[MyAppleMenu] Dec 9, 2010

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Thu Dec 9 18:59:00 EST 2010

MyAppleMenu
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**** Apple Addresses MacBook Air Issues With Firmware Update <http://www.macrumors.com/2010/12/08/apple-addresses-macbook-air-issues-with-firmware-update/>
Eric Slivka, MacRumors

Apple today issued an EFI firmware update for the new 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models, the latest in a series of software updates released since the line was revamped in late October as some users have complained of display problems, kernel panics, and other issues.

**** Apple Deepens Price Cuts On Refurbished iPads <http://www.macnn.com/articles/10/12/08/100.off.32.64gb.wi.fi.models/>
MacNN

**** Microsoft Posts Office 2008 For Mac Update <http://www.macworld.com/article/156289/2010/12/office_2008_update.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Dahlquist, Macworld

**** Using An iMac As A Second Monitor <http://www.macworld.com/article/156288/2010/12/imac_second_monitor.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

Regrettably, there isn’t (at least not one that doesn’t require a soldering iron and far more skill than I possess). Rather, you use VNC (Virtual Network Computing) over a network to place the image of one Mac’s screen on another screen.

**** Make Your Old Dock Speakers Work With Newer Devices <http://www.macworld.com/article/156249/2010/12/old_speakers_new_ipod_ipad_iphone.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

**** MenuPop 1.01 <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/743534/review/menupop_101.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

As with DejaMenu and MenuEverywhere, pressing MenuPop’s configurable keyboard shortcut brings up a hierarchical menu, directly under the cursor, containing the menus of the active program. Each of those menus is itself hierarchical, if applicable. Choose a command from the MenuPop menu and it functions just as if you’d chosen it from the actual menu bar.

**** How Mac Users Drag And Drop To Remove Apps <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/how-mac-users-drag-and-drop-to-remove-apps/>
Jeffrey Mincey, Mac360

**** iPadLock Protects Your iPad From Thieves <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/08/ipadlock-protects-your-ipad-from-thieves/>
Steven Sande, TUAW

According to Maclocks, once the lock and the case are joined together, thieves can't remove the case without damaging the iPad.

**** Apple To Update Push Notices To 2048-Bit <http://www.macnn.com/articles/10/12/08/new.certificate.being.used.enhance.security/>
MacNN

While this will not require changes to existing iOS apps, Apple explains, developers will need to update their own push notification servers to the higher standard.

**** Costco To Stop Selling Apple Products <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/09/costco-to-stop-selling-apple-products/>
Dave Caolo, TUAW

**** Office Apps Showdown: Word Processors <http://www.macworld.com/article/156292/2010/12/officeshowdownwordprocessors.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Jeffery Battersby, Macworld

Pages and Word both do the job well. If you want a unified visual look across all kinds of documents, Word has some advantages (thanks to its templates and themes). Pages is much better at handling things like charts, tables, and images. Google Docs might be fine for editing documents in the cloud, but it’s comparatively useless when it comes to anything beyond the most basic word processing chores.

**** iTunes Rewind: Apple Announces Top iPhone, iPad Apps Of 2010 <http://www.loopinsight.com/2010/12/09/itunes-rewind-apple-announces-top-iphone-ipad-apps-of-2010/>
Jim Dalrymple, The Loop



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** The Information Palace <http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/dec/08/information-palace/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nybooks+%28The+New+York+Review+of+Books%29>
James Gleick, New York Review Of Books

The word “information” has grown urgent and problematic—a signpost seen everywhere, freighted with new meaning and import. We hardly need the lexicographers of the Oxford English Dictionary to tell us that, but after all, this is what they live for. It is a word, they tell us, “exhibiting significant linguistic productivity,” a word that “both reflects and embodies major cultural and technological change,” therefore a word crying out for their attention. In their latest quarterly revision, December 2010, just posted, the entry for “information” is utterly overhauled. (The OED, in case you hadn’t noticed, has evolved into an enterprise of cyberspace, rather than a mere book.)

**** You Can't Pick The Lyrics Out Of Pop <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/09/judging-pop-lyrics-without-music?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Stephen Graham, Guardian

Mocking a song by looking at its lyrics without the music is like judging a painting on a section you've cut out.

**** Why Do We Think The Butler Did It? <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/dec/09/why-we-think-the-butler-did-it?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Nate Pedersen, Guardian

This plot formula has the unusual distinction of being a cliché of mystery writing without ever having been widely used.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Can Political Parties Directly Upload Videos Online? <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_611826.html>
Martyn See, Straits Times

Given the Government's dim view of films and videos with political content, I would like to know what is the position of the relevant authorities with regard to the production and direct uploading of videos onto the Internet, particularly those of political parties.

**** Roaming Charges: IDA Exploring Extra Steps <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_611695.html>
Sheo S. Rai, Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore, Straits Times

It is currently working with the mobile operators to explore additional measures to better inform the public whenever certain mobile data roaming usage levels have been reached, and other measures to address consumer concerns.

**** COE Prices Soar <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_611910.html>
Christopher Tan, Straits Times

The bidding frenzy was sparked by fears that quotas would be slashed in February to a 20-year low.

**** ERP Gantries In Strange Places <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4286-erp-gantry-in-strange-places>
Singapore Democrat Party

Without effective opposition in parliament minister for transport Mr Raymond Lim has become callous in his implementation of the ERP system. Apart from the rates, Mr Lim has been erecting ERP gantries at the strangest of places.

**** Singapore's Salad Days Are Ove <http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7325/full/468731a.html>
Nature

Nobody should cry for Singapore's scientists, who don't expect sympathy. They have been living large and will continue, if they can prove themselves, to be paid generously. And having to write grant applications is not enslavement — it is the norm for most researchers around the world. The problem is not Singapore's shifting priorities, but how the government is implementing the change.

In response to a call for research proposals last month, Singapore's scientists have had to scramble to draft application-oriented proposals. They know that industrial contracts would help. But, given the shaky state of the global pharmaceutical industry, such contracts are not easy to come by. Many applications are going in with a weak note: “industrial partner to be decided”. Singapore's scientists worry that, given only weeks or months to secure deals, they will be forced into unfavourable agreements. One researcher at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research says that the policy is an attempt to turn the agency “into a contract-research organization overnight”.

**** Welfare: Jam To-morrow And Jam Yesterday – But Never Jam Today <http://atans1.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/welfare-jam-to-morrow-and-jam-yesterday-but-never-jam-today/>
Thoughts Of A Cynical Investor

**** “弃树”有家可归 滨海湾花园“领养”2000多棵险遭砍树木 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp101209_002.shtml>
黄慧敏, 联合早报

滨海湾花园不单是个花园，也是树木的“救星”。过去四年，它已“领养”了2000多棵差点因城市发展而被砍伐的树木，其中更有五棵来自澳大利亚。

**** Singapore: An Island Of Opportunity For The Qualified Outsider <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2f93c7fc-0280-11e0-ac33-00144feabdc0,s01=1.html>
Kevin Brown, Financial Times

Many expatriates find that getting a job is not as difficult as they expected. Western qualifications and experience are respected and sought after, and those with the right experience often have a head start over candidates from other parts of the world.

**** Impose Levy To Discourage Casino Goers <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/12/9/focus/7584096&sec=focus>
NK Khoo, The Star

I suggest we impose a RM300 levy per trip on Malaysians not working and studying in Singapore who make more than one trip to Singapore in a month. Exemption can be given to transport operators as well as for those who need to visit Singapore repeatedly for specific reasons.

If the Singapore government can impose a levy on its citizens for visiting its own casinos, there is no reason why Malaysia cannot apply a modified rule on its citizens.

**** Living In Fear Of Information <http://ingoringasia.blogspot.com/2010/12/living-in-fear-of-information.html>
Ignoring Asia

The three examples are all supposedly democratic nations yet they really don’t believe in these freedoms or their political leaders do not.

**** Mas Selamat, What If He Had... <http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/opinion/comment/13902-mas-selamat-what-if-he-had>
Maxwell Coopers, Free Malaysia Today

Kastari may be behind bars all over again, but the larger question is how “transformed” he will be when he leaves prison which, depending on the security threat one poses, can take years.

Until that question is comfortably settled, the so-called peace dividend Singapore may be enjoying may only be transient.

**** How Do They Survive? <http://www.raviphilemon.net/2010/12/how-do-they-survive.html>
Ravi Philemon

**** Jobs And Assistance Statistics: More Or Less? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/12/jobs-and-assistance-statistics-more-or-less/>
Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen

Mr Lim Swee Say had called the solutions tried out by other countries – from a minimum wage policy and closing the door on low-skilled foreign workers to paying foreign local workers the same wages ‘easy solutions’ that do not necessarily work.

But the stark fact and reality remains that none of the solutions tried by the labour movement has worked at all.

**** Preserving Singapore’s Past: A Losing Battle? <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/12/09/preserving-singapores-past/>
Bea Johnson, Yahoo!

Inaugurated in 1939, The Cathay Building was a groundbreaking edifice, the first skyscraper in Singapore and at that time the tallest building in Southeast Asia. The Cathay was also the first public building in Singapore to be air-conditioned. The front facade of the building was gazetted as a national monument in 2003. The new complex features an avant garde glass façade which incorporates the original art-deco facade of the old Cathay Building.

But, says Mr. Widodo,“at night you can’t even recognize that piece of wall because it is swallowed by the glowing lights from the big glass box on top of it.” He goes on to ask: “If a National Heritage can be turned into something like that, how about the other heritages?”

**** One Year On – Yong Vui Kong <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/12/one-year-on-yong-vui-kong/>
Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen

**** Indonesia-Singapore Western Segment Border Problems Resolved <http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=548735>
Bernama

Indonesian and Singaporean government delegations have completed discussions on demarcation of their western sea borders and thus ready for future talks on other segments of their common boundary, Antara news agency quoted an Indonesian official as saying.

**** Town Councils Performed Better In 2Nd Report <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1098189/1/.html>
Joanne Chan, Mustafa Shafawi, Channel NewsAsia

HDB estates have generally seen improvements in the areas of cleanliness, maintenance, lift performance and S&CC arrears management, according to the second Town Council Management Report (TCMR).




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