[MyAppleMenu] Mar 16, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Review: Sponge For Mac OS X <http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/15/tuaw-review-sponge-for-mac-os-x/>
by Steven Sande, The Unofficial Apple Weblog

**** Hardware DRM: Has Apple Joined The Dark Side? <http://cultofmac.com/hardware-drm-has-apple-joined-the-dark-side/9575>
by Lonnie Lazar, Cult Of Mac

Consumers have the last vote and to the extent it may seem Apple products are stifling competition, raising prices and limiting choice, Apple’s tiny devices will go unsold.

**** eBay Mobile For iPhone <http://www.macworld.com/article/139272/2009/03/ebaymobile.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by James Savage, Macworld

Whether you’re a Power Seller or just an occasional eBay buyer or seller, eBay Mobile is an excellent way to keep track of auctions on your iPhone or iPod touch.

**** A Bunch Of Comments On Apple Adds Still More DRM To iPod Shuffle - The Value Chain Again <http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/2009/03/sort/time_rev/page/1/entry/6:91/20090314185517:2C4A152A-10EB-11DE-A126-465B5C7A14D3/>
by David Farber

"There is zero confirmation of an authentication chip, only speculation."

**** SXSW To AT&T: Free Our iPhones <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/03/sxsw-to-att-fre.html>
by Dan Fost, Los Angeles Times

With so many iPhone users descending on Austin, the convention center has become an almost impossible place to make a call or get a data connection &mdash; on AT&T, the only U.S. network providing service to iPhones. People with Sprint and Verizon Wireless won't stop gloating.

**** Boxee Remote App For iPhone And iPod Touch Available On App Store <http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/15/boxee-remote-app-for-iphone-and-ipod-touch-available-on-app-stor/>
by Aron Trimble, The Unofficial Apple Weblog

**** Ars Reviews iLife '09: Laying Tracks With GarageBand <http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/03/ars-reviews-ilife-09-laying-tracks-with-garageband-09.ars>
by Jeff Smykil, Ars Technica

**** Get The Most Out Of Finder Views <http://www.macworld.com/article/139344/2009/03/finderviews.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

You spend a lot of time in the Finder, so learning about its many possibilities can save you time and give you more power over your files and folders. Mastering Finder views is one of the first steps to becoming a real Mac power user.

**** Official New York Times Crossword Puzzle Game Released <http://toucharcade.com/2009/03/16/official-new-york-times-crossword-puzzle-game-released/>
by Blake Patterson, Touch Arcade



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Computer Makers Prepare To Stake Bigger Claim In Phones <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/technology/16cell.html?_r=1&ref=technology>
by Ashlee Vance, New York Times

The computer industry has hit upon its Next Big Thing. It is called a phone.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Finding New Species: The Golden Age Of Discovery <http://www.e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2129>
by Bruce Stutz, Environment 360

Aided by new access to remote regions, researchers have been discovering new species at a record pace — 16,969 in 2006 alone. The challenge now is to preserve threatened ecosystems before these species, and others yet unknown, are lost.

**** How I Ended Up Living With My In-Laws <http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/03/16/in_laws/index.html>
by Rosecrans Baldwin, Salon

In a rotten economy, more adults are showing up on their parents' doorstep. I just never thought my wife and I would be among them.

**** She's The One <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/03/23/090323fi_fiction_hadley>
by Tessa Hadley, The New Yorker

The winter after her brother killed himself, Ally got a job at a writers’ center near her parents’ house, helping out with admin in the office. It wasn’t a satisfactory job, only part time and not well paid. She was twenty-two. She had just finished her degree in English literature and should have been building toward some sort of career; she had planned to move to Manchester, where she had been at university. But everything like that had had to be put on hold, while at home her family melted down into a kind of madness. It was a relief just to leave the madness behind and drive across the moors four mornings a week to the center, several miles away. She had the use of a car, because for the moment her mum wasn’t going to work.

**** Mom As Fly <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2009/03/23/090323po_poem_svoboda>
by Terese Svoboda, The New Yorker

**** Civilization <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2009/03/23/090323po_poem_phillips>
by Carl Philips, The New Yorker

**** The Foundation <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2009/03/23/090323po_poem_williams>
by C. K. Williams, The New Yorker



SingaporeSurf
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**** Satyam Syndrome In Singapore <http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/16/business/3480329&sec=business>
by C.S. Tan, The Star

Squeaky-clean Singapore seems an unlikely place for serial financial scandals to occur.

**** Banning Of The Gum <http://zantesworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/banning-of-gum.html>
by Zante's World

It should be the peoples choice about whether to chew gum or not, people have the right to do what they want as long as they aren't hurting anybody.

**** The PAP's Fascination With Communists <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/03/the-paps-fascination-with-communists/>
by Ravi Philemon, The Online Citizen

The ruling party believes that one-party rule represents stability.  But whatever the reasons, the question remains: “Will the fascination of the governing party with the Chinese communists pay dividends for them now as it did more than 50 years ago?”

**** Shuttered In At CityLink <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/307775.asp>
by Leong Wee Keat, Today

Huge crowds leaving the IT Fair at the Suntec City Convention Centre and a heavy afternoon downpour had driven a mass of human bodies into the underground CityLink Mall.

**** Time For A Rethink Of Singapore's Scholarship System <http://wayangparty.com/?p=6392>
by The Wayang Party Club

I’m not trying to undermine or condemn the scholarship system, but I am just hoping that there will be more flexibility given in the future, in terms of the switching of course subjects to study, the breaking of bonds and the bond term itself.

**** Open Letter To Mr Tan Boon Huat, Chief Executive Director Of People's Association Re: Salaries And Bonuses Of CDC Staff <http://wayangparty.com/?p=6437>
by The Wayang Party Club

This is a good opportunity for the People’s Association to fulfil its mission statement by responding to our feedback proactively and consulting us on salary matters pertaining to its staff.

**** Singapore Feb Container Traffic Down 19.8 Pct Y/Y <http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSSIN43041520090315>
by Saeed Azhar, Reuters

Singapore port terminals handled 19.8 percent less containers in February from a year earlier and containers' throughput dropped 6.3 percent from January, according to data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

**** HDB Must Stop Ticking Checklists And Start Reviewing Cases <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/03/hdb-must-stop-ticking-checklists-and-start-reviewing-cases/>
by Deborah Choo, The Online Citizen

**** å¸‚é•‡ä¼šå‘˜å·¥ç´ è´¨å·® <http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl090316_506.shtml>
by 王秋美, 联合早报

显然，当天该职员在电话中向我要了我的电话和其他资料后，竟然没记下来，让我空等一天。

**** A Need To Combat Fraud <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/415569/1/.html>
by Leong Wee Keat, Today

Rising motor insurance claims have made the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) "very concerned" and it now plans to lobby the government to look into fraudulent and inflated insurance claims in the motor industry. 

**** 16,880 Lost Jobs Last Year <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_350745.html>
by Straits Times

Redundancies nearly tripled from 3,180 in the third quarter of last year to a record quarterly high of 9,410 workers in the fourth quarter as the global economic downturn worsened.

**** Mapletree: No 15% Rent Cut <http://business.asiaone.com/Business/My%2BMoney/Property/Story/A1Story20090316-128745.html>
by Joyce Teo, Straits Times

Many tenants have petitioned Mapletree, a Temasek Holdings unit, for hefty rent cuts to help them cope with tough market conditions. They are also upset to have missed out on a 15per cent rental rebate granted by JTC Corp as part of the government's Resilience Package.

**** Singapore Economy To Contract More Than Forecast, Survey Shows <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aeA2oHyxb1Xc&refer=asia>
by Shamim Adam, Bloomberg

Singapore’s economy this year will probably contract more than economists predicted earlier as companies cut production and fire workers amid declining demand, a central bank survey showed.

**** Better To Help Needy Than Give Handouts To Fresh Grads <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/03/better-to-help-needy-than-give-handouts-to-fresh-grads/>
by The Online Citizen

I understand that investments in talent is important. But in times like this, I think it is better to help the needy who are struggling to even make ends meet.

Why can't we do both?

**** More Singapore Grads Jobless <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_350752.html>
by Straits Times

The number of degree holders who lost their jobs rose sharply to 14,800, or 21 per cent in December, up from 6,200, or 14 per cent a year ago, according to the Ministry of Manpower labour market report released on Monday.

**** Singapore Braces For Sharp Recession - C.bank Survey <http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINSIN14453220090316>
by Reuters

Singapore's economy could shrink by 8.5 percent in the first three months of 2009, hit by a downturn in trade, and its currency could lose about 8 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, a central bank survey showed.

**** Singapore Bars, Bistros Bustle With Recession Deals <http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-38522020090316>
by Nopporn Wong-Anan, Reuters


>From pizza delivery chains to fancy restaurants, "recession" is now a buzz word on menus of many restaurants and bars in Singapore, a nation in the middle of its worst-ever economic downturn.


**** PMETs Form 37% Of 16,880 Workers Laid Off in 2008 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/415664/1/.html>
by Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia

In the final quarter of last year, Singapore saw a record of 9,410 workers laid off, a 195.9 per cent increase on-quarter, with professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) among the hardest hit.

**** Singapore To Charge A WSJ Editor With Contempt <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123715033914634111.html?mod=fox_australian>
by Wall Street Journal

Singapore's attorney general has applied to the country's courts to begin contempt proceedings against a senior editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page.

**** GIC Losses - Foreign Media More Important Than Parliament? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/03/gic-losses-–-foreign-media-more-important-than-parliament/>
by Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen

Why is transparency being released in drips and draps?

**** Lee Kuan Yew And Rupert Murdoch <http://lookingforwords.com/2009/03/16/media/lee-kuan-yew-and-rupert-murdoch/>
by Looking For Words

**** Northwest CDC's Remuneration System Is Fair, Says Lim Boon Heng <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/415639/1/.html>
by Timothy Ouyang, Channel NewsAsia

People's Association deputy chairman, Lim Boon Heng, said the Northwest Community Development Council's current reward system is fair and is in line with the civil service's remuneration system.

"In good times and in bad, there are good performers. And I think that particularly in bad times, we need people who give of their best and show example to the rest about what they can do to help the organisation. So, I think we should not begrudge the few people who get very high bonuses," he said.