases, Apple was at the heart of them.

**** Need For Speed Carbon <http://www.macnn.com/reviews/need-for-speed-carbon.html>
by Galen Wood and Ilene Hoffman, MacNN

**** iMovie Versus Final Cut Express <http://www.macworld.com/article/131294/2007/12/imovie_fce.html>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
Minor annoynances aside, I found working in Final Cut Express to be more intuitive, faster, and more pleasant than working in iMovie '08.

**** Apple's iPhone, Macintosh Push Shares To Record High <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJ1SKCygmMDk&refer=home>
by Connie Guglielmo, Bloomberg
Apple Inc. rose to a record in Nasdaq Stock Market trading after more than doubling this year on sales of Macintosh personal computers and demand for the iPhone.

**** Herd Intelligence Benefits IT Security <http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/26/Herd-effect-benefits-IT-security_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/26/Herd-effect-benefits-IT-security_1.html>
by Matt Hines, InfoWorld
In response to the growing threat of customized malware, security vendors are starting to utilize customers' computers as information collectors.

**** Making iPhoto Calendars As Holiday Gifts <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9374>
by Adam C. Engst, TidBITS

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** The Pefect Computer Memory: Quantum Dots? <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071226-the-perfect-computer-memory.html>
by Chris Lee, Ars Technica

**** Is Google Reader Sharing Too Much? <http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/26/is-google-reader-sharing-too-much/>
by Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch
See Also:
Google Thinks It Knows Your Friends <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/26/google-thinks-it-knows-your-friends/?ref=technology>, by Miguel Helft, New York Times.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** A Norhtern Light <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/25/AR2007122501146.html?nav=most_emailed>
by Bob Thompson, Washington Post
Per Petterson's poignant family tales have placed him on the literary map.

**** Elementary Math Grows Exponentially Tougher <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/25/AR2007122501423.html?nav=most_emailed>
by Maria Glod, Washington Post
Too many elementary school teachers, education experts say, lack the know-how to teach math effectively.

**** Aftermath <http://www.slate.com/id/2178573/fr/rss/>
by Rosanna Warren, Slate

**** The Ink Fades On A Profession As India Modernizes <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/26/world/asia/26india.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin>
by Anand Giridharadas, New York Times
The professional letter writer is confronting the fate of middlemen everywhere: to be cut out. In India, the world's fastest-growing market for cellphones, calling the village or sending a text message ha all but supplanted the practice of dictating intimacies to someone else.

SingaporeSurf
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**** Half Say 'Yes' To Routine HIV Test <http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_190557.html>
by Lee Hui Chieh, Straits Times

**** Trouble And Strife: Singapore Safari <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/12/27/rosiemilne.xml>
by Rosie Milne, Telegraph
I've just got back from our family's annual light safari, to view the wonders &mdash; we undertook it by car since there are miles and miles of lights, so to walk would have taken us way beyond The Beloved Son's bedtime, and mine.

**** As Singapore's Banks Prosper, Investors Scan For Bumps Ahead <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119871099679751469.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>
by Patricia Kowsmann, Wall Street Journal
Think Singapore banks. They're likely to do well next year on robust domestic growth.
One important caveat: The ride could turn rocky if a U.S. economic recession or continuing bad-debt write-dwons slam the city-state's financial services companies along with their peers abroad.

**** Singapore's Style Of Solving Any Problem <http://utopia8787.blogspot.com/2007/12/singapores-style-of-solving-any-problem.html>
by Utopia

**** Taxi Fare For Singapore, Hong Kong And Taiwan <http://hongjun.blogspot.com/2007/12/taxi-fare-for-singapore-hong-kong-and.html>
by Hongjun's Technology Edge

**** Help, We Are En-Bloc Refugees <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/229284.asp>
by Lucy Huang, Today
Is this the way we are going to pass our twilight years? Always faced with the prospect of having to sell our home?

**** Hospice Pulls Out Of Medifund <http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_190362.html>
by Lee Hui Chieh, Straits Times
Dover Park Hospice, which looks after the terminally ill, decided to pull out late last y ear after it realised drawing on Medifund would pose a 'conflict with our philosophy towards charging,' said chief exeucitve officer and medical director Noreen Chan. The hospice did not want dying patients and their families to be stressed by exhausting their savings, and having to prove it.

**** Bus Or Plane To KL? Battle For Travellers Looms <http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_190359.html>
by Karamjit Kaur, Straits Times
Coach operators gear up for competition in luxury fare market with coming entry of budget carriers.

**** Tunnel Vision <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/229302.asp>
by Nig Jing Yng, Today
Ad panels light up train ride in novel way to attract commuters.

**** Going Up From Next Month - Power Tariffs Pegged To Oil Prices <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/229297.asp>
by Ansley Ng, Today

>From next month, the price of electricity will be increased by an average of 1.24 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) &mdash; or about 6 per cent &mdash; from the current 21.38 cents per kWh.


**** Revise CPF Housing Grant For Singles Too <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_190364.html>
by Florence Tan Siew Bee, Straits Times
Being single in Singapore is becoming increasingly difficult.