[MyAppleMenu] Oct 30, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Android: First Impressions <http://www.mondaynote.com/?p=1049>
by Frederic Filloux, Monday Note
In the summer of 1997, Steve Jobs called Eric Benhamou, 3Com's CEO (the company owned Palm), "Give me the Palm and come and join my Board of Directors. Only Apple can make Palm a true consumer brand." Nothing happened. Apple's foray into the product segment had to wait ten more years.

**** NVIDIA-Based MacBook Airs Now Shipping <http://www.macrumors.com/2008/10/29/nvidia-based-macbook-airs-now-shipping/>
by Arnold Kim, MacRumors.com

**** Apple Not Accepting Opera Mini On iPhone <http://www.osnews.com/story/20455/Apple_Not_Accepting_Opera_Mini_on_iPhone_>
by David Adams, OS News
Apple does stand to lose some Google revenue by letting people use other browsers, but they have much more to gain by unlesahing the creativity of the developer community and giving them the freedom to improve or replace core iPhone functionality.

**** Apple's $24.5 Billion: The Case For A Big Stock Buyback <http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/10/29/apples-245-billion-the-case-for-a-big-stock-buyback/>
by Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune

**** Engineer: Killing FireWire On MacBooks Was Necessary <http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/10/engineer-lack-o.html>
by Brian X. Chen, Wired

**** The Amazing Brain Train <http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=997>
by Richard Hallas, Inside Mac Games

**** Audio Recorder 2.0 Update Fixes AMR, AC3 Recordings <http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/10/29/audio.recorder.20.ships/>
by MacNN

**** Could Snow Leopard Be Free? <http://speirs.org/2008/10/29/could-snow-leopard-be-free/>
by Fraser Speirs
The question that looms over all Apple upgrades these days concerns whether the company's interpretation of the Sarbanes-Oxley act will allow them to do it.

**** Microsoft Reveals Live Mesh For Mac <http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=23343>
by Mark Hattersley, Macworld UK

**** Apple Ads Blunt Microsoft's 'I'm A PC' Campaign <http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9118480&source=rss_topic123>
by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Apple Inc.'s anti-Vista response last week to Microsoft Corp.'s "I'm a PC' marketing campaign blunted the impact of its rival's efforts, an internet video metrics firm said today.

**** Apple Fans Crave Up Mac-O-Laterns <http://cultofmac.com/apple-fans-carve-up-mac-o-lanterns/4331>
by Lonnie Lazar, Cult Of Mac

**** Is Time Machine Enough? <http://blogs.oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2008/10/is-time-machine-enough.html>
by Todd Ogasawara, O'Reilly Digital Media Blog

**** iPhone 2.2 To Offer Podcast Downloads, Google Street View <http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=23335>
by Macworld UK
Podcaster's rejection explained as Apple preps direct podcast to iPhone downloads schema.

**** Apple Publishes Details Of Recent MobileMe Service Upgrades <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/10/29/apple-publishes-details-of-recent-mobileme-service-upgrades>
by David Chartier, Ars Technica
Besides service-wide changes like improving localization support and member name suggestions when newbies sign up, MobileMe Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Account applications all received a healthy dose of tweaks and improvements.

**** AT&amp;T Finally Gives Free WiFi Access To iPhone Subscribers <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/10/29/att-finally-gives-free-wifi-access-to-iphone-subscribers>
by Glenn Fleishman, Ars Technica
AT&amp;T seems to have finally pushed the button&mdash;permaturely clicked a few times earlier this year&mdash;and granted iPhone subscribers the same free access to its national WiFi hotspot network that DSL, fiber, laptop 3G, and business subscribers already receive.

**** Flow FTP Client Updated <http://www.macworld.com/article/136441/2008/10/flow.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

**** PopChar X Update Improves Compatibility With OpenOffice <http://www.macworld.com/article/136436/2008/10/popchar.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Ergonis Software on Wednesday released an update for PopChar X, its utility allowing users to insert special characters into documents.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Too Old For Tech? Not These Silicon Valley CEOs <http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=&articleId=9117939&taxonomyId=&intsrc=kc_feat>
by Eric Lai, Computerworld
Think leading a technology company is only for thirtysomethings? These savvy sexagenarians beg to differ.

**** Can Microsoft Be A Mobile Hero? <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/30/mobile-phones-microsoft>
by Jack Schofield, The Guardian
In a rapidly changing smartphone landscape, Microsoft looks like a laggard. WHy does it seem so unfazed?

**** Andreessen's Newspaper Advice Echoes Grove's, A Decade Ago <http://www.wordyard.com/2008/10/29/andreessens-newspaper-advice/>
by Scott Rosenberg, Wordyard
Newspaper companies are clinging to their dwindling print profits because they can't yet see a way to keep anything close to their current pay scale and benefits in an online-only world. And the hardest pill for the industry to swallow is that there may not be any way to do that.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Visual Thinking <http://www.granta.com/Magazine/Granta-103/Visual-Thinking>
by Catherine O'Flynn, Granta
I sneer also at the two-dimensionality of maps. The missing third dimension of depth is less debilitating than the missing fourth of time.

**** Move Over, My Pretty, Ugly Is Here <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/fashion/30ugly.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin>
by Sarah Kershaw, New York Times
Ugliness has recently emerged as a serious subject of study and academic interest unto itself, in some small part because of the success of television's "Ugly Betty," which ABC promoted with a "Be Ugly" campaign stressing self-esteem for girls and young women.

**** Ladies Of The Nightly News <http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/10/30/nightly_newswomen/index.html>
by Rebecca Traister, Salon
Call it historical accident or mere coincidence, but this election, built as it has been around two history-making female candidates, traditional "women's issues" like the economy and healthcare and the acknowledgment of the power of the female voters, also happens to have been translated, interpreted and picked apart by women newscaters. And that's something new.

**** Translating The British, For Americans <http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/10/29/translating_the_british_for_americans/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Book+reviews>
by David M. Shribman, Boston Globe
Sarah Lyall is a witty American married to an Englishman. She has the access afforded to a New York Times foreign correspondent and the deft hand of a portraitist. "The Anglo Files," her field guide to the British, treats the folks ont he other side of the "special relationship" as if she were an anthropologist and they a bizarre subcult requiring scholarly explanation.

**** A Universe Of Books: Borges's 'Library Of Babel' <http://www.nysun.com/arts/a-universe-of-books-borgess-library-of-babel/86435/>
by Alberto Manguel, New York Sun
Barely nine pages long, "The Library of Babel" is nothing less than an attempt to describe the chaotic order and meaning of the universe, buidling on the ancient notion of the world as a book (or a book itself divided into an almost infinite number of books) in which we ourselves are written, and which we also attempt to read.

SingaporeSurf
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**** New Standards For Trains <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_296467.html>
by Maria Almenoa, Straits Times
A new operating standard for trains was rolled out today. Operators who do not follow these standards can be fined between $10,000 to up to $1 million.
To help reduce congestion on trains, SMRT will modify 10 trains by removing 84 of the 300 seats from the trains. This will create more standard room for passengers.

**** No Need For Fed Credit Now: Singapore <http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Story/A1Story20081030-97201.html>
by AFP

**** Sept Tourist Arrivals Fall <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_296456.html>
by Straits Times
Even with Formula ne race, September tourist arrivals to Singapore dropped 4.1 per cent year-on-year. And the Singapore Tourism Board now said it may not meet this year's tourism receipts targets of $15.5 billion.

**** Singapore, HK Job Ads Fall <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_296449.html>
by Straits Times
Job advertisements in Asia's financial centres Singapore and Hong Kong fell in the third quarter as the financial crisis spurred companies to cut costs, recruitment firm Robert Walters said on Thursday.

**** The Foreigner's Guide To Getting A Subsidised University Education In Singapore <http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2008/10/foreigners-guide-to-getting-subsidised.html>
by Mr Wang Says So

**** Talk The Talk Or Walk The Walk? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/10/xtra-insights-talk-the-talk-or-walk-the-walk/>
by Rachel Chung, The Online Citizen

**** From Alexandar Hospital To Washington: The Currency Of Race <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2008/yax-949.htm>
by Au Waipang, Yawning Bread

**** MRT's Boon Lay Extension To Start Operating From 28 Feb 2009 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/386457/1/.html>
by Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia
The Boon Lay extension of the Mass Rapid Transit system will start operating from February 28 next year.

**** Singlish In Cambodia <http://cambodiacalling.blogspot.com/2008/10/singlish-in-cambodia.html>
by Combodia Calling
When I hear Singlish in Cambodia, I often smile. I miss it so much.

**** Singapore Air To Cut Flights To Various Asian Cities <http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSSIN32204720081030>
by Kevin Lim, Reuters

**** Singapore's Casino Opening To Be Delayed - Report <http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSSIN5078820081030>
by Melanie Lee, Reuters
The full opening of one of Singapore's casinos may be delayed due to construction issues and a shortage of labour, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.

**** Las Vegas Sands Soars 80% After Talks With Singapore Government <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agVz68rha4iA&refer=home>
by Beth Jinks and Jean Chua, Bloomberg
Las Vegas Sand Corp. soared a record 80 percent in New York trading after the Singapore government siad it was in talks with the casino company to help finish a $4 billion casino project in the city-state.
The Singapore Tourism Board will "facilitate the success" of the project in downtown Singapore, the agency said. It didn't say how it would help or if it will provide financial support.

**** Two Nite Owls Put To Sleep <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/284326.asp>
by Leong Wee Keat, Today
Even though ridership has doubled within a year, the night-bus scene is set for a shake-up from tomorrow.

**** How It's Fared For Cabbies <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/284340.asp>
by Leong Wee Keat, Today

**** Toxic Towns <http://singaporelifetimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/toxic-towns.html>
by Singapore Life And Times
Perhaps it is timely for these Town Councils who have invested and lsot in the Lehman products to account for the investment in full.

**** Leadership: Doing And Saying <http://groundnotes.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/leadership-doing-and-saying/>
by Groundnotes
For our PAP ministers, leadership is a word, an idea, a catchphrase that is taught in expensive MBA or MPA programmes in Harvard or Yale. It's about what you say and what you say you are, but very rarely about what you do.

**** Agnes Lin: A Victim Of The ST? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/10/toc-exclusive-agnes-lin-a-victim-of-the-st/>
by Choo Zheng Xi, The Online Citizen
Twenty-year-old Ms Agnes Lin msut be Singapore's most loathed undergraduate, and all thanks to a Sunday Times article that portrayed her as a spoilt brat leeching off her parents to feed her expansive shopping tastes.

**** TBT Trial Third And Fourth Day - The Question Of Equality - Article 12 Singapore Constitution <http://chiatilik.wordpress.com/2008/10/29/tbt-trial-3rd-4th-day-the-question-of-equality-article-12-singapore-constitution/>
by Chia Ti Lik
Any allegation of unfair discrimination in executive acts ought to be examined as they were relevant because such acts will reveal a violation of Article 12 of the Constitution.