[MyAppleMenu] Oct 21, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

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

**** Apple Unveils Multi-touch Magic Mouse <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=3d6143e57db5689e7a81f817302a4d2c>
Jason Snell, Macworld

Apple on Tuesday banished the 2005-vintage Mighty Mouse and its wireless sibling to the other side of the island (under the new name Apple Mouse), replacing them with a new wireless Magic Mouse that features a multi-touch surface on its entire top side.

**** Apple Updates Mac Mini, Adding Server Configuration <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=15f6e1575ab8f3ebbb635a40b16c0179>
Jason Snell, Macworld

Apple on Tuesday announced an update to the Mac mini line of compact desktop Mac systems, adding faster processors, doubling memory capacity, and introducing a new server configuration that trades an optical drive for more storage.

**** Apple Quietly Updates AirPort Extreme, Time Machine <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=d1cf934e06a1c086ad20ee5628a564bf>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

According to Apple’s Web site, the AirPort Extreme Base Station now sports “improvements in antenna design” that allegedly provide up to 50 percent better Wi-Fi performance and up to 25 percent better range than the previous iteration.

**** Announcements Keep Coming: Meet The Aluminum Remote <http://www.cultofmac.com/announcements-keep-coming-meet-the-aluminum-remote/19125>
Pete Mortensen, Cult of Mac

The company also quietly put up for sale a brand new Apple Remote, the first revision since Fall 2005. It’s longer and aluminum, and now features good control of docked iPods and iPhones.

**** Will Apple Find El Dorado In Beijing? <http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=5067>
David Morgenstern, ZDNet

I am interested in whether the iPhone’s halo effect will be felt in this new market. What will be Macintosh sales? And before anyone remarks on how totally price-conscious the China market is and how it’s foolish to expect any sales there, may I point out that these are the same arguments that have been made for every other market segment worldwide and keep getting knocked down.

**** MacBook Pro Sees A Price Drop <http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/20/macbook-pro-sees-a-price-drop/>
Brett Terpstra, TUAW

Today saw a price drop for a top-of-the-line configuration, which makes the price almost $1000US cheaper.

**** LaunchBar 5.0.1 Runs On Snow Leopard, Adds Clipboard History <http://db.tidbits.com/article/10662>
Matt Neuburg, TidBITS

LaunchBar is one of those utilities I'd describe as massively explorable: it has far more features than I'm truly familiar with. In fact, I use it actively in a surprisingly limited set of ways. So instead of trying to list everything that LaunchBar can do - which you can explore for yourself, by downloading LaunchBar or by reading its documentation online - I thought I'd let you peek over my shoulder and watch how I actually use it.

**** New Apple Macs, Macbooks And A Mouse. But Where's The Freight? <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=44e3d625833346041465470645e59665>
Brad Stone, New York Times

**** Has Apple Produced Too Much Of A Good Thing With Its iPhone? <http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26237576-8362,00.html>
John O'Brien, Courier Mail

Apple's insistence on building "the whole widget" of hardware and software has resulted in superior products over the decades but, in the case of its computers, saw the company relegated to the margins of the commodified PC industry. It didn't stop the iPod from gaining majority share of the music player market, but the jury is still out on the more mature and complex mobile phone industry.

**** Apple Is Cheating You <http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/10/20/apple-is-cheating-you.aspx>
Tim Beyers, Motley Fool

Billions in the bank, earning nothing more than passbook savings rates. You call that excellent capital allocation?

**** Why An Apple-blessed Mac Mini Server Has Big Possibilities <http://www.tuaw.com/2009/10/20/why-an-apple-blessed-mac-mini-server-has-big-possibilities/>
Steven Sande, TUAW

A Mac mini server has a lot of possibilities, and I foresee a lot more small companies choosing Mac OS X Server as their server OS of choice now that this "server in a box" is available.

**** White MacBook Gets Unibody Design <http://www.macworld.com/article/143393/2009/10/whitemacbook.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Jason Snell, Macworld

The new model, while still clad in white polycarbonate, now features the same unibody construction and bright LED-backlit screens as Apple’s other laptops, as well as the same glass multi-touch trackpad found in the MacBook Pro line.

**** Two Ways To Download Software Updates In Snow Leopard <http://www.macworld.com/article/143391/2009/10/slupdates.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Rob Griffiths, Macworld

**** File Sheriff 2.0 Adds New Interface <http://www.macnn.com/articles/09/10/20/expands.drag.and.drop.support/>
MacNN

**** Sharing Home Movies With iWeb <http://www.macworld.com/article/143100/2009/10/iwebvideo.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Adam Berenstain, Macworld

The My Albums templates in iWeb aren’t just for pictures––they can hold videos, too. Here’s how to use them to make life easier for you and your audience by organizing your movies in one convenient place online.

**** Acorn 2.1 Gains AppleScript, More <http://www.macworld.com/article/143388/2009/10/acorn_21.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Chartier, Macworld

Acorn 2.1's most significant new feature is definitely "scripting for humans" in the form of AppleScript, complete with a series of example scripts to get users started.

**** Inside Apple's New Multitouch Magic Mouse <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/20/inside_apples_new_multitouch_magic_mouse.html>
AppleInsider

Apple's new Magic Mouse brings multitouch technologies first exposed on the iPhone and MacBook touchpad to the venerable mouse.

**** First Look: New iMacs (Fall 2009) <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=bc4e1195526f14085cf063cb3249de78>
Roman Loyola, Macworld

The most obvious change is to the iMac screen. Both the 21.5- and 27-inch screens are made with high definition video in mind. Like on many HDTVs, the black border around the new iMac’s screen reaches out to the very edge; the aluminum border that surrounded the screen in the previous iMac is gone. This gives the effect of the screen being bigger than it really is. To the chagrin of many, there is no matte screen option. Glossy is your only choice.

**** New Unibody MacBook Gets Tore Up <http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/10/20/new-unibody-macbook-gets-tore-up/>
Devin Coldewey, CrunchGear

**** Review: Apple MacBook <http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/10/20/review-apple-macbook/>
John Biggs, CrunchGear

This MacBook is not for everyone. It’s a great addition to the MacBook canon, an effort to appease the analysts with an entry level laptop, but don’t ever expect something like this to drop past the $500 mark. Apple doesn’t deign to play in those muddy fields, leaving that to the PC makers in their race to the bottom.

**** Want To Run Windows 7? Buy A Mac <http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/20/imac-macbook-windows7-technology-personal-apple.html>
Brian Caulfield, Forbes

You know who has designed a really sweet Windows machine? Here's a hint. He's British, he works in Cupertino, Calif., and lately he has a thing for dark aluminum.

**** Conde Nast Launches iPhone Platform With GQ App <http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=139800>
Nat Ives, AdAge

Conde Nast is introducing a slick platform for selling, displaying and enhancing its titles' regular print issues on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Issues rendered for the iPhone screen will sell as apps, starting with this December's issue of GQ, priced at $2.99 in the app store.

**** LongBox Digital Comics Store Adds To Apple Tablet Frenzy <http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/1835595,ihnatko-longbox-comics-apple-tablet-102009.article>
Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times

Apple’s upcoming tablet computer (whoops, “rumored” upcoming tablet) just got a little more interesting: there are signs that the company is getting into the digital comic book market.

**** Apple Slipstreams 3x3 Into Wi-Fi Base Stations <http://wifinetnews.com/archives/2009/10/apple_slipstreams_3x3_into_wi-fi_base_stations.html>
Glenn Fleishman, Wi-Fi Net News

The additional transmit and receive antennas improve how far signals can travel to a client, and how sensitively an access point can pick up distant transmissions. This accounts for Apple's statement on improved range.

**** Apple's Rise, Dell's Demise <http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2Fid%2F33403139&usg=AFQjCNGANGJnRNxpsXyqYwCrar3Bc24sow>
CNBC

**** EU: Breakthrough On Online Music Rights <http://www.bing.com:80/news/rssclick.aspx?redir=http%253a%252f%252fwww.abcnews.go.com%252fBusiness%252fwireStory%253fid%253d8878910>
Associated Press

The EU's top antitrust official on Wednesday described a deal among Apple Inc.'s iTunes, music companies, distributors and online licensing groups as a "great breakthrough" that would roll out more Internet music sales across Europe.

**** Are Apple's New iMacs Ready For Your Living Room? <http://www.pcworld.com/article/174023/Are_Apple_New_iMacs_Ready_for_Your_Living_Room.html?tk=rss_news>
Ian Paul, PC World

While the new all-in-one looks promising, there are a few problems with moving the iMac from the study to the living room.

**** The State Of The Mac Mini <http://www.macminicolo.net/state2009.html>
Macminicolo.net

**** Pipe Mania <http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=1072>
Franklin Pride, Inside Mac Games

The modern Pipe Mania is a work of art.

**** More Macs Put Out To Pasture: Apple’s Updated “Vintage/Obsolete” List <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cultofmac/bFow/~3/tD7bvGjpvBs/19264>
Nicole Martinelli, Cult of Mac

**** Caching iPod Touch Driving Directions <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=1d6e76a313a9bdac26f3c236a3c202ca>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

**** First Look: Apple Magic Mouse <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=d22a8aea4530ed793f8c52a037b531ef>
Roman Loyola, Macworld

The Magic Mouse has a plastic top, and aluminum bottom with two plastic rails. Moving the mouse on my desktop with and without a mouse pad wasn’t smooth at all—it was a grating sensation.

**** Objective Development Releases Launchbar 5 <http://www.pheedcontent.com/click.phdo?i=996d621697bf1fe74cc8273631c9aaad>
The Mac Observer



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** GE Shows Off Pocket-size Ultrasound Scanner <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10379692-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Rafe Needleman, CNET News

In a wide-ranging interview at the Web 2.0 Summit, Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, announced a low-cost and very portable ultrasound scanner called the Vscan.

**** A New Search Engine Specializing In Fun <http://solution.allthingsd.com/20091020/a-new-search-engine-specializing-in-fun/?mod=ATD_rss>
Katherine Boehret, Walt Mossberg

This week, I tested a tool called Goby (pronounced go-be), www.goby.com, which works as an activity search engine to help you find things to do. It tries to be simple enough so that you can get some ideas and start doing the things you want to do rather than wasting hours in front of the computer.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** That Domineering Creature Called The 'I' <http://blogs.nybooks.com/post/218239008/frederick-seidel>
Charles Simic, The New York Review of Books

I had always believed that a good poem can stand on its own, that it made no difference if some creep you’d never want to meet in your life wrote it; but, obviously, that’s not how it is with many readers.

**** Matches Welcome Where Smokers Aren’t <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=b713416792f3d08136f112a5108365e2>
Katrina Heron, New York Times

If smoking was their sole raison d’être, restaurant matches should by all rights have disappeared by now. After being overtaken by the disposable lighter, they have run into smoking bans of varying severity. (Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia now have laws prohibiting smoking in restaurants, according to the American Lung Association, and local jurisdictions impose their own smoke-free rules.)

Yet matches appear to be struggling back from the brink to reassert their pre-eminence among the rabble of coasters, business cards, cocktail napkins and swizzle sticks charged with hawking a restaurant’s good name. In an era of instant information access and viral publicity, logo-bearing matches may have the edge as ambassadors that convey distinction in their very physicality.

**** Three Tweets For The Web <http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=555218>
Tyler Cowen, The Wilson Quarterly

Welcome the new world with open arms—and browsers.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Where To Top Up New Ez-link Cards For Free <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_444563.html>
Gregory Gerald Danker, EZ-Link Pte Ltd, Straits Times

In the past, TransitLink offered automatic Giro top-ups at no charge to commuters. This was not because the top-ups were free, but because the cost was absorbed by TransitLink, which is jointly owned by the two public transport operators - SMRT and SBS Transit. They were willing to absorb the cost because the old cards were mainly used on buses and trains. However, this is not possible now as the new Cepas-compliant cards issued by EZ-Link can also be used in private vehicles for Electronic Road Pricing, retail shops, libraries and many other places unrelated to public transport.

And why doesn't EZ-Link Pte Ltd want to absorb the cost? Perhaps they themselves have no confidence of earning enough transaction fees from the other many commercial places?

**** Press Freedom Index: Singapore 133rd <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC091021-0000103/Press-freedom-index--Spore-133rd>
Ong Dai Lin, Today

After falling three places last year, Singapore has rebounded up the Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. It moved up from 144th spot to 133rd, just shy of Thailand (130rd) and Malaysia (131st).

**** Newspaper Editor In Brawl Over Foreign Worker Story <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC091021-0000086/Newspaper-editor-in-brawl-over-foreign-worker-story>
Leong Wee Keat, Today

**** Letter To My PM: No Country For My Old man <http://enquirer.sg/2009/10/20/letter-to-my-pm-no-country-for-my-old-man/>
Sheere Ng, The Enquirer

Dear Mr Prime Minister, at the Ministerial Forum a month ago, you talked about helping new citizens adjust to life in Singapore. Have you also considered the early immigrants who are having trouble adapting to this fast-moving country?

**** MM Lee Doesn't Care About His Legacy? Yeah Right <http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/secretblog/mm-lee-doesn-t-care-about-his-legac.htm>
Liau Chuan Yi and Norvin Chan, Asian Correspondent

**** Singapore: Sunshine’s Empire Spreads Only Rays Of Gloom <http://imranwrites.blogspot.com/2009/10/singapore-sunshines-empire-spreads-only.html>
Imran Ahmed, The Grand Moofti Speaks

The law enforcement machinery has to answer not just for illegal littering and bicycling on pavements but also for the disappearance of millions by the Sunshine Empire business partners.

**** Social Divide Inevitable In Singapore, But A Lot Of It Is Caused By PAP <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=3656>
Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net

A social divide may be inevitable in Singapore, but what MM Lee does not acknowledge is that a lot of it is in fact caused by PAP policies that favour Big Business and the elites, and not merely due to the unstoppable tide of globalization.

**** Singapore Will Not Allow 'Fishing Expeditions' To Fight Tax Evasion <http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290912,singapore-will-not-allow-fishing-expeditions-to-fight-tax-evasion.html>
DPA

Singapore Law Minister K Shanmugam on Tuesday said the city-state would not allow unwarranted financial investigations in the fight against cross-border tax evasion, even after it had implemented the international standard on tax information set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). "Spurious requests and fishing expeditions will not be entertained."

**** The Great Public Housing Debate <http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/10/21/the-great-public-housing-debate/>
Ng Kok Lim, The Temasek Review

**** Why Singapore's Social Divide Is Inevitable <http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/secretblog/why-singapore-s-social-divide-is-in.htm>
Liau Chuan Yi and Norvin Chan, Asian Correspondent

**** No Top-up Yet For New Nets <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_444732.html>
Tan Weizhen, Straits Times

The new contactless card introduced by the Network For Electronic Transfers (Nets) two weeks ago cannot be topped up at most automated teller machines (ATMs) in Singapore. Despite earlier promises that users would be able to do so, checks by The Straits Times show that this is not the case.

**** A Lost Sense Of Parliamentary Democracy <http://tankianhwee.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/a-lost-sense-of-parliamentary-democracy/>
A Blog Day’s Work

The justification of the WP’s proposal in the 2006 GE to dismantle the PA – dubbed as one of the four “time bombs” – actually becomes stronger because the latter has clearly not acted in good faith.

**** HDB Can't Interfere <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_444773.html>
Diana Othman, Straits Times

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has said it cannot take over the wet markets or interfere with the commercial negotiation between the new owner and the stallholders.

In a statement on Wednesday, it added that it cannot also 'impose new requirements that are more stringent on the new owner, compared to those already imposed on the existing one.'

I don't know... if HDB can limit me, as an apartment owner, what I can or cannot do in my apartment, who I can or cannot sell to, how I can or cannot rent out my apartment, and even move me out of my apartment in the name of development... why so much barrier with a little wet market?

**** Finance Minister Tharman Re-appointed To MAS Board <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1012768/1/.html>
Mok Fei Fei, Channel NewsAsia

**** $400 Package Lost By VPost. Compensation Offered = $60 <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC091021-0000035/$400-package-lost-by-vPost,-Compensation-offered-=-$60>
Douglas Tan, Today

No one has since contacted me from vPost, despite my request to escalate the matter to a full investigation. I have given up on hearing from them again.

**** Researcher From LKY School Debunked MM Lee’s Claims That Widening Income Gap Is “Inevitable” <http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/10/21/researcher-from-lky-school-debunked-mm-lees-claims-that-widening-income-gap-is-inevitable/>
The Temasek Review

**** Someone Up There Looking After Temasek <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rana/~3/4x5viyVKGYo/someone-up-there-looking-after-temasek.html>
Blowin' In The Wind

**** Singapore Sees Chance For ASEAN To Boom With China, India <http://www.bing.com:80/news/rssclick.aspx?redir=http%253a%252f%252fblog.taragana.com%252fn%252fsingapore-sees-chance-for-asean-to-boom-with-china-india-201628%252f>
DPA

Singapore Wednesday urged the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to stay on track with integration efforts so that the region could boom along with China and India.

**** "The Lion King" Musical To Open At Marina Bay Sands In 2010 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1012814/1/.html>
Dylan Loh, Channel NewsAsia

Singapore looks set to get a touch of Broadway next year. Simba - the lion cub - will make an appearance in "The Lion King" musical at Marina Bay Sands in September 2010.

**** Spoken Like An Emperor (With No Clothes): Part 2 <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/2949-spoken-like-an-emperor-with-no-clothes-part-2>
Singapore Democrats

Make no mistake, our economy is like an old showgirl. We have to constantly keep ourselves attractive by piling on layer after dreadful layer of economic makeup just to keep ourselves looking attractive for the foreign businessman. Meanwhile the gobs of powder and lipstick hide the ageing rot beneath.

**** Pedestrians Beware, Heavy Traffic On Walkways <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_444870.html>
Choo Wing Kheong, Straits Times

While I can understand - thought I do not agree - why the Traffic Police do not take strict action against cyclists riding on footpaths, I cannot comprehend why they allow motorcyclists to do the same.

**** And This Year’s Comical Ali Award Goes To… <http://groundnotes.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/and-this-years-comical-ali-award-goes-to/>
Groundnotes

Bullshit may come in all shapes and sizes but we all know pedigree manure when we smell it. Only in a parallel universe is a 133 ranking in the Press Freedom Index indicative of “press credibility”. Only in Singapore do a government-controlled TV station and a government-controlled newspaper constitute “media diversity” and “competition”.