[MyAppleMenu] Sep 24, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** DRM Advocates Getting Nervous About Consumer Backlash <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070923-drm-advocates-getting-nervous-about-consumer-backlash.html>
by Ken Fisher, Ars Technica
The growing backlash against DRM is causing dissension in the pro-DRM ranks. When DRM proponent start pointing fingers and attempting to separate the theory (really, the ideology) from the practice, we have to stop and ask: what's going on here?

**** Starbucks To Give Away Free iTunes Songs <http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-19769524.htm>
by Associated Press
Starbucks Corp plans to give away 50 million free digital songs to customers in all of its domestic coffee houses to promote a new wireless iTunes music service that's about to debut in select markets.

>From Oct 2 to Nov 7, baristas in the company's more than 10,000 U.S. stores will hand out about 1.5 million 'Song of the Day' cards each day. The cards can be redeemed at Apple Inc's online iTunes Store.


**** Can iPod While iWork? <http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070923/BUSINESS/709230307/1067/COMMUN03>
by George Sophr, Press &amp; Sun-Bulletin
When are iPods at work appropriate? And at what point, if at all, does it hinder productivity?

**** Buying iPhone In Singapore <http://www.dreamplusstudio.com/blog/?p=391>
by DreamPlus Studio Blog
"You need to understand that when we unlock the iPhones, we take on the risk of bricking the phones, which means they become unusable anymore... We unlock some, we brick once a while."

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Opening Up The Patent Process <http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/19419/?a=f>
by Andrew Schrock, MIT Technology Review
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is testing a new website designed to harness the collaborative power of the internet to vet patents.

**** The Year Of The Social Network <http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/09/23/theYearOfTheSocialNetwork.html>
by Dave Winer, Scripting News

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Minister Of Fear <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/magazine/23haneke-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin>
by John Wray, New York Times
Making waves is what Michael Haneke has become famous for. Over the last two decades, the director has developed a reputation for stark, often brutal films that place the viewer &mdash; sometimes subtly, sometimes explicitly &mdash; in the uncomfortable role of accomplice to the crimes playing out on-screen. This approach has made Haneke one of contemporary cinema's most reviled and revered figures, earning him everything from accusations of obscenity to a retrospective at Museum of Modern Art next month.

**** Dream With Flowers And Bowl Of Fruit <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2007/10/01/071001po_poem_warren>
by Deborah Warren, New Yorker

**** Mission Accomplished - For Iran <http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/09/24/Iran/index_np.html?source=rss>
by Peter Galbraith, Salon
The scale of Bush's strategic miscalculation in Iraq is striking, emboldening Iran to extend its influecne in the Middle East.

**** China In Three Colors <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/opinion/23friedman.html?ex=1348200000&en=e4bd22bda197cd46&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times
The more I see China wrestling with its environment, the more I'm convinced that it is going to prove much, much easier for China to have gone from communism to capitalism than to go from dirty capitalism to clean capitalism.

SingaporeSurf
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**** Uniquely Singapore, F1 Or F9: Are Our Ministers Also Confused By The Annuity... Erm... Longevity Insurance Scheme? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/09/24/uniquely-singapore-f1-or-f9-are-our-ministers-also-confused-by-the-annuityerm-longevity-insurance-scheme/>
by Andrew Loh and Leong Sze Hian, theonlinecitizen
Do all the MPs know about these? Do the ministers really know what they are talking about?

**** Singapore's Inflation Highest In More Than 12 Years <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a1nIJ4BJvhkk&refer=asia>
by Shamim Adam, Bloomberg
Singapore's consumer prices rose in August at the fastest pace in more than 12 years, suggesting the centralbank will maintain a policy of allowing its currency to appreciate to damp inflation.
The consumer price index increased 2.9 percent from a year earlier, after gaining 2.6 percent in July, the Department of Statistics said today. That was the quickest pace since December 1994 and exceeded the 2.8 percent expected by economists. Prices rose 0.3 percent from July.

**** Are Bloggers Journalists? A Critical Look At The Idea Of 'Professionalism' <http://journalism.sg/2007/09/24/are-bloggers-journalists-a-critical-look-at-the-idea-of-professionalism/>
by Cherian George, Journalism.sg
The Singapore model rejects the modern liberal democratic ideal of the press as the Fourth Estate, but, interestingly, embraces the way modern journalism is organised. It endorses the Western business model of the press over more troublesome traditional genres from the past.

**** Stone Seats 2: The Sequel <http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2007/09/stone-seats-2-t.html>
by mrbrown
How is this an improvement over 5 seats and a table?

**** Singapore Scientists Make Test To Detect Bird Flu In 30 Minutes <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=a3VNAm8XBop4&refer=japan>
by Simeon Bennett, Bloomberg

**** Defeat <http://www.dailybacktrack.com/index.php?/archives/603-Defeat.html>
by Joel Tan, The Daily Backtrack
We can gripe about the injustice forever, but it wil be of no use. Even now, when the government has shown signs that it leans towards the gay community in terms of argument, it is paralysed by the increasingly noisesome voices of those who have nothing to do with gay sex.

**** Booming Economy, Growing Poverty <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2007/09/booming-economy-growing-povety.html>
by Diary Of A Singapore Mind

**** Your Retirement Savings <http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2007/09/your-retirement-savings.html>
by Mr Wang Says So
A monthly annuity payout of $300 is really just to ensure that you'll have enough money to buy your bowl of rice very day with a few sticks of veggies and toufu in it. It's to make sure that when you're old and wrinkled, you don't have to die of starvation on Singapore's nice, clean streets and spoil the scenery for tourists.
So if you want to enjoy your retirement years in much better shape than that, Mr Wang suggests that you spend some time thinking about how to save, invest and grow your money more effectively.

**** 3,000 Retailers Still Petitioning Nets For Lower Fees After Hike <http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_160637.html>
by Lim Wei Chean, Straits Times
The retailers have stopped accepting Nets cards from their customers, and have asked for payment in cash instead.

**** 25% More HDB Flats Rented Out Since March <http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_160745.html>
by Tan Hui Yee, Straits Times
More Housing Board (HDB) flatowners are cashing in on the rising rental market by letting out their units following a relaxation of the rules on doing so.

**** A Better Balance Of Interest? <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/212970.asp>
by Thomas Koshy, Today
Can't a better balance be struck between group and individual interests?