[MyAppleMenu] May 18, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** John Paczkowski’s Interview With Adobe Co-Founder Chuck Geschke <http://daringfireball.net/2010/05/paczkowski_geschke>
John Gruber, Daring Fireball

One can certainly make the case that the trade-offs are worthwhile — that it’s a beneficial state of affairs that extremely similar versions of apps like Photoshop and Illustrator run on both Mac OS X and Windows. But it’s not credible to pretend the trade-offs don’t exist.

**** Essential Utilities: Clipboard Managers <http://www.macworld.com/article/151286/2010/05/clipboardmanagers.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

Third-party programs that make up for the OS X clipboard's shortcomings.

**** Could A Closed Mac Be In Apple's Future? <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/05/17/could-a-closed-mac-be-in-apples-future/>
Erica Sadun, TUAW

If there's any point to this little post, it's this. Apple has entered into its most successful period by providing devices that work with the tasks that people want to experience on the go, whether it's making calls, checking location-based resources or handling e-mail and surfing the web. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple took that same highly-focused, user experience-centered design and migrated it back to the desktop.

**** Music Man 3 Adds Ringtone Creation, FLAC Playback <http://www.macworld.com/article/151300/2010/05/musicman3.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Dahlquist, Macworld

Mireth Technology has released Version 3 of Music Man, an app that rips, converts, burns, and plays digital music. Version 3 adds the ability to make iPhone ringtones, and adds ID3 tag editing as well as FLAC and Apple Lossless playback.

**** MaxMenus And LiteSwitch X Back From The Dead? <http://www.macworld.com/article/151306/2010/05/maxmenusliteswitch.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

Two popular Mac utilities, MaxMenus and LiteSwitch X, appear to be back from the dead with Snow Leopard-compatible beta versions.

**** Microsoft, Apple Work To Fix iPad Hotmail Glitch <http://www.macworld.com/article/151307/2010/05/hotmail_ipad.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Microsoft on Monday said it is working with Apple to solve problems that iPad users have had with Windows Live Hotmail. iPad users have reported problems with Microsoft’s Web-based e-mail service, including the iPad’s Safari browser freezing and an inability to compose new messages or reply to received mail.

**** iPad Owners Need A Kindle, Too <http://www.macworld.com/article/151311/2010/05/ipad_kindle.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Mike Elgan, Computerworld

In a nutshell, the e-book reading on the iPad is generally great. But the list of things the iPad does badly is identical to the list of things the Kindle does well. And vice versa.

**** Does Your iPad Prevent You From Sleeping? <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20005104-71.html?part=rss&amp;subj=news&amp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Chris Matyszczyk, CNET News

Some researchers are starting to believe that using your gadgets late at night, or leaving them on in the bedroom, affects sleep patterns.

**** Why Isn’t Apple Taking Android Seriously? <http://www.gamezebo.com/news/2010/05/17/why-isn’t-apple-taking-android-seriously>
Jim Squires, Gamezebo

Apple’s pride also rears its ugly head in their recent battle with Flash. Refusing to add it to their mobile platforms, regardless of the reason, means that they’ve created an opportunity for the competition. Google was more than happy to explore that opportunity.

But if Apple is right, Google -- or at least Android -- will die because of Adobe, just like the IBM PC died because of Microsoft.

**** Feature: Aperture 3: The Ars Review <http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2010/05/ars-reviews-aperture-3.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss>
Dave Girard, Ars Technica

If you glanced at the new features in Aperture 3, it would seem easy to pass off the audio/video and Faces and Places features as gimmicky things for hobbyists, but the value of these features will grow on even for hardened studio nuts. Seeing the power of the Places features makes me wish I'd GPS-logged our trip through Japan, because it would be satisfying to navigate those squiggly tracks and photos with my girlfriend.

For pros who just want to get work done, Aperture 3's improved interface, flawless curve adjustment, multiple maskable edits, and 64-bit update are more than enough reason to upgrade. Add the metadata improvements and the high-ISO RAW conversion, and you have an essential upgrade. If Apple can rein in the glitches, give pros a toggle for the gooey effects, and polish the masking tools, then the rest is just gravy.

**** Steve Jobs Was Robbed <http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apples-steve-jobs-blunders-on-options-swap-2010-05-18?reflink=MW_news_stmp>
Brett Arends, MarketWatch

Apple chief blunders on options swap.

Me think he will survive.

**** Cash Not Always Welcome At Apple Stores <http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=7447037>
Michael Finney, KGO-TV

Apple Computer has come a long way since its old renegade pirate days when it was all about making computers accessible to everybody. Now, it seems the company is more worried about guarding against piracy.

**** iPhone Apps On iPad Smack Of Mac OS 9 On OS X <http://blog.louisgray.com/2010/05/iphone-apps-on-ipad-smack-of-mac-os-9.html>
Louis Gray

In the same vein as Apple refusing ported Flash apps on their platform, I too want to enjoy applications designed for the device I am taking in, and not somebody's quick and dirty recompile. We went through the strain of Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X, and I hope Apple has proven themselves enough by this time that the call to arms for more native apps will occur much more quickly.

**** Apple Refreshes The MacBook With Faster Processor <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20005227-37.html>
Jim Dalrymple, CNET News

The new MacBook now has a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of memory. The notebook has a 250GB hard drive and boasts battery-life of 10 hours, up from the seven hour battery of the previous model. The MacBook is also now using the NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics card, the newest mobile card from the company.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Getting Treated For Common Ailments Online <http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/getting-treated-for-common-ailments-online/?ref=technology>
Jennifer Saranow Schultz, New York Times

In a recent Bucks post, “Doctors, Let Me Pay You for E-Mail,” my colleague Ron Lieber said he would gladly pay his family doctors a flat annual fee to be able to e-mail them questions and get a timely electronic response, and he questioned why this isn’t the norm.

Well, it turns out that it’s possible now in one state, Minnesota, to pay $25 and then actually get treated for certain basic ailments online thanks to a just-introduced  yearlong pilot program offered by the health care provider Park Nicollet Health Services and Zipnosis.com, a start-up in Minnesota.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** A Patient, A Death, But No One To Grieve <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/health/18case.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Danielle Ofri, New York Times

My patient’s body was unclaimed, and it had already been sent for burial by the time I learned of his death on a Thursday afternoon. It had happened on Saturday, at another hospital. He hadn’t left any next-of-kin contact, and it had taken that hospital’s social worker four days to trace a trail back to me.

**** Fans Of Gourmet Magazine Accept No Stand-Ins <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/business/media/17food.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Stephanie Clifford, New York Times

Half a year after Gourmet’s final issue, in November, the Gourmet readership and ad base seem to have largely vanished. And as the high-end magazines fight over the leftovers of Gourmet, it’s the mass food magazines that seem to be feasting.

**** Foja Mountains <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/06/foja-mountains/white-text>
Mel White, photograph by Tim Laman, National Geographic Magazine

A biological expedition to a remote New Guinea rain forest explores a world of bizarre and beautiful creatures.

**** The Teachers’ Unions’ Last Stand <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/magazine/23Race-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Steven Brill, New York Times

How Obama’s Race to the Top could revolutionize public education.

**** 'The Museum Of Eterna's Novel (The First Good Novel)' <http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-ca-macedoniol-fernandez-20100516,0,5730493.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+features%2Fbooks+%28Los+Angeles+Times+-+Books%29>
Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times

The late Macedonio Fernández's masterwork is a meditation on the reading, writing and inhabiting of novels.

**** Dance Figure <http://www.slate.com/id/2254120/?from=rss>
Jim Powell, Slate Magazine



SingaporeSurf
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**** Silicon Valley Model May Not Be For Singapore <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100518-0000113/Silicon-Valley-model-may-not-be-for-Singapore>
Neo Chai Chin, Today

**** The Conservative Renaissance – Part 2 <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/05/the-conservative-renaissance-part-2/>
Ho Rui An, The Online Citizen

**** 'Distance Fares' A Misleading Term <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100518-0000052/Distance-fares-a-misleading-term>
Wayson Ma, Today

Commuters will be charged a fare according to total distance travelled, not total distance between destinations.

I agree.

**** Criminal Procedure Code: Tilting The Law In Their Own Favour <http://geraldgiam.sg/2010/05/criminal-procedure-code-tilting-the-law-in-their-own-favour/>
Gerald Giam

It is amazing that the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) could baldly say that “there’s no incentive for police officers to practise deception”. How did they reach the conclusion that there wouldn’t be such an incentive, when everything is our system is skewed towards securing fast convictions?

**** MFA Committed To Help Citizens But Within Law Of Host Nation <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_527802.html>
Sudesh Maniar, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Straits Times

Ms Wong should appreciate that while we try our best to provide the necessary consular assistance to all Singaporeans, such assistance must be in accordance with the rules and regulations of the country that we are in - in this instance, China. We hope Ms Wong understands that just as Singapore expects all foreign nationals in Singapore to respect our rules and regulations, we are not in a position to break Chinese regulations or ask the Chinese authorities to overlook their own rules to help her.

**** Embarrassed By Luggage Check At MRT Station <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_527719.html>
Alan Kiong, Straits Times

If SMRT is really serious about performing security checks on its passengers, it should install luggage screening machines like those at airports.

**** Eat With Your Family Day Returns <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_527729.html>
Ang Yiying, Straits Times

This year, 209 companies and schools have pledged to let at least some of their employees go home early on May 27 to have dinner with their families. About 200 companies and schools involving some 100,000 employees signed up each year for 2008 and 2009, and more usually join in unofficially.

**** US Queries Pay-TV Rules <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_527934.html>
Chua Hian Hou, Straits Times

The United States government has expressed concern over the recently introduced amendments to Singapore's pay-TV regulations.

**** Oral Answer To Parliamentary Questions (a) How Many Applications For Long Term Visit Passes, Both New And For Renewal, Were Received And What Were The Respective Success Rates; (b) What Was The Number Of Applications For Permanent Residence And How Many Were Successful; (c) What Was The Number Of Applications For Singapore Citizenship And How Many Were Successful; And (d) Whether The Rejections In Each Category Were In Response To The Strong Sentiments Expressed By Singaporeans That There Are Too Many Foreigners In Singapore, 18 May 2010 <http://app4.mha.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=MTczNg%3d%3d-aenxeRQfZMQ%3d>
Singapore Government

**** Singapore – A Nation Or Merely A State? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/05/singapore-%e2%80%93-a-nation-or-merely-a-state/>
Wong Chun Han, The Online Citizen

**** No Compromise To Concept Of IRs, With Small Portion For Gambling <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1057444/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia

There will be no compromise to the government's concept of an Integrated Resort (IR) - that allows only a small proportion for gambling. Senior minister of state for trade and industry, S Iswaran, made this point while addressing a question in Parliament.

**** Aim Of Mother Tongue Review Is To Set Realistic Standards: Education Minister <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1057447/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia