[MyAppleMenu] Oct 18, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

**** Hold Me, Touch Me, Thrill You <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071017.wgtkaplab1018/BNStory>
by Jack Kapica, Globe And Mail
In general, the Touch is great at what it's designed to do &mdash; it even has a decent battery life, though it should be recharged every night. But in a world now dominated by Swiss Army knife cellphones that do so much more (though not better), it's neither fish nor fowl. It's neither a phone nor a PDA, and it's much more than an MP3 player. What is best about it is the anticipation of what Aple will do with it next.

**** Developers On iPhone SDK: OMG! ABFT! <http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2007/10/iphone_sdk>
by Bryan Gardiner, Wired
The software industry gave a hearty cheer to Apple's announcement it will provide a software-development kit for the iPhone next spring.

**** Do You Know What's Inside The SDK?
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
Ah... the elusive iPhone SDK. It's finally here... Well, okay, it's not exactly here yet. But Steve Jobs promised there will be one in February of next year. Based on what Apple has been delivering lately, this will be, I guess, the very last day of February, eh? It is a Friday, so all the hackers can spent their entire weekend to port their applications onto the phone.
But then, we still don't know what is inside the SDK, such as the scope of the APIs, and the method by which third-party applications can get onto the iPhones. Steve Jobs definitely hinted at a model where applications need to be approved by Apple in order to get onto the phones. This may mean that you'll get your outliners and minesweepers, but you may not get your instant messengers and internet phones.
Furthermore, we don't know what is the scope of API that will be accessible by third-party programmers. Can third-party applications make phone calls, send SMS messages, or sense the tilt and turns of the phone? (As others have noted, a mini-Wii.)
So, if you are planning to buy an iPhone or an iPod touch, and that a rich and wonderful set of third-party applications is a must-have feature, well, we are not there yet. Buy the gadgets because you like its /existing/ features, not because of its potential, because we don't know where's the ceiling yet come Feb 08.
<p class="permlink">Permanent Link to This Post <http://www.myapplemenu.com/2007/10/18/id0024/>

**** iPhone SDK: Could Motion Controls Make The iPhone A Mini Wii? <http://cultofmac.com/?p=1360>
by Leander Kahney, Cult Of Mac
Think handheld portable Wii.

**** Does The iPhone SDK Point To Impending Touch Screen Devices? <http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/10/does-the-iphone.html>
by Bryan Gardiner, Wired
While Steve Jobs says the three plus months developers will have to wait for an iPhone SDK are essential for ensuring security on the phone, other industry insiders are starting to wonder if the delay might be attributable to something else. Something, say, more tablety with a touch screen interface?

**** Apple OS X Leopard: A Beautiful Upgrade <http://weblog.infoworld.com/yager/archives/2007/10/take_me_home_le.html>
by Tom Yager, InfoWorld
Leopard is a legitimately big deal. It's underhyped compared to iPhone, and yet unlike iPhone, Leopard is a genuine triumph of customer-focused engineering. It's a pleasure and a relief to see that Apple remembers how to deliver open, affordable, standards-based products.

**** Apple TV Fails To Tap The Net's Limitless Library <http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/commentary/cultofmac/2007/10/cultofmac_1017>
by Leander Kahney, Wired
The wireless media center might have been a smash, if only the company had learned from its own succes swith the iPod and designed Apple TV to play video formats popular on BitTorrent and other file-sharing networks.

**** Apple Vs. Everyone <http://www.slate.com/id/2176117/fr/rss/>
by Ivan Askwith, Slate
Networks take note: Apple's not going away.

**** Apple, Orange To Sell Unlocked iPhone In France <http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/10/17/unlockiphone/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
The unlocked iPhone will carry a premium price, although the companies did not say how much more it would be.

**** Freeverse Ups Periscope Webcam Software <http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/10/17/freeverse/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
The software features motion and audio-sensitivity, and can snap pictures then send them to a .Mac account, FTP, by e-mail and more.

**** It's Official: Apple's Number Three In The U.S. <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2007/10/its_official_ap_1.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_byteoftheapple>
by Arik Hesseldahl, BusinessWeek
By Gartner's reckoning &mdash; and it should be noted that these are estimates &mdash; Apple has finally surpassed both Gateway (now part of Acer) and Toshiba to make it into third place in the U.S. PC market behind leaders Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

**** Google, Apple And The Future Of Personal Computing <http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2007/10/google_apple_an.php>
by Nicholas Carr, Rough Type
Why do you think Google is spending billions of dollars a year building data centers? Why do you think Microsoft is madly tryng to catch up, spending even more billions than Google? It's not just search and ads. What's at stake is control over personal computing itself - and Microsoft knows that, confronting the combined front-end and back-end skills of Google and Apple, it's at a big disadvantage. It will likely lose this war.

**** Software Kit For iPhone, iPod Touch Applications Set For February 2008 <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9247>
by Glenn Fleishman, TidBITS
Jobs' letter today was a bit in the tone of, "Hey, you kids, getoff my lawn! We still have to get rid of the gophers, resod the grass, and finish the main house before we let you on it in a few months, you little...." Jobs' statement emphasized the high level of risk for viruses and malware to spread among phones, and the widespread hallucination engaged in (or promoted by) the cell phone industry that such problems don't already exist. Fair enough, although what he's really saing is, "We've been too busy to work on the iPhone and Leopard at the same time; now we can focus on the iPhone again."

**** 16 Coolest New Features In Mac OS X 10.5 That You Didn't Know About <http://sitening.com/blog/2007/10/16/16-coolest-new-features-in-mac-os-x-105-that-you-didnt-know-about/>
by Sitening Blog
There are several little known new features that are actually quite cool.

**** Weak Leopard Discounts: Tip Of The Iceberg For Apple's .Edu Store? <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/10/17/weak-leopard-discounts-tip-of-the-iceberg-for-apples-edu-store>
by Jeff Smykil, Ars Technica
Things do seem to be changing in the Apple Store.

The Tomorrow Weblog
====================================

**** Yahoo: Bringing Geeky Back <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21344020/>
by Cahterine Holahan, Newsweek
Under CEO Jerry Yang's direction, the web portal is trying to return to its tech roots and shift away from being a media catch-all.

**** Sentilla Pushes Java To Tiny Microprocessors <http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/10/17/Sentilla-pushes-Java-to-tiny-microprocessors_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/10/17/Sentilla-pushes-Java-to-tiny-microprocessors_1.html>
by Agam Shah, IDG News Service
Sentilla Software Suite lets users develop and deploy Java-based software on tiny, low-power microprocessors embedded on devices.

MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================

**** To Noodle Or Not To Noodle <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-long18oct18,0,1465917.story?track=rss>
by Rob Long, Los Angeles Times
As a professional writer, I've always been pretty good at not writing. Not writing, in fact, is one of my chief skills. I can not write anywhere &mdash; on a plane, in a coffee shop, in my office &mdash; and I often feel that a day spent without not writing is a day wasted. I even keep a notebook by the side of the bed, in case I wake up with an idea at 3 in the morning and don't want to write it down in case I don't forget it.
So, obviously, the prospect of a writer strike puts me in a cruious position.

**** Recycling The Whole House <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/garden/18decon.html?ei=5088&en=0bfb5ee54ac1d110&ex=1350360000&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1192684971-rqDMEfzvFfmb51iY5ohupw>
by Kristina Shevory, New York Times
Instead of having her 1,300-square-foot house bulldozed, Alice Keller hired Jon Alexander, a contractor who shared her environmentalism and was willing to dismantle the home shingle by beam, and build a replacement with the same two-by-fours.

SingaporeSurf
====================================

**** Flash: A New Hope <http://www.thevoiddeck.org/index.php?itemid=331>
by The Void Deck
The slow redemption of Straits Times in printing letters to shw that while there are some asstards, it is also willing to publish as counterweight some letters that actually make sense.

**** Don't Take Sweets From Kuan Yew <http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/73696>
by Mark Disney, Malaysiakini
Soliciting advice from Lee Kuan Yew on the topic of media credibility is like asking Genghis Khan for his guidance on diplomacy. It's like being praised by Donald Trump for good taste and modesty.

**** Singapore Squirms As Burmese Protest <http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IJ19Ae01.html>
by Alex Au, Asia Times
The Singapore government is caught in an acute dilemma. On the one hand, they have to make suitably outraged remarks about the crackdown against demonstrators in Burma; on the other hand, they do not want the Burmese community in Singapore to protest and inspire Singaporeans to take to the streets too. The Lee government's draconian ban on any kind of street march or protest rally is central to its grip on power.
With the rapidly changing situation in Myanmar, Singapore has to walk a fine line between the generals and those arrayed against them.

**** Singapore's Exports Drop As Shipments To U.S. Fall <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119264694346562245.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>
by John Jannarone, Wall Street Journal
The trade data give some of the first concrete evidence that weaker consumpton in the U.S. is beginning to impact Asian exporters following the credit market upheaval in August.

**** Singapore Curry <http://simple-america.com/blog/2007/10/17/singapore-curry/>
by Simple America

**** I Say "3-Room HDB Flats Are Great", Before I Go Home To My Bukit Timah Bungalow <http://blueheeler.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/i-say-3-room-hdb-flats-are-great-before-i-go-home-to-my-bukit-timah-bungalow/>
by BothSidesOfTheJohorStraits
PM Lee, we know you are used to the high life, but please don't belittle us lesser-beings by telling us economy seats are 'comfortable'.

**** Securing The Straits <http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Columns/2061990/Article/index_html>
by Mohd Nizam Basiron, New Straits Times
Progress is being made on a multilateral approach to ensuring safety in the Straits of Malacca, but more nations need to be involved.

**** Tax Breaks, Schools Attract S.Koreans To Singapore <http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200710/200710170010.html>
by Chosunilbo
An increasing number of high-income South Koreans are obtaining permanent residency in Singapore to give their children better educational opportunities, take advantage of tax breaks and enjoy post-retirement living. In the past, Koreans who wanted to move overseas looked mostly to the U.S., Canada and Australia, but now it's Singapore in the spotlight.

**** The Name Is Lee - Kasperli:-) <http://singaporeadi.blogspot.com/2007/10/name-is-lee-kasperli.html>
by Adrian Ineichen, ADI In Singapore

**** 2 Rebuttals <http://mybitchingarea.blogspot.com/2007/10/2-rebuttals.html>
by My Bitching Area
Sometimes I wonder how stupid the fundamentalist christians think we are.

**** When Warnings Go Unheeded <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax-796.htm>
by Au Waipang, Yawning Bread
Containing dissent is getting harder for the Singapore government. The problem has been creeping up gradually, but it has taken the Burma crisis, motivating a surge of protests by Singaporeans and expatriate Burmese alike, to show how things have changed in Singapore.

**** The Puzzle That's Taxing Singapore <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/217306.asp>
by Jasmine Yin, Today
Brazil's decision to designate Singapore as a tax haven since 2002 has the authorities here puzzled. Now, a statutory board for trade and enterprise is making yet another push to get the Republic off the list, against a backdrop of expanding ties between the two countries in recent years.