[MyAppleMenu] Jul 24, 2010

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Sat Jul 24 18:59:00 EDT 2010

MyAppleMenu
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**** Dragon Dictation Now Supports Twitter, Facebook <http://www.macworld.com/article/152907/2010/07/dragon_dictation_2.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld

Attempting to bring us one step closer to a typeless future, Nuance Communications on Friday released version 2.0 of its popular Dragon Dictation app for the iPhone and iPad, adding the ability to send dictated messages to social networking services.

**** Beware Bluetooth Keyboards With IOS Devices <http://db.tidbits.com/article/11448?rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tidbits_main+%28TidBITS%3A+Mac+News+for+the+Rest+of+Us%29>
Chris Pepper, TidBITS

Unfortunately, a subtle and non-obvious interaction between Bluetooth keyboards and all compatible versions of the iOS can cause results that range from irritating to destructive. The short version: make sure you turn off your Bluetooth keyboard before packing it for a trip. You may even want to pop its batteries out.

**** A, As In Apple <http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/a-as-in-apple/?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Stephen Williams, New York Times

Laptop magazine has published its periodic survey of the good, the bad and the ugly, measuring the experiences of owners seeking help. The winner, with straight A’s, is, again, Apple.

**** Samsung's Dilemma: How To Attack Its Customer (Apple) <http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/07/23/samsungs-dilemma-how-to-attack-a-customer/>
Seth Weintraub, Fortune

Samsung makes a fortune building the parts for the iPhone. How do they compete with the iPhone at the same time?

**** Smuggled iPads Poised To Flood China From Hong Kong <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/22/AR2010072206124.html?hpid=moreheadlines>
Mark Lee, Blomberg

As Apple begins selling the iPad in Hong Kong today and the iPhone 4 next week, the former British colony will be an important source of supplies of Apple products feeding the so-called gray market in China, said Flora Wu, a handset analyst at BDA China Ltd.

**** Who's Afraid Of Steve Jobs? <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_31/b4189058784981.htm>
Devin Leonard, BusinessWeek

**** Apple 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo Mac Mini Review <http://www.maclife.com/article/reviews/apple_24ghz_core_2_duo_mac_mini>
Susie Ochs, Mac Life



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Day For Night By Frederick Reiken <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/24/day-for-night-frederick-reiken?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Patrick Ness, The Guardian

As a whole, the prose is so well-behaved and unobtrusive it's almost as if it expects to be marked at the end of term. Less politeness and a lot more fire might have turned this into something special. It's still a gripping read, though, and Reiken could be a writer to watch.

**** The Cardturner By Louis Sachar <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/24/cardturner-louis-sachar-review?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Frank Cottrell Boyce, The Guardian

The family relationships are a game in which the older members deal the younger members out like cards. And like Stanley Yelnats in Holes, Alton has a kind of patient courage that allows him to piece together the truth about his family and free himself from the cycle. The result is a detective story which is also a love story, or a love story that is also a detective story. Sachar finds that what the recently dumped teen and the rich old man have in common is boredom. Alton can't wait for life to start and Lester can't wait for it to be over.

**** Curlew By The Humber <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/24/curlew-humber-david-wheatlye-poem?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
David Wheatley, The Guardian

**** Technology And The Novel, From Blake To Ballard <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/24/tom-mccarthy-futurists-novels-technology?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Tom McCarthy, The Guardian

Writers have long been fascinated by machinery – what it gives and what it takes away.

**** Remembering Los Angeles As A Hotbed Of Alt-weekly Comics <http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-ca-comics-20100725,0,5291089.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+features%2Fbooks+%28Los+Angeles+Times+-+Books%29>
Ben Schwartz, Los Angeles Times

None of them knew each other. They saw one another's comics in 'zines, weeklies and punk newspapers. "Yeah, there were a number of us," remembers Matt Groening, 30 years after his strip "Life in Hell" debuted in the Los Angeles Reader. "I don't think we even considered it a 'scene.' It just felt like a bunch of people in isolation."

**** The Insatiable Years <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/books/review/Browning-t.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Dominique Browning, New York Times

Allegra Goodman’s new novel has so many appealing ingredients. Where, then, to start the list? Perhaps, as with food labels, it would be best to begin with the biggest: an irresistible story. Then add four strong characters: two sisters, and the two men who orbit them. Then there’s the narrative voice: sweet but not cloyingly so, nourishing but not heavy, serving up zesty nuggets of truth. And the spicing is piquant but not too assertive, thanks to memorable appearances by (among others) a Bialystok rabbi, a bookshop called Yorick’s, a collection of letters from a long-dead mother and a tribe of tree-huggers.



SingaporeSurf
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**** World Cup Rights: Problem Lies With MDA, Not The Telcos <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_557163.html>
Thomas Lee, Straits Times

I totally do not understand what the heck this writer is arguing about. The World Cup was almost not shown in Singapore because the licensing fees were too high -- and that has nothing to do with incompatible set-top box technologies. In fact, the new regulations imposed by MDA has nothing to do with "solving" the high fees in content acquisition, and is just a stupid hack to workaround the two incompatible standards used by StarHub and SingTel. It will not lower costs at all.

**** HDB Prices Hit New High! <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2010/07/hdb-prices-hit-new-high.html>
Diary of A Singaporean Mind

**** 有了客工 生活更美好？ <http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl100724_015.shtml>
何惜薇, 联合早报

要使本地人对“有了客工，生活更美好”这句话心领神会，恐怕还需要更长时间，让复杂的情绪沉淀。

**** 车资风波 <http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl100724_012.shtml>
郭丽娟, 联合早报

事实上，真正从车资调整中获益或受影响的是两家公共交通业者。它们既然都是上市公司，除了向乘客负责，也要向股东负责，或许公交理事会今后在核准车资调整申请后，可考虑要求业者站在第一线面对乘客，让它们做好本身该做的宣传，也要它们直接为调高车资的必要性作出公开透明的解释。唯有这样，它们才能对民众的“切肤之痛”有所理解，也能在乘客的注目之下，认真做好节省成本、提高生产力和改善服务的工作。

**** A City's $4 Billion Gamble <http://www.smh.com.au/travel/a-citys-4-billion-gamble-20100723-10nt6.html>
Anthony Dennis, Sydney Morning Herald

Travellers have always loved Singapore for its convenience as a stopover to and from Australia but it's never quite won the acclaim to which it aspired. Now the city-state, in one of its biggest gambles, is betting that travellers will be inclined to linger.

**** Singapore Dollar To Strengthen Amid Expanding Economy: IMF <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iIrsKLZOiZUF4XhomFmW6CdDSo0Q>
AFP

In a report after annual consultations with the Singapore authorities, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Singapore dollar "would likely strengthen in real effective terms over time as reforms promote faster productivity growth and the domestic economy continues to expand."

The Singapore dollar "appears to be somewhat weaker than its medium-term equilibrium level although considerable uncertainty clouds this assessment," said the report by the fund's board.

**** Singapore May Require Further `Calibration' Of Monetary Policy, IMF Says <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-23/singapore-may-require-further-calibration-of-monetary-policy-imf-says.html>
Bloomberg

Singapore’s inflation is likely to accelerate and policy makers should stay vigilant on the outlook for growth and prices, which may require the “further calibration” of monetary policy, the International Monetary Fund said.

**** Oh, For A Dip In Orchard River <http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=insightdownsouth&file=/2010/7/24/columnists/insightdownsouth/6717827&sec=Insight%20Down%20South>
Seah Chiang Nee, The Star

It was the worst since the disastrous 1978 monsoon floods, which caused seven deaths and hundreds to be evacuated. One man died when an uprooted tree fell on his car, and several people were injured.

However, the population had more than doubled from 2.23 million in 1978 to 5 million now. This means more high-rise buildings disgorging used water into the drainage system.

**** Sing When You're Winning <http://leavingtheasylum.blogspot.com/2010/07/sing-when-youre-winning.html>
Leaving the Asylum

**** Singapore Flooding – The Reason Why <http://estherwritesat.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/singapore-flooding-the-reason-why/>
Life In All Its Fullness

One case in point is Bishan MRT station. Angie, Sihui, Sarah and I have always complained that every time the train bounded for Jurong East reaches Bishan station, a strong stench of fart will hit us when the train doors open. Then people will unanimously cover their noses, thinking that their neighbour has farted, when in fact it is just the station smelling like fart.

**** Complaints And Grievances <http://redrightinghood.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/complaints-and-grievances/>
Like Endless Rain Into A Paper Cup.

The government is giving excuses, we pay lots of money and taxes and yet they can’t get simple things like drainage and tree maintenance right, the government only knows how to shift blame to Singaporeans for littering and clogging the canals, and even comparing Singapore to the Netherlands.

**** Baby! It Doesn't Flood In Woodlands!! <http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/07/baby-it-doesnt-flood-in-woodlands.html>
PetuniaLee

I don't understand why people's eyes go unfocused when I tell them I live in Woodlands. What's wrong with Woodlands?In an age of global warming (strong winds and nonstop rain), Woodlands oughta be the IN place to be. It oughta be the CHIC zone and the COOL spot. It should be moving UPmarket.

**** Gini Coefficient: Income Gap In Singapore And Elsewhere <http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2010/07/gini-coefficient-income-gap-in-singapore-and-elsewhere.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rana+%28Blowin%27+In+The+Wind%29>
Blowin' In The Wind

Singapore, according to the 2009 UN report, had a Gini coefficient of 42.5, exceeded only by Hong Kong (43.4) among the countries with very high human development.

**** HDB Flats: Selling How Much Above Valuation Where? <http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2010/07/hdb-flats-selling-how-much-above-valuation-where.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rana+%28Blowin%27+In+The+Wind%29>
Blowin' In The Wind

**** Political Pokerplay: The Government’s Gamble <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/07/political-pokerplay-the-government%e2%80%99s-gamble/>
Khairulanwar Zaini, The Online Citizen

Because when you’re desperate, you go for broke. And there’s no better way to cajole back an indignant population than through fear.

**** Shadrake: I'd Do It All Again <http://www.british-weekly.com/?p=3145>
The British Weekly

“I don’t believe in backing down from bullies,” Shadrake said, who is best known to BW readers as the author of the long-running and controversial column Shooting From The Lip. “Everything I wrote (in the book) was true and when I go to court I intend to give as good as I get.”

In his book, Shadrake examines the history of the death penalty in Singapore and exposes its unequal and frequently merciless aplication. The books alleges that foreigners and the wealthy are less likely to receive the death penalty.

**** 美国最怕的事情开始了：中国在新加坡再下一城 <http://blog.huanqiu.com/?uid-160713-action-viewspace-itemid-804813>
随心随乐的个人空间




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