[MyAppleMenu] Dec 1, 2009

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Tue Dec 1 18:59:00 EST 2009

MyAppleMenu
====================================

**** Five Commuter iPhone Apps You've Gotta Try <http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/11/commuting-iphone-apps/>
Jason Kambitsis, Wired

**** Home Computers: Decisions, Decisions <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112704037.html>
Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post

Both Microsoft and Apple have updated their operating systems this year. Windows 7 represents a bigger improvement relative to its predecessor, the widely disliked Windows Vista, while Apple's Mac OS X Snow Leopard has been somewhat disappointing in practice. But the Mac's core advantages over Windows persist.

**** Apple's Stand On Defect Leaves A Sour Taste <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_460848.html>
Perry M. Chan, Straits Times

**** "Locking" An External Hard Drive <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=1cb2700dbaa243b4f63fbce4ad0172e4>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

What you need to do is create an encrypted space on all or a portion of that drive and then move the files you want to protect into it. You have a number of ways to do that.

**** Apple's Black Friday Sales Under Analysts' Microscope <http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=27869>
Larry Dignan, ZDNet

Apple’s Mac sales on Black Friday were either a little off the pace set a year ago or moving briskly off the shelves with the help of discounting, according to analysts.

**** VMware Fusion 3 Review: Fusion Now Brings Even Closer Integration Between Mac And Windows <http://www.macworld.co.uk/macsoftware/reviews/index.cfm?RSS&ReviewID=3701>
Cliff Joseph, Macworld UK

Fusion 3.0 is an impressive upgrade that will appeal to anyone who needs to run Windows software on their Mac, or to ‘switchers’ who need a little help moving from a PC to the Mac. It’s not perfect – the 3D graphics support is still rather erratic – but the slick interface and improved performance ensure that it now feels even more natural running Mac and Windows programs alongside each other.

**** Is The 27-inch iMac All It's Cracked Up To Be? <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=4bd42160c55a11bf3ff608aaa47f31eb>
James Galbraith, Macworld

The quad-core iMac may among the fastest Mac models. But the 27-inch all-in-one desktop might be at risk for a feature that Mac users will not find as impressive—a cracked display.

**** iPhone's Debut In S.Korea Means Paradigm Shift: Experts <http://www.mobile88.com/news/read.asp?file=/2009/11/30/20091129215209&sec=International&phone=iPhone_South_Korea_>
AFP

Apple's top selling iPhone made its debut in South Korea Saturday with experts saying the iconic smartphone is likely to serve as a wake-up call for an IT industry basking in an isolated market.

**** Pimp My iPhone: Apps For Storing, Editing And Reading Files <http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=5354>
Jason D. O'Grady, ZDNet

While there’s no single app that’s going to be perfect for every situation, here are a couple of my favorite apps right now for storing, editing and reading files.

**** The Apple iPhone In Japan <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/6700074/The-Apple-iPhone-in-Japan.html>
Hunter Skipworth, Telegraph

The Apple iPhone presented a bit of a dilemma to the Japanese tech crowd. It closed the once monumental gap between the western world and Japanese mobile phone technology. In fact the iPhone pretty much surpassed it. But for some bizarre reason the Japanese never jumped on the iPhone trend like we did. Perhaps simply to smite Apple for toppling their handset dominance? Who knows... It may very well have been because the original iPhone didn't offer to the Japanese market what they look for in a handset; useless functionality, terrible ergonomics and a big enough area to stick glitter and general Japanese twinkliness to.

**** Apple May Let Psystar Continue Selling Mac Clones <http://www.infoworld.com/d/mac/apple-may-let-psystar-continue-selling-mac-clones-497?source=rss_infoworld_news>
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Apple and Mac clone maker Psystar agreed Monday to settle a 17-month lawsuit that will effectively stop Psystar from preinstalling Apple's Mac OS X on the Intel-based computers it sells.

It may not prevent the small Florida computer maker from selling Mac clones, however. Instead, Psystar laid out an argument that would shift responsibility for installing Apple's operating system onto its customers.



The Tomorrow Weblog
====================================

**** Personalized, Real-Time Web Content <http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=ff308a1e17c326e4a22e0ffd404aff58>
Kate Greene, MIT Technology Review

A new version of Netvibes focuses on real-time data from around the internet.



MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================

**** Why I Never Became A Poet <http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2009/nov/30/poetry-art-criticism?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Jonathan Jones, The Guardian

As a Welshman, poetry was in my soul - until the editor of a poetry magazine poured cold water on my efforts.

**** 'Last Words' By George Carlin <http://www.latimes.com/features/la-et-book28-2009nov28,0,628744.story>
Steve Appleford, Los Angeles Times

A former comic who first met Carlin back at the old Café Au Go Go in Manhattan, Hendra assembled the book as "Last Words," and it's a fascinating closing statement from the influential comedian openly revered by the likes of Bill Maher and Jerry Seinfeld. This is not a collection of setups and punch lines, but a candid, fearless accounting of his life and art. As much as anything Carlin created, the book should become a central text for any serious student of comedy and pop culture of the 20th century.

**** Bewitched By Bach, Bewildered By His Masterpiece <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=cd02b83137a45b719455d473344a7d6f>
Janet Maslin, New York Times

There is a good reason Johann Sebastian Bach’s six cello suites strike Eric Siblin as irresistibly exotic. Mr. Siblin is not a seasoned Bach aficionado. He spent years as a pop music critic before suddenly becoming bewitched by the Cello Suites, their mysterious provenance and the manner in which Pablo Casals famously rediscovered, recorded and popularized this long-forgotten music. Thus mesmerized, Mr. Siblin has written about the Cello Suites from a wide-eyed newbie’s point of view.

**** One Sister’s ‘Mmm’ Is Another’s ‘Um, No Thanks’ <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/dining/02feed.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Alex Witchel, New York Times

Two sisters’ tastes diverge over dairy-free banana-chocolate chip cookies from the new cookbook “Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.”

**** Mind: Story? Unforgettable. The Audience? Often Not. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/health/01mind.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Benedict Carey, New York Times

Researchers think they may understand why people are better at remembering what they have learned than whom they have shared it with.

**** Death To Smiley <http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/11/30/death_to_smiley/index.html>
Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon

Why emoticons need to die :-(

**** Why They’re Really Scared Of Heidegger <http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/reviewofbooks_article/7762>
Tim Black, Spiked

The philosopher still makes some academics feel itchily uncomfortable, not because they truly believe his Nazism will leap from the pages of his works, but because his deeply anti-humanist arguments sound a little too familiar.

**** Heard Any Good Books Lately? <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120769925>
Neil Gaiman, NPR

An audiobook is its own thing, a unique medium that goes in through the ear, sometimes leaving you sitting in the driveway to find out how the story is going to end.

**** Fascinating Story, But Who Wrote It? <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704782304574542001950568592.html?mod=article-outset-box>
Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal

Midwives, collaborators, co-authors, co-writers, writers-for-hire, book doctors, ghosts—call them what you will—give aid and adjectives to athletes, politicians, movie stars, moguls, miscreants and the briefly famous who are asked to tell their stories and don't know how.



SingaporeSurf
====================================

**** Couple 'Pressured' To Vote For Promising Brand At Eatery <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_460853.html>
Liong Ming Foong Kim, Straits Times

**** StarHub Let Down Tennis Fans By Switching To Football <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_460849.html>
Adrian Lee, Straits Times

StarHub had been building the interest and expectations of tennis viewers throughout the week but let us down badly at the crucial moment by giving priority to football.

Letters such as these illustrate the simple fact that the business model of pay television -- selling channels -- is out of date and dying. In a world of unlimited bandwidth, 'channels' is out of touch with what customers want. Regulating this old business model, when big changes are forthcoming, will be taking a big step backwards.

**** Speaking Up For The Marginalised <http://mathialee.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/speaking-up-for-the-marginalised/>
Mathia Lee

These people may be in the minority, they may be in the fringe, they may often be overlooked. But I hope people remember also that the Bible talks about how God values even a singular person.

**** Lee Kuan Yew On Islamic Terrorism <http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/atanu-dey-blog/lee-kuan-yew-on-islamic-terrorism.htm>
Atanu Dey, Asian Correspondent

Here's someone who takes the long view.

**** Where Is Singaporekini? <http://geraldgiam.sg/2009/12/where-is-singaporekini/>
Gerald Giam

It will require a few bold professional journalists and businessmen to start up something truly credible and sustainable that Singaporeans can flock to.

**** Singapore & The Economist: After The Sentence Cut <http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2009/12/singapore-the-economist-after-the-sentence-cut.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rana+%28Blowin%27+In+The+Wind%29>
Blowin' In The Wind

**** The Port Of Singapore Is Eerily Quiet... Too Quiet <http://www.businessinsider.com/singapores-port-is-eerily-quiet-2009-12>
Vincent Fernando, Business Insider

The problem for cities like Singapore and Dubai though is that everyone wants to be a hub now. Thus even a rebound in world container shipping trade, perhaps driven by a moderate recovery for the U.S. consumer, might not be enough to provide much container shipping growth to Singapore, because port capacity all over the world will have likely grown faster. Ports will be undercutting each other.

**** Income Up By 0.5% <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_461043.html>
Straits Times

The income of Singapore workers has hardly moved, climbing a paltry $10 in one year to $2,600 this June. This rise in the median monthly income of full-time workers works out to a mere 0.5 per cent.

**** Four MediaCorp Radio Stations Back On Internet <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1021663/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

After a nine-month hiatus, online fans of four MediaCorp radio stations can once again get their daily fix from the Internet - thanks to an agreement between the media giant and the Recording Industry Performance Singapore (Rips).

**** Why Citizenship Test Is A Red Herring To Deflect Blame From The Govt’s Immigration Policy <http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/12/01/why-citizenship-test-is-a-red-herring-to-deflect-blame-from-the-govt/>
The Temasek Review

**** IPS Report Refutes Criticisms Of Straits Times' Aware Coverage <http://journalism.sg/2009/12/01/ips-report-refutes-criticisms-of-straits-times-aware-coverage/>
Journalism.sg

Press coverage of the AWARE saga – probably the biggest media controversy of 2009 – is the subject of a research paper by Tan Tarn How of the Institute of Policy Studies. His report finds that, contrary to critics' claims, Straits Times coverage was generally "objective, fair and balanced".

**** 感受新加坡的“光脚文化” <http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl091201_008.shtml>
何宏, 联合早报

中国老百姓说“寒从脚来，老从腿起”。中医学讲“就全身循环而言，足部是身体底层的第二颗心脏”足底有人体各器官的穴位，不要着凉，要经常用热水泡脚，促进血液循环、舒缓关节不适，防止静脉曲张、促进新陈代谢。新加坡人均寿命近80岁。但我观察到这里的老年人腿脚不好、甚至坐轮椅的老人也颇常见到，看起来不如中国北方的老人身体硬朗，不知这是否与人们天热贪凉、光脚受风有关。

**** Singapore Aircraft Not A Worry <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/1/nation/5213693&sec=nation>
The Star

There should no concern over Singapore aircraft taking part in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aero- space (Lima) Exhibition 2009, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

“There should not be any worry about a weapons race between Malaysia and Singapore because we have an understanding to respect the sovereignty of each country,” he said after opening the Lima Air Power Conference here yesterday

**** Pre-election 'Cooling-off' Period Should Not Freeze Citizen Journalism <http://journalism.sg/2009/12/01/pre-election-cooling-off-period-should-not-freeze-citizen-journalism/>
Cherian George, Journalism.sg

The government's proposal to introduce a moratorium on campaigning on the eve of Polling Day is sensible, but it will go down badly if it over-regulates what the Prime Minister correctly identifies as the "grey" area of online news.

**** There Is A Productivity Revolution Sweeping The World And Singapore Is Not Part Of It: WHY? <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=3674>
Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net

If we do not overhaul our immigration policies and recognize that a “growth-at-all-cost” approach is unsustainable, then indeed the world will pass us by and we would all be worse off. That is one gamble we simply cannot afford to take.

**** 在新加坡做华文“补习教师” 真挚情谊永难忘 <http://www.chinanews.com.cn/hwjy/news/2009/12-01/1993322.shtml>
曹宁, 人民日报海外版

在做补习老师的过程中，最令人难忘的，是与学生及其家长在不经意间建立起来的真挚情谊。

**** Proposed Cooling-off Period Designed To Benefit PAP <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/3146-proposed-cooling-off-period-designed-to-benefit-pap>
Gandhi Ambalam, Singapore Democrats

Not surprisingly, it does not apply to party political broadcasts and news reports. This is because the media is controlled by the PAP and will give the ruling party more opprtunity to disseminate its news while the opposition has no such means.

**** Singapore Startup Faces Lawsuit Crunch <http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62059719,00.htm>
Victoria Ho, ZDNet Asia

A Singapore startup that was on the verge of debuting a much-anticipated tablet PC in the United States, may now be staring at multiple lawsuits instead after it fell out with its U.S. partner.

**** Stories From Singapore <http://houseonahill.net/stories-from-singapore/>
Connie Veneracion, House On A Hill

As harsh (excessive, by Western standards) as Singapore’s penal system may be, it seems to work. The streets are clean, there are no graffitis, people smoke only in designated areas, no one spits chewing gum on the pavement, taxi drivers don’t cheat passengers, drivers and pedestrians observe the rules (although I did witness two incidents of jaywalking and I did wonder if the culprits were Filipinos) and a long-time resident like Malou talks about not losing sleep when her teenaged children stay out late with friends.

**** Mixed Reactions To PM's Proposal Of One-day Cool-off Before Polling Day <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1021783/1/.html>
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

Leaders of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) said the move will help better manage the election process, but the opposition Workers' Party (WP) said otherwise.

**** PAP's Quick-Fix Mentality Will Exacerbate Singapore's Economic Challenges <http://utwt.blogspot.com/2009/12/paps-quick-fix-mentality-will.html>
Under the Willow Tree




More information about the applesurf-list mailing list