[MyAppleMenu] Jul 9, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Remember Your Passwords <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=1d8bf3b212ab9694a167be54c0b07405>
by Joe Kissell, Macworld

You'll always be able to access critical passwords if you take these steps.

**** Review: iPhone Twitter Clients <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=52c4e5afe5c3e3c59ec3e973816acc88>
by Lex Friedman, Macworld

I spent some time composing and reading 140-character missives with five popular Twitter apps. Here’s how they stack up.

**** Apple, Sony, Nintendo Sued Over Patent Infringement Claims <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=fe83d75d40f2c255b9a2368573c8b9bb>
by Nick Spence, Macworld UK

California-based Shared Memory Graphics claims the Apple iPod, Nintendo’s motion-controlled Wii, and Sony PSP and PS2 game consoles make use of two graphic accelerator systems patented by the company.

**** Mr. Schmidt: Step Down From That Board <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10282170-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com

Your position on Apple's board of directors now looks completely untenable given Google's intention to release a lightweight operating system for personal computers called Chrome OS.

**** Safari 4.0.2 Update Fixes Stability Issues <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=1c7f6406efdc33f408af656baa79b2c9>
by Jonathan Seff, Macworld

According to Apple's notes, the update improves the stability of the Nitro JavaScript engine and includes the latest compatibility and security fixes.

**** Mac News Briefs: QuickerTek Battery Extends MacBook Life By Five Hours <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=993d1480106974b86ffb9029a305739e>
by Macworld

Also announced: SkypeCap, Flickery, XMenu, and EasyFind updates; Flexible Mini Capsule Microphone for iPhone.

**** Save Time With Dropzone <http://www.digmo.co.uk/news/software/dropzone/>
by DigMo

If you are anything like me you are spending a fair amount time uploading photos to flickr, documents to ftp spaces and even more regularly emailing documents and files to colleagues. The sharing process takes time but the good news is it is about to get considerably quicker with the release of Dropzone.

**** Layers Captures All Open Windows On Your Mac <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/layers_captures_all_open_windows_on_your_mac/>
by Bambi Brannan, Mac360

Layers captures your Mac’s whole screen in a Photoshop layered image.

**** My Apple: The Excitement Of Seeing Other Apple Fans <http://www.shufflegazine.com/2009/07/08/my-apple-the-excitement-of-seeing-other-apple-fans/>
by Magnus Nystedt , Shuffle Gazine

Why is it that we Apple fans get so excited when we see or meet other Apple users? 

**** City of Heroes: Mac Special Edition <http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=1034>
by Joseph Cadotte, Inside Mac Games

This is an excellent game with immense depth. I highly recommend it to people who are tired of fantasy or find EVE to be too daunting. There is great possibility for both casual and obsessive play.

**** How Good Is The New iPhone 3GS Camera - Ummm, It’s Really Great! <http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/2009/07/08/iphone-3gs-camera-review-ummm-its-great/>
by Grey Sacle Gorilla

What really blew me away though is the fact that the touch point on your photo also regulates exposure and color temperature.

**** How Much Does It Cost To Buy Every iPhone App? <http://www.myapplemenu.com/2009/07/09/IM015631/>
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu

$144,326.06, according to Busted Loop [http://bustedloop.com/blog/2009/7/7/how-much-does-it-cost-to-buy-every-iphone-app.html]. Which, I believe, is within Guy Kawasaki's budget, if he still works at Apple.

**** MacBook Pro Soars To New Heights <http://www.infoworld.com/d/hardware/macbook-pro-soars-new-heights-292>
by Tom Yager, InfoWorld

The 15-inch MacBook Pro is the best of the tier-one commercial notebooks, full stop. There are cheaper notebooks, but I'd challenge you to find one that's faster, quieter, and better built than MacBook Pro.

**** Google Operating System Raises Apple Antitrust Issues <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/technology/companies/09apple.html>
by Brad Stone, New York Times

Google’s new operating system, which the Internet search giant said could ship in the low-cost computers called netbooks by next year, is likely to create more questions for regulators looking into Google’s relationship with Apple.

**** We Are So Not Into Netbooks <http://www.myapplemenu.com/2009/07/09/IM034802/>
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu

Is anyone raising the question whether Apple's apparent refusal to go into 'netbook' business is because Apple have insider knowledge about Google's plan with the Chrome OS? 

**** iPhone Apps To Organize Your Life <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/technology/personaltech/09basics.html?ref=personaltech>
by Farhad Manjoo, New York Times

Here are some of the best apps to keep your life running smoothly.

**** 256÷128=10?! The Impact Of The iPhone 3GS RAM Increase <http://www.taptaptap.com/blog/the-impact-of-the-iphone-3gs-ram-increase/>
by John Casasanta, Tap Tap Tap

So even though Apple isn’t touting it, the increased RAM size of the iPhone 3GS is definitely a major contributor to the “S” in its name. It’s an incredibly welcome improvement.

**** Why Won't Apple Or MS Give Us What Google Might? <http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-foval/why-wont-apple-or-ms-give_b_227511.html&usg=AFQjCNFPXyCo3FArS0m4vXPU4sdgnxI-wQ>
by Scott Foval, Huffington Post

**** Apple Still Not Naming NC Town As Data Center Site <http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D99AJ56O1.htm&usg=AFQjCNFuipA0oOAZhctW5FBd4vdFvfvrkg>
by Emery P. Dalesio, BusinessWeek

The reason is that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company continues to negotiate contract and other details involving the offer by Catawba County and the town of Maiden, said Dale Carroll, deputy secretary of the state Commerce Department.

**** Apple Techno Babble <http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/computers/apple-techno-babble-20090707-dbx2.html?FORM=ZZNR2>
by Garry Barker, The Age

Good presenting, whether for a big audience or a small school class, is not about screens full of bullet points, text and pie charts. It is about capturing the interest of an audience by telling a story, says Les Posen, president of iMUG, the Internet Macintosh User Group, a clinical psychologist and a Keynote guru whose skill with the application has been recognised by Apple.

**** Jonathan Ive On The Key To Apple's Success <http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/next/archives/2009/07/jonathan_ive_th.html?FORM=ZZNR>
by Helen Walters, BusinessWeek

Jonathan Ive isn’t prone to making wild proclamations about design, his boss, Steve Jobs, or Apple, the company at which he’s led the design team since 1996. Indeed, he’s not really one for speaking in public much at all. So it was with a sense of keen anticipation that a group of 700 or so Londoners descended on the Royal Geographical Society in posh South Kensington to hear Ive in conversation with Sir Christopher Frayling, rector of the Royal College of Art.

**** Local Companies Thrive With Apple <http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.macmedics07jul09,0,4488757.story?FORM=ZZNR2>
by Gus G. Sentementes, Baltimore Sun

Catering to Mac owners proves a viable business.

**** New And Improved For Jul 9 <http://www.myapplemenu.com/2009/07/09/IM080523/>
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu

Cocktail 4.4 [http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.php], a "general purpose utility for Mac OS X", adds ability to reset home directory permissions and Access Control Lists (ACLs), and to set Time Machine's backup interval and to modify other Time Machine settings.

The Missing Sync for Palm Pre [http://www.markspace.com/products/pre/mac/palm-pre-sync-overview.html] "works with Mac applications you already know and use — Address Book, iTunes, iCal, Entourage and iPhoto — to let you transfer and sync information and files between your Mac and Pre."

Nisus Writer Pro 1.3 [http://nisus.com/pro/] word processor "adds a completely new document manager."

REALbasic and REAL Studio 2009 [http://www.realsoftware.com/company/news/2009/2009r3release/] adds "OpenGL support for 3D images and animation."

XMenu [http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/freeware/] "adds global menus on your menu bar to give you access to your preferred applications, folders, documents, files, and snippets."

**** S Korea Agency Asks Apple To Recall Some iPods <http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090709-704081.html&usg=AFQjCNHRaP-9j6i17gPTpfPw-6KXQr9lQA>
by Jung-Ah Lee, Dow Jones

A South Korean government agency said Thursday that it has requested Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) Korea unit to recall some of its iPod nano music players on concerns that batteries in the device may overheat.

**** Old iPods Have Still Got Game <http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/07/old-ipods-have-still-got-game/&usg=AFQjCNHXikuPFxjCoxKyVsXUstjQ0Nse1w>
by Paul Govan, Wired

With all the excitement over the iPhone and iPod Touch games it’s easy to forget that the original iPod can also play an impressive array of games.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Digital Textbooks Call For New Business Models <http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3870>
by David Wiley, The Chronicle Of Higher Education

Professors and universities should work to take advantage of the new economic realities of the Web, and create a collection of online educational resources that students and institutions can pay for once and then own and reuse indefinitely.

**** Lazyfeed Poised To Debut Real-Time Personalized Blog Search <http://www.louisgray.com/live/2009/07/lazyfeed-poised-to-debut-real-time.html>
by Louis Gray

**** Computer Learns Sign Language By Watching TV <http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17431-computer-learns-sign-language-by-watching-tv.html>
by Colin Barras, New Scientist

It's not only humans that can learn from watching television. Software developed in the UK has worked out the basics of sign language by absorbing TV shows that are both subtitled and signed.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Does God Hate Women? <http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2009/07/women-god-stangroom-benson>
by Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom, New Statesman

After all the arguments for subordinating women have been shown to be self-serving lies, what are misogynists left with? They have only one feeble argument that is still deferred to and shown undeserving respect across the world, even by people who should know better: “God told me to. I have to treat women as lesser beings, because it is inscribed in my Holy Book.”

**** Surgery Frees Athlete To Run Far, At Cost Of Remembering Little <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/sports/09ultra.html>
by John Branch, New York Times

A lobectomy cured ultra-runner Diane Van Deren’s epileptic seizures, but left her with an inability to remember exactly where she is going or how to get back.

**** Mars For The Rest Of Us <http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/robotic-exploration/mars-for-the-rest-of-us>
by Joshua Romero, IEEE Spectrum

We’re now on the cusp of another revolution in Mars exploration, where public outreach and scientific investigation will go hand in hand. Increasingly sophisticated imaging systems will allow robots to transmit not just individual photos but also enough data to create huge panoramas and virtual environments for anyone to explore. The sheer amount of information will require and reward more human scrutiny than professionals alone can provide. NASA is also learning, if a bit haphazardly, how to leverage Web 2.0 technologies to make missions interactive. Directly connecting with constituents in this way will be no easy task, but it’s NASA’s best opportunity to create a sustainable future for the space program.

**** Books Of The Times: When Poets Were Scientists And Nature Their Mysterious Muse <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=3c2d995258559f253b50606954105e2a>
by Janet Maslin, New York Times

William Herschel, the German-born, star-gazing musician who effectively doubled the size of the solar system with a single discovery in 1781, was not regarded as a scientist. That word had not been coined during most of the era that will now be known, thanks to Richard Holmes’s amazingly ambitious, buoyant new fusion of history, art, science, philosophy and biography, as “The Age of Wonder.” And Mr. Holmes’s excitement at fusing long-familiar events and personages into something startlingly new is not unlike the exuberance of the age that animates his groundbreaking book.



SingaporeSurf
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**** At Least 8,000 New Flats <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_400681.html>
by Jessica Cheam, Straits Times

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) will offer 8,000 new flats this year, or more if the pick up is stronger, said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan on Wednesday.

**** NMP-Designate Quits Young PAP <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC090709-0000102/NMP-designate-quits-Young-PAP>
by Esther Ng, Today

**** Delay Puts Two IRs In Race To Open <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC090709-0000112/Delay-puts-two-IRs-in-race-to-open>
by Lin Yan Qin, Today

**** I've Quit Young PAP <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC090709-0000083/Ive-quit-Young-PAP>
by Calvin Cheng, Today

I joined the YPAP in 2006 when I visited the Teck Ghee PAP branch with a friend, and I signed up out of curiosity. Due to many reasons, I never returned. Notwithstanding these facts, to clear all doubts, I decided to submit a verbal resignation on the night of Tuesday, July 7, 2009, followed up with an official written resignation on the morning of Wednesday, July 8.

**** Investor Protection, Singapore Style <http://blogs.reuters.com/commentaries/2009/07/07/investor-protection-singapore-style/>
by Peter Thal Larsen, Reuters

Who needs a whole new government agency to protect  consumers from irresponsible banks? Authorities in Singapore have taken a refreshingly straightforward approach in tackling banks deemed to have been less than scrupulous when selling structured notes dragged down by the failure of Lehman Brothers: they banned them.

**** Section 377A Is A Law, A Decorative Piece Or A Potential Political Tool? <http://article14.blogspot.com/2009/07/section-377a-is-law-decorative-piece-or.html>
by Article 14

The Law minister is making a case for messiness in the law. Is it acceptable to have some messiness in the law? 

**** Puzzle Over Tax Proposal <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_400893.html>
by Goh Eng Yeow, Straits Times

A government proposal to make the rules clearer on taxing gains on property sales has left developers and investors scratching their heads. Since the public consultation paper on the subject was put up by the Finance Ministry last month, there have been quiet discussions in some circles on the impact the step might have on the property market. So quiet that most people were apparently unaware of it.

**** MOE To Let More ITE Students Enter Polytechnics <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/441330/1/.html>
by Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia

Senior minister of state for education, S Iswaran, said the education ministry is looking to increase the numbers of students entering polytechnics to cater to the rising aspirations of students as well as industry demand for skilled workers. But he added the ministry is still working out the target numbers. 

**** Ghani: Cut Toll At Second Link <http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/2603264/Article/index_html&usg=AFQjCNH3-6Z7ahdLso9AapXkpYwT118i4w>
by New Straits Times

Toll at the Second Link expressway should be lowered to get more motorists to use the second Malaysia-Singapore crossing. In making the call, Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said only a lower toll would encourage people using the Causeway to switch to the Second Link.

**** No Tightening Of Tax Policy <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_400981.html>
by Goh Eng Yeow, Straits Times

The finance ministry has clarified that its proposal to make the law clearer on taxing the gains on property sales gains is not intended to tighten current policy on the matter. Rather, the proposed tax change is to relax the income tax treatment 'aimed at giving certainty of non-taxation' to individuals who do not sell properties frequently.

**** Singapore 10th Most Expensive City In The World!!!! <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2009/07/singapore-10th-most-expensive-city-in.html>
by Diary of A Singaporean Mind

We have the income distribution of a 3rd world country and cost of living that is number 10 among the most expensive cities in the world. So what is quality of life for the bottom one third of the population?

**** The Most Expensive Homes In Singapore <http://www.liltears.com/?p=1648>
by Memories

At Sentosa.

**** Government In Talks With Marina Bay Sands Over Delay; Lower Interest In IR Jobs <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/441427/1/.html>
by Desmond Wong, Channel NewsAsia

The Singapore government is currently in talks with Marina Bay Sands over the integrated resort's announced delay. 

Another issue is a possible staff shortage as observers note Singaporeans tend to shy away from the gaming industry.