[MyAppleMenu] Apr 9, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Review: GyazMail 1.5 E-mail Software <http://www.macworld.com/article/132663/2008/04/gyazmail15.html>
by William Porter, Macworld
GyazMail 1.5.7 is a solid, competent desktop e-mail client, with an attractive user interface and some nice features. But the program hasn't changed much in years, and the rest of the e-mail universe has changed a lot.

**** Mac Security Not So Much About The Mac <http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9914753-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
Education and "safe surfing" practices are as important to this era of security as anything having to do with counting flaws or patching practices. Maybe that's the third rail of technoogy writing: it's not always the mean evil corporation's fault, sometimes, it's your.

**** Why OS X Costs Twice As Much As Windows <http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=311>
by Robin Harris, ZDNet.com
Apple proves that by delivering value - instead of problems - computer users will happily fork over twice as much as Microsoft can get for WIndows today.
/The overall point, which I agrees, is that Mac OS X upgrade is worth the upgrades,  whereas the value of Vista is still not clear./
/However, there are some nitpicks I want to make. What Apple sells are upgrades. After all, your very first copy of OS X is "free" with your Mac that you buy./
/Secondly, Apple has very liberal upgrade policy: you can skip upgrades without paying any price penalties further down the road. /

**** iPhone Java Solution Announced <http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=20948>
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK
New software designed to automatically port Java-based games to the iPhone has been revealed by New Zealand's Innaworks.
/Is this Java on the iPhone? No. Apple is still the gatekeeper, and you still cannot run any Java applications that is out there./

**** Apple Secretly Wants Android To Succeed, For A While <http://www.iphoneappentrepreneur.com/2008/04/essay-apple-sec.html>
by iPhone App Entrepreneur
Apple will support Android because the alternatives are worse.

**** UCLA's On iTunes <http://www.today.ucla.edu/news/080408_ucla-on-itunes/>
by Ajay Singh, UCLA Today Online
Called UCLA on iTunes U, it's part of Apple Inc.'s two-year-old collaboration with U.S. universities competing to reach prospective students around the world.

**** Latest iPhone 2.0 Beta Reveals 3G Chipset <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/04/08/latest_iphone_2_0_beta_reveals_3g_chipset.html>
by Aidan Malley, AppleInsider
Hidden away in the latest test firmware for iPhone developers is the mention of the chipset that will power third-generation cellular internet access in Apple's next generation of the device.
/I think, at this point, everybody is convinced that there is a 3G chip in a future iPhone. The question is: when?/

**** Apple Adds Anti-Hacker Features To QuickTime <http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Apple-Adds-AntiHacker-Features-to-QuickTime/>
by Ryan Naraine, eWeek
Faced with a security crisis affecting its media player, Apple responds with key exploit prevention mechanisms aimed at thwarting hacker attacks.

**** LifeAgent 2.2 Backs Up To .Mac, Flickr, More <http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/04/08/lifeagent.22.adds.flickr/>
by MacNN
Memeo today unveiled LifeAgent 2.2, a new version to its automated software backup solution, that introduces support for Flickr and .Mac iDisks.

**** 'Hear' Promises To Make Music Sound Better <http://www.macworld.com/article/132890/2008/04/hear.html>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld

**** Mossberg: I Have No Idea When 3G iPhone Is Coming, And I Don't Care <http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/4/mossberg_i_don_t_know_the_3g_iphone_date_and_i_don_t_care>
by Peter Kafka, Silicon Alley Insider
"If I knew when this date was, why would I announce it in the middle of a sentence at the Finnish embassy, rather than report it in the Wall Street Journal?"
/And even if it is true, I fear Steve Jobs, and would never announce anything before he did. :-)/

**** Competition Unable To Take A Big Bite Out Of Apple's iTunes <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080408-competition-unable-to-take-a-big-bite-out-of-apples-itunes.html>
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
iTunes is widening its lead in the digital music market at the expense of other top brands, according to a new report by Ipsos.
/If you want to compete with iTunes, you pretty much have to sell DRM-free music. If you want to compete with Amazon, you pretty much have to sell DRM-free music that is not available on Amazon. Niches, i.e./

**** Apple Releases A Slew Of Firmware Updates <http://www.macworld.com/article/132905/2008/04/firmware.html>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Unfortunately, there are no notes from Apple that detail the specific changes in each of the firmware updates.
/Unless you're having troubles with your Mac, wait a few weeks. Let others test out the updates for you first./

**** Teen iPhone Share Seen Doubling As iPod, iTunes Flatten <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/04/08/teen_iphone_share_seen_doubling_as_ipod_itunes_flatten.html>
by Aidian Malley, AppleInsider
In the latest round of its semi-annual teen surveys, analyst group Piper Jaffray finds that ownership of Apple's iPhone has doubled in six months and is set to double again, though cooling iPod and iTunes use suggests a changing of the guard.
/Apple is continuing to hold a demanding lead on MP3-playing fit-in-your-pocket devices (i.e. iPod + iPhone), and may soon have a lead on the smart phone market too./

**** A Vintage Mac Network Can Be As Useful As A Modern One <http://lowendmac.com/myturn/0803my/nygren-vintage-network.html>
by Carl Nygren, Low End Mac

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Google Rips Down HuddleChat <http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/08/google-to-close-huddlechat/>
by Michael Arrington, TechCrunch

**** Those Who Canot Remember The Past Are Condemned To Write Facebook Apps <http://www.wordyard.com/2008/04/08/chad-on-facebook/>
by Scott Rosenberg, Wordyard

**** Yahoo Extends Flickr With Video <http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9914495-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
by Stephen Shankland, CNET News.com
In a bid to broaden Flickr if not actually crush YouTube, Yahoo is adding videos to what has just been a photo-sharing site.

**** PC Makers Race To Market With Low-Cost 'Netbooks' <http://www.wsbt.com/news/consumer/17408014.html>
by Don Clark, Wall Street Journal

**** HuddleChat: Did Google Just Rip Off 37Signals? <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/huddlechat_campfire_rip.php>
by Josh Catone, ReadWriteWeb

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Ving, Vang, Vong. Or, The Pleasures Of A New Vocabulary. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/opinion/09wed4.html?_r=2&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin>
by Verlyn Klinkenborg, New York Times
I look back and wonder what it is I've been doing innately since childhood, and I can think only of this. I've been picking up words one by one, feeling their heft, wondering who's used them before, and slowly adding them to my permanent collection.

**** Hillary Carlip's One-Woman Show - In Book Form <http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-et-carlip9apr09,0,4100165.story?track=rss>
by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times
"To me, shopping lists are the new memoir."

**** Beckett's Ancestors <http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,,2271820,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=10>
by Brigitte Le Juez, Guardian
Beckett believed himself to be a poor lecturer; he felt, as he put it, that he could not teach others what he did not know himself. But his students saw things differently.

**** Through A Bong, Darkly <http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/09/sixties/index.html>
by Gary Kamiya, Salon
A new book argues that the '60s counterculture achieved nothing of lasting importance. So why does the era continue to fascinate us?

**** Mambo! <http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/dancing/2008/04/14/080414crda_dancing_acocella>
by Joan Acocella, New Yorker
What can you learn from "Dancing with the Stars"?

**** Keeping Priorities Straight, Even At The End <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/health/08well.html?_r=1&ex=1365393600&en=cc18b0c691d347f6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin>
by Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times
As a professor of computer sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, Randy F. Pausch expected students to pay attention to his lectures. He never expected that the rest of the world would listen, too.

SingaporeSurf
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**** Singapore FInes Cable TV Operator For Showing Commercial With Lesbians Kissing <http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/09/asia/AS-GEN-Singapore-Kissing-Fine.php>
by Associated Press
The Media Development Authority said in a statement on its web site that it has fined StarHub Cable Visiion 10,000 Singapore dollars for airing the commercial in November.
The commercial,w hich was to promote a song by Mandarin pop singer Olivia Yan, was aired on MTV's Mandarin-language channel, the media regulator said.

**** Ask A Tibetan: Red China Or Singapore? <http://www.redcounty.com/national/2008/04/ask-a-tibetian-red-china-or-si/>
by Mike Spence, Red County
Singapore has not signed enough of treaties.

**** Dialogue Session With The Office Of Student Affairs On The Hostel Allocation Problem <http://low-tide.blogspot.com/2008/04/dialogue-session-with-office-of-student.html>
by Only Blue, Only Blue

**** The Best Transport System: Why The Disparity In Opinion? <http://ridz.sg/blog/1597/the-best-transport-system-why-the-disparity-in-opinion/>
by Ridz.sg
So we might actually be the 'best'. But if it doesn't meet the 'world-class' standards that we've set for ourselves, it's still a let down.

**** As Rice Stocks Swell, Concerns Grow Over Space And Consumer Reaction <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/340261/1/.html>
by Alicia Wong, Today
Even as rice importers are encouraged to import more, the problem lies int eh high costs and lack of storage space, not the supply availability &mdash; so say importers who met with International Enterprise (IE) Singapore on Tuesday.

**** SG$1 Billion For A 10 Times Faster Network <http://computerworld.com.sg/ShowPage.aspx?pagetype=2&articleid=7846&pubid=3&tab=Home&issueid=126>
by Melissa Chua, Computerworld Singapore
A whopping $1 billion is the amount of public funds that will be available to private sector companies keen to take part in the building and operation of the island's upcoming National Broadband Network (NBN), which is scheduled for completion in 2015.

**** Horses For Courses <http://diodati.omniscientx.com/2008/04/08/horses-for-courses/>
by Elia Diodati, E Pur Si Muove

**** The Best Passenger Experience In The World <http://aidilomar.com/2008/04/08/the-best-passenger-experience-in-the-world/>
by Aidil Omar, Sheep City
It is an experience all right, and I hate it.

**** Let Us Have A More Level Playing Field <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/247342.asp>
by Foo Yoon Fatt, Today
Without such exclusive agreements, consumers will be in a better position to choose which operator they want.
/Unfortunately, without exclusive agreements, we may not even get these programming into Singapore in the first place. It's back to World-of-Sports-Incorporating-One-Hour-Match-Highlight on Sunday mornings./
Alternatively, MDA can insist onmandatory channel resale for core content such as sports event to level the playing field.
/Why is foreign clubs playing against each other in foreign lands a "core content"?/

**** Government May Ease Entry Of New Bus Operators <http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_225258.html>
by Chirstopher Tan, Straits Times
To make it easier for newcomers to break into the public bus industry, the government may foot the bill for sizeable investments such as bus depots and information systems.
Industry watchers pointed out that previous attempts to introduce more players were foiled, mainly because of high start-up costs.
/The government is finding out that it is difficult to undo many of its penny-wise-pound-foolish decisions made in the 70s and 80s./

**** Applicant Had Choice Of 400 Flats In Punggol: HDB <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_225195.html>
by Kee Lay Cheng, Housing &amp; Development Board, Straits Times
Our records show that Mr Lim had been successfully shortlisted for a new flat under the HDB's Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise for Treelodge at Punggol in March last year. However, he did not select a flat despite having over 400 flats to choose from.
/In other words, stop blaming us for your own picky-ness./

**** Government Has To Take Some Responsibility Too <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_225194.html>
by Mohd Rashed Badarudin, Straits Times
Is it fair that accountability lies only with certain strata of staff members of a corporation?

**** But Are Things All That Gloomy? It's Likely To Be A Hazy Year, Asean Ministers Warn... <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/247373.asp>
by Today
After being spared from the worst effects of the haze last year, Singapore and its neighbours are bracking themselves for the days when smoke will once again get into their eyes.