[MyAppleMenu] Aug 11, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** How Google & Apple Sold Out The Cell Phone Revolution <http://searchengineland.com/how-google-apple-sold-out-the-cell-phone-revolution-48529>
Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land

If I can have a choice between a WiFi and a WiFi/3G iPad, why can’t I have a choice between a carrier-specific versus a carrier-independent iPhone?

**** Review: Pixelmator 1.6 Nucleus <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=cd5025eb7dfbd0307970ee2ab306b8fa>
Ben Long, Macworld

Pixelmator has a tremendous amount of charm, both for its well-defined feature set, beautiful interface, fantastically fast performance, and low price. That said, with Photoshop Elements priced at $89, it’s hard to see choosing Pixelmator over Elements, which packs more editing tools, Adjustment Layers, Bridge, and more. If low price is absolutely essential, though, then Pixelmator 1.6 is a great option.

**** Apple Offers Volume Educational Discounts For App Store Purchases <http://feeds.appleinsider.com/click.phdo?i=8fb70768d7c3ebbd1ff4f0ce8a5e710d>
AppleInsider

Apple this week announced the App Store Volume Purchase program for iOS devices, allowing educational institutions to purchase mobile software in volume at a discounted price for devices like the iPad.

**** Mac Gems: Witch Makes It Easy To Switch Between Windows <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=16370ebe1c772a5770cc66c8aa8d0fe5>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

**** Stay Remembers Just How You Like Your Windows <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=b9d85005ad080ab978f1ecc25536e0bd>
Lex Friedman, Macworld

Stay lives in your menu bar. When you position and resize your windows just the way you want them, you use the menulet to save their locations—whether for all open windows, or just the windows from a specific application. Then, if you need to move things around, you can always restore your windows to their last-saved position.

**** iPhone, iPad Game The Incident Says Jump, How High <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=79faec29e64ee29c3c5a9a1d85756e2e>
Dan Moren, Macworld

**** New School Program For iOS Apps Doesn't Address All IT Needs <http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/apple/~3/yY2YuSDd_dw/new-school-program-for-ios-apps-doesnt-address-all-it-needs.ars>
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica

The new Volume Purchase Program is definitely a step in the right direction to better position iPads for higher education environments. But Apple still needs to do more to address the needs of K-12 institutions. Tying each iPad to an individual iTunes Store account generally works for private users, but that won't cut it in a school environment. Educational IT staff needs to be able to easily and remotely manage the devices for use by multiple students.

**** Microsoft Updates Office 2004, 2008 For Mac <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=a6f7b924a3d099535c724dea305dd537>
David Dahlquist, Macworld

The Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.6 update contains improvements to stability and compatibility. It also fixes vulnerabilities than would allow attackers to overwrite your Mac's memory with malicious code.

**** Adobe Fixes Six Critical Flash Bugs <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=a6cb801b9dd247af1a056da796cc023b>
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

**** Metallic Glass Could Encase Future Apple Products <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38640576>
Stuart Fox, MSNBC

In a move that promises a future of higher performance, cheaper and more elegant iPhone, Macbook and desktop casings, Apple has signed an exclusive deal with Liquidmetal Technologies, a company that makes a special metallic glass.

**** Microsoft Shows Weakness With Its Anti-Apple Campaign <http://blogs.computerworld.com/16710/microsoft_shows_weakness_with_anti_apple_campaign>
Jonny Evans, Computerworld

Microsoft's current campaign focuses on Apple's Macs because Redmond has nothing else to offer. It doesn't even compete.

**** Apple Leaves A Bitter Taste <http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn/comment/2267935/apple-leaves-bitter-taste>
Sara Yirrell, CRN

It will be interesting to see how Apple treats its partners if times ever get tough.

**** EU, FTC Probing Apple's Policies <http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/eu_ftc_probing_apple_policies_oMCMaVHb9hMMgoyErHK2kK#ixzz0wCHMdXKw>
Josh Kosman, New York Post

European regulators have teamed with the Federal Trade Commission in probing Apple's policies for mobile software developers, The Post has learned.

**** Microsoft’s Latest PC-Mac Comparison is…Almost Reasonable <http://technologizer.com/2010/08/10/pc-versus-mac/>
Harry McCracken, Technologizer

All in all, Microsoft’s arguments are strongest in areas where Windows does have a clear advantage, such as all the features that are available as standard equipment with Windows PCs but not with Macs. They’re weakest in the areas where Windows is weakest: “Windows is easier because you’re already familiar with earlier versions” is a far less compelling argument than “Windows is easier because it’s better designed.”

**** Snow Leopard: This Cat Has Fleas <http://theappleblog.com/2010/08/10/snow-leopard-this-cat-has-fleas/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gigaomnetwork+%28The+GigaOM+Network%29>
Charles Moore, The Apple Blog

**** A New 'Indie' Genre: iPhone 4 Filmmaking <http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/08/05/iphone.imovie.indie/index.html>
Marianna Nash, CNN

Gonzalez and others say the $4.99 iMovie app -- even with some flaws -- has the potential to open new doors for artists who have great ideas but no money. Gonzalez believes the user's ability to shoot and edit video on the phone and upload it to the web may prove particularly useful to independent musicians.

**** Photoshop Lightroom 3 Review <http://www.macworld.co.uk/macsoftware/reviews/index.cfm?olo=rss&ReviewID=3234421>
Rick LePage, Macworld UK

The image-processing enhancements in Lightroom 3 are impressive, solidifying the program’s position as one of the best tools for managing, editing, and publishing photos. This isn’t a blockbuster update, but offers enough to make it well worth the upgrade fee.

**** Apple Store Covent Garden: Day 4, Queues Still Forming <http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/08/10/apple-store-covent-garden-day-4-queues-still-forming/>
James Holland, Electricpig.co.uk

The Apple Store Covent Garden is popular would be an understatement. The response to our sneak peek video tour and world’s first photos has been astounding, and four days later there are still queues outside Apple’s biggest store yet.

**** All About iTunes Movie Rentals <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=0fdd7f464f014c44af7dd1749bd773f6>
Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

You probably know that you can rent movies from the iTunes Store. But there are a number of conditions that affect what you can and can’t do with rentals. Here’s an overview of how you can watch them, on which devices you can view them, and how to move them from one device to another.

**** Review: Mac Mini With Snow Leopard Server (Mid 2010) <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=dc22bfd02fe127a8196f5adb8c4a2877>
John C. Welch, Macworld

The Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server is an outstanding small utility server for the lower end of the SMB market, able to handle a couple hundred users for almost any single service, (Mail, Chat, Open Directory, etc.) with aplomb. It’s also a good “do it all” server for smaller networks with up to 25 users or so. It does all this without needing a lot of power, cooling, or being overly noisy.

**** Apple Says To Replace Overheating iPods In Japan <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67A1DL20100811>
Benjamin Shatil, Reuters

Apple Inc's Japan unit will replace any iPod nano portable music players that overheat, it said in an online statement, improving an earlier offer to replace only their faulty batteries.

**** Global CIO: A Secret Letter To Apple's Steve Jobs From Senator Schumer <http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226600392&subSection=News>
Bob Evans, InformationWeek



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** A Sidewalk Disappearing Act <http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=d06426ee6a50129263fff9048ed9b367>
Duncan Graham-Rowe, Technology Review

In 2008, responding to privacy concerns, Google started to blur the faces of people caught by car-mounted cameras and shown in its Google Street View mapping service. Researchers in California believe they have now come up with a better solution--software that automatically removes any trace that a person was in a scene.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Charlie Chan: A Stereotype And A Hero <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=773c97ae4c52cc8a6b4d8dbb52af1d4a>
Charles Mcgrath, New York Times

Yunte Huang, who was born and grew up in China, can’t get enough of Chan and has written a book about his obsession: “Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous With American History.” The book, which comes out from Norton next week, is part memoir, part history, part cultural-studies essay and part grab bag of odd and little-known details.

**** In Saratoga Springs, Catering To The Horse Set <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=b08badbc3c665074841d74022e402564>
Glenn Collins, New York Times

Dining in this food-focused town, which claims to have invented the potato chip and the club sandwich, comes in every guise. Newness intrudes here often, too. At the Saratoga Race Course, for instance, Danny Meyer has just opened a Shake Shack satellite — just five betting windows down from his new Blue Smoke.

**** How Much Energy Do Escalators Use? <http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=1c773c6684af1eb34c4e9a2da68a5951>
Nina Shen Rastogi, Slate Magazine

How much energy do escalators use? They keep those things running all day long! Should I take the elevator instead?

**** The BP Cover-Up <http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/09/bp-ocean-cover-up>
Julia Whitty, Mother Jones

Though it won't be understood for weeks, the Deepwater Horizon is different from any other spill in human history. The extreme technology used to drill at unprecedented depths lacks the extreme safety equipment and protocols needed to stave off disaster. BP, gambling at the border of controllable engineering, has lost spectacularly in its bid to be the deepest and cheapest driller of them all.



SingaporeSurf
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**** AGO Issued “Unqualified Audit Opinions” On GIC Singapore <http://furrybrowndog.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/ago-issued-unqualified-audit-opinions-on-gic-singapore>
Furry Brown Dog

**** PRC New Citizen's 1 Man Protest Harrassed By Mata Repeatedly During NDP <http://uncleyap-news.blogspot.com/2010/08/prc-new-citizens-1-man-protest.html>
News Release by UncleYap

**** Five-day Wait For 40-cent Bus Fare Refund <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_564423.html>
Andy Tan, Straits Times

The problem is that commuters, more often than not, do not know they have been overcharged. Why should commuters be made to claim refunds for the transport operator's system flaw?

**** Chiam: Vacating Potong Pasir A Personal Sacrifice To Strengthen Opposition <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_564549.html>
Chiam See Tong, MP for Potong Pasir, Straits Times

I must balance the interest of Singapore and the interest of the residents of Potong Pasir.

I have not abandoned the residents of Potong Pasir. Their interest is always with me and so, for this reason, I have chosen my wife to take my place and represent me in Potong Pasir. She has been helping me all these years in parliamentary and constituency work.

**** How Are Bus, Train Delays Reported? <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100811-0000045/How-are-bus,-train-delays-reported?>
Bryan Ong, Today

Are all train and bus service disruptions reported to the authorities? What qualifies as a service disruption warranting a report to the authorities? A train delay of five minutes may appear inconsequential, but given the massive overcrowding that always arises from these disruptions, it is a veritable nightmare for commuters.

**** Public Sector Employees Deserve A Growth Bonus This Year: Halimah <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100811-0000073/Public-sector-employees-deserve-a-growth-bonus-this-year--Halimah>
S Ramesh, Today

Public sector employees are looking forward to a growth bonus in view of the strong economic rebound, said labour member of Parliament (MP) Halimah Yacob yesterday.

**** Singapore Economy May Contract In Second Half <http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/11/business/6833673&sec=business>
Reuters

ingapore’s economy faces the risks of an annualised contraction in the second half of 2010 due to a global slowdown but remains on course to be one of the world’s fastest growing countries.

**** M'sians Want S'pore To Take Action Against "Wrongful" Execution <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4018--malaysians-want-singapore-to-take-action-against-qwrongfulq-execution>
Singapore Democrat Party

Two Malaysian groups went to the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday calling on Singapore to make restitution for wrongfulling executing Vignes Mourthi in 2003.

One of the groups, Lawyers for Liberty led by Malaysian lawyer Mr N Surendran (photo, white shirt), issued a memorandum of protest stating that Vignes was innocent, citing the fact that during one of the appeals former Chief Justice Yong Pung How had conceded that an accused can be hanged on merely procedural grounds.

**** “I Want My Son's Name Back” <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/08/i-want-my-sons-name-back/>
The Online Citizen

“I want my son’s name back,” Mr Mourthi Vasu said. “And I want my son back. Can they give me my son? Can they give me? Cannot.”

Mr Mourthi is asking for an apology from the Singapore government for the execution of his then 23-year old son, Vignes Mourthi. Vignes was hanged in Singapore in September 2003 after having been found guilty of trafficking in 27.65g of heroin. Vignes had always maintained his innocence till the day he died.

Mr Mourthi’s demand for an apology comes after he learned of the circumstances which led to the conviction of his son involving police officer Sergeant Rajkumar.

**** Is It Gonna Rain Or What? <http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2010/08/is-it-gonna-rain-or-what.html>
Singapore Notes

So is the glass half full or half empty?

**** National Day Rant : No One Is Out To Ruin Your Singaporean Dream, Lah <http://treeofprosperity.blogspot.com/2010/08/national-day-rant-no-one-is-out-to-ruin.html>
Growing Your Tree Of Prosperity

The fundamentals of success does not vary from society to society. It certainly would not vary whether RP or PAP is in power.

**** Does PAP Government Work For Singaporeans Or Foreigners? <http://utwt.blogspot.com/2010/08/does-pap-government-work-for.html>
Under The Willow Tree

Half of the efforts of the Singaporean government since 1999 to grow GDP have gone to Foreigners. Half of Singaporean men's national service efforts have contributed to foreign resident GDP growth since 1999.

**** The Death Penalty In Singapore <http://gcalers.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/the-death-penalty-in-singapore/>
Calers's Blog

**** Memorandum Of Protest Wrongful Execution Of M’sian Vignes Mourthi And Malicious Prosecution Of Alan Shadrake <http://lawyersforliberty.org/2010/08/memorandum-of-protest-wrongful-execution-of-msian-vignes-mourthi-and-malicious-prosecution-of-alan-shadrake/>
Lawyers For Liberty

**** PR Moved To Tears During National Day. Me Too! <http://singaporeanskeptic.blogspot.com/2010/08/pr-moved-to-tears-during-national-day.html>
Singaporean Skeptic

**** Singapore Trade Still Lower Than Before Recession <http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2010/08/singapore-trade-still-lower-than-before-recession.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rana+%28Blowin%27+In+The+Wind%29>
Blowin' In The Wind

**** Commissioner Of Charities Releases Annual Report, Introduces New SMS Verification Service For Public <https://www.charities.gov.sg/charity/charity/charityCMSFileDownload.do?id=114>
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore Government

To enable the public to continue to donate with confidence, COC introduced an SMS service to allow members of the public to send a query via SMS to check whether an organisation has a permit to solicit donations in public. (Note: Link goes to an PDF document.)

**** The Defiant Old Patriarch <http://leesjuanpatworld.blogspot.com/2010/08/defiant-old-patriarch.html>
Leesjuanpat World

**** Has The Youth Olympic Games 2010 Become A Joke? <http://myqueenstown.blogspot.com/2010/08/has-youth-olympic-games-2010-become.html>
My Queenstown

Winning isn't everything.

**** MRT Advertising... Where Is It? <http://random-singapore.blogspot.com/2010/08/mrt-advertising-where-is-it.html>
Random Singapore

**** The Most Ironic Awards - Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize & National Day 2010 (The Distinguished Service Order) <http://de-leviathan.blogspot.com/2010/08/most-ironic-awards-lee-kuan-yew-water.html>
De Leviathan @ Sg

**** Doughnut Reporting <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/doughnut-reporting>
Yawning Bread

I was speechless after reading the Straits Times’ version of the story about a protest note being lodged at the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. It told readers about all the stuff peripheral to the main issue but said not a word about Mourthi Vasu’s demand that Singapore acknowledge with contrition committing a miscarriage of justice when his son was hanged in 2003.

**** YOG WTF: Youth Olympic Games - What The Farce <http://thinkingbetterthinkingmeta.blogspot.com/2010/08/yog-wtf-youth-olympic-games-what-farce.html>
Sam Ho, Sam's thoughts

**** Communist Much? <http://uberawesomedinosaur.blogspot.com/2010/08/communist-much.html>
Uberawesome Dinosaur

What kind of democratic country are we, if our students are forced to display false support?