[MyAppleMenu] Apr 16, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** What iPhone 4.0 Means For IT <http://www.macworld.com/article/150652/2010/04/iphone4_business.html?lsrc=rss_main>
John C. Welch, Macworld

The challenge anytime Apple rolls out information well ahead of a product release is that the details can be decidedly sparse. So long as you keep that in mind and are willing to apply a bit of logical speculation, though, you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect from the iPhone 4.0 update on the IT front.

**** Princeton University Identifies iPad DHCP Flaw <http://db.tidbits.com/article/11195?rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tidbits_main+%28TidBITS%3A+Mac+News+for+the+Rest+of+Us%29>
Adam C. Engst, TidBITS

Princeton University's Office of Information Technology has posted a document describing networking problems suffered by roughly half of the 40 iPads on campus. The problem isn't so much experienced by the iPad as caused by it - here's what's happening.

**** Improve Battery Life By Hibernating SSDs <http://www.macworld.com/article/150586/2010/04/hibernatewithssds.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Miller, Macworld

If you have a Macbook Air (or any other laptop, for that matter) with a solid-state drive, you can increase its battery life by forcing it to hibernate instead of sleep.

**** Apple iAd Team Visits Hill Holliday, Shares Details <http://www.hhcc.com/blog/?p=2726>
Ilya Vedrashko, Hill Holiday Blog

Back in January, we greeted the announcement of Apple’s upcoming ad network with cautious optimism and a lot of questions. Today, Apple’s iAd team headed by the now former CEO of Quattro Wireless Andy Miller visited Hill Holliday to fuel the former and answer the latter. Here is what we can share.

**** The Genius In Apple's Vertical Platform <http://stevecheney.posterous.com/the-genius-in-apples-vertical-platform>
Steve Cheney

It’s clear from a strategic perspective that Apple has thought about vertical integration incredibly deeply. Their choice to enter the CPU business was not made lightly, and reflects a platform heritage and an ability to steer developers (afforded by huge network effects). We will likely find out what's really inside the A4 soon. But one thing is already clear:  Apple is sowing the groundwork to make architecture changes seamless—developers will only need to flip a switch to give their apps blazing, native performance.

**** How Apple Designed The iPad Out In The Open <http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/how-apple-designed-the-ipad-out-in-the-open/>
Charlie Sorrel, Wired

f you take a look at Apple’s “magical and revolutionary” iPad, you might see a brand new device, an entirely new product category that sprung forth from Apple’s labs fully formed. Take a closer look, though, and its parts start to seem rather familiar. In fact, pretty much every bit of the iPad has been seen before. We’re not talking about leaked spy photos either. Over the last several years, the iPad has been tested in public by Apple itself.


>From the unibody case to the multitouch screen to the very software that drives the iPad, it seems that everything from Apple in recent years has been little more than a byproduct of the iPad design and testing process. Looked at another way, the iPad is little more than a rehash of features found in half a dozen previous products.


**** IPsychology 101 <http://kensegall.com/blog/2010/04/ipsychology-101/>
Ken Segall

I think there is a sizable group out there just determined to see Apple fail. Interestingly, this group falls into two categories: friends and foes.

**** Apple's Mac Shipments: A Tale Of Two Research Firms <http://blogs.investors.com/click/index.php/home/60-tech/1460-apples-mac-shipments-a-tale-of-two-research-firms>
Patrick Seitz, Click

Rival market research firms Gartner and IDC late Wednesday provided wildly different views of Apple’s Mac shipments in the U.S. Both say Apple is the No. 5 vendor, but their reports diverge from there.

**** Apple's Greedy Ad Grab <http://gawker.com/5518335/apples-greedy-ad-grab>
Ryan Tate, Gawker

Let there be no question, then: Apple will punish its enemies as surely as it will tax its users and developers.

**** Inside The Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20002660-64.html>
Brooke Crothers, CNET News

**** The iPad Is The Future For Home Computing <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=718275bedef034d6fa59d9a532a1017a>
Kenneth van Wyk, Computerworld

Time will tell if I’m right about the security aspects, but I’m betting the problems with malware, viruses and the like that we see on other platforms will be virtually obliterated with the iPad model. What consumer won’t find that a breath of fresh air?



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** A Flexible Color Display <http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25138/?ref=rss&a=f>
Katherine Bourzac, Technology Review

Researchers at HP Labs are testing a flexible, full-color display that saves power by reflecting ambient light instead of using a backlight. The prototype display's pixels are controlled by fast-switching silicon transistors printed on top of plastic. If the technology can be commercialized, the display will compete with liquid crystal screens as well as other low-power color flexible displays in the works.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** The Anti-American Fallacy <http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-anti-american-fallacy-15402?page=all>
Fred Siegel, Commentary

It was only in the 1920s, the same decade in which Lawrence wrote his poem, that such contempt for the bourgeoisie—and with it a deep hostility toward the United States’s position as the quintessentially middle-class, democratic, and capitalist nation—found a wide audience in this country through a new generation of writers such as Sinclair Lewis and H.L. Mencken. Weaned on the work of H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw and their loathing for conventional mores, Lewis and his confreres became the dominant force in American letters, and their views went largely unchallenged in the literary world. It was left to a critic named Bernard DeVoto to issue the first serious and meaningful challenge to their worldview—the opening salvo in a brave and lonely battle that still resonates, even though DeVoto and the book in which he took up arms for the United States against its own intellectuals are both forgotten.

**** The Dark Side Of Dickens <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/05/the-dark-side-of-dickens/8031>
Christopher Hitchens, The Atlantic

Why Charles Dickens was among the best of writers and the worst of men.

**** What Do TV Directors Do? <http://www.slate.com/id/2250789/?from=rss>
Joanna Weiss, Slate Magazine

Just about everything movie directors do, only faster.



SingaporeSurf
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**** No Safety Net For S'pore <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_515185.html>
Chua Chin Hon, Straits Times

Singapore cannot afford to ever land in the kind of debt crisis that Iceland and Greece found themselves in, as no white knight will come to its rescue, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has said.

**** Asian Economies 'On The Move:' Singapore PM <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hPtZ7G8gcAXjm6PB47F6CxBu-Rcg>
AFP

Asian economies are "on the move" after weathering the global economic downturn, but require more liberalization and reforms, Singapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said Thursday. "We see Asia on the move," Lee said in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Relations. "Barring a conflict or war, for at least several more decades Asia will continue to grow."

**** Politics Are Already Being Taught In The Classroom <http://tauhuayboy.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/politics-is-already-being-taught-in-the-classroom/>
Want Some Tau Huay?

Because we have the so-called ‘National Education’, which is already brainwashing school children from primary school levels upwards.

**** Can Dentsu’s MOM Campaign Change MP Ong Ah Heng’s Views On Hiring Silver-Hair Workers? <http://socialpr.blogspot.com/2010/04/can-dentsus-mom-campaign-change-mps-ong.html>
Small Steps For Social PR

Unfortunately, the Singapore social media scene is still still coming to grips on a statement made by Member of Parliament Ong Ah Heng’s comment in parliament on his decision to replace older workers with younger foreigners at his town council.

**** Worry About Business Competitiveness? Yeah Right <http://chantc.blogspot.com/2010/04/worry-about-business-competitiveness.html>
My Little Corner

**** 华语广播夹杂过多英语字词 <http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl100416_008.shtml>
刘宜基, 联合早报

**** SNEF Urges Cautious Approach To Restoring CPF Rate <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1050530/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

The Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) has urged the government to take a cautious approach in responding to the labour movement's call to restore the employers' portion of the CPF contributions.

**** Adelson’s Marina Bay Sands Casino In Singapore Will Be Epic! <http://livedealer.org/blog/2010/04/adelson’s-marina-bay-sands-casino-in-singapore-will-be-epic/>
Live Dealer

**** PM Lee On Nepotism <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_515237.html>
Straits Times

Veteran television journalist Charlie Rose had an exchange with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the way the Singapore leadership dealt with insinuations of nepotism. He also asked Mr Lee about the legacy of his father, and the biggest lesson the Minister Mentor has taught him.

**** The Truth About The CEC Meeting Where Kenneth Jeyaretnam Was ‘elected’ As Secretary-General Of The Reform Party <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/04/the-truth-about-the-cec-meeting-where-kenneth-jeyaretnam-was-%e2%80%98elected%e2%80%99-as-secretary-general-of-the-reform-party/>
Ng Teck Siong, The Online Citizen

The truth remains that in the rush to take-over the Party’s helm, the CEC meeting where Kenneth was ‘elected’ as secretary-general was not held in accordance to the party constitution.

**** Singapore Exports Jump <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304910604575187240749596842.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines>
P.R. Venkat, Wall Street Journal

Singapore's key exports rose at a faster than expected pace in March, driven by strong demand overseas for electronics and providing more support for the economy's sharp recovery.

The surge in exports was centered on the electronics sector, a core industry for Singapore and much of Asia. Singapore's exports of electronics were up 39.4% on year--the biggest gain on record according to HSBC--following a rise of 26.4% in February, on demand for semiconductors and personal computer parts. That more than made up for a drop in shipments of pharmaceuticals, a volatile industry that Singapore has sought to develop to diversify is small, export-dependent economy.

**** Chao Hick Tin Gets Another 2 Years As Judge Of Appeal <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/chao-hick-tin-gets-another-2-years-as-judge-of-appeal>
Yawning Bread

This is not to say that Chao is not a man of independent mind, or that he does not have the freedom to make his own decisions, but a system of judges always on probation leaves the public, at the very least unsure, if not altogether suspicious, of what should be a respected institution. Our Supreme Court may be independent. Or it may not and subject to political influence. The problem is, we just don’t know, and we are loath to extending it our trust.

**** Trust Lends More LegitiMacy To Government Than Legal Authority, Says SM Goh <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1050546/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia

Senior minister Goh Chok Tong has said that trust lends more legitimacy to a government than its legal authority. Mr Goh pointed out that rebuilding trust with the people is especially important in the post-crisis landscape otherwise it'll be difficult for governments to persuade the people to accept tough and painful solutions.

**** StarHub To Lose Money On WC <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_515320.html>
Chua Hian Hou, Straits Times

StarHub is prepared to lose some money to bring Singapore football fans the World Cup telecasts, but not too much. Despite an unprecedented offer to the event's rights holder Fifa, said StarHub's chief executive Neil Montefiore, it has yet to receive word on whether football fans will be able to catch the year's biggest sporting event.

**** HDB Caught Red-handed Bending Its Own Rules <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=3971>
David See Leong Kit, Sgpolitics.net

HDB must now provide a detailed public explanation as to why its income limit requirement has not been strictly and fairly enforced for all new-flat applicants.

**** Where Religious Freedom Ends <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2010/yax-1099.htm>
Yawning Bread

Clearly, religious freedom is not an unlimited freedom. In fact, I would argue that it should be seen as limited only to a freedom of conscience and a freedom to worship. Public religiously has to be conditional and subject to the imperatives of public order and civil peace in the context of a society with diverse beliefs, including atheism.

**** MFA Spokesman's Comments: In Response To Media Enquiries On Why Dr Silviu Ionescu Was Not Prevented From Leaving The Country After The Accident If He Does Not Enjoy Diplomatic Immunity <http://app.mfa.gov.sg/2006/press/view_press_email.asp?post_id=5961>
Singapore Government

At that time he was still a diplomat officially accredited to Singapore and therefore could not be prevented from leaving. Furthermore, the police had at that time not completed their investigations and it was not yet established that Dr Ionescu was the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident on 15 December. 

The situation now is different and a different provision of the Vienna Convention now applies. 

**** Young Singaporeans Want Say <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_515474.html>
Cai Haoxiang, Straits Times

Younger Singaporeans do not just want to be heard; they aspire for a say in policymaking. Senior minister Goh Chok Tong thinks that is a good thing: It is a sign that they want to help build a better society. No matter how efficient and honest the Government was in the past, and is today, the clamour for more participation must be expected, he said on Friday.

**** For The Future Of China's Currency, See Singapore's <http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Stefan-Karlsson-s-Blog/2010/0416/For-the-future-of-China-s-currency-see-Singapore-s>
Stefan Karlsson, The Christian Science Monitor