[MyAppleMenu] May 3, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================

**** Amazon: Got To Dance
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
<img src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F0G6KMKVL._AA240_.jpg" width="240" height="240" alt="Got To Dance" /> <http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGot-Dance-M-C-Helldorfer%2Fdp%2F0385326289%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1178199098%26sr%3D1-1&tag=myapplemenu&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325>
After a few years of absense, I'm bringing back links to the Amazon store, where you can buy books (and many other things), and I got to get paid for a few dollars towards the web hosting bill for this web site.
So, for the month of May 07, I'm going to feature books that my daughter loves. (For your reference, my daughter will be 5 this year.)
First up, it's Got to Dance <http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGot-Dance-M-C-Helldorfer%2Fdp%2F0385326289%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1178199098%26sr%3D1-1&tag=myapplemenu&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myapplemenu&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> by M.C. Helldorfer, with illustrations by Hiroe Nakata. My daughter loves to dance, and she also loves stories, so this is a great combination.
School Library Journal: "This joyful book presents a high-energy portrait of a young girl. With her mother at work and her brother at camp, she has "nothing to do" and a case of "the sumertime blues" that can only be cured by dancing.
Booklist: The energy of the words is reinforced both by a swooping type design and Nakata's spontaneous watercolors.
Enjoy!
<p class="permlink">Permanent Link to This Post <http://www.myapplemenu.com/2007/05/03/id0027/>

**** PC World Editor Quits Over Apple Story <http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/05/pc_world_editor.html>
by Kim Zetter, Wired
Colleagues at my former outlet, /PC World/ magazine, have told me that editor-in-chief Harry McCracken quit abruptly today because the company's new CEO, Colin Crawford, tried to kill a story about Apple and Steve Jobs.

**** Gasp! A Less Than Bullish Apple Analyst? <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2007/tc20070503_257565.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_technology>
by Arik Hesseldahl, BusinessWeek
Citigroup's Richard Gardner is pulling back from Apple. Here's why, and why he might just be right.

**** What Apple Teaches Us <http://jwikert.typepad.com/the_average_joe/2007/05/what_apple_teac.html>
by Joe Wikert
Apple is being rewarded handsomely because they choose to break out of that narrorw-mind mode and take a bigger picture look at what really shapes the overall industry.

**** Ballmer Says iPhone Won't Succeed. Has Windows Mobile? <http://informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/05/ballmer_says_ip.html>
by Eric Zeman, InformationWeek
In the 5 years that Windows Mobile has been around, it has barely cracked 0.6% of all mobile phone sales. Ballmer has a long, long way to go to reach his target of 60%.

**** Translation From PR-Speak To English Of Selected Portions Of Steve Jobs' "A Greener Apple" Article <http://waffle.wootest.net/2007/05/02/pr-speak/>
by Waffle
Dear Greenpeace,
Fuck you.
Love,
Steve.

**** iPod Most Owned Acessory Of College <http://media.www.dailyvidette.com/media/storage/paper420/news/2007/05/02/News/Ipod-Most.Owned.Accessory.Of.College-2890901.shtml>
by Eric Heisig, Daily Vidette

**** A Greener Apple <http://www.apple.com/hotnews/agreenerapple/?sr=hotnews.rss>
by Steve Jobs, Apple
I'd like to tell you what we are doing to remove toxic chemicals from our new products, and to more aggressively recycle our old products.
See Also:
Apple To Launch Global iPod Recycling Scheme This Summer <http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&newsID=17923>, by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK.
Apple To Ship Macs With Backlid LCD <http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/05/02/apple.to.ship.backlit.lcds/>, by MacNN.
Greenpeace Responds To Apple's Environmental Plans <http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/05/02/greenpeace/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>, by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld: Greenpeace seems pleased with the steps Apple has comitted to taking, raising the company's ranking from a 2.7 to a five out of 10.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** 09 F9: A Legal Primer <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005229.php>
by EFF
The AACS-LA takedown letter is not claiming that the key is copyrightable, but rather that it is (or is a component of) a circumvention technology. The DMCA does not require that a circumvention technology be, itself, copyrightable to enjoy protection.

**** Silly Season <http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/05/02/silly-season>
by Mark Pilgrim, Dive Into Mark
Springtime means conference time, which means it's silly season on the web again.

**** New Net Radio Fee Collections Delayed <http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9714931-7.html>
by Anne Broache, CNET News.com
The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board has pushed back the date on which a contentious fee hike for internet radio broadcasters takes effect.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Should Authors Conform To Type? <http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/05/should_authors_conform_to_type.html>
by Will Davis, The Guardian
Once they've found their niche, most authors are content to plough the same furrow. And why not? It worked for Austen.

**** Are Book Reviewers Out Of Print? <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/books/02revi.html?ex=1335758400&en=a201fb69914183f9&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
by Motoko Rich, New York Times
To some authors and critics, these moves amount to yet one more nail in the coffin of literary culture. But some publishers and literary bloggers &mdash; not surprisingly &mdash; see it as an inevitable transition toward a new, more democratic literary landscape where anyone can comment on books.

SingaporeSurf
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**** Amazon: Got To Dance
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
<img src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F0G6KMKVL._AA240_.jpg" width="240" height="240" alt="Got To Dance" /> <http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGot-Dance-M-C-Helldorfer%2Fdp%2F0385326289%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1178199098%26sr%3D1-1&tag=myapplemenu&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325>
After a few years of absense, I'm bringing back links to the Amazon store, where you can buy books (and many other things), and I got to get paid for a few dollars towards the web hosting bill for this web site.
So, for the month of May 07, I'm going to feature books that my daughter loves. (For your reference, my daughter will be 5 this year.)
First up, it's Got to Dance <http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGot-Dance-M-C-Helldorfer%2Fdp%2F0385326289%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1178199098%26sr%3D1-1&tag=myapplemenu&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=myapplemenu&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> by M.C. Helldorfer, with illustrations by Hiroe Nakata. My daughter loves to dance, and she also loves stories, so this is a great combination.
School Library Journal: "This joyful book presents a high-energy portrait of a young girl. With her mother at work and her brother at camp, she has "nothing to do" and a case of "the sumertime blues" that can only be cured by dancing.
Booklist: The energy of the words is reinforced both by a swooping type design and Nakata's spontaneous watercolors.
Enjoy!
<p class="permlink">Permanent Link to This Post <http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/2007/05/03/id0028/>

**** The Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times <http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2007/05/best-of-times-worst-of-times.html>
by Mr Wang Says So

**** Google In Discussion With Singapore Government To Establish R&amp;D Centre <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/274001/1/.html>
by Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia
Internet giant Google is in talks to open a research and development centre in Singapore.
This was among the initiatives revealed on Thursday as Google officially opened its office here.

**** Austrlia Rules Out Trans-Pacific Route For Singapore Airlines <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/273942/1/.html>
by Channel NewsAsia
Transport minister Mark Vaile said the flag-carrier's Sydney to Los Angeles route would remain off-limits to airlines other than Qantas and Australian discount flyer Virgin Blue "for some time."

**** Tropical Singapore Zoo To Keep Polar Bear - Paper <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SIN217299.htm>
by Reuters
Singapore Zoo is to keep its male polar bear, despite criticism from an animal rights group that the Arctic animal should not stay in a tropical climate, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
Executive directory Fanny Lai told the Straits Times the zoo was advised to keep Inuka by its Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee, which said moving him after the death of his mother would cause further stress.

**** Teaching Of Indian Languages Gets A Boost In Singapore <http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/48cba686fe041718/id/245983/cs/1/>
by Malaysia Sun
The teaching of Indian languages, other than Tamil, will receive a $1.5 million boost next year from the government.

**** A Step Forward, A Giant Leap Backwards <http://nishasivajinair.blogspot.com/2007/05/step-forward-giant-leap-backwards.html>
by Nisha Sivajinair, A Trip Into My Head
His letter contains such deeply-rooted bigotry I'm surprised that ST even published the letter.

**** Singapore's Tiger Airways To Set Up Aussie HQ In Melbourne <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/5/3/apworld/20070503122209&sec=apworld>
by Associated Press
Singapore budget airline Tiger Airways announced Thursday that it would base the headquarters for its Australian subsidiary at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport.
Tiger, which already flies routes from Singapore to Darwin and Perth, aims to start domestic routes by the end of 2007 in what it says is an effort to end the airline duopoly in Australia and bring competition to the market.

**** Two Dead, Two Injured In Singapore Refinery Blaze <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/273932/1/.html>
by Hasnita A Majid, Channel NewsAsia
A fire at US oil giant ExxonMobil's refinery at Pulau Ayer Chawan on Jurong Island early Thursday left two workers dead and two others injured.

**** Star Cruises Gets Shareholders' Nod To Sell Casino Stake <http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Thursday/Nation/BT620909.txt/Article/>
by Malaysia Business Times
Star Cruises has won sharehodlers' approval to sell a 25 per cent stake in a casino project for S$255 million to sister firm Genting International in a move to placate Singapore's government.

**** Singaporeans Becoming More Concerned About Security Issues <http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=259811>
by Jackson Sawatan, Bernama
Singaporeans were more concerned about identity theft such as misuse of personal information and credit card theft than they were about terrorism and war, according to the index.

**** What Is The Signal? Where Is the Shame?
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
Tang Shangjun <http://www.straitstimes.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.c2aef3d65baca16abb31f610a06310a0/?vgnextoid=7532758920e39010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:a5f9138b40e42110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD>, in Straits Times, writes: Decriminalising homosexuality does send a signal of approval... It sends a message that society now condones and justifies homosexual activity and hence we should all be more liberal in considering homosexual behaviour to be part of what humans are.
In a society where we do not criminalise adultery, coveting your neighbor's wife, coveting your neighbour's house (read: en-bloc sales), and not honouring your parents, what messages do we signal when we criminalise homosexuality behaviour?
The signal: we are no better than people who put up signs that says "No Dogs or Chinese Allowed". We are no better than people who make laws that forbid Chinese people from having Chinese names. We are no better than people who view women as objects and properties. We are no better than people who codified slavery in laws.
Where is the harm of homosexuality behaviours? Does gay acts kill innocent people? Does lesbian couples robs you of the right to property? Do you get less freedom just because gays lives next door?
If we allow smoking tables and non-smoking tables to stand side-by-side in our coffeeshops, what's the reason we cannot let gays and lebsian stand side-by-side with hetrosexual people in this nation of ours?
Shouldn't we all be ashamed?
<p class="permlink">Permanent Link to This Post <http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/2007/05/03/id0005/>

**** State Of The Singapore Blogosphere, May 2007 <http://diodati.omniscientx.com/2007/05/02/state-of-the-singapore-blogosphere-may-2007/>
by Elia Diodati, E Pur Si Mouve
As nonpartisan blogs representing the citizenry continue on their downward decline in quality /and/ number, the number of blogs belonging to politicians, prominent civil servants, and political parties seem to be on the rise.

**** No Local Media Coverage For SDP's May Day Walk? <http://singaporeelection.blogspot.com/2007/05/no-local-media-coverage-for-sdp-s-may.html>
by Singapore Election Watch

**** A First For Land Transport Industry <http://sgtransport.blogspot.com/2007/05/first-for-land-transport-industry.html>
by Daniel Chin, Singapore's Land Transport
If LTA were to adopt the higher walking speed planning parameter, pedestrians who are walking slower woul dhave to hasten their walking speed by about 25%, in the mean time possibly increasing their blood pressure too.