[MyAppleMenu] Aug 14, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Laying It All Out <http://jonwhipple.com/blog/2009/08/08/laying-it-all-out/>
Jettison Canopy

So if you’re after a page-layout tool and don’t want to pony-up for InDesign and do the learning that it requires, but you know you need something more than simply a word processor, what are the options? How do they compare, and is one better than another?

**** Cultivating Digital Simplicity <http://theweeklyreview.ca/feeder/?FeederAction=clicked&feed=Articles+%28RSS2%29&seed=http%3A%2F%2Ftheweeklyreview.ca%2F2009%2F08%2F13%2Fcultivating-digital-simplicity%2F&seed_title=Cultivating+Digital+Simplicity>
Chris Bowler, The Weekly Review

There are two tools which I use regularly to keep my screen clean and clutter free. They are Hazel and Witch—I’ve talked about them before, but not in the sense of simplicity. How do I use them? Hazel allows me to keep my desktop free of clutter and Witch keeps my screen clean with minimal windows in view.

**** Why I Always Disable “Wake On Lid Open” On My MacBooks <http://ihnatko.com/index.php/2009/08/13/why-i-always-disable-wake-on-lid-open-on-my-macbooks/>
Andy Ihnatko's Celestial Waste of Bandwidth

Ideally, “Disable Wake On Lid Open” would be a system pref instead of something that can only be done via the command line. But if this were an ideal world, the normal bumps and jostles that a notebook experiences in transit wouldn’t be enough to wake the machine.

**** Next Mac Office, Due By 2010's End, Gets Outlook <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10308997-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Ina Fried, CNET News.com

Microsoft on Thursday said the next version of Office for Mac will arrive by the 2010 holiday buying season, and it added that the new version will include a version of Outlook.

Outlook for Mac will replace Entourage, the current e-mail and calendar program in the Mac Office suite. Although it will still differ from the Windows version of Outlook, it will add support for more Exchange features, such as public folders and rights management features.

**** Under The Gavel: Close A Door, Open A Window <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=ccb7f7ae728f07004d5477742f5e71d5>
Dan Moren, Macworld

Just goes to show you that when one class action door closes, the universe opens a litigious window. That’s what’s going on this week in the world of Apple’s legal forays.

**** Microsoft Ships Entourage Web Services Edition <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=2806f016f4b29baed7291532cf1ee750>
Philip Michaels, Macworld

Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition means the Mac e-mail client will stop using the WebDAV protocol in favor of Exchange Web Services.

**** Apple's Board To Meet To Discuss Replacements for Google's Schmidt <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125019983643730309.html>
Yukari Iwatani Kane and Joann S. Lublin, Wall Street Journal

Apple Inc.'s directors are planning to meet next Tuesday and plan to discuss possible replacements to the board seat recently vacated by Google Inc. chief executive Eric Schmidt, said a person familiar with the matter.

**** OverSite 3.1 Adds HTML Rendering Within Wireframes <http://feeds.macnn.com/click.phdo?i=d3866f6c2be0a406d9127a6a6f2750ab>
MacNN

**** Whither Apple TV? <http://theappleblog.com/2009/08/13/whither-apple-tv/>
Charles Jade, The Apple Blog

**** Has Phil Schiller Become Steve Jobs' "Good Twin"? <http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/170143/has_phil_schiller_become_steve_jobs_good_twin.html>
David Coursey, PCWorld

Phil Schiller, whom I haven't spoken to in several years, has a reputation as a bit of a fixer and nice guy inside Apple. If you have a problem that isn’t finance or engineering and is important enough, go see Phil. He settles battles between warring factions in the oh-so-political culture down in Cupertino.

My hope is that Schiller is on a mission-from-Steve to mend a few fences and improve some internal processes, most notably its App Store approval maze. My other hope is that Schiller would have been a voice against the banning of Google Voice applications, making him more than another Steve flunky.

**** Five Little Apple Annoyances <http://thedigitallifestyle.tv/home/2009/8/13/five-little-apple-annoyances.html>
TheDigitalLifestyle.tv

No, we're not talking about the app store approval process, or the high priced RAM options. Today we look at five minor Apple annoyances, most of which could be fixed quickly/easily.

**** Qik Goes Official, Comes To The App Store <http://www.ipodobserver.com/ipo/article/qik_goes_official_comes_to_the_app_store/>
Jeff Gamet, The iPod Observer

Qik requires an iPhone 3GS and supports video with audio capture, along with uploading and sharing videos to an online Qik account.

**** Nintendo DS Lookalike App Hits The App Store <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10309522-17.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Don Reisinger, CNET News.com

Apple might have let one slip by. An app that looks awfully similar to the Nintendo DS is now available in its App Store.

**** Adam Savage Interview -- Have Mac, Will Bust Myths <http://www.maclife.com/adamsavageextra>
Leslie Ayers, Mac Life

How--and why--one of TV's most charismatic geeks has used Macs for years, can't live without his iPhone, and has never regretted it.

**** Review: IBiz 4.0 <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=8eea06fbe1adbd4b1c7a989b10371a46>
Jeffery Battersby, Macworld

Small business time tracking application offers versatile tools.

**** Psystar To Depose Numerous Apple Executives In Lawsuit <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/08/14/psystar_to_depose_numerous_apple_executives_in_lawsuit.html>
AppleInsider

Clone Mac creator Psystar announced this week that it will conduct depositions of numerous high-ranking Apple officials as it prepares its defense against the company's lawsuit.

**** Apple’s Cash Hoard: It Just Keeps On Growing <http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/08/14/apples-cash-hoard-it-just-keeps-on-growing/?mod=rss_WSJBlog?mod=&FORM=ZZNR5>
Don Clark, Wall Street Journal

Remember when Wall Street was obsessed with Microsoft’s bulging bank account? Now it’s Apple that is awash in cash, the latest symbol of the company’s stunning ascendance over the past decade.

**** Have Mac, Will Open-source <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10309890-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Matt Asay , CNET News.com

Life is too short to use a given application simply because it's open source (or Microsoft, or whatever). Use what works. Increasingly, this will lead you to use open source. But for me, the Mac is still the best desktop platform available, period. I'm therefore loving the combination of Mac OS X and a variety of open-source applications.

**** Create Unique Margins And Text Flows In Pages <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=b40db64249cac2b4c76968b6a9473a46>
Rob Griffiths, Macworld

Have you ever wanted to create a document where the margins follow graceful curves, or the text is broken up by a wandering invisible line that meanders down the page? If so, and if you use Pages, here’s a really simple way to create those effects.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** How Long Is Long-term Storage? <http://news.cnet.com/8301-21546_3-10309283-10253464.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
John Webster, CNET News.com

There is a big disconnect between how long people think they should be storing data and how long they actual can. One group of vendors and academics is trying to change that.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Whose Side Of The Road Are You On? <http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/14/driving_on_left/index.html>
Tom Vanderbilt, Salon

For the first time in ages, a country is switching to driving on the left. Should we all drive on the same side?



SingaporeSurf
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**** English Still 1st Language <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_416523.html>
Clarissa Oon & Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times

English will remain Singapore's master language even as the country nurtures more bilingual talents who can do business with China, minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew said on Thursday. 'The command of English is a decisive factor for the career path and promotion prospects of all Singaporeans.

**** MM: Foreign Talent Is Vital <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_416522.html>
Clarissa Oon & Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times

Minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Thursday warned Singaporeans of the dangers of closing the country's door to foreign talent.

Without educated foreign residents, Singapore faces the threat of a declining economy with a shrinking labour force, he said in a speech stressing the importance of accepting and embracing them.

**** MM : Singapore Now Highly Dependent On Foreigners.... <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2009/08/mm-singapore-now-highly-dependent-on.html>
Diary of A Singaporean Mind

MM Lee is wrong. Why? He uses the fertility rate today (1.28) to explain why we need so many foreign workers in Singapore today. The Singapore workforce today is not build (born) today but more than 30 years ago. You cannot use our low fertility rate today to argue that we need so many workers now because our workforce is today is dependent on the fertility rate 30-40 years ago!

**** Why More Expensive In Singapore Than In Taipei? Here's My Guess <http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/2009/08/14/LM013459/>
Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu

Sgpolitics.net [http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=3516] asked: Why the large discrepancy in value of contracts awarded to ST Electronics for installation of platform doors at SMRT stations and at Taiwan's Neihu Line?

Here are some guesses that I can put forward to explain the difference, in order of significance:

1. Singapore's platforms have more doors. (Singapore: 4 doors per car, 6 cars per station; Taipei: 2 doors per car, 4 cars per station) (300% difference)

2. Singapore's work is to be performed on existing operating stations, while Taipei's work was performed on not-yet operating, still under construction stations.

3. Singapore's platforms are longer in length. (Singapore: about 140m; Neihu: about 90m) (150% difference)

4. Singapore's work is to be performed on older stations, possibly with older existing technologies.

Given all these, it is not surprising to me that Singapore's work is more expensive. If you count the number of doors per station, it worked out roughly to be equivalent to the difference in cost.

**** A People United By Apathy And Ruled By Fear <http://temasekreview.com/?p=11909>
The Temasek Review

A nation united by apathy and ruled by fear has not achieved Merdeka yet. We have merely exchanged the British colonizers with our own local-bred pests and leeches.

**** George Yeo: Minister Salaries Has Secret Component <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/2668-george-yeo-minister-salaries-has-secret-component>
Singapore Democrats

**** Singapore MFA Press Statement On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Verdict <http://blog.dk.sg/2009/08/14/singapore-mfa-press-statement-on-daw-aung-san-suu-kyis-verdict/>
Dee Kay Dot As Gee

I actually find myself ashamed as a Singaporean after reading Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry comments on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s verdict.

**** Ministers’ Salaries Include A “confidential Discretionary Component”, Says George Yeo <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/08/ministers-salaries-includes-a-confidential-discretionary-component-says-george-yeo/>
Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen

**** MOH Says Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 Patient Is An Isolated Case <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/448879/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

The health ministry (MOH) said the case of a Tamiflu-resistant H1N1 patient is an isolated case.