[MyAppleMenu] Jan 23, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

[News]

*** Apple Pounds E-Wallet Firm In Trademark Tiff
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/23/securipod_patent_dispute/>
John Leyden, The Register

Apple has been accused of applying double standards to trademark disputes by a UK security developer.

*** City's Fund Bites Apple
<http://www.nypost.com/seven/01232007/business/citys_fund_bites_apple_business_.htm>
Bloomberg

The New York City Employees Retirement System was named lead plaintiff in a shareholder lawsuit that claims Apple Inc. failed to properly disclose how much stock it set aside for options awards.

*** Apple's Shares Fall As Mac Sales Remain A Concern
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=AAPL:US&sid=avHGLSZ.LfUI>
Connie Guglielmo, Bloomberg

Shares of Apple Inc. fell for the fourth straight day as analysts said a slowdown in Macintosh and iPod sales this quarter may damp enthusiasm for the stock.

*** Apple Faces Patent Claim Over iPod Touch Sensor Technology
<http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2007/01/22/40565/Apple+faces+patent+claim+over+iPod+touch+sensor+technology.htm>
Steve Bush, Electronics Weekly

Southampton-based touch sensor chip firm Quantum Research Group is taking legal action against Apple over the capacitive sensing technology used in iPod Click Wheels. "We are suing Apple over charge-transfer technology in iPods," Quantum's CEO Hal Philipp told EW. "Some are based on Cypress' PSoC chip and used in a way we believe infringes our patent."

*** European Consumer Groups Unite To Pressure iTunes
<http://playlistmag.com/news/2007/01/22/european/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
John Balu, IDG News Service

Consumer groups in Germany, France, Norway and Finland have joined forces to step up pressures on Apple to loosen the tight ties between its iTunes online music store and iPod music player. At the top of the list of demands is interoperability.

[Opinion]

*** Why I Want A Locked iPhone
<http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,72544-0.html?tw=rss.index>
Leander Kahney, Wired News

While some see this as lockdown, to Jobs it's the difference between the pleasure of the iPod and hte pain of an off-brand MP3 player. I'll take the iPod -- and the iPhone.

*** My List Of What I Really Want From Apple
<http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/my_list_of_what_i_really_want_from_apple/#When:18:30:00Z>
Jack D. Miller, Mac360

We're smarter these days and Apple doesn't recognize it. We want more these days and Apple doesn't understand it.

*** Why I Am Dumping My Mac And Switching Back To Windows
<http://www.michaelstajer.com/2007/01/why-i-am-dumping-my-mac-and-switching.html>
Michael Stajer

I expect an initial period of learning and figure out how to do things on a Mac that I had do on my PC -- but that learning perio dhas never ended. I am continually having to buy software or google to figure out how to do tasks that were simple on my PC.

*** There Are No Design Leaders In The PC World
<http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000769.html>
Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror

In the PC world, taste and culture are rarely considered, and if they are, it's always as an afterthought. Ship it first, make it look good later. If you ever do.

*** Wrong For You, Right For Me
<http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2007/01/wrong_for_you_right_for_me.html>
Giles Turnbull, O'Reilly Network

Pardon me for working in a different way to you.

[Review]

*** Mac Mini With EyeTV
<http://oase.uci.kun.nl/~roberto/index.php/mac-mini-with-eyetv/>
Robert Oostenveld

I am very happy with my Mac Mini. It works great for watching movies and listening to music and for watching and recording TV using EyeTV and the Plextor tuner.

*** Note Taking Application Faceoff
<http://theappleblog.com/2007/01/22/note-taking-application-faceoff/>
The Apple Blog

Whether you're writing a simple article for a blog, piecing together the next blockbuster hit, or penning a 500 page romance novel, there are quite a few options for helping you get all of that informtion organized and drafted.

*** Turn Your Mac Into A Video-Analysis Tool
<http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/creative/2007/01/scopebox/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
Anton Linecker, Macworld

ScopeBox turns your Mac into a video-analysis tool that can measure a video signal's luminance and color values, among other things, to make sure that it conforms to broadcast standards.

[Sidetrack]

*** The Root Of All Evil In UI
Heng-Cheong Leong

MessageBox() is the root of all evil, I tell 'ya.

If a programmer can write a piece of code to display a dialog box <http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2007/01/5-sins-of-vista.html> that says "You can't open this location using this program. Please try a different location.", then this same programmer can write another piece of code to not show these locations that cannot be opened in the first place.

To the API designers of the next great operating system, please make it extremely difficult for programmers to throw out simple dialog boxes, okay?

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

[News]

*** For Real, DRM No Cure For Music Biz Blues
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/22/real_boss_drop_drm/>
Andrew Orlowski, The Register

Real Networks' CEO Rob Glaser summed up the music business' ambivalence towards DRM this weekend, and said digital music needed the shackles taken off.

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

[Tech & Science]

*** Do You Believe In Magic?
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/health/psychology/23magic.html?ex=1327208400&en=40bd663a129bebc9&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Benedict Carey, New York Times

Psychologists and anthropologists have typically truned to faith healers, tribal cultures or New Age spiritualists to study the underpinnings of belief in superstition or magical powers. Yet they could just as well have examined their own neighbors, lab assistants or even some fellow scientists. New research demonstrates that habits of so-called magical thinking -- the belief, for instance, that wishing harm on a loathed colleague or relative might make him sick -- are far more common than people acknowledge.

*** Making Sense Of Time, Earthbound And Otherwise
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/science/23angi.html?ex=1327208400&en=afb9c612553950f5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Natalie Angier, New York Times

We are poised between the extremities and homogeneities of nature, between delirium and ad infinitum, and our andante tempo may be the best, possibly the only pace open to us, or even to life generaly.

[Life]

*** A Librarian's Lament: Books Are A Hard Sell
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/19/AR2007011901361.html?sub=AR>
Thomas Washington, Washington Post

Literacy today is defined less by how English departments or a librarian might teach Wordsworth or Faulkner than by how we find our way through the digital forest of information overload.

[Expressions]

*** Sitting In The Last Of Sunset, Listening To Guests Within
<http://www.slate.com/id/2154985/fr/rss/>
Eric Paul Shaffer, Slate

*** Cell One
<http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/content/articles/070129fi_fiction_adichie>
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, New Yorker

*** Seventy-Two Virgins
<http://www.newyorker.com/shouts/content/articles/070129sh_shouts_martin>
Steve Martin, New Yorker

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

[News]

*** Ministry Lashes Out At Singapore Again
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/23Jan2007_news12.php>
Achara Ashayagachat, Bangkok Post

Foreign Minister spokesman Kitti Wasinondh said yesterday Singapore's statement reflected its lack of understanding of Thailand's situation. "It is tantamount to giving recognition and is not acceptable for Thailand."

*** Air Travel Between KL And Singapore Likely To Be Liberalised Soon
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/254208/1/.html>
Tung Shing Yi, Channel NewsAsia

The Singapore government is optimistic that airline travel between Kuala Lumpur and the city-state will be liberalised soon.

*** Govt Will Not Bail Out Financially Irresponsible Households
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/254188/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

Parliament Secretary for National Development Dr Maliki Osman said doing so would encourage such behaviour, and deprive deserving families of help.

*** 240,000 New PRs, Citizens Likely To Be Added To Singapore's Population
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/254102/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

This would be possible as long as Singapore gets the same numbers of new PRs and citizens as in the last five years.

*** Thai Domestic Phone Calls Not Routed Via Singapore, Says Foreign Ministry
<http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=242831>
Jackson Sawatan, Bernama

Singapore refuted claims that it eavesdrops on phone conversations in Thailand, with a spokesman from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sayings that it does not make business or technical sense to route domestic calls via another country.

*** Singapore Single Mothers Now Entitled To Maternity Leave -- If They Marry Within 3 Months
<http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/23/asia/AS-GEN-Singapore-Single-Mothers.php>
Associated Press

Singapore has relaxed its rules on maternity leave, now allowing single mothers to take 12 weeks away from work -- as long as they marry the child's father within three months of the birth, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

*** Soon, Plastic For The People
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/167452.asp>
Derrick A Paulo, Today

Banking Act changes give lower-income access to unregulated, limited credit.

*** MPs Can Make Parliamentary Speeches In More Than One Official Language
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/254052/1/.html>
Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia

Previously, the rules allowed members to speak in one language at a time, but now they can use all four languages in the same speech.

[Opinion]

*** Singapore's Action Not That Of A True Friend
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/23Jan2007_news24.php>
Bangkok Post

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hisen Loong and his father Lee Kuan Yew are known for their strong retaliation against any foreign media which dares to criticse the Singaporean government's policies or actions. So why did the Singaporean government allow foreign media to publicise Mr Thaksin's criticism of the Thai government on its soil?

*** Cynical.
<http://kitana.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/cynical/>
Coffee And Cigarettes

"Hey look! You're not being treated worse than the foreigners now! We're reducing their subsidies, so all of you can be equally miserable!"

*** Silence Is Golden
<http://www.mrbiao.com/blog/silence-is-golden.html>
This Lush Garden Within

It's better for everyone to just keep quiet and live in our own worlds. Forget about speaking up. Spending the time to think of how to make more money is a better prospect.

*** Punish Mooching - Only If There Is Evil Intent
<http://www.todayonline.com/articles/167412.asp>
Thomas Koshy, Today

The more important issue may be the implicit message sent to WiFi owners that they are not expected to be accountable for securing their own networks.

*** Upset Over Handling Of Bus Passenger Who Failed To Pay
<http://www.straitstimes.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.c2aef3d65baca16abb31f610a06310a0/?vgnextoid=f832758920e39010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:30b407c51f840110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD>
Wil Ng Chin Wee, Straits Times

As the bus was in the middle of the road, it was a danger to all the passengers on board, who were waiting for the incident to end quickly.

[Entertainment]

*** Ang Ku Kuehs From Ang Ku Kueh
<http://yummydummy.blogspot.com/2007/01/blog-post.html>
The Yummie Dummies

I've never tasted so good kueh before!