[MyAppleMenu] Feb 6, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Georgetown Board Sends Apple Back To Drawing Board <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/05/ST2009020502002.html>
by Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post

An architectural review board today ordered Apple to redraw plans for a store it hopes to open in Georgetown, the fourth time the panel has rejected the company's submission. The board's three members, each of them architects, expressed disappointment that Apple keeps proposing a design that they have criticized.

Apple struggles with the board have caused anxiety among Georgetown business leaders who worry that the company will grow fed up and drop its plans for the property.

**** Apple Delay In iPhone App Feature Not Serious, Analysts Say <http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213201949&subSection=Enterprise+Applications>
by Antone Gonsalves, InformationWeek

Apple is late in delivering technology that would enable third-party iPhone applications to run in the background in order to immediately receive alerts, messages, and other content. But analysts say consumer demand for such features remains low, so the delay is unlikely to have an impact on the consumer electronics maker.

**** Apple's iMovie 09 Is A True &quot;Wow&quot; Update For Video Software <http://www.suntimes.com/business/1415583,ihnatko-apple-imovie-09-020509.article>
by Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times

It’s hard to imagine Apple elevating the art of desktop moviemaking to this degree under the severe limitations of the old iMovie’s user interface and methodology.

**** An App Store For OS X Is A Mistake <http://www.applematters.com/article/an-app-store-for-os-x-is-a-mistake/>
by James R. Stoup, Apple Matters

All of the best developers (one imagines) would be too interested in retaining control to let Apple handle things. I don't seem them trusting anyone that much.

**** A Few Words In Appreciation Of Steve Jobs <http://lowendmac.com/misc/09mr/appreciation-of-steve-jobs.html>
by Charles Moore, Low End Mac

**** Boxee And Its Implications For Apple TV <http://www.ipodobserver.com/ipo/article/boxee_and_its_implications_for_apple_tv/>
by John Martellaro, The iPod Observer

Whether Apple likes it or not, to make the Apple TV hardware more attractive, the company may have to open the doors a little with strategic partnerships.

The question is: is the partnership at the hardware/application level, or at the content/iTunes Store level? I bet Apple is still on the latter strategy.

**** Attention, iPhoto '09: I Am Not Steve Jobs <http://www.macworld.com/article/138678/2009/02/iphoto_faces.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

Thanks to Faces, iPhoto seems to think that I'm Steve Jobs.

**** Review: SimCity For iPhone <http://www.macworld.com/article/138680/2009/02/simcityreview.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Chris Holt, Macworld

SimCity for the iPhone is true to the series and a solid strategy game with many memorable moments, clever nuances, and a high level of replayability. Experienced fans of the series will take some time adjusting to the touchscreen controls, but ultimately geek out at seeing this miniature version of their beloved game. Persons new to the series should experience this iconic strategy game but this may be a rocky introduction.

**** Review: iMovie '09 <http://www.macworld.com/article/138676/2009/02/imovie09.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jeff Carlson, Macworld

iMovie '09 has caught up with iMovie HD and surpassed it in features and performance. There are enough improvements in iMovie '09 that I think it is no longer competing with iMovie HD, but instead with Final Cut Express, which is the next step up in Apple video editing.

**** Great Ormond Street Hospital: Apple Technology Helps Improve Surgical Treatment For Children <http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/gosh/?sr=hotnews%3Fsr>
by Apple

**** Geneforge 5: Overthrow <http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=1013>
by Franklin Pride, Inside Mac Games

Geneforge 5 is well worth the price of purchase. $28 is pretty cheap for an RPG that lasts over thirty hours, especially one that's this entertaining.

**** Analyst: Apple Making Smart Moves With Next OS, Snow Leopard <http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127544&source=rss_topic123>
by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** The Case For Supporting And Using Mono <http://weblog.infoworld.com/fatalexception/archives/2009/02/mono_mania.html>
by Neil McAllister, InfoWorld

Novell's open-source .Net clone is alive and well, and it's turning up in surprising, useful places.

**** The Race For A Better Read <http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1877161,00.html?imw=Y>
by Josh Quittner, Time

What everyone really wants, of course, is the iPod of e‑readers.

**** The Open-Source Mandates Are Coming <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10157924-16.html>
by Matt Asay, CNET

As enterprises get squeezed by the recession, they're going to squeeze their vendors for cost savings. At some point, those vendors' cost structures and business models won't support the squeeze, and the business will go to open-source vendors.

**** Google And Amazon To Put More Books On Cellphones <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/technology/internet/06google.html?ref=todayspaper>
by Miguel Helft, New York Times

In a move that could bolster the growing popularity of e-books, Google said Thursday that the 1.5 million public domain books it had scanned and made available free on PCs were now accessible on mobile devices like the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Why Hard Times Won't Mean Good Times At The Movies Again <http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-02-04/film/why-hard-times-won-t-mean-good-times-at-the-movies-again/>
by J. Hoberman, The Village Voice

Brother, can you spare $12?

**** 24-Hour Hearty People <http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=36777>
by Tm Carman, Washington City Paper

How diners are surviving the recession.

**** Mister Lucky <http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=66135ae4-d551-43d6-85aa-b80ddc3e281a&p=3>
by Isaac Chotiner, The New Republic

Gladwell's overarching thesis in Outliers is so obviously correct that it hardly merits discussion. "The people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are." Also, tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of your life. Gladwell writes as if he is the only person in the world in possession of this platitudinous wisdom.

**** A Baker's Dozen Of My Feeling About David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest <http://therumpus.net/2009/02/a-dozen-of-my-feelings-about-david-foster-wallaces-infinite-jest/>
by Elissa Bassit, The Rumpus

First of all, I didn’t even want to write this because who am I to write this?

**** The Hardest Job In Football <http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200901/football-television>
by Mark Bowden, The Atlantic

For millions of football fans watching at home every Sunday, it seems as though NFL games make a seamless transition from the gridiron to the television screen. But spend a weekend with a network production crew, and you’ll discover what it really takes to turn the on-field action into televised entertainment--intense preparation, frantic effort, brilliant improvisation, and an artistic genius named “Fish.”



SingaporeSurf
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**** School Starts Remedial Classes At 6.50am <http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,191896,00.html>
by Arul John, New Paper

On Tuesday, the father of a student at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School wrote to the Straits Times online media portal (Stomp) describing his shock at receiving a note from the school about his daughter's remedial classes from today.

**** How Government Can Engage Netizens Effectively <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_334767.html>
by Tong Hsien-Hui, Straits Times

As a first step, the government should manage its current online presence better with swifter response times, which is a fundamental trait of the online community.

The government must also understand the communication dynamics in the online world. A statement followed immediately with a strong rebuttal usually either leads to an escalation in online confrontation, or worse, the withdrawal of the contributor to some other site.

**** Steps To President's OK <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_334856.html>
by Jeremy Au Yong, Straits Times

**** RADM Lui's Comments Highlight Growing Divide That Needs To Be Bridged <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/02/editorial-radm-lui’s-comments-highlight-growing-divide-that-needs-to-be-bridged/>
by Choo Zheng Xi, The Online Citizen

We agree with RADM Lui’s call for bloggers to establish norms of acceptable behavior, but disagree that anyone on the internet should 'enforce' these norms. The force of these standards must come from the moral legitimacy of community acceptance: they need to be evolved from consensus and not by fiat.

**** Temasek CEO Ho Ching To Leave; Goodyear To Take Over <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=am4yMINfiRLI&refer=home>
by Bei u and Yoolim Lee, Bloomberg

Temasek Holdings Pte said chief executive officer Ho Ching will step down after almost seven years at the helm of Singapore's $130 billion state-owned investment company.

Chip Goodyear, 51, a former CEO of BHP Billiton Ltd., will succeed Ho, wife of Singapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, effective Oct. 1, Temasek chairman S. Dhanabalan said at a press conference today. Goodyear will be the first foreigner to run the sovereign wealth funds.

**** Risk-Taker Ho Ching Has No Regrets <http://in.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idINTRE5152VT20090206>
by Reuters

Ho Ching, wife of Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, will step down as chief executive of Temasek, ending a 5-year term which saw the state investment agency expand aggressively beyond Singapore. It was also involved in controversies around the region.

Temasek chairman S. Dhanabalan said Ho's decision to step down was not linked to performance, and it was too early to determine if investments made in the last two years would lose out in the long-term.

**** HDB To Accept Applications For Lease Buyback Scheme From Mar 1 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/407231/1/.html>
by Channel NewsAsia

Lease Buyback Scheme (LBS) is a new monetisation option to help elderly households in three-room or smaller flats unlock their housing equity to meet their retirement needs.

**** Foreign Minister Updates Parliament On Singapore's Ties With Neighbours <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/407249/1/.html>
by S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

Singapore's foreign minister George Yeo on Friday said Singapore's tie with Malaysia have improved considerably under prime minister Abdullah Badawi. Ties with Indonesia are also very good, said the foreign minister.

**** A Reversal Of Roles? <http://melvintansg.blogspot.com/2009/02/reversal-of-roles.html>
by Melvin Tan K. H., A Blog Day's Work

As an organisation that touts iself to be a caregiver of workers, did these NTUC-representing PAP MPs grill the PM or the finance and manpower ministers with equal zeal, which ideally should be the case?

**** Where To, Opposition? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/02/where-to-opposition/>
by Aloysius Foo, The Online Citizen

The WP has poised itself as the leading opposition party, with anticipations of a better performance in the next election. If other parties were to stand a chance, they ought to reorganize themselves, revamp their image and offer better proposals. Unless they do so, they will head for political stagnation or worse, obliteration, no matter how much opposition unity they talk of.

**** Singaporeans Deserve Better <http://yawshinleong.blogspot.com/2009/02/singaporeans-deserve-better.html>
by Yaw Shin Leong

**** HDB Tightens Rental Rules <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_335000.html>
by Jessica Cheam, Straits Times

The move will differentiate those truly deserving cases from those who actually have alternative housing options, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan told Parliament on Friday.

**** 80,000 Paid Up Library Fines <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_335072.html>
by Straits Times

Around 80,000 library members have paid their fines since it was announced last month that borrowing privileges would be suspended from April 1 if fines remain unpaid.

**** Shock Over Ho's Departure <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_335091.html>
by Alvin Foo and Francis Chan, Straits Times

CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said: "I'm taken aback by the timing. It's been a most difficult period for Temasek given their paper losses."

Mr Wong Kok Ho, APS Asset Management's chief investment officer, said: "The whole industry is surprised by the announcement. Nobody expected the timing."

**** MM Lee Explains Singapore's Long-Term Invstment Horizon <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/407319/1/.html>
by Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia

Singapore's minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said the country has over S$100 billion in reserves today, unlike the 1960s when the country first gained independence. But the republic has not relied on borrowing to fund its investments.

**** My Response To RAdm Lui's Remarks About "Self-Regulation" <http://geraldgiam.wordpress.com/2009/02/07/my-response-to-radm-luis-remarks-about-self-regulation/>
by Gerald Giam