[MyAppleMenu] Oct 23, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** MacBook Quality Issue Comes To Light <http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=23275>
by Karen Haslam, Macworld UK
Reports are appearing that some new MacBook's are shipping with loose battery covers. Other problems are slanted function keys and extra "M" keys on the keybaord, according to postings on the MacRumors forums.
/Somewhere, Steve Jobs is holding an iPhone and shouting 'told 'ya so!'/

**** The Unexpected: Battery Life In OS X Vs. Windows Vista <http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3435&p=13>
by AnandTech
Figuring out why OS X seems to be better for battery life is nearly impossible, at least without the aid of both Apple and Microsoft.

**** How To Ride The Recession The Steve Jobs Way <http://www.micropersuasion.com/2008/10/how-to-ride-the.html>
by Steve Rubel, Micro Persuasion

**** MacBook Graphic Switching Is Disabled By Software <http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/10/macbook-graphic.html>
by Charlie Sorrel, Wired
Perhaps we'll see a software update soon. Perhaps it will be a paid firmware upgrade.

**** From Apple, A Luxury Laptop In Lean Times <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102203178.html>
by Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post
It would be one thing if the new MacBook came with a major boost in features to justify paying more than the white MacBook, itself no slouch. But too many of the new machine's selling points are tangential to its utility as a computer, spending extra for its undeniable style may be a luxury that is better skipped.

**** Apple SHares Jump After 4Q Results <http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/10/22/ap5593559.html>
by Associated Press
Shares of Apple Inc. climbed Wednesday even as the broader market turned sour, after the company posted a 26 percent increase n its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.

**** Apple's Redone MacBook Is Another Winner <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2008-10-23-macbook_N.htm>
by Edward C. Baig, USA Today
Apple has fashioned a winner with the new MacBook. Unless you can't live without FireWire.

**** Yale Business School Dean Picked To Run Apple University <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/22/yale_business_school_dean_picked_to_run_apple_university.html>
by Prince McLean, AppleInsider

**** The Apple Tax: Fact Or Fiction? <http://theappleblog.com/2008/10/22/the-apple-tax-fact-or-fiction/>
by Darrell Etherington, The Apple Blog
When your strongest argument is that people have to pay more money to run your heavily criticized product if they want better hardware, guess what the logical conclusion is.

**** My Life With Mac <http://www.lettynola.com/2008/10/my-love-affair-with-mac.html>
by Letty Nola

**** The New MacBook, From A Service Technician's Point Of View <http://blog.smalldog.com/article/1375/the-new-macbook-from-a-service-technicians-point-of-view/>
by Barkings!

**** Why Does Flash Suck On OS X? <http://rc3.org/2008/10/22/why-does-flash-suck-on-os-x/>
by Rafe Colburn, rc3.org
Apparently Flash 10 isn't much better than previous versions of Flash in terms of performance on OS X.
/Adobe really need to focus on Flash for the Mac, before it has any chance of convincing Steve Jobs to put Flash into MobileSafari./

**** Macs To Gain Smart Card-Based Login To Active Directory <http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=2430>
by David Morgenstern, ZDNet.com

**** Steve Jobs: We Still Haven't Figured Out The Living Room <http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/steve-jobs-we-still-haven-t-figured-out-the-living-room-aapl->
by Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider

**** Do Mac Users Need To Stuff, Zip, Or Squeeze Files? <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/do_mac_users_need_to_stuff_zip_or_squeeze_files/>
by Alexis Kayhill, Mac 360
Five years is half an eternity in computer years. It seems like only yesterday that Mac users were all using Stuffit to swtore, archive, and send files to others.

**** Seven Real Reasons Why iPhone Is A Smash Hit <http://gigaom.com/2008/10/21/7-reasons-why-iphone-is-a-smash-hit/>
by Om Malik, GigaOM
Apple's volume-to-revenue ratio should scare its rivals.

**** Apple's 'Unibody' MacBook Pro Has Beauty And Brains <http://www.itworld.com/hardware/56537/apples-unibody-macbook-pro-has-beauty-and-brains>
by Ken Mingis, ITworld.com

**** The Case For A Mac Netbook <http://technologizer.com/2008/10/22/the-case-for-a-mac-netbook/>
by Harry McCracken, Technologizer
Does Apple wanna compete with the eee PC? Beats me. But here's one scenario.

**** The Average User Feels Little Or No "Apple Tax" <http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2824>
by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet.com

**** Intel Blasts iPhone; Apple Honeymoon Over <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10072779-37.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
Company executives have decided to start including the iPhone as one of their prime examples of smartphones that don't run "the full internet" because they don't use an Intel chip.

**** Archibald's Adventures <http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=990>
by Jack Shiels, Inside Mac Games
Overall it plays very well and provides a challenging puzzle experience to boot - a very well made game that I would highly recommend.

**** Why I Like Netbooks <http://www.scripting.com/stories/2008/10/22/whyILikeNetbooks.html>
by Dave Winer, Scripting News
Runs any software I want (no platform vendor to decide what's appropriate).

**** The Case For An Apple Netbook <http://www.macworld.com/article/136310/2008/10/netbook.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
Much of what makes netbooks cool and useful can be found in this now-ancient device, and I still think Apple's eMate design is great.

**** Get A Mac: PC Holding A Bake Sale To Fund Vista Improvements <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/10/22/get-a-mac-pc-holding-a-bake-sale-to-fund-vista-improvements>
by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica
Apple has released a new Get a Mac ad poking even /more/ at Microsoft's handling of Vista issues.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Economy To Give Open-Source A Good Thumping <http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=556&doc_id=166342&>
by Andrew Keen, Internet Evolution
"Free" doesn't fill anyone's belly; it doesn't warm anyone up.

**** The Care And Feeding Of Entrepreneurs <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/business/smallbusiness/26shifting.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin>
by Marci Alboher, New York Times

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Who Says Americans Won't Ride Mass Transit? <http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2008/10/23/mass_transit_america/index.html>
by Katharine Mieszkowski, Salon
With gas prices through the roof, our car-crazy nation showed the love for buses and trains. But there's a glitch.

**** Date Local <http://www.slate.com/id/2202431/?from=rss>
by Barron YoungSmith, Slate
The case against long-distance relationships.

SingaporeSurf
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**** In Singapore, You Analyse Press Freedom Independent Of The Political Freedom And Fear! <https://airkosong.com:443/_/2008/10/23/political-freedom-and-fear-has-nothing-to-do-with-press-freedom/>
by AirKosong.com

**** By-Election Bid Dropped <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_293992.html>
by Kor Kian Beng, Straits Times
Jurong GRC resident Sri S. Vadivel Kounder is withdrawing his application to get the High Court to order a by-election in his constituency, following the death of his counsel J. B. Jeyaretnam.

**** Marina Barrage Completed, Reservoir To Be Operational In Less Than 2 Years <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/384854/1/.html>
by Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia
After three years of construction, the S$230 million Marina Barrage is ready. It dams up Singapore's river mouth, forming a reservoir - the Marina Reservoir - which has a catchment area that is one-sixth the size of Singapore.

**** Perspectives - Why Chiam And Chee Soon Juan Were At Loggerheads <http://kakowi.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/perspectives-why-chiam-and-chee-soon-juan-were-at-loggerheads/>
by Enjoy The Breeze

**** Good Manners Singapore Style <http://ilohoblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/good-manners-singapore-style/>
by Travel In The Know

**** Adopting A Rights And Care Approach For Migrant Workers In Singapore <http://aussgworldpolitics.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/adopting-a-rights-and-care-approach-for-migrant-workers-in-singapore/>
by Readings From A Political Duo-ble
There is, without a doubt, a need to adopt a human rights and care approach when it comes to migrant workers issues. Unfortunately, that is also the language which PAP despises.

**** Singapore Says Banks Interested In Lehman Bonds <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/23/apworld/20081023123504&sec=apworld>
by Associated Press
Singapore's central bank said two banks have "shown interest" ina ssuming obligations on 640 million Singapore dollars of bonds linked to bankrupt U.S. brokerage Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

**** Experts Reduce Flatulence-Causing Sugars In Soy <http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE49M1QQ20081023>
by Tan Ee Lyn, Reuters
Scientists in Singapore may have found a way to reduce certain carbohydrates in soybeans that have long been blamed for flatulence.

**** Singapore Inflation Accelerates, Seen Easing On Crisis <http://www.reuters.com/article/forexNews/idUSTRE49M1CL20081023>
by Koh Gui Qing, Reuters
Singapore's annual inflation accelerated in September on higher food and housing costs but stayed below a 26-year-high, with price pressures likely to ease in coming months as the financial crisis reduces demand.

**** China, Singapore Sign Free-Trade Pact: Officials <http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jkzCApVh7zbmX3R9TOKr8SHMwOqA>
by AFP
China and Singapore signed a free-trade agreement in Beijing on Thursday, capping two years of negotiations, officials said. "The agreement will enhance Singapore companies' access to the vast Chnese market and further boost our excellent bilateral trade and investment relations," said the Singaporen government in a statement.

**** Singapore's Sept Inflation Up 6.7% On-Year <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/384806/1/.html>
by Rachel Kelly, Channel NewsAsia
Singapore's consumer price index rose 6.7 per cent in September compared with the same period last year. Data from the Singapore Department of Statistics showed this was largely due to higher prices of food and housing.

**** Cut The GST! <http://singaporedino.blogspot.com/2008/10/cut-gst.html>
by Singapore Dino

**** Singapore's Funny Pages <http://jotman.blogspot.com/2008/10/singapores-funny-pages.html>
by Jotman
Singapore's Constitution is a rights-grab, an illegal mechanism by which an unelected government usurps the human rights of its citizens through a legalistic maneuver.

**** Get Out Of Town <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/10/toc-youth-week-get-out-of-town/>
by Joel Tan, The Online Citizen
Alas, in pursuit of becoming "world class," we've found that there really is nothing more to it than class, class, class.

**** Expat Life In Singapore: Eating Out <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2008/10/22/eating-out-in-singapore.xml>
by Rosie Milne, Telegraph
Depending how you translate it, dim sum literally means heart's delight, or little bit of heart, or touch your heart, or something vaguely along those lines.

**** Department To Assist Jobless Malaysians From Singapore <http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/2383271/Article/index_html>
by New Straits Times
The Human Resources Ministry has set up a committee to monitor the labour market situation in the country.

**** Old Checkpoint May Stay Open <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_293875.html>
by Chong Chee Kin, Straits Times
The old Woodlands Checkpoint, pressed into service in March to ease Causeway congestion, looks set to stay open permanently.

**** CCTV Could Cut Taxi Wait <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_293873.html>
by Christopher Tan, Straits Times
Stuck in a taxi queue that is hardly moving? Relief may come soon from a system of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at taxi stands feeding 'live' images back to cab despatch centres, which can direct cabbies to where fares are waiting.
/I find it hard to believe that cabbies don't already know where the fares are./

**** More Willing To Recycle With Trial Chute <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/283084.asp>
by Today
A trial at Choa Chu Kang showed that people are motivated to recycle more waste if it is made more convenient.

**** A Surprise From DBS <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/283088.asp>
by Cheow Xin Yi, Today
Four financial institutions involved in the structured products controversy have thrown a lifeline to some investors scarred by a chain reaction that started with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

**** Now Who Is The Pork Barrel Champion? <http://geraldgiam.wordpress.com/2008/10/22/now-who-is-the-pork-barrel-champion/>
by Gerald Giam
Since the 1991 election, the PAP has used pork barrel promises in the form of HDB upgrading to further its political objectives. In the last election, senior minister Goh Chok Tong promised $180 million to upgrade Hougang and Potong Pasir flats, without even thinking through how the government was going to fund that spending, as he admitted months later.

**** Hong Leong Offers To Buy Back Lehman Notes From Some Investors <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/384629/1/.html>
by Tan Soo See and Nicholas Fang, Channel NewsAsia