[MyAppleMenu] Jul 17, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Apple Shows Off First China Store, Divulges Retail Plans <http://www.macworld.com/article/134545/2008/07/applestorebeijing.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Steven Schwankert, IDG News Service
"This is the first of many stores we will open in China," said Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail. He later added that Apple will open stores "in Beijing, in Shanghai and beyond."

**** iPhone Aps: When 2.0 Means 1.0 <http://www.macworld.com/article/134542/2008/07/iphone_apps_10.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jason Snell, Macworld
Apple may have updated the iPhone. But the App Store is brand new &mdash; and it shows.

**** Apple's Novelty Shop <http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/07/16/apple-iphone-apps-tech-enter-cx_bc_0717apps.html>
by Brian Caulfield, Forbes
Play around with Apple's App store and one thing is clear: So far it's mostly about playing around.

**** Dooza 1.1 <http://www.macworld.com/article/134106/2008/07/doozla1.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Miller, Macworld
There are plenty of painting and drawing programs for Mac kids, but plasq's Doozla is one of the best I've seen.

**** The Loopt Debacle <http://tastyblogsnack.com/2008/07/14/the-loopt-debacle/>
by Justine Ezarik, Tasty Blog Snack

**** Plugging Into A Little Good Will <http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/plugging-into-a-little-good-will/>
by Frank Bruni, New York Times
"We'll just bring the charger cord," Gary said, "and plug the phone in the restaurants we visit." "Right," I said, "I'm sure they're going to let us do that."

**** Apple's New App Store For iPhone Stuff Is Addictive <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2008-07-16-apple-apps-ipod-iphone_N.htm>
by Edward C. Baig, USA Today
The App Store turns the iPhone into an important new computing platform.

**** Apple Climbs Into Third Place In U.S. PC Market <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2325860,00.asp>
by Mark Hachman, PC Magazine
Apple again cracked the top three in U.S. PC sales for the third quarter, according to surveys released Wednesday by both Gartner and IDC.

**** In Sync To Pierce The Cloud <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/technology/personaltech/17pogue.html?ref=business>
by David Pogue, New York Times

**** Localisations Are A Hassle <http://earthlingsoft.net/ssp/blog/2008/07/localisations_are_a_hassle>
by Sven-S. Prost, Quarter Life Crisis
Once you automate more of your UI work, you reduce the number of eyes seeing it before being shipped. As a consequence bad UI experiences will increase as users get to use an absolutely virgin UI.

**** 3 iPhone Media Apps (That Feel A Little Like Magic) <http://www.43folders.com/2008/07/16/iphone-app-magic>
by Merlin Mann, 43 Folders
Today I want to point you to three applicatins that make me feel like I'm a music fan of the very-near-future &mdash; where personalized data flies through the air, phones play rock music bassed on your personal preferences, and everybody listens to Silkworm on moving sidewalks and in tricked-out rocket cars.

**** Minireview: Scrabble For iPhone/iPod Touch <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/07/16/minireview-scrabble-for-iphoneipod-touch>
by Jeff Smykil, Ars Technica
If you love Scrabble, then it is easily worth the $9.99 price tag. If you are only a casual Scrabble fan, you may want to wait until the WiFi multiplayer version comes out.

**** AirRadar Detects Wi-Fi Networks <http://www.macuser.com/software/airradar_detects_wifi_networks.php?lsrc=murss>
by Dan Moren, MacUser
AirRadar lets you scan the area for Wi-Fi access points and provides you with details on their signal strength, whether or not the network is secured, and will even identify the strongest network for you.

**** Where To Eat? Ask Your iPhone <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/dining/16note.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin>
by Frank Bruni, New York Times
On Saturday night, the day after the iPhone 3G came out, I recruited a friend who had purchased one to join me in an experiment. For more than four hours we hopped around the city, asking Urbanspoon to suggest somewhere good to eat.

**** The New Apple Walled Garden <http://www.techcrunchit.com/2008/07/15/the-new-apple-walled-garden/>
by Nik Cubrilovic, Tech Crunch
The problem with Apple is that the blind demand is driven by a distorted reality, so those same developers who poured thousands of hours into the BSD kernel now turn around and purchase an iPhone running that code, but it is now tied up in DRM, licenses and restrictions placed there by others.

**** Two Steps Forward And One Big Step Backing Up <http://www.macworld.com/article/134525/2008/07/iphonebackingup.html>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
This is the cause of my syncing angst&mdash;that little progress bar&mdash;which is part of a fun game I like to call the "iPhone Backup Lottery."

**** How To Save Time By Typing Less <http://www.macworld.com/article/134160/2008/07/keyboardshortcuts.html>
by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld
Tricks to make you a keyboard efficency expert.

**** iPhone 2.0 Adds Support For Embedded YouTube <http://www.macworld.com/article/134535/2008/07/iphone20_youtube.html>
by Dan Moren, Macworld
You tap on an embedded YouTube video, and it launches the iPhone's YouTube application and plays said video.

**** Review: Best Sudoku Apps For iPhone And iPod Touch <http://www.macworld.com/article/134522/2008/07/iphonesudoku.html>
by Dan Frakes, Macworld
I tested every iPhone Sudoku app and picked out those worthy of your iPhone's screen. (It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it.)

**** Apple Apologizes For MobileMe Launch, Extends Subscriptions <http://www.macworld.com/article/134530/2008/07/mobileme.html>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Apple spokesman, Bill Evans, told /Macworld/: "We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge."

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Google's Android Platform: Not So Open After All <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080715-googles-android-platform-not-so-open-after-all.html>
by Ryan Paul, Ars Technica

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Turf War <http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/07/21/080721crbo_books_kolbert?currentPage=all>
by Elizabeth Kolbert, New Yorker
Americans can't live without their lawns&mdash;but how long can they live with them?

**** Golden Bull <http://www.tnr.com/booksarts/story.html?id=b816718d-9587-4b89-83c1-218d0060db8c>
by Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic
We are living in a golden age of the pseudo-meaningful stunt.

**** The Big Picture <http://www.tnr.com/booksarts/story.html?id=d6cb03b8-a623-4b4a-938e-e178bfc8029e>
by Peter N. Miller, The New Republic
There is no replacement for the human trace, and no way to grasp its meaning without a trained imagination.

**** To Catch-22 A Predator <http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-07-16/news/to-catch-22-a-predator>
by Maria Luisa Tucker, Village Voice
On Ward's Island, it's legal limbo for men who probably deserve it.

SingaporeSurf
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**** Uniqueness Of Perfection That Sits To Our North <http://business.theage.com.au/business/uniqueness-of-perfection-that-sits-to-our-north-20080716-3gdz.html?page=1>
by Michael Backman, The Age
Singapore's leaders cocoon themselves against challenge and seem affronted by scrutiny It's as if they haven't done a good job in building Singapore. But they have, and that is the frustration. Why must they act as if they haven't?
As you read through the measured paragraphs of the IBA report, you can almost feel the pleading; the advice to a friend: "you're wealthy, you're educated, you're like us now. Take that final step &mdash; join us &mdash; the community of civil, prosperous socieities. Do it, before you embarrass yourself more." But this friend is too proud to listen.

**** Meek Reflections, Bold Suppositions <http://mollymeek.livejournal.com/195635.html>
by Mollymeek
We must fear change. We must change. We must fear change when it's not directed by the PAP. We mus tembrace change when it's directed by the PAP for we must stay relevant in this world. This is one of the basic messages that we get all the time, directly or indirectly.
Absurdity.

**** Shades Of Grey Part 2.5 <http://perrytong.blogspot.com/2008/07/shades-of-grey-part-25.html>
by Perry Tong, A Singaporean

**** Can We Tweak The Formula? <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/265466.asp>
by Today
The key implication here for the Public Transport Council (PTC) and public trasnport operators is that should there be an increase in public transport fares, they have to, at the same time, raise overall quality standards which are visible to commuters.

**** Violence: The Lesser Evil? <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/265464.asp>
by Ethel Chong, Today
Intimate scenes of Tony Leung's character and his wife are censored, yet the battle scenes are more than gratutious.
/As a society, we seems to be able accept violence more in our arts than nudity. We are okay to allow our children to see people dying unnaturally than people loving naturally./

**** Improving Public Transport - An Express Alternative <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/07/improving-public-transport-&ntilde;-an-express-alternative/>
by Tan Kin Lian, The Online Citizen

**** Smart Cabs To Implement 30-Cent Fuel Surcharge From August 1 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/360750/1/.html>
by Chio Su-Mei, Channel NewsAsia
The move by Smart Automobile comes in the wake of a similar announcement by ComfortDelGro last week.
/It doesn't make any sense for Smart not to follow suit./