[MyAppleMenu] May 27, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Apple Amenable To Idea Of Pan-European iTunes Store <http://www.macworld.com/article/140782/2009/05/pan_europe_itunes.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Moren, Macworld

**** Mac Clone Maker Psystar Files For Bankruptcy Protection <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10249202-37.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
by Erica Ogg, CNET

The papers were filed in a Florida federal court Thursday. Psystar is more than $250,000 in debt, according to the bankruptcy petition, owed mostly to shipping companies, the IRS, and the law firm Carr &amp; Farrell.

**** iTunes <i>Still</i> Not Available In Some EU Countries. Here's Why <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/05/itunes-still-not-available-in-some-eu-countries-heres-why.ars>
by Nate Anderson, Ars Technica

**** It's Time For The FTC To Investigate Mac Security <http://www.macworld.com/article/140793/2009/05/macsecurity.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Ira Winkler, Computerworld

How can Apple get away with this blatant disregard for security?

**** My New Mac: Why I'm Downgrading From A Mac Pro To A Mac Mini <http://www.mcelhearn.com/?p=627>
by Kirk McElhearn, Kirville

The more I thought about the Mac mini, the more it made sense. It’s basically a MacBook in a brick, as Rob Griffiths pointed out. Fast enough for most everything I need, and with 4 GB RAM, the only time I’ll not have an ideal amount of RAM is when running Windows. But it’s smaller, quieter and cooler than my Mac Pro, and uses less electricity.

**** Ex-Hacker To Cut iPod's Wires <http://prigg.thisislondon.co.uk/2009/05/exhacker-to-cut-the-ipods-wires.html>
by Mark Prigg, London Evening Standard

Apple's iPod will soon be able to wirelessly sync music with your desktop computer - thanks to a Norwegian ex-hacker.

**** Psystar's Bankruptcy Protection Filing Could Minimize Apple Suit <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10249568-37.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
by Erica Ogg, CNET

Psystar, the controversial Florida company trying to sell so-called clones of Apple computers, says it doesn't have the money to fend off Apple's legal dogs. But with the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection petition filed last week, it looks like Psystar could have minimized the damages it may have to pay Apple.

**** iPhone Luring More Customers To AT&T Than Ever - Report <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/05/26/iphone_luring_more_customers_to_att_than_ever_report.html>
by Aidan Malley, AppleInsider

Long considered a lure for carriers, Apple's iPhone is now believed to be attracting a full third of those switching providers towards AT&T &mdash; the highest ever percentage of converts since the iPhone was released.

**** Eucalyptus For iPhone <http://www.macworld.com/article/140796/2009/05/eucalyptus.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Ben Boychuk, Macworld

Stanza remains the most versatile and arguably the best of the e-readers for the iPhone, but Eucalyptus represents a glimpse of the next great leap forward for iPhone e-reader apps.

**** Perfect Diet Tracker 3.0 Review <http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/reviews/index.cfm?RSS&ReviewID=3290>
by Karl Hodge, Macworld UK

**** Apple's Banner Ad Innovation <http://www.grokdotcom.com/2009/05/26/apples-banner-ad-innovation/>
by Jeff Sexton, Futurenow

It appears as if Apple has figured out how to make animated banner ads un-ignorable AND enjoyable (rather than annoying).

**** Apple's Back-To-School Promo Offers Free 8GB iPod Touch <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/05/27/apples_back_to_school_promo_offers_free_8gb_ipod_touch.html>
by AppleInsider

Apple on Wednesday officially kicked off its 2009 back-to-school promotion, which offers a free 8GB iPod touch to students and educational staffers who purchase a qualifying Mac.

**** FileBrowse Helps Organize Media Files <http://www.macworld.com/article/131180/2009/05/filebrowse.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Nathan Alderman, Macworld

FileBrowse is a beautiful, well-made media browser program, though how useful you find it will likely depend on what files you’re perusing. It can’t beat the Finder for everyday use, but it’s ideal for users with extensive photo or video collections.

**** Destination: Treasure Island <http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=1046>
by Ted Bade, Inside Mac Games

Destination: Treasure Island is an excellent graphical adventure game that offers a variety of challenging (but not impossible) puzzles to solve as you journey in this game set in the age of pirates and island adventures. The game offers great graphics, fun music, and a story line that had me hooked from the start.

**** Apple Bumps White MacBook To 2.13GHz <http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/05/27/white.macbook.2.13ghz/>
by Electronista

Apple this morning quietly updated the plastic white MacBook to give it specifications that are at times better than the current aluminum model.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** How IBM Plans To Win <i>Jeopardy!</i> <http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22702/>
by David Talbot, MIT Technology Review

IBM's Watson will showcase the latest tricks in natural-language processing.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Why Are Humans Different From All Other Apes? It's The Cooking, Stupid <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/books/27garn.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
by Dwight Garner, New York Times

Apes began to morph into humans, and the species Homo erectus emerged some two million years ago, Mr. Wrangham argues, for one fundamental reason: We learned to tame fire and heat our food.

**** Twilight Of The Tummlers <http://nymag.com/movies/features/56930/>
by Mark Harris, New York Magazine

Woody Allen and Larry David have just made a new movie together. Take a good look—you won’t see the likes of them again.

**** Adaptation: On Literary Darwinism <http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090608/deresiewicz/single?rel=nofollow>
by William Deresiewicz, The Nation

Enter the literary Darwinists, a still-small but militant insurgency dedicated to overthrowing the existing order in favor of a diametrically opposite approach. Their goal is not only to reseat literary studies on a basis of evolutionary thinking but to found a "new humanities," as the title of one book puts it, on scientific principles: empirical, quantitative, systematic, positivist, progressive. Instead of theory giving way to equally fanciful theory and interpretation succeeding equally subjective interpretation, literary studies would henceforth involve the gradual accumulation of objectively verifiable knowledge and thus a "shrinking [of] the space of possible explanation" such as has occurred in the sciences, where all research must either situate itself within the framework of existing theory or challenge it directly. And just as chemistry rests on physics and biology on chemistry, the foundation on which the humanities would rest, following the logic of consilience, would be the new biological theory of the human mind (the thing that produces the humanities in the first place): evolutionary psychology.

**** Get <i>Mine</i> <http://www.slate.com/id/2219063/?from=rss>
by Farhad Manjoo, Slate

Could a personalized magazine help save print media?

**** Play With Your Food, Just Don't Text! <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/dining/27text.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
by Sara Rimer, New York Times

Husbands, wives, children and dinner guests who would never be so rude as to talk on a phone at the family table seem to think it’s perfectly fine to text (or e-mail, or Twitter) while eating.

**** They Had To Hand It To Me <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/05/26/ST2009052601425.html>
by Jane Black, Washington Post

How the charms of true soft-shells subdued my inner crab.

**** The Great Forgetting: 20 Years After Tiananmen Square <http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i38/38b00601.htm>
by Mara Hvistendahl, The Chronicle Of Higher Education

For a few years following 1989, videos about June Fourth — known in Mandarin simply as liu si, or "6/4" — circulated on the black market. Then the government began a campaign of forgetting, first spinning the event and then erasing it. 



SingaporeSurf
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**** The Happy Fish Argument <http://yawshinleong.blogspot.com/2009/05/happy-fish-argument.html>
by Yaw Shin Leong

The PAP’s rebuttal is itself simplistic and narrow in its perspective. This could well be a defensive knee jerk response and a reflection of the unease within its ranks. 

**** Smaller Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) Are Possible <http://ephraim.blogspot.com/2009/05/smaller-group-representation.html>
by Ephraim Loy, A Writer's Blog: My Life, My Thoughts

If GRCs are going to grow smaller, and if each continue to be helmed by an anchor minister, what is missing in this picture? No prizes for guessing! More ministers!

**** Making The Opposition Case; Or Shoot. Foot. Yours. <http://groundnotes.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/making-the-oppositions-case-or-shoot-foot-yours/>
by Groundnotes

In the end, while the MPs debated back and forth over the last two days, the best argument for a strong opposition came, ironically, from the shoddy reasoning of the PAP MPs.

**** Don't Turn My Country Into An Administrative State <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/05/don’t-turn-my-country-into-an-administrative-state/>
by Gerald Giam, The Online Citizen

We need more inspirational leaders, not corporate managers. The cabinet should not be an extension of the Civil Service or the corporate boardroom.

**** Medieval Attitudes Towards Sex And Sexuality, Rather Than Tolerance Of Alternative Lifestyles, Undermine The Social Fabric <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=3134>
by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net

Besides delivering good sexuality education in schools, we should also promote a greater sense of compassion and regard for our fellow human beings, including the ability to tolerate differences amongst our fellow men and treat them as our equals whilst holding on to our private values.

**** Review Temasek's Role <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_381992.html>
by Straits Times

Temasek Holdings can make a greater difference to Singapore by helping homegrown enterprises expand regionally and globally, said two MPs in Parliament on Tuesday.

**** Improving Causeway Link More Practical Than Third Eastern Connection <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_381995.html>
by Yeo Choon Seng, Straits Times

Constructing a third link on the eastern part of Johor Baru makes planning sense. But as matters stand now, the second link is still underdeveloped - more than 10 years after it was built - and a third link may take an unacceptably longer time to realise.

Nothing technical prevents us from doing both things at the same time: expand the Causeway, and build a third link.

**** Sol's Short Memory Of Singapore Slur <http://business.smh.com.au/business/sols-short-memory-of-singapore-slur-20090526-bm9p.html>
by Michael West, The Sydney Morning Herald

**** Wendy's Signs Singapore Development Deal <http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN2626539220090526>
by Lisa Baertlein, Reuters

Kopitiam Group is scheduled to open the first of the restaurants in late 2009, and build more than 35 Wendy's outlets throughout the country over the next 10 years.

**** An Ill-Judged And Irresponsible Scoop <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2009/yax-1029.htm>
by Au Yaipang, Yawning Bread

This looks to me like part of a general pattern where the government ignores the substantive issues but goes after the act of protest. It appears to be hoping that severe penalties for protesting will stop people from complaining without their having to do anything about the underlying grievances.

**** Goodyear's Tenure At Temasek Starts With Full In-Tray <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/76a2fd90-4a10-11de-8e7e-00144feabdc0.html>
by John Burton, Financial Times

The challenges that face Mr Goodyear were underscored this week when several members of Singapore’s parliament from the ruling party took the unusual step of criticising Temasek in a floor debate over the investment agency’s recent decision to sell its 3 per cent stake in Bank of America at an estimated loss of between $2.3bn and $4.6bn.

“Having a bunch of white guys at the top carries the risk of a political backlash among Singapore’s business leaders,” said one local economist. “Goodyear has never operated before in Singapore, which puts him at a disadvantage.”

**** Do We Really Have A &quot;Visionary&quot; Civl Service Or Just Highly Paid Bureaucrats? <http://wayangparty.com/?p=9681>
by The Wayang Party Club

Looking at all the recent fiascos, from investment losses to oversights at ministry/stat board levels to outrageious statements by senior public servants and elected MPs, it appears that we have all the hardware but substandard soft/human-ware.

**** Whatever The Issue, Let's Learn To Argue Well <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_381996.html>
by Lisa Li Shi-En, Straits Times

Given that Singapore will always have a diversity of views which cannot ever be fully censored, I suspect we will not stop arguing. Our best course of action is to learn to argue well.

**** Trujillo's 'Racist, Backward' Claims Dismissed As Sour Grapes <http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25545131-15306,00.html>
by Mitchell Bingemann and Teresa Ooi, The Australian

Foreign-born executives lined up to say that Australia, like many nations, was coming to terms with the integration of different nationalities but they had never experienced racism in corporate life.

**** Political Changes - What About The Media? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/05/political-changes-what-about-the-media/>
by Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen

The government needs to divest itself from the media. While such a move may not result in substantial or meaningful change immediately, it is, however, a necessary step towards a more active and participatory society.

**** Consensus At The STTA <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382265.html>
by Jeanette Wang, Straits Times

The Singapore Table Tennis Association's (STTA) executive committee have reached an agreement on how to handle the ongoing dispute with former national coach Liu Guodong, sources told The Straits Times on Tuesday.

And while they declined to reveal what those steps may be, they are reportedly prepared to go to court - should the China national decide to take legal action against the association.

**** Singapore Politician Says ASEAN Should Consider Expelling Myanmar <http://www.topnews.in/singapore-politician-says-asean-should-consider-expelling-myanmar-2171150>
by Sahit Nagpal, DPA

South-East Asia's main political grouping has failed in its efforts to make Myanmar more democratic and should consider expelling it, as well as imposing limited sanctions, a Singaporean politician said Tuesday.

**** Singapore Confirms First Case Of H1N1 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/432062/1/.html>
by Channel NewsAsia

Singapore has confirmed its first case of Influenza A (H1N1). The patient is currently being treated at the Communicable Disease Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and is in stable condition.

**** 调查显示：三分二专业人士希望转做公务员 <http://www.zaobao.com/sp/sp090527_509.shtml>
by 陈迎竹, 联合早报

一项调查显示，本地有56%ä¸“ä¸šäººå£«å¸Œæœ›ä»Žç§äººä¼ä¸šè½¬åšå…¬åŠ¡å‘˜ï¼›å¦æœ‰ä¸‰æˆå—è®¿è€…è¡¨ç¤ºï¼Œè‹¥åœ¨ç§äººä¼ä¸šèµ°æŠ•æ— è·¯å°±ä¼šè€ƒè™‘å½“å…¬åŠ¡å‘˜ï¼›åªæœ‰14ï¼…æ— è®ºå¦‚ä½•ä¸æ‰“æ”¿åºœå·¥ã€‚

**** Government Appoints 7 Gatekeepers To Vet Political Films <http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2009/05/govt-appoints-7-gatekeepers-to-vet.html>
by Only &quot;Objective&quot; And &quot;Factual&quot; Political Films Please, We're Singaporeans

**** 'Nominated' Ministers Idea <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382295.html>
by Clarissa Oon, Straits Times

Appointing unelected 'nominated ministers', entrenching the Nominated MP scheme and scaling down group representation constituencies (GRCs) were among the suggestions made in Parliament on Tuesday on how the political system should evolve.

**** Indranee Rajah's Flawed Rebuttal To Low Thia Kiang A Testimony Of The Calibre Of PAP's &quot;Backdoor&quot; MPs <http://wayangparty.com/?p=9832>
by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club

**** Father Of &quot;Get Out Of My Elite Uncaring Face!&quot; Out Of Touch With Reality <http://taikiew.net/2009/05/father-of-get-out-of-my-elite-uncaring-face-out-of-touch-with-reality/>
by Taikiew

Many Singaporeans are already downgrading their needs, with those lower income family suffering more. A well paid Singaporean elite may downgrade from a 4-ply purple ultra soft &amp; durable toilet paper to a 3-ply white one, but the lower income family would downgrade from a 2-ply house brand sure-to-get-abrasion toilet paper to a 1-ply nobrand sure-to-tear-while-wiping-your-butt toilet paper. These Singaporeans cannot downgrade their needs anymore. They would all end up with smelly ass.

**** 5 Circle Line Stations Open <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382309.html>
by Yeo Ghim Lay, Straits Times

The first five stations of the new Circle Line were opened by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean on Wednesday morning. Trains will start rolling from Thursday morning at Bartley, Serangoon, Lorong Chuan, Bishan and Marymount stations.

**** Stubborn Minded People Are Dangerous <http://recruit-ong.blogspot.com/2009/05/stubborn-minded-people-are-dangerous.html>
by Recruit Ong

Prefacing speeches by stating one's faith is perfectly ok to me. But to base their political decisions on faith or values grounded in faith is another thing.

**** Corruption Revisited <http://todayinsingapore.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/corruption-revisited/>
by Today In Singapore

The fact that corruption is inherently contradictory and irreconcilable with democracy, unfortunately, does not mean corruption cannot be found in democratic systems. That is why it is all the more important to put in place control mechanisms and establish systemic checks and balances to prevent people from abusing their power. Naturally, those entrenched in power will be fighting, through means fair or foul,  to preserve the status quo.

**** Fallacies Of The Boon Of PAP Dominance <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/05/fallacies-of-the-boon-of-pap-dominance/>
by Khairulanwar Zaini, The Online Citizen

**** Embrace Diversity, Tolerance <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382333.html>
by Straits Times

If Singapore falls prey to religious and racial bigotry, the economic crisis would become a growing cancer in society, instead of just a passing thunderstorm, minister of state for defence Koo Tsai Kee warned on Wednesday.

**** Open Up Jobs In SWF Stakes <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382331.html>
by Derrick Ho, Straits Times

The government should allow Singaporeans to work in the companies its sovereign wealth funds like Temasek and Government Investment Corporation have a substantial stake in, a Member of Parliament advocated on Wednesday.

MP for Tampines GRC, Sin Boon Ann said Singapore should 'make better use of these investments to work harder for us' and not merely remain as a 'passive investor' as in most cases.

**** STTA Exco Standing By Lee Bee Wah: Who Is Going To Foot Their Legal Fees If Liu Guodong Decides To Sue? <http://wayangparty.com/?p=9850>
by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club

**** Singapore Casinos Target High-Rollers, May Hurt Macau <http://www.forexyard.com/reuters/popup_reuters.php?action=2009-05-27T075258Z_01_SP474941_RTRIDST_0_GAMING-SINGAPORE-ANALYSIS>
by Candida Ng and Kevin Lim, Reuters

Singapore's two upcoming casinos may draw some business from neighbouring Malaysia's Genting Highlands but the city-state's focus on high-rollers will likely have a greater impact on Macau and Australia.

**** Abolish GRC System: Chiam <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382337.html>
by Straits Times

Opposition MP Chiam See Tong on Wednesday called for the current Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system to be abolished. If this cannot be done away with, then it should be modified from the present five to six members to two, comprising an ethnic and a Chinese members, he said.

**** Explain How He Fled Singapore <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382341.html>
by Derrick Ho, Straits Times

A Member of Parliament has requested home affairs minister Wong Kan Seng to explain how terrorist kingpin Mas Selamat Kastari escaped to Malaysia and if he was helped by sympathisers.

**** Malaysia Detains JI Leader Mas Selamat For Two Years <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/432130/1/.html>
by Channel NewsAsia

An Islamic militant described as Singapore's most wanted man has been detained under Malaysian security laws for a two-year term, state media reported Wednesday. 

**** Changes To Electoral System To Encourage Wider Range Of Views In Parliament <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/432138/1/.html>
by Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia

The Singapore government has announced proposed changes to the country's electoral system to encourage a wider range of views in Parliament, including opposition and non-government views. 

Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said each Parliament will have at least nine opposition members and nine Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs), so that there will be at least 18 Members of Parliament (MPs) who are not from the ruling party.

**** On Proposed Changes To Electoral System <http://yawshinleong.blogspot.com/2009/05/on-proposed-changes-to-electoral-system.html>
by Yaw Shin Leong

It is apparent that the objective of the PAP is to ensure that whilst a wider range of views in Parliament can be assured, but the change is designed in the hope that PAP's parliamentary dominance remains as it is.

**** Smaller GRCs, More Singles <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382445.html>
by Straits Times

**** Singapore PM Kills "Temasek II" Idea To Help Local Firms <http://in.reuters.com/article/fundsNews/idINSIN31135020090527>
by Reuters

The Singapore government will help nurture local companies compete in international markets, but will not force its sovereign wealth fund Temasek to finance them as suggested by some legislators, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong told parliament on Wednesday. "Government wants to help companies grow, is trying many ways and is willing to do more," Lee said. "But we don't believe that this can be done by the government by simply pouring money, or creating a 'Temasek II,' he said.

**** 獅城出現首宗A型流感‧柔佛嚴查往返馬新人流 <http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/115952?tid=1>
by 韋雅媚, æ˜Ÿæ´²æ—¥å ±

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**** Inmates Cook Up A Feast In Singapore Rehab Project <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/27/worldupdates/2009-05-27T141536Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-399117-1&sec=Worldupdates>
by Candida Ng, Reuters

Salmon tartare, chicken roulade and creme brulee are by no means standard prison fare, but these were dishes whipped up by some inmates in Singapore as part of a project aimed at easing them back into society.