[MyAppleMenu] Mar 5, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** A Thought Regarding The Old Apple-V.-Microsoft ‘Look And Feel’ Lawsuit <http://daringfireball.net/2010/03/regarding_old_apple_microsoft_suit>
John Gruber, Daring Fireball

But what if Apple had patented these things in 1984, and had successfully protected these patents from being used by other U.S. companies? (Or at least the features and designs which weren’t derived from earlier work at Xerox.) It’s not just Microsoft that would’ve been blocked from creating Windows as we know it. A company called NeXT would have been blocked from creating NeXTStep. 

**** U.S. Judge Suspends Apple-Nokia Case <http://www.macworld.com/article/146862/2010/03/apple_nokia_suspended.html>
Dan Moren, Macworld

The judge stayed litigation in the case pending the outcome of the International Trade Commission investigations that each company requested against the other.

**** Apple Vs. HTC: It’s About Chrome <http://jkontherun.com/2010/03/04/apple-vs-htc-its-about-chrome/>
James Kendrick, jkOnTheRun

**** Google And Apple Lead War For Mobile Advertising <http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/03/google-and-apple-lead-war-for-mobile-advertising/36963/>
Niraj Chokshi, The Atlantic

Google and Apple are emerging as top contenders in the fight for the mobile advertising market.

**** Why I (Now) Hate Apple <http://blogs.zdnet.com/carroll/?p=1925>
John Caroll, ZDNet

What Apple is trying to do is prevent companies from building phones with multi-touch user interfaces. They want to freeze innovation in the space so that they are the only ones to have the features people want. That’s wrong, plain and simple.

**** Apple Versus The Suicide Girls (Censorship At The App Store) <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/queen/detail??blogid=77&entry_id=58453>
Carol Queen, San Francisco Chronicle

Bottom line, the stunningly sex-negative message sent by the first news of the purge was: We could be shopping the App Store appropriately for adult stuff, but no -- apparently Apple doesn't want there to be an app for that.

**** An Explosion Of Mobile Patent Lawsuits <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=0c2d5be248c77cb94b4f57dda313004f>
Nick Bilton, New York Times

At first glance, it looks as if we’re in the middle of a patent lawsuit Super Bowl party. Nearly every large mobile phone player — with the exception of Microsoft, Palm and, so far, Google — has  recently been involved in some sort of patent litigation regarding mobile technologies.

**** Patently Stupid <http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=6aa2613a4df8b181b4ad29005983ba1b>
Farhad Manjoo, Slate Magazine

Come on, Apple: Let your engineers fight the tech battles, not lawyers.

**** Fortune: Apple Is 'Most Admired' Company For 2010 <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=d541246b600d5e700be2db27d7439c5f>
Dan Moren, Macworld

Apple has topped Fortune's list of the most admired companies for the third year in a row, but Google is nipping at its heels.

**** Big Developer News: Mac Dev Program Reduced To $99 <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/04/big-developer-news-mac-dev-program-reduced-to-99/>
Erica Sadun, TUAW

This newly restructured Mac Developer Program itself has been updated to match the iPhone dev program in terms of pricing and features. Formerly starting at $499/year, the new program is attractively priced at just $99 now. Missing are the high ticket items: notably Mac hardware discounts, WWDC tickets for premiere members, and the compatibility labs. It's unclear what will happen to each of these benefits, although the first two are likely dead in the water.

**** Tawkon Measures The Radiation Spewing From Your iPhone. No Wonder Apple Doesn’t Approve It. <http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/04/tawkon-iphone-radiation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29>
Roi Carthy, TechCrunch

**** Should You Be Building Universal Apps for App Store? <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/04/should-you-be-building-universal-apps-for-app-store/>
Erica Sadun, TUAW

For the moment, I'm leaning towards limiting Universal Apps to apps like games that provide substantially similar experiences on both platforms, although I'm certainly willing to be convinced otherwise. Add in a few iPad-specific changes where they apply, but if the two products have diverged enough that you have to put up a "Notice to iPhone users" about limited functionality, perhaps it's time to rethink your approach.

**** Apple iPad To Arrive In U.S. On April 3, Preorders Begin March 12 <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/03/05/apple_ipad_to_arrive_in_u_s_on_april_3_preorders_begin_march_12.html>
AppleInsider

Apple has announced that its long-awaited iPad will be available for purchase for consumers starting on Saturday, April 3, while pre-orders for the multi-touch device will begin on March 12.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Late-Period Steve Martin <http://www.slate.com/id/2246900/?from=rss>
Nathan Heller, Slate Magazine

How to understand the actor, novelist, essayist, playwright, banjo player, crotch-centric variety show performer, and Oscar co-host.

**** The Anger Of Exile <http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23732?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nybooks+%28The+New+York+Review+of+Books%29>
Colm Tóibín, The New York Review of Books

There is a photograph of Thomas Mann taken in Lübeck, Germany, in 1955, shortly before his death. He is standing with his wife, Katia, outside the family house, the house of Buddenbrooks, or what remained of it. He is staring straight at the camera; the expression on his face bears all the complexity of what has been lost and cannot be regained. It is the look of someone in full possession of dark knowledge, the eyes displaying a sense of resignation that is both hard and melancholy. Mann was in California during World War II; he was one of the most famous German exiles, having fled in 1933. Now he was merely visiting and he had no desire to return and stay, despite the fact that his heritage was in Germany and Germany was the home of his language. He had been away too long for these things to matter much. "Wherever I am, Germany is," he had said in America in 1938.

**** Legible London <http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=e6154e00084aa0d668298d8607361254>
Julia Turner, Slate Magazine

Can better signs help people understand an extremely disorienting city?

**** The Disappearing Bookshelf <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/a-lament-for-the-bookshelf/article1488426/>
Russell Smith, Globe And Mail

In the future, our books will be invisible, like our music, but we’ll be the poorer for it. Here’s why.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Singapore Warns Of Threat To Tankers In Malacca Strait <http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F2%2Fhi%2Fasia-pacific%2F8549053.stm&usg=AFQjCNFLyIf5RU0mWdWXY0rSCahAS23dPA>
BBC News

Singapore has learned that an unnamed group may be planning to attack oil tankers in the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

**** Migrant Workers To Suffer As Singapore Hikes Worker Levy <http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/news/512/n51201.html>
Ye Lwin and Ye Linn Htut , Myanmar Times

New rules introduced by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) could reduce job opportunities for Myanmar workers, overseas employment experts say.

**** How Is Allowing Medisave To Be Used Overseas Connected With GIC Losing S$7.3 Billion? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/03/how-is-allowing-medisave-to-be-used-overseas-connected-with-gic-losing-s7-3-billion/>
Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen

Allowing Medisave to be used overseas may just be a short-term partial solution to the problem of rising healthcare costs in Singapore. So, if GIC and Temasek has not lost billions, perhaps we could have spent more on healthcare?

**** Axing Levy Will Hurt Objective: Gan <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100305-0000144/Axing-levy-will-hurt-objective--Gan>
Leong Wee Keat, Today

If Hougang MP Low Thia Khiang's suggestion to remove the foreign worker levy and rely only on the dependency ratios were to be implemented, most companies may hire as many foreign workers as they can, up to the limit allowed, said manpower minister Gan Kim Yong.

**** 'I Only Agreed To Be AG For Two Years' <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100305-0000139/I-only-agreed-to-be-AG-for-two-years>
Ong Dai Lin, Today

A day after news broke that he was leaving office after completing a single term as Attorney-General (AG), Professor Walter Woon said he had always known that he would return to teaching.

**** Sylvia Lim Asks For Transparency In Electoral Boundaries Report <http://geraldgiam.sg/2010/03/sylvia-lim-asks-for-transparency-in-electoral-boundaries-report/>
geraldgiam.sg

The government must know that Singaporeans are skeptical about the re-drawing of electoral boundaries.  It would be an improvement to have advanced notice and some transparency in this process.

**** Temasek Wary Of Shin <http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/33911/temasek-wary-of-shin>
Bangkok Post

The Singapore investment giant Temasek could move to divest its shareholdings in Shin Corp amid growing business and regulatory risk in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in the Shinawatra family's assets case.

**** No Boundary Review Yet <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_498219.html>
Sue-Ann Chia, Straits Times

The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee has not been convened yet, deputy prime minister Wong Kan Seng revealed yesterday amid public anticipation of such a move. It is likely to happen only after the Constitution is amended to make certain changes to the electoral system, he added.

**** Strategy 'Not Wrong-headed' <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_498224.html>
Straits Times

Rounding up the Budget debate yesterday, finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam defended the Government's decision to let the economy expand rapidly in recent years by, among other things, letting in large numbers of foreign workers.

He said this allowed companies to take advantage of a global economic boom in the second half of the last decade, offsetting a series of downturns that pulled down growth in the earlier part of the decade.

**** HIV Discoverer Criticizes Singapore For Lack Of Free Treatment <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-04/hiv-discoverer-criticizes-singapore-for-lack-of-free-treatment.html>
Simeon Bennett, Bloomberg

The lack of free testing and treatment for HIV in Singapore is hindering progress on controlling the spread of the virus in the city-state, said Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for her co-discovery of the virus that causes AIDS.

“The stigma, the fact that they have to pay for everything, it’s the worst conditions for stimulating people to be tested and treated,” Barre-Sinoussi, 62, said in an interview at the French embassy in Singapore today. “The numbers they announce are probably much lower than the numbers they have.”

**** Singapore Plans Greenwich-Style Hedge-Fund Area At Nepal Hill <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-04/singapore-plans-greenwich-style-hedge-fund-area-at-nepal-hill.html>
Netty Ismail, Bloomberg

Singapore is planning to create its own hedge-fund capital modeled after Greenwich, Connecticut, in a cluster of ex-British army homes called Nepal Hill, a 15- minute cab-ride from the city-state’s main banking district.

**** Saudi Embassy To Cooperate <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_498209.html>
Wendy Lim, Straits Times

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked the Saudi Embassy here to cooperate fully on a Magistrate's assault complaint filed against its Third Secretary.

**** Singapore's GIC Says Converts UBS Notes Into Shares <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE62400520100305>
Kevin Lim, Reuters

**** Prudential's Asian Bid Backed By Singapore And Qatar <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/prudentials-asian-bid-backed-by-singapore-and-qatar-1916463.html>
James Moore, Independent

Prudential has secured backing of around $1bn from two sovereign wealth funds for its audacious $35.5bn bid (£23.5bn) for AIG's Asian assets. The life insurer last night confirmed that the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, already a shareholder in the company, and Qatar Holding LLC had agreed to underwrite "a significant portion" of the £13bn rights issue it is using to help fund the deal.

**** Sentosa Theme Park Opens March 18 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1041685/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

Resorts World Sentosa will open the gates of the Universal Studios Singapore theme park on 18 March at 8.28am.

**** Why NMP Calvin Cheng Has Got It All Wrong <http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=6509>
Christopher Ong, Kent Ridge Commons

Singaporeans will end up having to sacrifice their income by being willing to be paid less in order to remain competitive. And these are the Singaporeans who bleed the colors of our country, and who serve national service for more than 2 years of their life, returning every year for in-camp training — Singaporeans for whom, Singapore is their one and only home.

And this is done not by imposing the highest levy on the Bangladeshi rubbish cleaner.

**** Why It Will Stay Just Talk <http://hardhitting-nobs.blogspot.com/2010/03/why-it-will-stay-just-talk.html>
Musings From the Lion City

So say all you want about increasing productivity, but none of it will matter because Singapore employers would not care. Why should they when they can just feed their bottom-line by hiring cheap foreign workers?

**** GIC Incurs $5 Billion Loss <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704187204575102730736728778.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines>
P.R. Venkat, Wall Street Journal

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. has incurred a paper loss of $5 billion on its investment in UBS AG after its convertible notes become shares Friday, a person familiar with the situation said.

That represents about 45% of its original $11 billion investment in the Swiss bank.

**** Lease Buyback Scheme To Be Enhanced Starting April 1 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1041769/1/.html>
Joanne Chen, Channel NewsAsia

The Lease Buyback Scheme will be enhanced starting April 1 to include elderly households who previously owned four-room or bigger flats.

**** Minimum Occupation Period For Non-subsidised Flats Revised Upwards <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1041780/1/.html>
Joanne Chen, Channel NewsAsia

The Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) for the resale of non-subsidised HDB flats has been revised upwards to three years. Announcing the change in Parliament on Friday, national development minister Mah Bow Tan said the objective of such a move was to reinforce the idea that HDB flats are for owner-occupation.

**** Who Is Making The Investment Decisions For Singapore’s GIC And Temasek ? <http://aussgworldpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/who-is-making-the-investment-decisions-for-singapores-gic-and-temasek/>
Readings From A Political Duo-ble

The losses of GIC and Temasek may appear to be a result of ignorant or bad governmental decisions. However, once you begin to put the puzzles together, it starts to look more sinister.

**** New Flat Quota For PRs <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_498354.html>
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times

The government has imposed a limit on the number of flats non-Malaysian permanent residents can buy in any public housing block or estate, with immediate effect. The quota will be set at 5 per cent for neighbourhoods and 8 per cent for blocks and will apply on top of the existing Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP).