[MyAppleMenu] Sep 11, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** NewsCorp Won't Pull Videos From iTunes: Chernin <http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070911/bs_nm/newscorp_apple_dc_1;_ylt=A0WTcVlxf.ZGz0kAhQzVNSoA>
by Chris Borowski, Reuters
News Corp will not pull its television shows from Apple Inc's iTunes as rival media group NBC Universal has done over a pricing dispute, president Peter Chernin said on Tuesday.

**** Cyberduck 2.8 Released: Free FTP Browser <http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/09/11/cyberduck.28/>
by MacNN

**** The Price Of Being An Early Adopter <http://www.macopinion.com/index.php/site/more/the_price_of_being_an_early_adopter/>
by Marc Zeedar, MacOpinion
More imprtant, I love my iPhone. It has been integrated into my life.

**** Still Waiting For The Perfect iPod <http://blogs.pcworld.com/digitalworld/archives/2007/09/still_waiting_f.html>
by Emru Townsend, PC World
Ease of use is a deal-maker for most people, but a complete lack of flexibility is a deal-breaker for some of the rest of us.
/What I think the author wants is probably not what he wrote: that to use Finder or Windows Explorer to manage the music on the iPod. The frustruation, I guess, is all that little DRM-like details that Apple has put into iTunes./

**** The iPod Gets A Makeover: A Review Of The iPod Nano And iPod Classic <http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/the-ipod-gets-a-makeover-a-review-of-the-ipod-nano-and-ipod-classic.ars>
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
Within the first minute of using the new iPod classic and iPod nano, the sluggishness was perceptible and somewhat annoying. Coming from using previous iPods over many generations that maintained a very consitent user interface experience, we were very aware of the difference.

**** Why I Don't Have An iPhone Anymore <http://www.moconews.net/entry/419-why-i-dont-have-an-iphone-anymore/>
by Staci D. Kramer, mocoNews.net

**** The Wrong Competition <http://dimbulb.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/09/the-wrong-compe.html>
by Dim Bulb
They can't win if they hope to out-Apple Apple.

**** Apple's New iPod Nano Is A 5G Video iPod In A Nano-Thin Shell <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/09/10/review_apples_new_ipod_nano_is_a_5g_video_ipod_in_a_nano_thin_shell.html>
by Daniel Eran Dilger, AppleInsider

**** Should Apple Burn Its Economics Textbooks? <http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/should-apple-burn-its-economics-textbooks/>
by Steven D. Levitt, New York Times Blog
What economists (and Apple too, I guess) ignore is that consumers hate it when companies follow practices that look like they are designed to maximize profits. You won't find it in economic models, but consumers care about the /reason/ a firm chooses the price it chooses.

**** Why I'm Buying An iPod Touch <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9174>
by Tonya Engst, TidBITS

**** Apple iPod Nano (3Rd Generation) <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2179710,00.asp>
by Tim Gideon, PC Magazine
Sure, Cover Flow seems a little supeflouous and jumpy on the screen, but make no mistake: this is the best-designed flash video player on the market in this price range.

**** Vienna 2.2 Is Available <http://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/10/vienna-2-2-is-available/>
by Dave Caolo, The Unofficial Apple Weblog

**** Fix The Leopard Folders <http://www.indiehig.com/blog/2007/09/09/fix-the-leopard-folders/>
by IndieHIG
<The> usability issues serve to make it very difficult for users to differentiate between folders at a glance and the poor aesthetics prevent the folders from fitting in with the Mac OS X experience.

**** First Look: Apple's 160GB iPod Classic <http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136936-c,mp3players/article.html>
by Eric Dahl, PC World
It's a great update, but I can't see any reason to buy one if you aren't already running out of storage on your current player. Apple made me think hard about it, though.

**** Steve Jobs' Other Mistake <http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/09/steve_jobs_othe.html>
by Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek
Jobs needs to re-think whether his company wants to serve consumers or shackle them.

**** Steve Jobs: The Prince Of CEOs <http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/09/10/steve-jobs-the-prince-of-ceos.aspx>
by Rich Duprey, Motley Fool
In light of thebrouhaha that has emerged in the wake of Apple's iPhone price cut, you can view Steve Jobs one of two ways. Either he's a deer caught in the headlights of consumer outrage, or he's a calculating, Machiavellian manipulator of his minions. Either he misjudged the ire of the early adopters, or he shrewdly cultivated the free publicity the price cut engendered as the holiday selling season approaches.
/If one is of the opinion that the whole iPhone controversal was manufactured by Apple, then the logcial conclusion is that Apple really really want the iPhone to succeed at the expense of the iPod line. Why create the controversy on the same day as the new iPods' introduction? Why not wait a week or two? Black Friday is still a while away./

**** UK Gov't Calls For Mac OS X BBC iPlayer <http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/09/10/iplayer/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
by Macworld UK

**** Analysts Doubt Apple Interest In Wireless Auction <http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/10/Analysts-doubt-Apple-interest-in-wireless-auction_1.html>
by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Rumors swirl that Apple is interested in bidding in the upcoming wireless spectrum auction, but analysts find the claims to be suspect.

**** The Economics Of iPhone Pricing <http://news.com.com/8301-13579_3-9774958-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
Apple's surprising misstep on iPhone pricing could have come about because the company's executives took too many economics classes, and not enough psychology courses.

**** Apple Confirms: iPod Touch Cannot Add Calendar Appointments <http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/10/apple-confirms-ipod-touch-cannot-add-appointments/>
by Ryan Block, Engadget
"Like current iPods, the touch can only view calendar entries created on your computer."
/Of course, things can still change between now and end of September, but as things stand now, the iPod touch is starting to look much as attractive. Maybe it's better to wait for a) the hacks to come in, and the b) 33.3% Apple discount./

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** A New Way To Read Hard Disks <http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19364/?a=f>
by Prachi Patel-Predd, MIT Technology Review
Researchers believe that the magneto-electric effect might be key to creating the sensors needed for ultra-high-capacity memory.

**** Reshaping The Archiecture Of Memory <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/technology/11storage.html?ex=1347163200&en=26735eaee1d37b46&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
by John Markoff, New York Times
If an idea that Stuart S. P. Parkin is kicking around in an I.B.M. lab is on the money, electronic devices could hold 10 to 100 times the data in the same amount of space.

**** U.S. Patent Bill Still Faces Obstacles <http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/10/US-patent-bill-still-faces-obstacles_1.html>
by Grant Gross, IDG News Service
The patent reform bill, which narrowly passed the House of Represenatives, will be aggressively opposed by small vendors and labor unions when it goes to the Senate.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Use Time Wisely - By Slacking Off <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-weiner11sep11,0,2618052.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail>
by Eric Weiner, Los Angeles Times
Why did hard work at the expense of leisure become an American virtue?

**** Conveying Emphasis <http://www.nysun.com/article/61711>
by John McWhorter, New York Sun
Wearning my linguist hat, I am inclined to treat the new boldface as a variant usage of punctuation which, since it is used consistently by users, cannot on any logical grounds be rejected as "wrong."

**** In Another Country <http://www.slate.com/id/2171768/fr/rss/>
by Gail Mazur, Slate

**** Bad Deams Are Good <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2007/09/17/070917po_poem_mitchell>
by Joni Mitchell, New Yorker

**** Fame <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2007/09/17/070917po_poem_murray>
by Les Murray, New Yorker

**** Mr Bones <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2007/09/17/070917fi_fiction_theroux>
by Paul Theroux, New Yorker

SingaporeSurf
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**** Opening Pandora In Singapore: Disappointment City <http://neilsclark.com/archives/189>
by Neils Clark
No wonder people are using torrents.

**** Otto - 1; MOE - 0 <http://singaporekopitok.blogspot.com/2007/09/otto-1-moe-0.html>
by Singapore Kopi Tok
A more important question, however, would be what Otto had hoped to achieve with his 'coming out' post.

**** US Space Tourism Company Short Of Financing, Partners For Singapore Spaceport <http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/11/asia/AS-GEN-Singapore-Space-Tourism.php>
by Associated Press
More than a year after the project was first announced, U.S. company Space Adventures Ltd. sadi Tuesday it wsa still seeking local partners and financing for a Singapore-based spaceport to launch suborbital tourism flights.

**** Bus Fares To Go Up By 1 To 2 Cents From Oct 1 <http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_156857.html>
by Christopher Tan, Straits Times
Bus fares will go up by one to two cents from Oct 1, the Public Transport Council announced on Tuesday. But there will be no increase in train fares.
See Also:
1 To 2 Cents Increase In Bus Fares &amp; No Increase In Rail Fares <http://www.ptc.gov.sg/news20.pdf>, by Public Transport Council. (Note: Link goes to PDF document.) In its deliberations, the PTC considered Singapore's economic outlook and the affordability of public transport. To further ensure that commuters' interests are safeguarded, the PTC also made a reality check on the PTO's Return on Total Assets against companies with similar industry structures and risk profiles. Taking into account these considerations and its mandate to balance the interests of commuters as well as the long-term viability of the PTOs, the PTC has decided to grant a fare increase on bus fares only.

**** Qualities Teachers Should Have: Otto Fong <http://jasperthedummy.blogspot.com/2007/09/letter-to-raffles-institution-regarding.html>
by Jasper Chen
I hope that the school can continue to use such a great teacher in your teaching team, for his sexaulity is no reason one should judge him for, as he is still someone that is passionate about teaching.

**** Regardless Of Race, Language Or Religion <http://aaron-ng.info/blog/regardless-of-race-language-or-religion.html>
by Aaron Ng, Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
I hate to use the word discrimination but I really get this feeling that there are people out there with every intent to discriminate against homosexuals.

**** Uncanny Echoes: Consistency Or Striking Staleness? <http://mollymeek.livejournal.com/165584.html>
by Mollymeek

**** Annuities: Who Will Be Exempted? <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/210423.asp>
by Leong Sze Hian, Today
Will lower income be the only ones left to buy annuities?

**** Beware The Grey Areas <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/210447.asp>
by Sheralyn Tay, Today
Those with private plans may be exempted from the proposed compulsory annuities scheme, but there's a catch: It could cause the pool of those insured to shrink.
And judging by the lessons of Eldershield &mdash; which is being revised as a result &mdash; this could make the annuities scheme unsustainable in the long run, warned a health economist.