[MyAppleMenu] Mar 25, 2009

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Wed Mar 25 18:59:00 EDT 2009

MyAppleMenu
====================================

**** Apple's Portable Game <http://news.bostonherald.com/entertainment/lifestyle/view/2009_03_24_Apple_s_portable_game/srvc=home&position=recent>
by Brian Crecente, Kotaku.com

After years of being a punchline among hardcore gamers, Apple has gotten serious about gaming. They just happened to use a cell phone and not a computer to do it.

**** Id Announces 'Wolfenstein 3D Classic' For iPhone <http://toucharcade.com/2009/03/24/id-announces-wolfenstein-3d-classic-for-iphone/>
by TouchArcade

Id Software published a lengthy letter from John Carmack who describes the development of the iPhone version of Wolfenstein 3D Classic. This classic first person shooter has been submitted to the App Store with the source code released to the public.

**** Microsoft's Apple Deja Vu All Over Again <http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=3462>
by David Morgenstern, ZDNet

Am I the only one who see’s Redmond’s continued rehashing of the PC vs. Mac wars as a sign of weakness?

**** iPhone Needs Clock And Calendar APIs <http://mrgan.tumblr.com/post/89199978/iphone-needs-clock-and-calendar-apis>
by Neven Mrgan

For a simple app, this is mad. In addition to the app itself, the developer of my pill reminder would now have to maintain 1. a very busy server, 2. user accounts on the server, hopefully in a very safe way, and 3. some sort of (simple) server process to send notifications. I’m no expert, but this complicates the development tenfold, and it’s pretty ridiculous for a feature of such tiny scope.

**** Eight Years And COunting <http://www.macworld.com/article/139598/2009/03/osxturns8.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld

In case you’ve lost track of time, Tuesday marks the eighth anniversary of the release of Mac OS X (version 10.0.0). In that time, there have been 52 different releases of OS X, counting the public beta as well as major and minor updates. So in honor of this eighth birthday, here are eight great things about OS X.

**** Apple Sued For Promoting iPhone As eBook Reader <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/24/apple_sued_for_promoting_iphone_as_ebook_reader.html>
by Katie Marsal, AppleInsider

An overseas communications firm is suing Apple for promoting its iPhone handset as a touchscreen digital book reader, a concept it claims to have patented over seven years ago.

**** iPhone Information Appears On China Unicom Website <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/24/iphone_information_appears_on_china_unicom_website.html>
by Sam Oliver, AppleInsider

Photos and specifications for the iPhone have been posted on the website of wireless carrier China Unicom, a sign that Apple may finally be ready to enter the world's largest cell phone market.

**** InstallerApp Is Like iTunes For Jailbreakers <http://www.macworld.com/article/139597/2009/03/installerapp_osx.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Moren, Macworld

RipDev’s InstallerApp is an application for your Mac (soon to be available for Windows PCs as well) that allows you to download iPhone apps on your computer and transfer them to your device over a USB connection. If that sounds a bit like iTunes for jailbreak apps, well, that’s because it is.

**** Director 11.5 Sports New Audio Engine, Leopard Support <http://www.macworld.com/article/139581/2009/03/director.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld

The new 11.5 release features a new 5.1 channel surround sound audio engine that has real-time mixing capabilities. It now supports the H.264 (Advanced Video Codec) video encoding format and RTMP-based streaming, for delivering High Definition (HD) video content.

**** Freeverse Releases Commander: Napoleon At War For Mac <http://www.macworld.com/article/139592/2009/03/napoleon.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld

**** Loving The iPod Shuffle <http://www.macworld.com/article/139589/2009/03/shuffle.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

For me, the iPod shuffle is perfect in every way. The controls are easy; it’s very small and tucks away nicely; and features like VoiceOver means that I can listen to what I want, when I want.

**** Apple Opens Some International Online Store To US Buyers <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/03/apple-opens-some-international-online-stores-to-us-buyers.ars>
by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica

A new online Apple Store option allows US customers to purchase and send gifts to friends and family in México, much of Europe, and select countries in Southeast Asia. Getting a real gift still trumps receiving a gift card, that's for sure.

**** Apple Flips The Switch On Genius Sidebar For Movies/TV <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/03/apple-flips-the-switch-on-genius-sidebar-for-moviestv.ars>
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica

iTunes' Genius sidebar feature now works with TV shows and movies in addition to music. The feature will be able to provide you with video recommendations based on what other customers have bought, assuming it has enough data to work from.

**** What I Learned From Having My Laptop Stolen <http://db.tidbits.com/article/10165>
by David Blatner, TidBITS

Three things are lost with a computer’s theft: hardware, data, and privacy. I’ll let others deal with the emotional aspects of loss, and instead focus on the practical ones.

**** It's An iPod World <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343734,00.asp>
by Lance Ulanoff, PC Magazine

The transition is complete. My formerly heterogeneous home MP3 environment has transformed into a one-company, one-brand house. Everyone is using Apple iPods. If my home is a microcosm of the market, the MP3 industry has a major problem.

**** I Dropped My iPhone On My Eye <http://sheylara.com/2009/03/25/i-dropped-my-iphone-on-my-eye/>
by Sheylara

"You kena eye-phone!!!"

**** Copycats Causing Problems For iPhone App Developers <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/03/copycats-causing-problems-for-iphone-app-developers.ars>
by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica

iPhone app developers are beginning to complain about other, less ethical individuals copying apps and selling them via the App Store. The affected developers believe Apple should help combat this problem, but so far, the company has reportedly been unresponsive.

**** TextExpander Update Adds New Expansion Options <http://www.macworld.com/article/139621/2009/03/textexpander.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

**** Syncing iPhoto Libraries <http://www.macworld.com/article/139633/2009/03/synciphotolibraries.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Christopher Breen, Macworld

**** Apple Releases 17-Inch MacBook Pro Graphics Update <http://www.macworld.com/article/139636/2009/03/macbookgraphics.html>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

MacBook Pro Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 addresses the appearance of vertical lines or distorted graphics on the notebook display, according to notes provided by Apple with the update. It appears that is the only issue fixed in the firmware update.

**** The Omni Group Unveils OmniGraphSketcher 1.0 <http://www.macworld.com/article/139635/2009/03/omni.html>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld

According to the company, OmniGraphSketcher 1.0 is a tool that combines the data plotting power of charting applications with the ease of a basic drawing program. The application is designed for reports, presentations and problem sets where graphs need to be produced on the fly.



The Tomorrow Weblog
====================================

**** Moving Video Games To The Clouds <http://www.technologyreview.com/business/22338/?a=f>
by Kate Greene, MIT Technology Review

A startup wants to do away with consoles, games resellers, and expensive graphics chips.



MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================

**** Hellhole <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande?currentPage=all>
by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker

The United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture?

**** New York-Style Pizza: What It Means <http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-newyorkpizza25-2009mar25,0,2606722.story?track=rss>
by Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times

When I moved from Los Angeles to Manhattan, one of the first things I learned was that I had a lot to learn about pizza. One doesn't stand in line but on line; it's not "for here or to go" but "to stay or take away"; and don't order "a piece of pizza" &mdash; it's "a slice."

But those were mere details: True pizza enlightenment didn't come until I was kicked out of my semi-illegal Lower East Side sublet and ended up living in Brooklyn. A friend wise in the ways of pizza led me on a pilgrimage to Di Fara, where you could get a slice of owner Domenico DeMarco's perfection, which included fresh mozzarella di bufala and a sprinkling of Grana Padano cheese at the end of baking. And I stood on line at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge for Patsy Grimaldi's pies, the tops of the bubbles at the edge of the crust crisp-charred in the coal-fired brick oven.

**** Old World With New Twists <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/dining/25juli.html?_r=1>
by Julia Moskin, New York Times

Take this! French and Italian classics, combined with some twists on American tradition.

**** The Art Of The Con&mdash;Learning From Bernard Madoff <http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=art-of-the-con-learn-from-madoff>
by Michael Shermer, Scientific American

The evolutionary arms race between deception and deception detection has left us with a legacy of looking for signals to trust or distrust others. The system works reasonably well in simple social situations with many opportunities for interaction, such as those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. But in the modern world of distance, anonymity and especially complicated investment tools (such as hedge funds) that not one in a thousand really understands, detecting deceptive signals is no easy feat.

**** Dispatches From The Streets: The Grim Particulars Of Homelessness <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/books/25garn.html>
by Dwight Garnier, New York Times

Sixteen years ago, with “Travels With Lizbeth,” Lars Eighner set the bar high for American memoirs of homelessness. Probably too high.

“Land of the Lost Souls,” a new memoir about being homeless on New York City’s streets, from a writer known as Cadillac Man, is a different kind of book. It finds its center of gravity in the grim particulars of loss and brute survival. Its language is a platter of cabbages instead of roses.

**** Shall We Get Rid Of The Lawyers? <http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22573>
by Anthony Lewis, New York Review Of Books

Justice Hugo L. Black once told me that he thought all government departments and agencies should be abolished every five or ten years. Black was a senator from Alabama for ten years and a Supreme Court justice for thirty-four, and he knew just about everything there was to know about how government works. His startling idea—and I think he was serious—was his way of dealing with the encrustations of bureaucracy.



SingaporeSurf
====================================

**** Is Proposed Public Order Law A Duplication? <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_354145.html>
by Lionel De Souza, Straits Times

**** Confusing Signals Over Smoking Rules <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_354146.html>
by Jason Goh, Straits Times

**** Rohingya Refugees Have Not Entered Singapore <http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=398685>
by Zakaria Abdul Wahab, Bernama

Singapore authorities have so far not encountered any Rohingya refugee seeking to enter the island republic's waters, its Parliament was told today.

**** Singapore Says Deceased Involved In Human Smuggling <http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=398703>
by Bernama

The Singapore High Commission today refuted claims that P. Ramlee Salam, 28, and his former brother-in-law Khamis Muhammad, 50, were fisherman who unintentionally strayed into the republic's territorial waters when confronted by the Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG).

In a statement today, the High Commission said there was no basis to the report, dated March 23, as both were involved in human smuggling and not fishing as claimed.

**** Judgment In Singapore <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123791186682626605.html>
by Wall Street Journal

"Neither Ms. Kirkpatrick nor Dow Jones agrees with the substance of the charges or the contempt judgment. Dow Jones is committed to defending the right of The Wall Street Journal Asia to report and comment on matters of international importance, including matters concerning Singapore."

**** $491 Bill? How About $10,000 For 10 Diners <http://tnp.sg/columnists/story/0,4136,196876,00.html?>
by K F Seetoh, New Paper

Nothing much that can be done about the bad eggs as long as the vicious cycle is not broken. Many still want a slice of the action and live to tell the story.

**** No-Pay Leave For SIA Staff <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_354099.html>
by Karamjit Kaur, Straits Times

The compulsory leave scheme, which for now excludes cockpit and cabin crew, could take effect from May, The Straits Times understands.

**** PAP: Not Even One <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/2126-pap-not-even-one>
by Singapore Democrats

Taken together these laws and the way they are exercised are designed to ensure that public assembly is completely stopped.

This signals one thing: That the PAP is determined to keep itself in power regardless what happens to the country and how unhappy the people get.

**** Singapore To Allow Reimbursement For Altruistic Living Organ Donations <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/417474/1/.html>
by Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia

The proposal to allow reimbursement for altruistic living organ donations was accepted by Parliament on Tuesday - but after a heated debate.

**** 咖啡店何时降价？ <http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl090325_508.shtml>
by 邓赐涌, 联合早报

**** Crisis Blurs Singapore's Boomtown Vision <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123791824683327661.html>
by Tom Wright, Wall Street Journal

On almost any major street of this affluent Southeast Asian city-state, cranes tower overhead &mdash; a reminder of an incredible three-year building boom that now is turning into a bust.

"In 35 years of my career, I've never seen anything like this," says Jerry Tan, a Singaporean broker who sold $1.5 billion of property to high-end clients in 2007 but now has time to sip wine and brood at his office.

**** Don't Spare The Rod <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/309353.asp>
by Peck Bee Choon, Today

I use the cane on my daughter but only at home. I believe that public punishment humiliates the kids concerned and may cause emotional scars that can take a long time to heal.

**** Comments By MHA In Response To Straits Times' Queries On Commentary By John Berthelsen <http://www.mha.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=MTQwMg%3d%3d-kVwlAg5PCNo%3d>
by Ministry Of Home Affairs, Singapore Government

Mr John Berthelsen wrote as if he was surprised over being denied entry into Singapore on 17 Mar 2009. He should not be. He is well aware that he is not welcomed in Singapore when his application for renewal of his employment permit was rejected in 1988.

**** Recession-Hit Singapore Takes Hard Line On Protests <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i1tzBKhX55DHleTjYdyCWtkQIp-Q>
by AFP

Singapore is tightening its rules on outdoor protests as the city state prepares to host its largest international summit amid its worst recession yet, analysts say.

Analysts said that, beyond the APEC summit, the government can use the law to deal with any outbreaks of public frustration as the recession leads to more job cuts and shrinking pay cheques.

**** 关闭太阳广场荣华戏院 荣华物色新戏院 <http://www.zaobao.com/fk/fk090325_521.shtml>
by 李亦筠, 联合早报

过去一年本地戏院充满变数，除了有因租金太高的太阳广场荣华戏院结束营业，也有30多年历史的黄金戏院改变营业方式，将戏院租出去，第一个租户只放映淡米尔电影。而人口超过28万的勿洛，也撑不起有多年历史的公主戏院，悄然走入历史。位于美芝路邵氏大厦内的太子戏院有约30年历史，也是本地唯一能容纳1200人的大电影院，在国人忙着迎接2009年当天，也悄悄关闭了！

**** Singapore Aims To Be Big Player In Sports Industry <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jsSzh6T5O8kN4ubEODSaZMvFN61w>
by AFP

Singapore might be small but it always thinks big and that goes for the growth of its sports industry, which is booming despite dark economic times.

**** Pursuing An Education In Singapore <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/24/pursuing-education-singapore.html>
by Aulia Rachmat, The Jakarta Post

As an education destination, Singapore is becoming increasingly popular among Indonesian students due to its proximity and reasonable living costs.

**** Comments: Pacts With Singapore Frozen: Juwono <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/24/comments-pacts-with-singapore-frozen-juwono.html>
by David K., The Jakarta Post

Singapore's requests are unreasonable, especially considering they wish to open a military base on Indonesian soil.

**** Singapore's Internet Radio Streaming Dries Up <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/417613/1/.html>
by Today

After talks over new licence fees with the Recording Industry Performance Singapore (Rips) fell through, SPH UnionWorks has joined other radio stations in the country and stopped its Internet streaming services.

**** Was Minister Lui Tuck Yew Confused By AIMs' Recommendations? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/03/was-minister-lui-tuck-yew-confused-by-aims-recommendations/>
by Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen

One wonders if Minister Lui was confused by one aspect of the change – that of a “blackout period” during electioneering.

When The Online Citizen (TOC) reported in December 2008 that AIMs had indeed recommended such a limitation, AIMs wrote to TOC to clarify that it was, in fact, not recommending a “blackout period”.

**** Confidential Information Are For The Eyes Of Foreigners, Not Singaporeans <http://wayangparty.com/?p=6934>
by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club

Mrs Lim pointed out that Temasek was not part of the civil service, but a commercial company wholly owned by the Government.

Is a purely commercial company entitled to funding from the Ministry of Finance if that is the correct term to use? Don’t tell me that the Ministry of Finance is not part of the civil service too?

Temasek is not unique in this sense. There are a lot of commercial companies that are wholly owned by the government. For example, EZ-Link Pte Ltd [http://www.ezlink.com.sg/theCompany.htm] is a subsidiary of the Land Transport Authority, while Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd [http://www.ida.gov.sg/About%20us/20060406115508.aspx] is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

**** 内阁批准飞荧新航班　怡保直飞新加坡 <http://www.kwongwah.com.my/news/2009/03/25/110.html>
by 光华日报

内阁已经批准飞荧航空提供飞往怡保至新加坡的航班，如果一切顺利，预料可以在今年年中加以落实。




More information about the applesurf-list mailing list