[MyAppleMenu] Jun 2, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Making The iPad Fit Into Your Daily Life <http://www.macworld.com/article/151089/2010/06/ipad_ergonomics.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Chartier, Macworld

The iPad’s unique design poses some new questions about where a portable computer and media viewer can fit into our daily lives. I’ve spent a bit of time doing just about everything one can on an iPad, both at home and on the road, and I think I have some answers.

**** Security Firm Discovers Spyware In Mac Software <http://www.macworld.com/article/151667/2010/06/mac_shareware_spyware.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Chartier, Macworld

Intego, makers of security and privacy apps for the Mac, warned on Tuesday that some Mac software include a new piece of invasive spyware. Macworld has obtained a preliminary list of the applications with the spyware.

In a press release, Intego states that a number of apps and screen savers distributed through sites like MacUpdate, VersionTracker, and Softpedia are installing a little more software than users bargain for; Apple’s Mac OS X Downloads site also contained entries for some of the apps, though the download links appear to now be inactive. The spyware in question is called OSX/OpinionSpy and it’s a variant of Windows spyware that has existed since 2008.

**** Sync ICal To-do With iPhone <http://www.macworld.com/article/151684/2010/06/sync_icaltodo_iphone.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

Why yes, it should be a simple matter to sync to-do items between your iPhone and iCal. And it is, with the right software.

**** Steve Jobs Replies On Foxconn Suicides <http://appadvice.com/appnn/2010/06/steves-email-foxconn-suicides/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AppAdvice+%28AppAdvice%29>
Joe White, App Advice

"This has our full attention."

**** Steve Jobs Replies: No In-App Desktops <http://appadvice.com/appnn/2010/06/inappdesktop/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AppAdvice+%28AppAdvice%29>
Alexander Vaughn, App Advice

Apple is walking a very thin line here. When is a menu with icons a desktop, and when is it not?

**** Apple Appeal In Japan Is Turning The Tables <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20006368-64.html>
Brooke Crothers, CNET News

After living through an era when it seemed utterly impossible that a U.S. consumer electronics brand would succeed in Japan, Apple's appeal now is truly surreal for me--and a complete turning of the tables.

**** Is Apple Evil? <http://blogs.computerworld.com/16231/apple_evil>
Mitch Wagner, Computerworld

While Apple has made some troubling decisions in recent months, these cases are still evolving, and new information is coming in. So I'll continue giving Apple my business -- but I'm keeping an eye on them.

**** Apple Is The New AOL And New Microsoft, And Whoa That Can't Be A Good Thing <http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Apple-is-the-new-AOL-and-new-Microsoft-and-whoa-that-cant-be-a-good-thing/1275406379>
Joe Wilcox, Beta News

**** Which Retail Store Will Be Busier At Bellevue Square: Apple Or Microsoft? <http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/208529.asp>
Nick Eaton, Seattle Post Intelligencer

**** No Global iPhone Halo: Worldwide Apple Mac Market Share Is Flat <http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10008371/huh-no-iphone-halo-apple-mac-global-market-share-is-flat/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bnet%2Ftechnology+%28BNET+Industries+-+Technology+Insights%29>
Erik Sherman, BNET

Apple's global personal computer market share for the Mac is flat among consumers and sinking in businesses. That stands in sharp contrast to Apple's success in the U.S. and counters some popular assumptions.

I think one reason is that a major selling point of Apple -- that there is a genius near you -- is not available worldwide.

**** Some iPads Can't Take The Heat <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/some-ipads-cant-take-the-heat/?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Nick Bilton, New York Times

What lovely New York weather we had this weekend: sunny, high 80s and a light breeze. Perfect for lying around outside and reading a good book. That is, if the book you are hoping to read is not on an iPad.

It seems that some iPads do not like direct sunlight, saunas or long walks on the beach.

**** Steve Jobs: People Are Voting Against Flash By Buying An iPad Every 3 Seconds <http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/01/steve-jobs-people-are-voting-against-flash-by-buying-an-ipad-every-3-seconds/>
MG Siegler, TechCrunch

Jobs did say that if the market tells them they’re making bad choices, they’ll change. But so far, that isn’t happening. “People seem to be liking the iPad,” Jobs said to laughs and applause. “We’ve sold one every three seconds since we launched it,” he added.

**** Apple's Jobs Takes On Rivals Adobe, Google <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703961204575281401946573926.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop>
Yukari Iwatani Kane And Nick Wingfield, Wall Street Journal

Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs, in a broad-ranging discussion, took more potshots at Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash software, vowed not to get into search despite Google Inc.'s move into Apple's turf, and called Apple passing Microsoft Corp.'s stock valuation "surreal."

**** Adobe Touts iPad Workaround But Apple's Jobs Unimpressed <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012006495_adobeipad02.html>
Frank Michael Russell, San Jose Mercury News

CEO Steve Jobs doesn't seem to be budging from an April 29 post describing Flash as slow, power hungry and unsuitable for some of Apple's products, and detailing his preference for the new HTML5.

**** Is Steve Jobs Big Brother? <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/is-steve-jobs-big-brother/>
Robert Wright, New York Times

Why is Jobs choosing the same path that, last time around, kept him from conquering the world? I had puzzled over this for months until I had a conversation with tech-watcher Harry McCracken, who suggested a theory that seemed outlandish at first but is making more and more sense to me: Steve Jobs just isn’t bent on world domination.

Maybe Jobs is basically just an artist. Maybe he wants above all to create products that are beautiful. And he succeeds, even if it costs him market share, and even if he doesn’t handle the trade-offs between functional and visual beauty as I would.

**** Steve Jobs Live From D8 <http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/01/steve-jobs-live-from-d8/>
Joshua Topolsky, Engadget

**** Steve Jobs At D: Post-PC Era Is Nigh <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20006526-56.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
Ina Fried, CNET News

Speaking for an hour and a half at the D: All Things Digital confab, Jobs said the day is coming when only one out of every few people will need a traditional computer.

Jobs said advances in chips and software will allow tablet devices like the iPad to do tasks that today are really only suited for a traditional computer, things like video editing and graphic arts work.

**** iPad Gets New Inferior Data Plan <http://9to5mac.com/new-ipad-data-plan?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+9To5Mac-MacAllDay+%289+to+5+Mac+-+Apple+Intelligence%29>
Jordan Golson, 9 To 5 Mac

Basically, new iPad owners pay $25 for 2GB of data, or 30 days -- whichever comes first.

**** New iPhone Data Plans Coming <http://9to5mac.com/new-iphone-data-plan?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+9To5Mac-MacAllDay+%289+to+5+Mac+-+Apple+Intelligence%29>
Jordan Golson, 9 To 5 Mac

If you are an existing iPhone customer, you can keep your existing unlimited plan for $29.99. If you wish to add tethering as an option, you must drop your old plan and add the new 2GB/$25 plan -- plus pay $20 a month for tethering.

**** iPhone Woes Revealed In FCC, FTC Consumer Complaints <http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225200365&pgno=1&queryText=&isPrev=>
Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek

What's most noteworthy about the complaints provided by the FCC is that the majority of them take issue with AT&T as much, if not more than, Apple. To read through the complaints is to be struck how much ill-will has been generated by Apple's decision to make the iPhone available exclusively through AT&T in the U.S.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** The Pleasures Of Imagination <http://chronicle.com/article/The-Pleasures-of-Imagination/65678>
Paul Bloom, The Chronicle Of Higher Education

Our main leisure activity is, by a long shot, participating in experiences that we know are not real. When we are free to do whatever we want, we retreat to the imagination—to worlds created by others, as with books, movies, video games, and television (over four hours a day for the average American), or to worlds we ourselves create, as when daydreaming and fantasizing.

**** Murdoch's Disastrous Triumph <http://www.slate.com/id/2255620/?from=rss>
Jack Shafer, Slate Magazine

How Rupert Murdoch won the Wall Street Journal and lost billions in the process.

**** Behind The "Celebrity Deaths Come In Threes" Curse <http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/06/01/celebrity_deaths_threes/index.html>
Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon

Death, that great, random and cruel mystery, will have dominion over all of us yet. All we can do in the meantime is pretend to understand it -- with steadfast magical thinking, lighthearted wagering, or a little bit of both.

**** Two Poets <http://www.believermag.com/issues/201006/?read=article_hass>
Robert Hass, The Believer

A generation after the "Misty School," Chinese poetry has come alive again.

**** The End Of An Era In Publishing <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/opinion/27iht-edkeillor.html>
Garrison Keillor, New York Times

Children, I am an author who used to type a book manuscript on a manual typewriter. Yes, I did. And mailed it to a New York publisher in a big manila envelope with actual postage stamps on it. And kept a carbon copy for myself. I waited for a month or so and then got an acceptance letter in the mail. It was typed on paper. They offered to pay me a large sum of money. I read it over and over and ran up and down the rows of corn whooping. It was beautiful, the Old Era. I’m sorry you missed it.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Yam Ah Mee Named Elections Returning Officer <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1060432/1/.html>
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

**** Silence The Sand Critics <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100602-0000061/Silence-the-sand-critics>
Eugene Tay Tse Chuan, Today

We can prevent future accusations if we take proactive, concrete and transparent steps to ensure that our supply of sand from other countries is responsible.

**** Two New Government Appointments <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_534097.html>
Nur Dianah Suhaimi, Straits Times

Lieutenant-General Desmond Kuek Bak Chye, 46, former chief of defence Force, will be permanent secretary at the environment and water resources ministry.

He succeeds Mr Tan Yong Soon, 55, who will become permanent secretary (national climate change) in the Prime Minister's Office.

**** Help For Forcibly Repatriated Workers, From Checkpoint Staff <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100602-0000049/Help-for-forcibly-repatriated-workers,-from-checkpoint-staff>
Esther Ng, Today

Amend work permit conditions to give migrant workers the right to switch employers without permission from present ones. Abolish the practice of banning or blacklisting workers unless they are charged in court for a criminal offence.

These are some of the recommendations by migrant welfare groups Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) and Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) in a report, Justice Delayed, Justice Denied: The Experiences of Migrant Workers in Singapore.

**** City Harvest Investigation-Let's Not Make Hasty Judgements <http://singaporeanskeptic.blogspot.com/2010/06/city-harvest-investigation-lets-not.html>
Singaporean Skeptic

Why don't we just hold judgement until all the facts of the investigation are out?

Remember, innocent until proven guilty.

**** 城市丰收教会风波 教友声援 公众质疑 <http://www.zaobao.com/sp/sp100602_011.shtml>
何惜薇 赖诗琳, 联合早报

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**** What Kind Of A Society Have We Become? <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/3777-what-kind-of-a-society-have-we-become>
Singapore Democrat Party

There are alternatives. It's a matter of whether we care enough or are bold enough to want to take charge of our own destiny and make Singapore a livable home.

**** Singapore's Flush Research Funding Attracts German Scientists <http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20100601-27563.html>
The Local

Singapore’s big research and academic budgets are becoming increasingly popular with German scientists and students, who say their country simply can't compete.

The German scientists said they were willing to even deal with Singapore's draconian penal system, which discourages homosexuality and levies hefty fines for offences as minimal as throwing chewing gum on the street, given the benefits.

**** Pulau Ubin... Again! <http://cbsingapore.blogspot.com/2010/06/pulau-ubinagain.html>
Crystal And Bryan In Singapore

**** Don’t Raise Salaries To Eliminate Corruption <http://blog.libertarian.org.au/2010/06/02/don’t-raise-salaries-to-eliminate-corruption/>
Sukrit Sabhlok, Thoughts On Freedom

Sure, Singapore is a low-corruption society, but wealthy politicians are not the reason why.

**** MOE Hints No Radical Overhaul To Teaching Of Mother Tongue Languages <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1060618/1/.html>
Jeremy Koh, Channel NewsAsia

The Mother Tongue issue has brought out strong emotions, hundreds of letters to the media, and even more postings on the Internet. 

But in her first public comments on the review of Mother Tongue languages (MTL), the director-general of education, Ho Peng, hinted there won't be a radical overhaul to the teaching and learning.

**** Elections Dept Asks Schools For Update On Use Of Premises For Polling & Counting <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1060625/1/.html>
S.Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

Singapore's Elections Department is in the process of updating its system records of all premises that will be used as polling stations or counting centres for the next General Election and Presidential Election.