[MyAppleMenu] May 29, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Grocery Shopping With The iPad <http://kottke.org/10/05/grocery-shopping-with-the-ipad>
Jason Kottke

It inverts the usual "wander around the grocery store searching for items" shopping practice; instead you wander about the house looking for what you need.

**** I Don't Like Wires But I Do Like Ports <http://www.scripting.com/stories/2010/05/28/iDontLikeWiresButIDoLikePo.html>
Dave Winer, Scripting News

Computers are meant to be more than DisneyLand, they are meant to solve societal problems and help our species evolve. That means we must have freedom. And freedom and control are exact opposites.

**** Bugs & Fixes: Solving Flash Problems On A Mac <http://www.macworld.com/article/151630/2010/05/flash_mac.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Ted Landau, Macworld

**** Copy And Paste Means Copy What I Want And Paste What I Want <http://www.myapplemenu.com/2010/05/29/IM000028/>
Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu

I've been very annoyed with the practice of some web sites that changed the agreement between me and my computer on exactly what is been copied and pasted. As John Gruber [http://daringfireball.net/2010/05/tynt_copy_paste_jerks] describes it: "what happens is that when you select text from these web pages, the site uses JavaScript to report what you’ve copied to an analytics server and append an attribution URL to the text."

Like Mr Gruber, the nature of my hobby involves a lot of copying-and-pasting. This means that I have to also make use of my backspace key a lot when linking articles from websites that uses this stupid technique. In fact, I've removed many of these stupid web sites from my RSS reading list. (I still link to articles from these web sites, but only I've discovered them from other people, not from my own RSS reading. And I still hate to link to these web sites.)

Mr Gruber outlined two possible solutions to block the copy-and-paste technique used by these web sites. I'll try them today.

**** Public Radio Pushing iPhone Donation Requests: OK Or Not? <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/05/public-radio-pushing-iphone-donation-requests-ok-or-not.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss>
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica

This American Life's solicitation for donations may not have been much more than an annoyance, but it highlights how developers could potentially abuse the notification system to nag users for money.

**** iPhone Security Flaw: Using A PIN Won't Help You <http://www.pcworld.com/article/197419/iphone_security_flaw_using_a_pin_wont_help_you.html>
Sarah Jacobsson, PC World

Basically, plugging an up-to-date, non jail-broken, PIN-protected iPhone (powered off) into a computer running Ubuntu Lucid Lynx will allow the people to see practically all of the user's data--including music, photos, videos, podcasts, voice recordings, Google safe browsing databases, and game contents. The "hacker" has read/write access to the iPhone, and the hack leaves no trace.

**** Another Way To Keep Track Of The Elderly <http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/another-way-to-keep-track-of-the-elderly/?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Eric A. Taub, New York Times

A new home monitoring service designed for the elderly can also keep track of them when away from the home.

**** Apple Chest-beating <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10648041>
Mark WebsterView, New Zealand Herald

Why has Apple been so successful? Many say it's because Apple is 'just' a marketing company. I absolutely refute this. Apple has brought innumerable innovations to market over the last three decades, and even creates the manufacturing processes to make its products as good as Apples insists they have to be. Besides, Apple hardly does any real marketing (think Carlsberg, Nike, even Toyota for marketing campaigns that readily spring to mind).



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** What's Next For E Ink <http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/25251/?ref=rss>
Katherine Bourzac, Technology Review

The company's latest prototypes show crisper, brighter color, and are being combined with flexible backplanes.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** The Why-Worry Generation <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/magazine/30fob-wwln-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Judith Warner, New York Times

Did boomer parents actually do something right?

**** Fangs And Other Fluff, Completely Guilt Free <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/books/28beachreads.html>
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Memorial Day marks the start of a special season: the time to stop lying about what you read for fun. Call anything a beach book, and suddenly you’ve got an excuse for being seen with it.

**** Noises Off <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/books/review/Conover-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Ted Conover, New York Times

Books by George Michelsen Foy, Garret Keizer and George Prochnik pay homage to silence, and discover that the harder you look for it the more it resists.

**** The Joy Of (Outdated) Facts <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/books/review/Nicholson-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Geoff Nicholson, New York Times

Older books of supposedly impartial information can be a useful reminder of just how slippery facts really are.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Slow Bus Speeds: What Happened To Efficiency? <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_532703.html>
Anthony Lee, Straits Times

**** Never Forget <http://singaporeanskeptic.blogspot.com/2010/05/never-forget.html>
Singaporean Skeptic

What is the point of spending so much money on research and education when you can't even support a simple thing like academic freedom?

**** Moving On To The Future <http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=insightdownsouth&file=/2010/5/29/columnists/insightdownsouth/6355688&sec=Insight%20Down%20South>
Seah Chiang Nee, The Star

For a journalist who has reported the frequent bouts of quarrels in the past 40 years, it represents a milestone.

**** Painful History: Academic Freedom Receives Another Blow In Singapore <http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/the-asia-file/painful-history-academic-freedom-receives-another-blow-in-singapore>
Ben Bland, Asian Correspondent

The problem is not so much the lack of enthusiasm for history, as demonstrated by the NUS students' plan to hold this forum, but a desire by the state and its actors to close down or restrict alternative views of history in order to enhance their legitmacy.

**** Vincent Cheng Not Allowed To Speak.... <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2010/05/vincent-cheng-not-allowed-to-speak.html>
Diary of A Singaporean Mind

For 33 years since that event, there has been fear among Singaporeans because they still don't understand what these people have done wrong..... all they did was aim for better human rights, great equality in society and sociopolitical change no different from today's political activists so how can we be sure that the draconian measures of the past won't be used again to preserve the interests of the ruling elites.

**** Tanker Collision Spills Oil Onto Singapore Wetlands <http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/28/tanker-collision-spills-oil-onto-sinagpore-wetlands/>
CNN

**** Tanjong Pagar Railway Station And The Food Here! <http://365days2play.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/tanjong-pagar-railway-station-and-the-food-here/>
365days2play's Blog

So, we decided we had to at least visit the railway station before it becomes modernised. I think many Singaporeans do not know that there is good food to be found at the railway station. At least all the friends that I know of are surprised when I tell them that I had some teh tarik, or ayam penyet, or nasi beriyani or satay at the railway station.

**** High Hopes And High Expectations <http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2010/05/high-hopes-and-high-expectations.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News

**** Scenic Bridge Project Should Be Pursued - Dr M <http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=502038>
Bernama

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is still of the opinion that the scenic bridge project to replace the causeway connecting Malaysia and Singapore should be pursued.

The former prime minister said it would help ease traffic congestion between Johor Baharu and the island.