[MyAppleMenu] May 24, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Is Apple Really Big Brother? <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20005699-71.html?part=rss&amp;subj=news&amp;tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
Chris Matyszczyk, CNET News

The strange thing inherent in suggesting that Apple is Big Brother is that the company seems to know so little about people, in the literal, data-driven sense. It doesn't even seem to do that much research, because it knows that so much of it is wet tripe.

Yet it seems to know so much about people in the instinctive, human sense. It's accused of "marketing", as if this were some obscene, drug-addled sorcery. But how much of it is anything other than creating value by giving people what they actually enjoy?

**** Yankees Ban iPad <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20005712-71.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
Chris Matyszczyk, CNET News

Wherever you feel the need to have your iPad, I am happy. So, it seems, is the TSA. The New York Yankees, though, seem to float on a different boat. A report from Yahoo Sports suggests that the Yankees have decided in all their infinite, historic wisdom that the iPad falls under its "No laptops" policy.

**** iPhone Sales Top 700,000 <http://www.koreaherald.com/business/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100523000165>
Jin Hyun-joo, The Korea Herald

The popularity of Apple’s iPhone does not show signs of subsiding in Korea, with its sales surpassing 700,000 units as of May 22, just six months since its launch here.

**** Is Apple Able To Keep Up With Android? <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/is-apple-able-to-keep-up-with-android/2138>
Garett Rogers, ZDNet

I am convinced that Apple will need to do something really big during WWDC this year to make sure they don’t lose their mobile mojo. Since the iPhone 4 hardware has already leaked, and they have already announced new features for their new mobile operating system, they better have something else up their sleeve for developers attending this year’s event.

I don't think Apple will have any more surprises. No "one more thing".

**** Steve Jobs' Answer To Google <http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/05/23/steve-jobs-answer-to-google/>
Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune

Wait until Apple's developers conference, he tells a reader, "You won't be disappointed."

**** Review: Flash Professional CS5 <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/464067/review/flash_professional_cs5.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
David Karlins, Macworld

**** Editing Word Documents On An iPad <http://www.macworld.com/article/151397/2010/05/word_ipad.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Joe Kissell, Macworld

Even though there’s no iPad version of Word, you can work with Word documents on your iPad if you’re willing to accept a few compromises.

**** Apple Confirms Steve Jobs Keynote For WWDC 2010 <http://www.macworld.com/article/151474/2010/05/jobs_wwdc_2010.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Moren, Macworld

Apple announced on Monday that the CEO will be kicking off WWDC 2010 on June 7, with a presentation at 10 a.m. Pacific time in San Francisco’s Moscone West conference center. What he’ll be talking about? The iPhone and iPad would be a pretty good guess. What he'll be wearing? Bet on the classic turtleneck, jeans, and sneakers. Will he mention the Mac? Well, that may have to wait until next year.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Eye Tracking For Mobile Control <http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/25369/?a=f>
Kristina Grifantini, Technology Review

"EyePhone" lets users browse through mobile phone menus at the blink of an eye.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** ‘An American Type’ Is Henry Roth’s Posthumous Novel <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/books/24type.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Charles McGrath, New York Times

The writer Henry Roth was a tortured, hard-luck case who at the end life enjoyed an unexpected redemption. Blocked for decades, full of doubt and self-loathing, he began writing again in his late 80s, even though crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, and finished four new novels, two of which he lived to see into print before his death in 1995. Now, almost miraculously, there is a fifth, “An American Type,” which W. W. Norton will publish on June 7.

**** The Joys Of Jumpology <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/arts/design/24halsman.html?hp>
Roberta Smith, New York Times

When the photographer Philippe Halsman said, “Jump,” no one asked how high. People simply pushed off or leapt up to the extent that physical ability and personal decorum allowed. In that airborne instant Mr. Halsman clicked the shutter. He called his method jumpology.

**** A Night Out <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2010/05/31/100531po_poem_hicok>
Bob Hicok, New Yorker

**** Roanoke Pastorale <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2010/05/31/100531po_poem_huddle>
David Huddle, New Yorker



SingaporeSurf
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**** Rusticity In Modern Singapore <http://abdillahzamzuri.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/149/>
Abdillah Zamzuri

In what was perhaps pure coincidence when I didn’t attend a playback theatre rehearsal earlier today because I couldn’t locate the exact location, I stumbled upon a rustic charm of the old in a modern new Singapore.

**** Najib-Lee Meet Expected To Resolve KTM Land Issue <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/24/nation/6325387&sec=nation>
Mergawati Zulfakar, The Star

The retreat between prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong today is expected to pave the way for a resolution on the status of KTM Bhd land here.

Malaysian officials are looking forward to a positive response from the Singapore leader on a Malaysian proposal for a new location for the KTM railway station in Tanjung Pagar.

**** Why It's Not A Solution <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_530514.html>
Jeffrey Chan, Straits Times

**** Three Great Singapore Burger Options <http://accidentalepicurean.com/2010/05/3-great-singapore-burger-options/>
Accidental Epicurean

I give you three places that really surprised me with their burger offerings.

**** Consumer Price Index, Apr 2010 <http://www.singstat.gov.sg/news/news/cpiapr2010.pdf>
Department Of Statistics, Singapore Government

Compared with April 2009, the consumer price index increased by 3.2 per cent in April 2010, owing to higher costs of transport, housing and food. Following higher prices of cars and petrol, transport cost increased by 13.4 per cent.

Excluding accommodation costs, the consumer price index was 3.9 per cent higher in April 2010 compared with the same period a year ago.

(Note: Link goes to a PDF document.)

**** Yong Vui Kong Loses Appeal - It's Up To The Politicians Now <http://inhisblood.blogspot.com/2010/05/yong-vui-kong-loses-appeal-its-up-to.html>
Covered In His Blood

**** DBS Makes Partial Retreat From Islamic Banking <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE64N1FS20100524>
Kevin Lim and Liau Y-Sing, Reuters

DBS Group, Southeast Asia's largest lender, is shrinking its Singapore-based Islamic unit in yet another sign that the city-state's efforts to promote sharia banking is struggling.

**** 毕业了 不再收到PR邀请信 <http://www.zaobao.com/fk/fk100524_007.shtml>
éž æ¬£èˆª, 联合早报

过去，不少外籍大学生在毕业前，都会收到移民与关卡局发放的申请永久居民（PRï¼‰çš„é‚€è¯·å‡½ï¼Œä½†ä»Šå¹´å› æ”¿åºœæ”¶ç´§ç§»æ°‘æ”¿ç­–è€Œåœæ­¢å‘æ”¾ã€‚

外籍大学毕业生没有收到PRé‚€è¯·å‡½ï¼Œä¼šå¦‚ä½•å½±å“ä»–ä»¬ç•™åœ¨æ–°åŠ å¡å·¥ä½œçš„æœºä¼šå’Œæ„æ„¿ï¼Ÿ

**** KTMB Station In Tanjong Pagar To Relocate To Woodlands By Jul 2011 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1058645/1/.html>
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

The prime ministers of Malaysia and Singapore have agreed that the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB station) currently in operation at Tanjong Pagar will be relocated to the Woodlands train checkpoint by 1 July 2011. 

Announcing this in a joint statement on Monday in Singapore, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak also agreed that Malaysia would co-locate its railway and Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) to the Woodlands train checkpoint.

**** Will We Have Smaller Electricity Bill? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/05/will-we-have-smaller-electricity-bill/>
Ravi Philemon, The Online Citizen

Will small consumers and households benefit from this downward trend in crude oil prices by seeing a reduction in their electricity bill?

**** Temasek Loses Final Indonesia Antitrust Breach Appeal <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-24/temasek-loses-final-indonesia-antitrust-breach-appeal-update1-.html>
Widya Utami and Achmad Sukarsono, Bloomberg

Temasek Holdings Pte. lost a final appeal against an Indonesian ruling that the Singapore state- owned company breached anti-monopoly laws, Indonesia’s Supreme Court said today on its Web site.

**** Malaysia To Relocate Tanjong Pagar Train Station To Woodlands <http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=500673>
Zakaria Abdul Wahab, Bernama

According to a joint statement on the meeting, a rapid transit system link between Tanjung Puteri in Johor Baharu and Singapore, aimed at enhancing connectivity between the two countries, will be jointly developed. For the convenience of commuters, the rapid transit system link will have a single co-located CIQ facility in Singapore with the exact location to be determined later.

It is targeted that the proposed rapid transit system link will be operational by 2018, and thereafter, Malaysia may consider relocating the KTMB Station from Woodlands to Johor.

**** Having To Bid Farewell To Another Old Friend? <http://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/having-to-bid-farewell-to-another-old-friend/>
The Long and Winding Road

**** 23 Years After Operation Spectrum : Ex-Detainees Recall Mental And Physical Abuses <http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2010/05/23-years-after-operation-spectrum-ex.html>
Martyn See Tong Ming

May 21st 2010 marks the 23rd anniversary of the "Marxist Conspiracy" arrests and detention-without-trial of 22 young professionals in Singapore. The following are excerpts of accounts by the ex-detainees in a book published last year entitled That We May Dream Again.

**** In Singapore, Musical Theater That Prefers Its Own Local Flavor <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/arts/25iht-jessop.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, New York Times

This year, the staging of several homegrown musicals in Mandarin with definite Asian twists is attesting to the local audience’s growing interest for musicals with themes closer to home.

**** Current KTMB Station Site Provides Opportunities For Devt: Property Watchers <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1058717/1/.html>
May Wong, Channel NewsAsia

Property watchers said the current Malayan Railway station site at Tanjong Pagar offers tremendous opportunities for residential and commercial development. But these will likely take shape only in 2015 or 2016.