[MyAppleMenu] Mar 9, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Deconstructing Apple <http://blogs.wsj.com/management/2010/03/08/deconstructing-apple-part-2/>
Gary Hamel, Wall Street Journal

Whatever you think of Apple, you have to admit it has outmaneuvered some pretty daunting competitors. My message: Apple’s unique success is a product of its unique passions. And that’s why I don’t think any other company will soon duplicate the kind of run Apple has had over the past decade—whether or not Apple produces an encore with the iPad.

**** Espionage Keeps Your Data Safe From Spying Eyes <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=58713d48c30b3eaae324c9756db3f319>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

Espionage provides a unique twist on encrypted disk images, integrating them with Finder folders.

**** Valve, Apple Worked Closely To Bring Steam Natively To Mac <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/03/08/valve_apple_worked_closely_to_bring_steam_to_mac.html>
AppleInsider

Valve revealed that it would bring its games powered by the Source engine to the Mac, including Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2. Steam users who own games for the PC will be able to download and play the same games available on the Mac for free, and the new "Steam Play" feature will allow gamers on both Windows and Mac OS X to play online, with or against each other, regardless of their system.

**** The Dawn Of Mac Gaming? <http://gear.ign.com/articles/107/1075700p1.html>
Scott Lowe, IGN

With the announcement of Steam for Mac, will Apple computers finally be considered a viable gaming platform?

**** HTC May Bring Knife To Apple Gun Fight. <http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100308/htc-may-bring-knife-to-apple-gun-fight/>
John Paczkowski, Wall Street Journal

**** Mac 101: Use The Tab Key In More Dialog Boxes <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/08/mac-101-use-the-tab-key-in-more-dialog-boxes/>
TJ Luoma, TUAW

**** The Apple Of A Boomer's Eye <http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=123825>
Anne Mai Bertelsen, Mediapost

What's striking about these two campaigns -- for the Mac and the iPhone -- is that Apple bucks the trend of how many companies market to Boomers.

**** Apple, HP, Others Rebuked For Not Testifying Before Human Rights Committee <http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_hp_others_rebuked_for_not_testifying_before_human_rights_committee/>
Brad Cook, The Mac Observer

**** Review: Apple's Aperture 3 Photo Software Looks Simple But Is Powerful <http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/03/review-aperture3-looks-too-simple--but-is-powerful-/1>
Jefferson Graham, USA Today

Aperture 3 is fine, serious software that should put a dent into rival Adobe's very popular Lightroom -- if the demanding photographer who craves for manual controls can get past the iPhoto-like automatic tools and pre-sets. (Apple's tagline is "Pro performance with iPhoto simplicity.")

**** All Your Apps Are Belong To Apple: The iPhone Developer Program License Agreement <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/03/iphone-developer-program-license-agreement-all>
Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Overall, the Agreement is a very one-sided contract, favoring Apple at every turn. That's not unusual where end-user license agreements are concerned (and not all the terms may ultimately be enforceable), but it's a bit of a surprise as applied to the more than 100,000 developers for the iPhone, including many large public companies. How can Apple get away with it? Because it is the sole gateway to the more than 40 million iPhones that have been sold. In other words, it's only because Apple still "owns" the customer, long after each iPhone (and soon, iPad) is sold, that it is able to push these contractual terms on the entire universe of software developers for the platform.

**** iPad: Perfectly flawed <http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=7590&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZDNetBlogs+%28ZDNet+All+Blogs%29>
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet

I like the iPad, a lot. I like the screen, I like the form-factor, heck, I even like the broad base of apps already available for it from the App Store. But there are aspects of the device that I don’t like, and which I find really hard to overlook.

**** Why I Will Be Getting an iPad. No, Really. <http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=12241&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZDNetBlogs+%28ZDNet+All+Blogs%29>
Jason Perlow, ZDNet

Rather than focus on the device’s limitations I would like to focus on what the device will do for me that makes it an easy sell.

**** German Publisher In Row With Apple Over Pin-ups In iPhone App <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/mar/09/bild-iphone-app>
Mercedes Bunz, The Guardian

The International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP) is considering making a complaint to Apple over the computer firm's request that German publisher Springer censor the naked girls on one of its iPhone apps.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Google Launches Tool For Searching Public Data <http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10465450-265.html?part=rss&amp;subj=news&amp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Tom Krazit, CNET News

Curious about unemployment trends in your state cross-referenced against salaries? Google Public Data Explorer could make it easier to create a visual representation.

**** How To Build A Superluminal Computer <http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=85b0686032c881a5aadc0ab5239b223b>
Technology Review

Physicists have come up with a way to process information faster than the speed of light. But what could they do with such a hypercomputer?



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Oscar Isn't Sexist <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-dutton7-2010mar07,0,7134426.story>
Denis Dutton, Los Angeles Times

Awarding two statuettes, one to actors and one to actresses, simply reflects the reality of acting.

**** Can You Really Predict The Success Of A Marriage In 15 Minutes? <http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=b09df7e8ac1dde352192a0bcd9245aeb>
Laurie Abraham, Slate Magazine

"My goal is to be like the guy who invented Velcro," marriage researcher John Gottman once told an interviewer. "Nobody remembers his name, but everybody uses Velcro." Gottman's own road to Velcro-level fame started with a 1998 article in the Journal of Marriage and the Family. He and his colleagues at the University of Washington had videotaped newlywed couples discussing a contentious topic for 15 minutes to measure precisely how they fought over it: Did they criticize? Were they defensive? Did either spouse curl his or her lip in contempt? Then, three to six years later, Gottman's team checked on the same couples' marital status and announced that based on the coding of the tapes, they could predict with 83 percent accuracy which ones were divorced.

**** Reaching For Stars When Space Thrilled And Paranoia Ruled <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=53f29bf7e787be25cb54db91d303415b>
Dennis Overbye, New York Times

Some of the most extravagant of these visions of the future came not from cheap paperbacks, but from corporations buffing their high-tech credentials and recruiting engineering talent in the heady days when zooming budgets for defense and NASA had created a gold rush in outer space.

**** Wait <http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=a4e0bf1c48ba6a42d4ef6163cbcb2e3a>
Robert Wrigley, Slate Magazine



SingaporeSurf
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**** æ–°åŠ å¡é‡‘æ²™æŠ¢å…ˆç‡ <http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2010-03/09/content_889974.htm>
陈薇薇, 广州日报

继1月中位于圣淘沙的名胜世界部分开业后，耗资70å¤šäº¿æ–°åŠ å¡å…ƒï¼ˆæŠ˜åˆ350多亿元人民币）的航母级项目-滨海湾金沙也将于4月27æ—¥å¼€å¹•ã€‚è¿™ä¸ªä½äºŽæ»¨æµ·æ¹¾åŒºçš„å¤§é¡¹ç›®ï¼Œèžåˆå¨±ä¹ã€è´­ç‰©ã€é…’åº—ç­‰å…ƒç´ ï¼Œä¸”æ­£å¯¹æ–°åŠ å¡å›½å®¶è±¡å¾â€”â€”é±¼å°¾ç‹®ï¼Œå å°½å¤©æ—¶åœ°åˆ©ã€‚

**** Grants, Smaller Flats Instead Of Shorter Lease Tenure <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1042396/1/.html>
Ong Dai Lin, Today

Instead of reducing the HDB flat lease of 99 years to make the flats more affordable, the government prefers to use other methods to help those with a lower income own a flat, said national development minister Mah Bow Tan.

**** Online Hoax About Lee Kuan Yew's Health Receives Wide Condemnation <http://journalism.sg/2010/03/09/online-hoax-about-lee-kuan-yew-healths-receives-widespread-condemnation/>
Bhavan Jaipragas, Journalism.sg

New media practitioners in Singapore reacted sharply to condemn the online hoax regarding Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's health yesterday. The hoax had caused a significant buzz in the blogosphere over the weekend.

**** Study On Nuclear Energy To Begin This Year <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1042401/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

A feasibility study by a multi-agency group of whether nuclear energy can be a long-term option for Singapore, will be commencing later this year.

**** French Expert Says HIV Infections In Singapore Higher Than France <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1042325/1/.html>
Wang Eng Eng/ Alicia Wong, Channel NewsAsia

A French HIV expert from the Institut Pasteur in Paris said she's surprised with Singapore's HIV infection numbers especially the over-400 new infections in 2008. Professor Francoise Barre Sinoussi said she was surprised at Singapore's HIV infection numbers.

**** Breeding A Subsidy Mentality In Housing <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2010/yax-1098.htm>
Yawning Bread

We need to be able to build cheaper flats. Too much of Singaporeans' disposable income is spent on an investment that does not give productive returns.

The policy direction should be not to build costly flats with bells and whistles and then dishing out subsidies so people can buy them. Instead, it should be to build them at an affordable cost, so that no subsidies are necessary.

The subtle policy shift by the HDB from building flats that people need to flats people want is, on hindsight, wrong and counter-productive.

**** At Least 2 Town Councils To Up S&C Charges <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100309-0000101/At-least-2-town-councils-to-up-SC-charges>
Leong Wee Keat, Today

With electricity prices and maintenance costs going up, at least two town councils, Aljunied and Jurong, will raise their Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) next month.

For Singaporean households in Housing Board flats, the hike per month will range between 50 cents for a one-room flat and $4.50 for a five-room flat.

**** Sgpolitics.net Condemns Gopalan Nair’s Actions In The Strongest Possible Terms <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=3896>
Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net

It is the likes of people like Gopalan Pallichadath Nair that cause some Singaporeans to look upon the local blogosphere as essentially untrustworthy when it comes to current affairs or political commentary.

**** Daft & Dafter <http://feedmetothefish.blogspot.com/2010/03/daft-dafter.html>
Feed Me To The Fish

On the same note, I appeal to PAP leaders to speak up if a leeder (or MP) within their own party makes comments that are offensive, dangerous and divisive. Especially derogatory comments that make morons out of citizens.

**** eBooks For Public Libraries: Is The Current Business Model Sustainable? <http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/03/ebooks-for-public-libraries-is-current.html>
Ivan Chew, Rambling Librarian

**** Economic Growth Benefits All Citizens <http://trulysingapore.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/economic-growth-benefits-all-citizens/>
Yours Truly Singapore

The issue at hand isn’t about growing slowly but how we grow.

**** Productivity! Productivity! Productivity! <http://www.bradleyfarless.com/2010/03/productivity-productivity-productivity.html>
Brad's Blog

**** Can Singapore Cyber-Police Without The Police? <http://digital.asiaone.com/Digital/News/Story/A1Story20100308-203184.html>
Straits Times

Ultimately, the question that begs to be asked is: As cyberspace becomes a growing constituency, why can't it do its own self-regulation the way civic society does it offline? Is there not an in-between course of action that does not involve tying up police resources and wasting taxpayers' money? In other words, can cyber-policing be done without calling the real police?

**** Wrong Answers From The Wrong Questions <http://callantham.org/blog/2010/3/9/wrong-answers-from-the-wrong-questions.html>
Callan Tham, Trapper's Swamp

**** S&C Charges Raised, Still No Transparency <http://callantham.org/blog/2010/3/9/sc-charges-raised-still-no-transparency.html>
Callan Tham, Trapper's Swamp

While the two town councils were clear that they did not increase the charges due to botched investments in Lehman-linked financial products, they did not indicate any willingness to be more transparent in revealing their costs of maintaining the estates.

**** Group To Review Screening <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_499803.html>
Straits Times

The Health Ministry will set up an expert group to review the range of healthcare screening available here, and recommend a framework to determine what is appropriate health screening to ensure that Singaporeans do not get fleeced.Professor Lee Hin Peng, a senior public health specialist who has a special interest in cancer screening and prevention, will chair this expert group, said health minister Khaw Boon Wan.

**** In Singapore, It's Easy To Get Lost In Translation <http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gmanews.tv%2Fstory%2F185623%2Fin-singapore-its-easy-to-get-lost-in-translation&usg=AFQjCNFo2zkOnk80YhNchQ6qzzER0mZ6Ug>
Mark D. Meruenas, GMA News.tv

Just when I thought I was going to leave Singapore without blunders in conversing with the locals, I got a taste of how their unique Chinese accent can leave me – as the famous Hollywood film depicts – lost in translation.