[MyAppleMenu] Mar 3, 2009

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Tue Mar 3 18:59:00 EST 2009

MyAppleMenu
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**** <i>Fortune</i> Names Apple &quot;Most Admired&quot; Two Years In A Row <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/03/fortune-names-apple-most-admired-two-years-in-a-row.ars>
by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica

In an annual survey that asks business people to rank the top 50 companies they admire most, Fortune has bestowed the title of "Most Admired Company" to Apple for the second time in two years.

**** Apple Releases Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.5 <http://www.macworld.com/article/139135/2009/03/raw.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld

The updated software adds support for two new cameras: Nikon’s D3X and Epson’s R-D1x. It also “addresses issues related to specific cameras and overall stability,” according to Apple.

**** Apple Releases Battery Update 1.4 For All MacBook Models <http://www.macworld.com/article/139137/2009/03/batteryupdate.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jonathan Seff, Macworld

Apple on Monday released Battery Update 1.4, an update for all MacBook models designed to improve the ability of MacBook batteries to maintain a charge when shut down and not used for an extended period of time.

**** Apple Ready With New Time Capsules, AirPort Extremes <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/02/apple_ready_with_new_time_capsules_airport_extremes.html>
by AppleInsider

Apple is poised to introduce new versions of its Time Capsule wireless backup appliance and AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless routers, regulatory filings with the Federal Communications Commission reveal.

**** Dealing With The Madness Of Combo Ports <http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=3208>
by David Morgenstern, ZDNet

If your Mac’s audio suddenly silences, it may likely be that your headphones port has been taken over by its hidden and usually silent partner. The solution requires a low-tech device: a wooden toothpick.

**** How To Manage Your iPhone Apps In iTunes <http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides/2009/03/manage-your-iphone-apps-in-itunes.ars>
by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica

Here are the quick facts you need to know regarding where your applications are stored, how to delete (and restore) them, and what happens to your application data.

**** Apple Mac Growing Overseas But Facing Challenges <http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE5215EA20090302>
by Gabriel Madway, Reuters

As U.S. demand for personal computers craters, Apple Inc is getting a boost from overseas PC sales, where iPods are hugely popular but Macs have not been a major presence.

Although analysts see the international market as fertile ground for Macs, they say the growth momentum may be tough to maintain due to the spreading economic gloom, Mac's higher price point and smaller retail distribution network.

**** Customer Refuses To Give Up, Convinces Apple To Give Him What He Paid For <http://consumerist.com/5163184/customer-refuses-to-give-up-convinces-apple-to-give-him-what-he-paid-for>
by Chris Walters, The Consumerist

James almost got cheated out of CS4, the suite of graphics software sold by Adobe, when he bought a new Macbook Pro recently. He kept pressing the issue though, and his persistence and level-headedness finally, after several near misses, convinced Apple to do the right thing and send him what he paid for.

On hindsight, once the Apple manager figured out Apple is at fault but compensating the customer correctly is beyond her personal limits, she should have immediately escalated the matter upwards.

**** If PC Sales Are Down, Can Macs Go Up? <http://blogs.eweek.com/applewatch/content/channel/if_pc_sales_are_down_can_macs_go_up.html>
by Joe Wilcox, eWeek

During this global economic earthquake, PC companies will have to better manage production and distribution. Apple's in a strong position to manage costs and anticipate sales declines. Of course, that's not enough. Apple must also sell products, and that's going to be tougher with spending down but Mac prices still way up there above PCs.

**** Apple Forbidden Fruit In Gates Household <http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/apple-forbidden-fruit-in-gates-household/2009/03/03/1235842380586.html>
by Asher Moses, The Sydney Morning Herald

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has banned iPods and iPhones from his household, the software billionaire's wife, Melinda, has revealed.

**** Mac Management For Windows IT Folks <http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9128703&source=rss_topic123>
by Ryan Faas, Computerworld

Tools and techniques for adding Macs to your network safely and effectively.

**** Hooking Up While On The Go <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2342306,00.asp>
by Michael J. Miller, PC Magazine

The Monday afternoon sessions at Demo 09 started with a session called "iLove My iPhone," which focused on mobile applications, including applications for sending voice messages over SMS, for connecting your address book with your social network, and for flirting over a mobile phone.

**** New Mac Mini Gains Nvidia Graphics <http://www.macworld.com/article/139146/2009/03/macmini.html>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld

Apple on Tuesday introduced a new version of its low-priced Mac mini desktop computer, featuring faster graphics, faster memory and other enhancements, but still priced starting at $600.

**** Apple Releases New iMacs <http://www.macworld.com/article/139147/2009/03/imac.html>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

Apple on Tuesday refreshed its consumer iMac computer, with new 20-inch and 24-inch models.

**** Apple Releases First Mac Pro Update In More Than A Year <http://www.macworld.com/article/139148/2009/03/macpro.html>
by Philip Michaels, Macworld

In addition to updating its consumer line of desktops with new Mac mini and iMac models, Apple on Tuesday also gave its high-end desktop an overhaul. The revamped Mac Pro sports Nehalem versions of Intel’s Xeon processors and a new system architecture, along with a starting price tag that’s $300 cheaper than before.

**** Apple's New AirPort, Time Capsule Add Dual-Band Networking <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/03/apples_new_airport_time_capsule_add_dual_band_networking.html>
by AppleInsider

Apple on Tuesday refreshed its AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule wireless products by adding a new Guest Network feature and support for simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band networking.

**** MacBook Pro Gets Small Speed Boost <http://www.macworld.com/article/139150/2009/03/macbook_pro_15_update.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Macworld

**** New WIred Keyboard - Sans Numeric Keypad - Ships With iMac <http://www.macworld.com/article/139152/2009/03/apple_keyboard.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Aayush Arya, Macworld

It may not be as exciting as the new Mac Pros, Mac minis, or iMacs, but Apple also quietly added a new version of its wired USB keyboard on Tuesday, this one without the numeric keypad. Apple is so sure that this one is better, in fact, that it’s now the default keyboard that ships with the latest iMac models.

**** FireWire 400 Reaches The End Of The Line <http://www.macworld.com/article/139154/2009/03/fw400eol.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld

So clearly, this is evolution at work…but it’s still an evolutionary step that may cause some hiccups for upgraders.

**** Hey, Buddy, Where's The FireWire? <http://www.macworld.com/article/139155/2009/03/firewire_macbook.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Moren, Macworld

Knowing the way Apple thinks, I bet there’s an engineer or two in the company who’s just bugged by the fact that the MacBook doesn’t have a FireWire port—it’s the kind of thing that irks the sort of people that the company hires.

**** Peggle Nights Released For Mac <http://www.macworld.com/article/139159/2009/03/pegglenights.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld

Peggle plays as a cross between pinball and pachinko — your goal is to make pegs disappear by hitting them with steel ball shot from a cannon at the top of the screen.

**** Djay 2.3.1 <http://www.macworld.com/article/139161/2009/03/djay.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Kirn, Macworld

For beginners and music lovers, Djay is simply the friendliest way I’ve seen to have some fun with your music and start to explore DJing.

**** Use Smart Albums To Help Set iPhoto '09 Faces And Places <http://www.macworld.com/article/139162/2009/03/iphotofaces.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld

**** Apple Updates AirPort Client, AirPort Utility <http://www.macworld.com/article/139165/2009/03/airportsoftware.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

**** Analysis: Inside Apple's AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule Updates <http://www.macworld.com/article/139168/2009/03/airport_timecapsule_changes.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Glenn Fleishman, Macworld



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Always Innovating's Touch Book Sounds Amazing. Can It Deliver? <http://venturebeat.com/2009/03/02/demo-always-innovatings-touch-book-sounds-amazing-can-it-deliver/>
by Mg Siegler, Venture Beat



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Japan's Crisis Of The Mind <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/opinion/02tamamoto.html?_r=2>
by Masaru Tamamoto, New York Times

What most people don’t recognize is that our crisis is not political, but psychological. After our aggression — and subsequent defeat — in World War II, safety and predictability became society’s goals. Bureaucrats rose to control the details of everyday life. We became a nation with lifetime employment, a corporate system based on stable cross-holdings of shares, and a large middle-class population in which people are equal and alike.

**** In A Lonely Cosmos, A Hunt For Worlds Like Ours <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/science/03kepl.html>
by Dennis Overbye, New York Times

Presently perched on a Delta 2 rocket at Cape Canaveral is a one-ton spacecraft called Kepler. If all goes well, the rocket will lift off about 10:50 Friday evening on a journey that will eventually propel Kepler into orbit around the Sun. There the spacecraft’s mission will be to discover Earth-like planets in Earth-like places — that is to say, in the not-too-cold, not-too-hot, Goldilocks zones around stars where liquid water can exist.

The job, in short, is to find places where life as we know it is possible.

**** Not The Usual Suspects <http://www.slate.com/id/2212655/?from=rss>
by Ron Rosenbaum, Slate

Three dective novels that restore pleausre to reading.

**** Seeking Eric Chinski, Or How To Swim With Your Editor <http://www.bookslut.com/features/2009_03_014175.php>
by Barbara J. King, Bookslut

It’s a welcome freedom, this new sense of when to say “no thanks” to an editor whose style swamps me. I have the sense, too, to want to thank the editors who teach me so much. So to them, and to the unmet but imprinted-upon Eric Chinski too, I send gratitude and a wish: May you fall in love this month, many times over.

**** The Death Throes Of My Newspaper <http://www.salon.com/news/brand_graveyard/2009/03/03/rocky_mountain_news/index.html>
by Nancy Mitchell, Salon

Three simple rules, not produced by a focus group: Get the news. Tell the truth. Don't be dull. I'd like to believe we did all three.

**** The Superior Civilization <http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22356>
by Tim Flannery, The New York Review Of Books

Parallels between the ants and ourselves are striking for the light they shed on the nature of everyday human experiences.

**** In Thailand, Vegetarians Find A Place At The Table <http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/travel/01choice.html?ref=travel>
by Gregory Dicum, New York Times

A growing contingent of restaurants are serving vegetarian food, a welcome addition to one of the greatest eating countries on Earth.

**** Newspaper Wars <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123604401795015329.html>
by Jay Winik, Wall Street Journal

How the press &mdash; brash, irreverent, partisan &mdash; served early America.

**** Addicts <http://www.slate.com/id/2212693/?from=rss>
by Carol Muske-Dukes, Slate



SingaporeSurf
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**** Thanks For The Train, But Where's The Bus? <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_344964.html>
by Sarah Chong, Straits Times

I am surprised SBS Transit did not work with SMRT to launch new bus services in the area to cater to residents' needs when the new MRT extension went operational.

The bus services, it seems, are in a limbo right now, as the bus companies gave up their roles in proposing and amending bus routes, while LTA has not fully taken up the role of planning and tendering new bus routes.

**** House Had 89 MPs, Not 93, On Feb 5 <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_345099.html>
by Lim Swee Say, Government Whip, Straits Times

Parliament has advised that there is an error in the number for Feb 5. It should be 89 and not 93. My apologies for the error which was due to a miscomunication between the Whip and Parliament.

**** Singapore NOL Container Vol Plunges In 6 Weeks To Feb 6 <http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssMarineTransportation/idUSSIN50289820090302>
by Kevin Lim, Reuters

**** An Accepted Right <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/305193.asp>
by Chong Wan Yieng, Press Secretary To The Minister For Law, Today

Mr Lee’s concern that a future government may seek to illegally restrict the right to vote is not going to be addressed by expressly setting out the right to vote in the Constitution, given that it is already accepted that the right to vote is a Constitutional right.

Nor is it practicable to set out in great detail, in the Constitution, how the right to vote should be exercised. That should be and is set out in other legislation.

**** 签约新加坡老字号 <http://cjmp.cnhan.com/cjrb/html/2009-03/03/content_1169697.htm>
by 万建辉, 长江日报

2009届大学毕业生沈婷专门搜索国外招聘单位，尽可能创造条件参加这些企业在国内的面试。目前，她已在新加坡最著名的老字号百货公司——“美罗百货”上班。

**** Increased Frequency Of Protests By Foreign Workers Puts Government In A Quandrary <http://wayangparty.com/?p=5787>
by Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club

The glaring double standard in the government’s handling of protests by Singaporeans and foreigners is becoming too embarrassing even for the local media to publish.

**** Co-Ops Can Be Big Business <http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/National/2493969/Article/index_html>
by Jennifer Gomez, New Straits Times

Singapore's NTUC FairPrice, a cooperative retail chain that serves over a million customers daily, is a runaway success in the republic.

**** 延长线通车　文礼站没那么挤了 <http://www.zaobao.com/sp/sp090303_517.shtml>
by 黄康玮, 联合早报

前后兴建三年多、全长3.8公里的文礼延长线在上星期六正式通车，舒缓了文礼地铁站在周末的拥挤情况。

**** 学者：鱼尾狮 可能未装避雷针 <http://www.zaobao.com/sp/sp090303_515.shtml>
by 赖诗琳, 联合早报

新加坡旅游局发言人受询时，表示无法确定鱼尾狮在事故前是否装有避雷针。

**** Pseudonyms And Anonymous Blogging - Are Nom De Guerre Still Needed In Singapore? <http://nofearsingapore.blogspot.com/2009/03/pseudonyms-and-anonymous-blogging-are.html>
by Huang Shoou Chyuan, NoFearSingapore

I still am convinced that one must have the testicular fortitude (balls) to stand up for what one believes in. We cannot help what our friends and relatives think about our political stands, but to live our lives cowering behind false camouflages is just plain “sad”. And bloggers who only make anonymous comments which are nothing more than unconstructive barbs and diatribes are childish ( and should be ignored just as we ignore children’s antics).

**** Speakers Call For Transparency And More Help For Poor <http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/2009-speakers-call-for-transparency-and-more-help-for-poor->
by Singapore Democrats

The need for transparency and accountability in PAP government's economic policy was highlighted at the Reform Party's (RP) forum, Singapore Budget 2009: Alternative Policies, to address the recent budget unveiled by the Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

**** Singapore Can Do Better <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/03/things-singapore-can-do-better/>
by Lee Weijia, The Online Citizen

This extended time away from home has given me a greater appreciation of what Singapore has – and does not have. It’s a case of not knowing what you have until you’ve lost it, and not knowing what you lack until you have seen it. This trip has been all that I expected, and so much more.

**** Layoffs Begin In Singapore <http://www.brandrepublic.asia/Media/Newsarticle/2009_03/Layoffs-begin-in-Singapore/34581>
by Asiya Bakht, Media

The global economic crisis is beginning to make its presence felt in the creative agency world in Singapore, with reports of staff layoffs and pay cuts for senior management.

**** Thoughts On The Tragedy At NTU <http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/2009/03/thoughts-on-tragedy-at-ntu.html>
by Lam Chun See, Good Morning Yesterday

I think the SAF should learn a lesson from this tragedy at NTU and step up their vigilance.

**** 10,000 To Lose Jobs In Q1 <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_345347.html>
by Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times

More than 10,000 workers are likely to be laid off in the first three months of this year, said labour chief Lim Swee Say who gave an early estimate of retrenchment numbers on Tuesday.

It is an increase from 7,000 layoffs in the previous quarter, but analysts believe the final figures for January to March could be higher.




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