[MyAppleMenu] Sep 6, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** The Ping Problems: Is Apple To Blame, Or The Music Labels? <http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ping-problems-2010-9>
Jay Yarow, The Business Insider

Without the ability to actually to actually tell our friends what we're listening to, Ping is a pretty useless service. Without the ability to listen to all our music through Ping, like we once did with Lala, the service is decidedly weak.

But here's what we want to know: Is this Apple's fault, or are the music labels stopping Apple from making Ping a better service?

**** "iCulture" Gives Apple A Tactical Advantage <http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/204898/iculture_gives_apple_a_tactical_advantage.html>
Tony Bradley, PC World

The genius of Apple's iCulture strategy is that the relationship with iOS and the investment in an extensive library of iOS apps is a much stronger bond than the two-year wireless contract. Aside from the early termination fee, there is no reason most users won't switch wireless providers given a better deal, but switching platforms requires a culture shift that many are unwilling to embark on.

**** Why Does Steve Jobs Play Fast And Loose With iPod Touch Sales Numbers? <http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/05/why-does-steve-jobs-play-fast-and-loose-with-ipad-touch-sales-numbers/>
Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune

Apple may in fact be selling more hand-held game devices than Sony and Nintendo combined, as Steve Jobs claimed on Wednesday, but journalists trying to fact-check that statement can be forgiven their skepticism.

**** How To Tell If Apple Falters <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/business/economy/06views.html>
Rob Cyran, New York Times

When should investors sell Apple shares?

**** Apple Faces Many Rivals For Streaming To TVs <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/technology/06apple.html?src=busln>
Miguel Helft, New York Times

More than 100 other devices can stream Netflix movies, including game machines, Blu-ray players and Internet-connected TVs. Indeed, Apple faces an increasing number of competitors that include upstarts like Roku and Boxee, powerful rivals like Google, and established players like Sony and Samsung.

**** Science Fiction: An Apple-Curated App Store <http://www.mondaynote.com/2010/09/06/science-fiction-an-apple-curated-app-store/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+monday-note+%28Monday+Note%29>
Jean-Louis Gassée, Monday Note

The Apple App Store is one of the greatest game-changers of the past twenty years. Will Apple let it crumble under its own weight?

**** Apple Sucks At Photoshop Too <http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/06/apple-sucks-at-photoshop-too/>
Vlad Savov, Engadget

**** Foxconn's Gou Cuts Long-Term Sales Growth Target <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-05/foxconn-chairman-gou-cuts-growth-target-as-size-brings-biggest-challenge-.html>
Bloomberg

Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou cut his long-term growth target for the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics by 50 percent as demand for Apple Inc. iPhones and iPads fails to offset slowing computer sales.

**** Review: Drive Genius 3 <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=c204a4fcbef08cf500a803f8624580b7>
John Brandon, Macworld

I found Drive Rescue to me a bit more valuable to my daily Mac activities because it actually restored some files I had lost. Drive Genius repairs hard disk problems, but it can’t resuscitate a damaged file in the sense that you can recover the files and use them again. It fixes your drive. That’s why I ended up thinking Drive Genius is valuable, just not wholly indispensible.

**** Fake.app Makes Powerful Web Automation Easy <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/09/06/fake-app-makes-powerful-web-automation-easy/>
Brett Terpstra, TUAW

Fake, like Automator, offers an Actions library and allows you to create drag-and-drop workflows with Web-specific capabilities.

**** iHome Reveals First AirPlay Wireless Speaker System <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/09/06/ihome-reveals-first-airplay-wireless-speaker-system/>
Matt Tinsley, TUAW

**** iTunes 10's Automator Issues Indicate A Deeper Problem <http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/core-dump/41652-itunes-10s-automator-issues-indicate-a-deeper-problem>
Stephen Withers, IT.Wire

**** Get The Easier Tool To Manage Movies And Photos In iPhoto <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/get-the-easier-tool-to-manage-movies-and-photos-in-iphoto/>
Jeffrey Mincey, Mac 360

If you’re iPhoto Library is large and unwieldy, with a thousand or more Events, and a growing mixture of photos and movie clips, and, if exporting files has become cumbersome, then look at iPhoto To Disk.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Computers As Invisible As The Air <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=ae960d542c52809ee1e723e4fbf0f28c>
John Markoff, New York Times

Computers once filled entire rooms, then sat in the closet, moved to our desks, and now nestle in our pockets. Soon, the computer may become invisible to us, hiding away in everyday objects.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Urban Plight: Vanishing Upward Mobility <http://american.com/archive/2010/august/urban-plight-vanishing-upward-mobility>
Joel Kotkin, The American

In the twenty-first century—the first in which the majority of people will live in cities—this unique link between urbanism and upward mobility is under threat. Urban boosters still maintain that big cities remain unique centers for social uplift, but evidence suggests this is increasingly no longer the case.

**** Getting Readers Off To A Good Start | David McKie <http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/books/rss/~3/jM-279ALvb0/bruce-weaver-opening-sentences-novel>
David McKie, The Guardian

The opening sentence of a novel should pique the curiosity. But its closing should be masterly.

**** The Landlord <http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/09/13/100913fi_fiction_tower>
Wells Tower, New Yorker



SingaporeSurf
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**** The PAP’s Retirement Nightmare: 2nd And 3rd Generation PAP Policymakers To Blame? <http://singapore2025.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/the-pap’s-retirement-nightmare-2nd-and-3rd-generation-pap-policymakers-to-blame/>
Singapore 2025

Thanks to a number of PAP policies, Singapore’s low to middle income earners stand smack in the middle of a particularly precarious situation. Although they live in a first-world country, they draw third-world wages. In retirement, they struggle to make ends meet thanks to high transport costs and other basic commitments.

**** æ–°åŠ å¡çš„åœ‹èªž <http://www.taiwandaily.net/gp2.aspx?_p=kSF1c9zU9HQWEmCeP4R4ECm4Ixh4Ds+r>
Terry Huang, è‡ªç”±æ™‚å ±

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**** Why It Isn't Fair <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_575224.html>
Chan Yeow Chuan, Straits Times

While it is wise to invest for our future needs, the use of property as a vehicle for investment is not fair in land-scarce Singapore.

**** A Short Ride On The Ferry To ...... <http://leonefabre.blogspot.com/2010/09/short-ride-on-ferry-to.html>
My Life In Singapore

**** 地铁拥挤是好是坏? <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/sl100906_001.shtml>
联合早报

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**** 6.5 Million Part 1 <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4086-65-million-part-1>
Singapore Democrat Party

If this dangerous 6.5-million experiment fails, it will be too late. We, the ordinary folks, will be the ones paying for the mess.

The ministers who live in their Gurkha-guarded homes, far removed from the daily stresses that they place upon us, will not be affected. They will ask us to "bear with it" like the prime minister did in his ND Rally.

**** Singapore’s Cooling Measures Will Have Limited Impact At The Top <http://www.property-report.com/site/singapores-cooling-measures-will-have-limited-impact-at-the-top-8935>
Andrew Batt, Property Report

Singapore’s attempts to cool the property market will have limited impact on the luxury sector, according to Edmund Cheng, Deputy Chairman of developer Wing Tai Holidays.

**** Are We All Becoming Pauline Hansons? <http://geekisnewblack.blogspot.com/2010/09/are-we-all-becoming-pauline-hanson.html>
Geek Is The New Black

So are we in danger of becoming Pauline Hansons with this rising tide of hysteria over foreign workers coming in to steal our jobs, our homes, our childrens' places in schools?

**** 女皇镇杜生组屋23％首购者弃权 <http://www.zaobao.com/sp/sp100906_001.shtml>
蔡永伟, 联合早报

**** S’pore Needs A New Game Plan, A New “Miracle” <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/09/spore-needs-a-new-game-plan-a-new-miracle/>
Rajiv Chaudhry, The Online Citizen

By continuing to allow businesses to freely employ such workers, the economy suffers twin disadvantages; first of not putting sufficient pressure on firms to innovate and raise productivity and more seriously, by placing a glass ceiling on the wages of the bottom 20% of Singaporean workers.

**** Night Cyclists: Exploring Singapore When The Sun Goes Down <http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/life/night-riders-021471>
Elaine Ee-Meyers, CNNGo

Over the last few years, groups like Five-O have quietly grown from sporadic meetings of friends to official hobby groups, evidence that cycling has become a way of life for many Singaporeans. Night cycling in particular has built a strong appeal -- the beauty and thrill of cycling through or alongside the jungle at night, the lack of traffic on the roads, the cool air and that irreplaceable free-wheeling feeling that you own the route you ride on.

**** SM Goh : View Problems In Perspective.... <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2010/09/sm-goh-view-problems-in-perspective.html>
Diary of A Singaporean Mind

The more you think beyond yourself and your own problems, the more you will understand how PAP policies have left a large segment of Singaporeans behind in their system. The more you care about your fellow Singaporeans, the harder it is for you to accept the lopsided policies implemented by the PAP govt.

**** Upgrading Signalling System For Trains To Cost $1b, Says SM Goh <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1079496/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia

**** Hearing-impaired US Teacher Clears Misunderstanding With MOE <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1079504/1/.html>
Evelyn Choo, Channel NewsAsia