[MyAppleMenu] Dec 15, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** SimCity Deluxe For iPad, Risk For iPad Out Today From EA <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/14/simcity-deluxe-for-ipad-out-today/>
David Quilty, TUAW

Available for the first time on the iPad, SimCity Deluxe allows players to act as Mayor and City Planner to build and control their very own cityscape. Using multitouch controls optimized for the iPad, players can build, destroy, rebuild, and manage cities inspired by famous locations around the globe. 

**** Why I'm Returning My iMac <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-kors/why-im-returning-my-imac_b_796104.html>
Joshua Kors, Huffington Post

Two weeks later I'm back at Apple headquarters -- my teeth worn down, my face prematurely aged from endless hours of sleeplessness and technological frustration -- certain that the iMac was the worst purchase I'd ever made.

**** Apple Updates iOS 4.2.1 For Apple TV <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/14/apple-updates-ios-4-2-1-for-apple-tv/>
Michael Grothaus, TUAW

**** LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/745776/review/lego_star_wars_the_complete_saga.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Sam Felsing, Macworld

If the target demographic of Lego Star Wars is purely kids, then Feral Interactive has ported a game that is worthy of their attention. It's cute, geeky, has plenty of funny slapstick moments, and isn't too challenging. Adults may be put off by the low difficulty level, but Star Wars fans of all ages will enjoy the playing as Lego versions of their favorite characters as they work to complete recreations of the movies’ best scenes.

**** How To Defend Your Mac Against Unauthorized Use <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/how-to-defend-your-mac-against-unauthorized-use/>
Natalia Nowak, Mac360

**** The Free And Easiest Way To A Screen Capture <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/the-free-and-easiest-way-to-a-screen-capture-on-a-mac/>
Alexis Kayhill, Mac360

How many ways can you capture a screen on a Mac? There’s keystroke combinations (if you can remember them).

And there’s a bunch of apps that capture screens, or app windows, or images, or sections of your screen. There’s even one that captures everything on a screen in a multi-layered Photoshop file. For real.

**** Acrobat X Pro <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/736059/review/acrobat_x_pro.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Pariah S. Burke, Macworld

If you can manage to find all the commands you need in the menus, task panes, Quick Tools, or other toolbars, you’ll find that Acrobat X Pro is a fantastic program with universal function improvement, phenomenal content-exporting capabilities, incredible power to automate task- and document- processing, and compelling document-distribution capabilities. Unfortunately, Acrobat X’s messy and unintuitive new user interface throttles the excitement somewhat and makes this less than a must-buy application.

**** Five Dropbox Tips For Mac Unix Nerds <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/14/5-dropbox-Tips-for-mac-unix-nerds/>
TJ Luoma, TUAW

**** Hands-on: CNN’s Stunning New iPad App <http://mashable.com/2010/12/14/cnn-ipad-app/>
Mashable

**** 5 Ways To Find Out What’s On Your Mac’s Disk <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/5-ways-to-find-out-whats-on-your-macs-disk/>
Natalia Nowak, Mac360

**** Infinity Blade: An Elegiac App Store Masterpiece <http://www.cultofmac.com/infinity-blade-an-elegiac-app-store-masterpiece-review/72849>
John Brownlee, Cult Of Mac

**** Apple Updates Drivers For Canon, FujiXerox, Lexmark Printers <http://www.macworld.com/article/156399/2010/12/snow_leopard_printer_updates_dec_2010.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld

**** Apple Wins Canadian Gov't Approval Of iBookstore <http://www.macnn.com/articles/10/12/14/more.content.diversity.promotion.promised/>
MacNN

The Ministry of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages has granted formal approval to the Canadian iBookstore, opening the door to a flood of new content from Canadian publishers and authors. While the iBookstore has already been operating and offering some -- mostly US-based -- paid titles along with the usual assortment of free public-domain and PDF texts, the approval is expected to boost both the offerings available to Canadian iOS device owners as well as help promote Canadian works in other countries.

**** Fix Slow Start-ups In OS X <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20025628-263.html>
Topher Kessler, CNET

Sometimes after adding new system components or otherwise changing the hardware configuration of your system you may find that the OS will load rather slowly. Usually this will only happen after the first restart as the system configures the kernel extensions needed for the new hardware; however, there are times when it can persist. If the system always runs slowly then there may be problems with the hard drive, or the configured filesystems on it, and you should run diagnostics utilities to tackle the issue. If on the other hand the system runs fine except for slugishness or pauses during boot, then there are several options you can try to help fix the situation.

**** The Correctly Incorrect Spotlight Calculator <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20025674-263.html>
Topher Kessler, CNET

**** OSX - Nervous System <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/compute/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501832&objectid=10694526>
Mark Webster, New Zealand Herald

There are far more Mac users with very little Mac experience than there are like me, these days.

**** The Steve Jobs Theory Of Customer Relations <http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/12/customer_relations_from_the_to.html>
Joshua Gans, Harvard Business Review

In an age where the flow of information to large corporations might be overwhelming and noisy, it creates incentives for obtaining higher quality and timely information. For some corporations, a twitter account is playing this role. For Apple, the CEO is an active part of the game.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** What Do You Mean? <http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/26913/?ref=rss>
Erica Naone, Technology Review

A startup hopes to improve a wide variety of applications with software that can interpret words.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** ‘It Is Not Convenient To Speak Of Such Things’: Notes From Rangoon <http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/dec/14/notes-from-rangoon/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nybooks+%28The+New+York+Review+of+Books%29>
Howard W. French, New York Review Of Books

I arrived in Rangoon at the beginning of the monsoon this summer after 36 hours of travel from New York, with a stop in Tokyo and a second change of planes in Bangkok. There I boarded an old Air Myanmar jet, and it was immediately clear that I was traveling to a country that lived in semi-isolation as the plane filled with migrant workers, many of whom were awkwardly toting large, makeshift bundles of carry-on goods—clothing, medicine, electronics, and other items that were either unavailable or unaffordable back home.

Officially, I had come to Burma—ruled by one of the world’s most opaque and repressive regimes—to teach a one-month documentary photography course to local photojournalists. But it was the only country in Southeast Asia I had never managed to visit and I was very eager to explore the place for myself.

**** The Perils Of Pop-up Art <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/rupertchristiansen/8198621/Rupert-Christiansens-culture-diary-the-perils-of-pop-up-art.html>
Rupert Christiansen, Telegraph

It’s a phenomenon of an era of austerity – pop-up projects are usually self-financing and rarely enjoy the cushion of public subsidy – but it’s also a terrific medium through which young and/or indigent people can show initiative and imagination, garner valuable experience and display their wares without being trampled on by officialdom.

However, there’s a danger in that the pop-up movement could foster a slapdash, anything-goes attitude to art, creating an inverse snobbery that prizes rough edges over smooth finish. I am getting a bit antsy about the spread of pop-up into the performing arts and a fashion for flinging musical shows on in cellars, garages and pub backrooms without proper rehearsal or lighting, and accompaniment provided by a clapped-out pub piano.

**** Why We Love Bad Writing <http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2010/12/14/docx/index.html>
Laura Miller, Salon

Now, I'm not only aware of all of those novelists, I've read much of their work, too; some of it I love, and some of it I don't. Yet this didn't stop me from reading Stieg Larsson with a considerable amount of pleasure.

**** Nearer, My God, To Thee <http://www.slate.com/id/2277761/>
Robert Pinsky, Slate

When poets get intimate with a higher power.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Singapore's WikiLeaks Gaffess <http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2870&Itemid=181>
Asia Sentinel

Although the newspapers speculated that the reports would raise a storm among Singapore's neighbors, Singapore's neighbors have long known of the island country's superior attitude. The quotes in the story merely ratify what is already known. It should be pointed out that Singapore, predominantly made up of ethnic Chinese, has always privately held the view that the surrounding countries have been ruled by hostile, often crooked incompetents who are mostly inferior to the technocrats who run the island republic. 

**** Try 'Walking' A Mile In My Wheelchair <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC101215-0000127/Try-walking-a-mile-in-my-wheelchair>
Tan Chow Huat, Today

As part of their training, every architect and civic engineer should be forced to spend a week in a wheelchair, a week in crutches, and a final week pushing around a pram. Maybe then they will understand the terror they're inflicting on people like me. 

**** Gambling: Consider Temporary Exclusion Order <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_613907.html>
Eric Ong, Straits Times

The National Council on Problem Gambling should perhaps tweak the application process so that a temporary exclusion order can be imposed on a gambler immediately upon receiving such a request from a family.

The temporary ban should bridge the waiting time for the council to set up a meeting with an appointed counsellor to examine the exclusion application.

**** Firms Urged To Become More Transparent To Avoid WikiLeaks-type Scandals <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1099193/1/.html>
May Wong, Channel NewsAsia

Corporate observers said that the more information companies disclose voluntarily, the less will be the scope for any damage to reputation from information leaks.

**** Singapore Says WikiLeaks Report Did Not Tally With Its Records <http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=550082>
Bernama

Singapore said the specific complaints raised by Malaysia on what its senior officials were alleged by WikiLeaks to have said did not tally with its own records.

Foreign affairs minister George Yeo said "one purported meeting did not even take place".

**** Singapore Advised To Preserve Good Relations With Its Neighbours <http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=550081>
Bernama

Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has advised Singapore not to make hurtful statements against its neighbours to ensure continued close bilateral relations.

Singapore, he said, should respect Malaysia's sensitivities when making statements and create a win-win situation with its neighbour.

**** Singapore’s Infrastructure Creaks <http://the-diplomat.com/asean-beat/2010/12/14/singapores-creaking-infrastructure/>
The Diplomat

This simply won’t do for a model modern city that’s also a global financial hub and attracts more than 11 million visitors a year. But what can be done? Singapore is an island, and even though the country has carried out successful land reclamation projects, it doesn’t have infinite space to grow, lest it bump into Malaysia or Indonesia.

**** Singapore-ASX Deal Clears Hurdle <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020131088741762.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>
Rebecca Thurlow, Wall Street Journal

Singapore Exchange Ltd.'s 8.4 billion Australian dollar (US$8.38 billion) bid for ASX Ltd. cleared a hurdle on Wednesday when Australia's competition regulator said it won't oppose the deal.

**** 'Incompetent Leaders': S'pore Telling The Obvious <http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/150822>
Malaysiakini

**** Leaked 'Sodomy' Cable: Anwar Dares Singapore, Najib <http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/pakatan-rakyat/14197-leaked-sodomy-cable-anwar-dares-singapore-najib->
Teoh El Sen, Free Malaysia Today

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has challenged the Singapore government to substantiate reports that the sodomy charge against him was true.

"You have evidence, bring it to court and I will challenge it and defend myself," Anwar told a crowd of some 500 people at Taman Melati here last night.

**** 白沙乐怡不办迎年倒数 商家望重新考虑振买气 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp101215_011.shtml>
陈锦柏 何嘉伟, 联合早报

连续10年举办倒数迎新年活动的白沙乐怡度假村（Downtown East）今年突然不办了，令那里的许多商家失望。他们希望，职总俱乐部管理层能重新考虑这项决定。

职总俱乐部突然不再举办这项年终盛事，不免令人联想到是否基于保安理由，或是与两个月前发生的一起凶杀案有关。

**** `Easy Money' Runs Out For Singapore Air, Korean Air As Cargo Demand Slows <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-15/-easy-money-runs-out-for-singapore-air-korean-air-as-cargo-demand-slows.html>
Chan Sue Ling, Bloomberg

Asian airlines expect cargo demand to slow as rising U.S. inventories and waning growth in Europe curbs shipments of electronics and luxury goods.

**** Wikileaks Post-Mortem II <http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=9039>
Christopher Ong, Kent Ridge Common

In a situation like this, it is difficult for Singapore to dismiss easily that these statements are just mere cocktail talk, or the result of an American interpretation of what is being discussed. It seems that it is difficult for anyone at all to provide a plausible other interpretation of  sensitive and specific statements such as those discussed above.

**** Migrant Worker NGOs’ Appeal Against Rejection For Vehicle Procession <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/12/migrant-worker-ngos-appeal-against-rejection-for-vehicle-procession/>
Bridget Tan, Humanitarian Organisation For Migration Economics, John Gee, Transient Workers Count Too, The Online Citizen

In 2009, a similar worker’s rights gathering (May Day Solidarity Walk) by the tripartite partners, on a much larger scale involving thousands of people, was allowed by the police. We therefore fail to understand why our modest activity has been prohibited. Similarly, in March 2008, the Consumer Association of Singapore (CASE) held a nationwide event entitled ‘Walk with CASE’ to commemorate World Consumer Rights Day. The Minister of Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan was the guest-of-honour at that event. It was also not prohibited.

**** Singapore Exchange: Pleased With Australia Regulator's Nod For ASX Deal <http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101214-717783.html>
Gaurav Raghuvanshi, Dow Jones

**** Singapore Contractor Admits Guilt In Biggest Public Fraud Case In 15 Years <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-15/singapore-contractor-admits-guilt-in-biggest-public-fraud-case-in-15-years.html>
Andrea Tan, Bloomberg

Ho Yen Teck, a Singapore Land Authority contractor, pleaded guilty to conspiring to cheat the agency in the city state’s biggest public sector fraud case in 15 years.

Eight people, including two former land authority officials, were accused of cheating the public sector department of S$12.2 million ($9.3 million). The fraud has led to a review of the government’s financial procedures.

**** Singapore's Jobless Rate Reaches Lowest Level Since March 2008 <http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1605796.php/Singapore-s-jobless-rate-reaches-lowest-level-since-March-2008>
DPA

Singapore unemployment has fallen to the lowest level in two-and-a-half years, standing at 2.1 per cent for the third quarter of 2010, government data released Wednesday showed.

**** WikiLeaks: Singapore Lee Says Myanmar 'Stupid' <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/15/AR2010121500088.html>
Alex Kennedy, Associated Press

Singapore statesman Lee Kuan Yew called Myanmar's junta leaders "stupid" and "dense" in conversations with U.S. diplomats, according to classified documents released this week by WikiLeaks.

The Singapore leader said dealing with Myanmar's military regime was like "talking to dead people," according to a confidential U.S. briefing on a 2007 conversation between Lee and U.S. Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold and deputy assistant secretary of state Thomas Christensen released by WikiLeaks.

**** Public Nudity On The Rise In Strait-laced Singapore <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BE0XE20101215>
Reuters

Strait-laced Singapore, where chewing-gum sales are restricted and graffiti artists can be caned and jailed, is heading for a record year of public nudity.

Police received 105 reports of indecent exposure in the city state of 5 million in the first six months of 2010, or at least one every other day, and the numbers had been on the rise since 2007, police said on Wednesday.

**** No Go For International Migrants Day <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC101215-0000180/No-go-for-International-Migrants-Day>
Cheow Xin Yi, Today

When contacted by MediaCorp, a police spokesperson said: "The permit applications were not approved due to law and order considerations. The police have advised the two NGOs to hold their activities within the confines of the Speakers' Corner instead."Home executive director Jolovan Wham feels that law and order is not an issue, though, especially in the case of flyer distribution, where 20 volunteers would be paired and spread out, instead of congregating in one place.