[MyAppleMenu] Feb 24, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Review: Black And White 2 <http://www.macworld.com/article/138954/2009/02/black_and_white_2.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Chris Holt, Macworld

Likely a game deserving of a cult following, Black and White 2 is a mixed blessing that will divinely inspire some and churn the hellish wrath of others.

**** Apple Take A (Small) Bite Off Its High China Prices <http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/02/23/apple-takes-a-small-bite-off-its-high-china-prices/>
by Loretta Chao and Mei Fong, Wall Street Journal

After opening its first (and still only) China store last year, Apple Inc. has started extending its offering of refurbished products to the world’s second largest PC market. But refurbished doesn’t mean cheap in China.

**** Does Apple Remember The Mac Mini? Why The Neglect? <http://www.nillabyte.com/blog.php?b=147>
by Kyle Buckley, Nillabyte.com

**** Snapshot - Apple's Cash Growth <http://financial-alchemist.blogspot.com/2009/02/apple-inc-aapl-snapshot-apples-cash.html>
by Truley Muller, Financial Alchemist

Cash flow, not earnings, best reflects a firm's investment prospects.

**** 'Line Rider' iPhone Game Sheds On <http://www.download.com/8301-2007_4-10170281-12.html?tag=mncol>
by Jesica Dolcourt, CNET

**** Making Sense Of Mac Market Share Figures <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/02/mac-market-share.ars>
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica

Apple's slice of the market share pie continues to grow, even during this economic downturn. But the numbers from different sources tend to be all over the place. What do they all mean, and what's the big picture for Apple's market share trajectory?

**** Apple Launches A New iTunes Pass Feature For Groupies <http://venturebeat.com/2009/02/24/apple-launches-a-new-itunes-pass-feature-for-groupies/>
by Mg Siegler, VentureBeat

Is there an artist you love? I mean really love, as in you’ll buy anything they do before you have any idea what it is? A lot of people probably do, and for them, Apple has a new feature on iTunes called "iTunes Pass".

**** Apple CEO Steve Jobs Turns 54 <http://josephdarnell.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/apple-ceo-steve-jobs-turns-54/>
by Joseph Darnell

So, to Steve Jobs: may you live long, live well, and do all that you are meant to on this earth. May you have another great year spending your time with those that matter to you most. May you make memories, tread to new heights, and come to better understanding and wisdom.

**** Apple Releases Public Beta Of Safari 4 Browser <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/24/apple_releases_public_beta_of_safari_4_browser.html>
by Katie Marsal, AppleInsider

Apple on Tuesday announced a public beta of Safari 4, a new version of its share-gaining web browser that packs a powerful new JavaScript engine and the latest web standards.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Information Wants To Be Expensive <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123534987719744781.html>
by L. Gordon Crovitz, Wall Street Journal

For years, publishers and editors have asked the wrong question: Will people pay to access my newspaper content on the Web? The right question is: What kind of journalism can my staff produce that is different and valuable enough that people will pay for it online?

**** Why Kindle Should Be An Open Book <http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/22/kindle-oreilly-ebooks-technology-breakthroughs_oreilly.html>
by Tim O'Reilly, Forbes

Unless Amazon embraces open e-book standards like epub, which allow readers to read books on a variety of devices, the Kindle will be gone within two or three years. 



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Why Can't A Woman Write The Great American Novel? <http://www.salon.com/books/review/2009/02/24/elaine_showalter/index.html>
by Laura Miller, Salon

Female authors hold their own on the bestseller lists, but Elaine Showalter's provocative new history wonders why they get so little respect.

**** The Cheese-And-Pepperoni Stimuus <http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2009/02/24/pepperoni_pizza/index.html>
by Anastacia Marx de Salcedo, Salon

The pizza restaurant is the last bastion of American small business. Eat a slice today to jump-start our economy. It's your civic duty!

**** Slightly Tearful <http://www.slate.com/id/2211877/?from=rss>
by Mark Holliday, Slate



SingaporeSurf
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**** Do We Care? <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=2311>
by Wong Wee Nam, Sgpolitics.net

To me the formulation of policies must not just be based on cold and hard financial mathematics. There must also be a generous dose of compassion, idealism and love. A policy must come out from a good head as well as a big heart. This is more so when the policy concerns health, the poor and the elderly.

**** Long Wait For Passengers <http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,193781,00.html>
by Lediati Tan, New Paper

With many commuters opting to take the bus to JB, which costs less than a quarter of the price of taking a cab, the recession has affected the Malaysian cabbies badly.

**** Users Unhappy With 'No Travel Deposit' Feature <http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,193793,00.html>
by New Paper

If you are using the new ez-link card to take the MRT, remember, 3 is the new zero. If the balance on your card falls below $3, the turnstiles won't open for you.

LTA's mentality here is not to even lose a single cent, even if this punishes honest customers.

**** Ding Feng Ge Hainanese Chicken Rice Steamboat <http://www.hisfoodblog.com/2009/02/ding-feng-ge-hainanese-chicken-rice.html>
by His Food Blog...

**** GIC Wants To Keep Preferred Stock <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123538893059147345.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>
by Costas Paris and Nisha Gopalan, Wall Street Journal

A major Singaporean investor in Citigroup Inc. doesn't currently plan to convert its preferred shares into common stock as part of a potential U.S. government effort to help the ailing bank, according to people familiar with the matter.

But Government of Singapore Investment Corp., a sovereign-wealth fund that has seen the value of its initial US$6.88 billion investment in Citigroup plunge in recent months, could face a dilemma if the bank reaches an agreement with U.S. officials that includes a greater government role.

**** Singapore Airlines' Departure A Sign Of Turmoil In Asia <http://www.canada.com/business/fp/Singapore+Airlines+departure+sign+turmoil+Asia/1319802/story.html>
by Joanne Lee-Young, Canwest News Service

Even before the global credit crisis, Singapore was running out of steam, according to economist Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, who is based there. "Its so-called non-oil domestic exports plunged in early 2008, largely due to its badly managed currency policy. The Singapore dollar stayed too high for too long, sapping the competitiveness of its electronic exports, and when overseas demand collapsed, the entire sector that was weak to begin with got wiped out."

**** Good Things Must Share... :) <http://blog.thestar.com.my/permalink.asp?id=21637>
by The Star

The lesson i should always learn is break the ice. Human tends to stereotype to an extent, not just Singaporeans...You too.

**** æŠŠæ”¿åºœç®¡ç†å¤–åŒ…çµ¦æ–°åŠ å¡å§ <http://www.bnext.com.tw/NotablesView_390>
by 王志仁, 數位時代

ä»¥å‰ä»–å€‘æŠŠè»éšŠé€ä¾†å°ç£è¨“ç·´ï¼Œèªç‚ºå°ç£çš„åœ‹é˜²å¯¦åŠ›æœ‰ä¸€å®šæ°´æº–ï¼Œé€šéŽå°ç£çš„è¨“ç·´æ‰åˆæ ¼ã€‚é‚£æˆ‘å€‘å¯ä¸å¯ä»¥æŠŠæ”¿æ²»äººç‰©ã€æˆ–æœ‰å¿ƒå¾žæ”¿çš„äººé€åˆ°æ–°åŠ å¡è¨“ç·´ï¼Œé€šéŽæ‰èƒ½å¾žæ”¿ï¼Ÿ

**** Countering PM Lee's Erroneous Perception Of The New Media <http://wayangparty.com/?p=5511>
by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club

Every individual netizen or socio-political blogger has an important to role to play in informing and educating their less knowledgable fellow citizen to prevent them from falling pray to the PAP’s omnipresent and overwhelming propaganda machinery.

**** The Singapore Experiment <http://www.artworldsalon.com/blog/2009/02/the-singapore-experiment/>
by Andras Szanto, Artworld Salon

In every tangible respect, the visual arts in Singapore are in an enviable situation. The missing element is criticism. There is none.

**** Small And/Or Limited Government: Some Distinctions <http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2009/02/22/small-andor-limited-government-some-distinctions/>
by Will Wilkinson

I think our real concern ought to be limited government. But whether you think an ideally limited government is also small will depends on lots of things including your account of rights, your beliefs about the relative efficiency and reliability of state vs. market provision of various goods, your beliefs about the necessity of public spending to facilitate growth, and more. 

**** The Internet And Positioning Wayang Party Club <http://wayangparty.com/?p=5496>
by Kelvin Tan, The Wayang Party Club

This is the same argument, after all, for a democratic society – that no one institution or political party holds monopoly, and that there is free flow of information and the freedom to debate. This competition can only benefit the end-consumer, or reader, or citizen ultimately.

**** Why An Election In September Is Not Likely <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/02/why-an-election-in-september-is-most-likely/>
by Jason Lee, The Online Citizen

**** Is The Hansard Verbatim, Or Near-Verbatim? <http://www.choongyong.com/2009/02/24/is-the-hansard-verbatim-or-near-verbatim/>
by Koh Choong Yong

Enough of whether GIC loss 41%, or it was just a slip of the tongue of Mrs Lim Hwee Hua.  The more important thing this episode has taught me is another thing - that the Hansard reports, contrary to popular belief, are not verbatim.

**** Eating For Adventure <http://www.dailytexanonline.com/eating_for_adventure-1.1569896>
by Wayne Cheong, The Daily Texan

I love food, and not just because it keeps me alive. I love food for its taste, its texture, how it smells. I don’t eat meals, I savor them. I’ve a hearty appreciation for the chef who prepares each meal (even if it’s my microwave), the farmer who grew it, the earth that allowed plants to flourish and beasts to frolic so I could eat them. Fill me with vittles and I’m a happy camper.

**** Rehab Programme Works <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_342331.html>
by Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times

Two-thirds of Singapore's terrorist detainees arrested since 2001 have been released after rehabilitation, and so far they have not strayed back into terrorism. They have re-integrated well into society, said second minister for home affairs K. Shanmugam, but the authorities will continue monitoring them.

**** The Great Hunt: One Year On <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2009/yax-992.htm>
by Au Yaipang, Yawning Bread

The government and its media no longer have the last word.

**** More Consumers Struggling To Pay Credit Card Bills, Personal Loans On Time <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/411167/1/.html>
by Irene Chan, 938 Live

More consumers in Singapore are struggling to pay their credit card bills and personal loans on time.

**** Efficient Civil Service Is The Result Of The Hard Work Of Pioneers And Not The Present PAP Leaders <http://wayangparty.com/?p=4781>
by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club

As the administrative arm of the government, the civil service should be depoliticized and allowed to function independently of partisan differences so that it can continue to serve the people well even when there is a change of government.

Although I too would like to see a smaller civil service, I do not think that the current PAP leaders and civil service leaders deserve no credits at all.

**** If You Can't Beat It, Join It <http://yawshinleong.blogspot.com/2009/02/if-you-cant-beat-it-join-it.html>
by Yaw Shin Leong

As such PM Lee has unwittedly acknowledged that the key issue here is not so much so about getting people to be comfortable with mediums. Rather the issue is that of the PAP regime trying to find its footing, in the uncomfortable position of its attempts to counter and taming the ‘wild wild west’ but had overall failed in varying degrees.