[MyAppleMenu] Sep 17, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Mac Gems: Savescreenie 2.0.0 <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=de61ff76a89772c1ec3a65fe8fc14e85>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

Savescreenie 2 offers more features, works well with the latest versions of OS X, and is easier to use. It’s become my utility of choice for changing OS X’s built-in screenshot settings.

**** Where Are The iPad Refurbs? <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/09/16/where-are-the-ipad-refurbs/>
Erica Sadun, TUAW

Although Apple is certain to be already working on the next generation of iPad, it's clear that its high demand continues to produce limited availability. We may not be seeing refurbished units for some time yet.

**** Acorn 2.5 Gets Layer Masks, More Automator Actions <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=b3292c765d9e740bf3a4f2fbaff6e51a>
David Chartier, Macworld

New in Acorn 2.5 is support for layer masks and the ability to set a matte background color for transparent images via the program’s Web export tool. There are also new Automator actions for using Acorn to watermark, crop, and otherwise manipulate images with JavaScript.

**** IBank 4 Gets Better Online Support, Streamlined Interface <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=c7efc421e487c9ede51d7561f7bc5c8a>
David Chartier, Macworld

IGG Software’s iBank is a more Mac-friendly alternative to financial management heavyweights like Intuit’s Quicken. After a brief beta period that began in July, the official release of this major 4.0 upgrade brings a number of new features and interface improvements to iBank that should make it easier to enter transactions, set up online integration, and simply try the app out for all its worth.

**** Adobe Vs. Apple, India Version <http://www.forbes.com/2010/09/16/forbes-india-flash-point-adobe-shantanu-narayen.html>
Rohin Dharmakumar, Forbes

**** Hey Apple! Hey Apple! Stop Making Windows Software That Stinks! <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/hey-apple-hey-apple-stop-making-windows-software-that-stinks/13972>
Jason Perlow, ZDNet

Whatever software development platform and lifecycle management model and systems architecture they’ve come up with at Apple to deploy on Windows is now an unmitigated disaster. Every successive release has resulted in more bloatware and more unreliability.

**** I've Got The PowerPC Blues <http://lowendmac.com/ed/hatchett/10jh/powerpc-blues.html>
John Hatchett, Low End Mac

**** Are The iPads In Restaurants On Par With The Food In Apple Stores? <http://bassfeld.posterous.com/are-the-ipads-in-restaurants-on-par-with-the>
Zurich By Day

Apple’s iPad device has made its appearance in restaurants, hotels and wine bars over the globe. There are many reasons a restaurateur might consider using the iPad for interacting with customers, but what is in it for the user?

**** Apple, Google, More In Late Talks To Settle Poaching Suit <http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/09/16/doj.talks.to.apple.google.intel.in.poaching.deal/>
Electronista

**** Apple Launches iPad In China <http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/apple-launches-ipad-in-china-20100917-15fi8.html>
AFP

Hundreds queued up on Friday for the first official iPads sold in China, the world's biggest internet market, after months of grey market action among avid buyers unwilling to wait for the Apple tablet.

**** Warner Bros. Exec Dislikes Apple's 99-cent TV Plan <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hQB-MxGCm_EEOY8Sknl3BbJNwNngD9I9AVA01>
The Associated Press

Chief executive Barry Meyer says Warner Bros. didn't participate in Apple Inc.'s plan to offer TV show rentals for 99 cents because the price was too low and would have hurt sales of full seasons.

**** Accessory Firms Cash In On Big Apple Cover-up <http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0917/1224279070391.html>
Karlin Lillington, Irish Times

It is an ecosystem that seems to suit everyone – except perhaps sometimes the grumbling customer, who doesn’t feel a basic case should be an additional purchase.

**** Open And Un-Minimize New Windows From OS X's Application Switcher <http://lifehacker.com/5640274/open-and-un+minimize-new-windows-from-os-xs-application-switcher>
Lifehacker

**** HDR App Shootout: Apple V. Pro HDR V. TrueHDR <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/hdr-app-shootout-apple-v-pro-hdr-v-truehdr/8165?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zdnet%2FApple+%28ZDNet+The+Apple+Core%29>
Bob Snow, ZDNet

**** A Textbook Solution <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=0a81abacb532caf8950ef12ba3d734c7>
Elizabeth Weil, New York Times

Schnittman breaks down reading into three kinds: extractive reading (say, looking up words in the dictionary), immersive reading (sinking into “Moby-Dick”) and pedagogic reading (studying a physics curriculum). The first type is well suited to the search capacities of digital devices. The second works beautifully on e-ink readers. The third? So far it has failed in all electronic formats, awaiting the right hardware — the so-called form factor. Schnittman says the solution might be in tablets like the iPad.

**** China's Mac Heads <http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/17/chinas-mac-heads/>
CNN

Such is Apple’s status in this country that Mac Heads here are willing to pay more than American Mac Heads – almost twenty per cent more mostly because of higher Chinese taxes. That’s a lot in a country where wages are a lot lower. One woman told me just spent a month’s wages on an iPad and thought it was a bargain.

**** Apple's 27-inch Cinema Display Now Available <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/09/17/apples-27-inch-cinema-display-now-available/>
Chris Rawson, TUAW

About a month and a half after the introduction of the 27-inch Apple Cinema Display, it's finally available on Apple's online store.

**** U.S. Tech Probe Nears End <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440604575496182527552678.html>
Thomas Catan And Brent Kendall, Wall Street Journal

Several of the U.S.'s largest technology companies are in advanced talks with the Justice Department to avoid a court battle over whether they colluded to hold down wages by agreeing not to poach each other's employees.

The companies, which include Google Inc., Apple Inc., Intel Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Intuit Inc. and Walt Disney Co. unit Pixar Animation, are in the final stages of negotiations with the government, according to people familiar with the matter.

**** Replace iTunes 10's Gray Color-scheme <http://rss.macworld.com/click.phdo?i=c25c3625c18ebf28aa29bcce4539498e>
Whitson Gordon, Macworld



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** The 8-Year-Old Programmer <http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=5263503bc34b4a980ea520429de21f7c>
Paul Boutin, New York Times

“Our society thinks of computer programming as lucrative, therefore it must be hard and dull,” says the leader of the Kodu project, Matt MacLaurin. He says software development should be like a fourth-grade art class: explore, create, discover.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Cooking With Dexter: Prep School <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19food-t-000.html?_r=1&ref=dining>
Pete Wells, New York Times

The whole idea of mise en place tortures me. It refers, as you already know if you have watched any cooking shows in recent years, to the practice of having all the ingredients and tools set to go before you even light the stove. Mise en place (meez on PLASS) comes from restaurant kitchens, where a brigade of helpers spends the day getting everything ready for the dinner rush. It comes from a French phrase meaning “make the new guy do it.” In my mind, it stands as an unattainable ideal, a receding mirage, a dream of an organized and contented kitchen life that everyone is enjoying except me.

**** America's Prudish Literary Morality <http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2010/09/16/salon_reading_club_likeability_comment/index.html>
Ridesallyride, Salon

Why are so many writers, including Jonathan Franzen, so obsessed with creating "likable" characters?



SingaporeSurf
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**** Kachau Upstairs Neighbour For What? <http://feedmetothefish.blogspot.com/2010/09/kachau-upstairs-neighbour-for-what.html>
Feed Me To The Fish

PM Najib is visiting your son this Sunday to smoke peace pipe on Kereta Tanah Melayu and other donkey problems. I think not nice to talk like that and throw spanner at your own son's work? If father treat son like that, how can people respect the son? We hope PM Najib got heart big enough to ignore your insult and still visit your son this Sunday to do good work.

**** Singapore Pools Outlets Replaced, Not Added <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_579389.html>
Phoebe Low, Singapore Pools, Straits Times

Note that the number of Singapore Pools retail outlets has decreased over the years. "New" Singapore Pools outlets are opened only to replace the ones closed due to expiry of lease or area redevelopment.

**** Mahathir's Remarks <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_579512.html>
Lee Seck Kay, Straits Times

When he was in power, Tun Dr Mahathir did little to ensure equal opportunity for all races; instead of uniting Malaysians, he polarised them, to the detriment of many non-Malays. Blaming Singapore, particularly Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, for the animosity today between the races in Malaysia is an attempt to absolve himself.

**** Flood-prone Areas Reduced Drastically From 3,200ha <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_579513.html>
Tan Nguan Sen, PUB, Straits Times

While we cannot cater for all extreme events, PUB will continue to explore and implement various measures to alleviate flooding in Singapore, within the constraints of cost-effectiveness and competing land use.

**** 7.5 Million People Too Many In This Case <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100917-0000051/7,5-million-people-too-many-in-this-case>
Augustine Cheah, Today

While mistakes on issues such as housing supply, rail networks, flood alleviation, can be rectified with time and money, over-population is a different situation altogether. It is irreversible, short of shipping the extra people elsewhere.

**** Why Build A Casino If You Don't Want People To Gamble? <http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/life/mrbrown-free-bus-services-encourage-singaporeans-gamble-675581>
mrbrown, CNNGo

What casino operator in his right mind would build a casino and a host of other hotel and convention facilities around it only for overseas customers?

And who are we trying to kid, calling them Integrated Resorts, haha!

**** Truth Behind Expulsion Of Singapore From Malaysia <http://ktemoc.blogspot.com/2010/09/truth-behind-expulsion-of-singapore.html>
Ktemoc Konsiders ........

The truth of the root cause for Singapore’s expulsion was in fact LKY the politician. There’s never any doubt LKY was super intelligent, a double starred first class honours from Cambridge. But one can only be too clever by half in a Malayan environment because the style of his assertive and aggressive politicking didn’t go down well with Malay culture and its more genteel style of politics. Tunku was also aware of his covert (though well-known) intention to replace MCA in the Perikatan (the BN’s predecessor coalition).

**** Signal Solution May Not Ease Train Congestion <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_579394.html>
Paul Chan, Straits Times

Could we spend the $1 billion to extend the MRT platforms at all stations on either sides to accommodate more cabins than the current maximum of six?

If we add two extra coaches, we could achieve 33 per cent capacity increase. With three extra coaches, we could reach an extra capacity of 50 per cent.

**** Minimum Wage: The Real Work Of An Opposition <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4132-minimum-wage-the-real-work-of-an-opposition>
Singapore Democrat Party

We have been the party that have made comprehensive alternative proposals for our economy and society that many experts and analysts have supported - the minumum wage is but only one example.

This is what leadership is about: calling the attention of the people to problems before the situation gets out of hand rather jumping on the bandwagon when people start talking about them.

**** æ–°åŠ å¡ç´§ç¼©ç§»æ°‘ 定居难度增高 <http://www.nanyangpost.com/news/singapore/4846.html>
南洋視界

**** Showing Signs Of Stress <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC100917-0000046/Showing-signs-of-stress>
Tabitha Wang, Today

Singapore's Land Transport Authority has stated that, by 2012, there will be 22 new trains plying the North-South and East-West line. So in two years' time, it announced, waiting time will be reduced to between 2 and 3 minutes, from the current 2.5 and 4.5 minutes.

Good news, but even so, that is still twice as slow as the MTR train system.

**** 从接驳变接博——免费惹的祸 <http://www.zaobao.com/yl/yl100917_007.shtml>
杨贻兴, 联合早报

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**** The Problem Is The Solution <http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=3&newsID=103021>
Rik Villegas, Saipan Tribune

Anyone can lead a ship that sails in calm weather, but the real leaders are honed in the midst of adversity.

**** An Exercise In Fertility <http://www.economist.com/node/17039131?story_id=17039131>
The Economist

Economic incentives cannot always trump a shift in values. Nor is the self-centred consumerism of the “five C” dream exclusive to the newly industrialised tigers.

**** No Push To Woo Malay Migrants <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_579690.html>
Rachel Lin, Straits Times

Singapore will not actively head out to woo ethnic Malay immigrants, relying instead on scholarships, job opportunities and its meritocracy as pull factors.

'What we cannot do is go overseas and target specific ethnic groups to come to Singapore,' deputy prime minister and minister for home affairs Wong Kan Seng said yesterday.

**** Papering Over Youth Olympics Budget Mistakes <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/papering-over-youth-olympics-budget-mistakes>
Yawning Bread

The worst part of it is that even if the minister’s reply is full of nonsense, or begs more questions, the scripted nature of proceedings means that the member who asked the original question, or any other member, does not rise to press a point home.

Is that because the rules of proceedings do not allow impromptu questions and interjections? Or is that because none of the members in the chamber could see whitewash and nonsense when it was laid out in front them by the minister?

**** Malaysia's Loss, Singapore's Gain <http://www.mysinchew.com/node/45075?tid=14>
Lim Mun Fah, Sin Chew Jit Poh

Based on the needs of political and economic realities, it is believed that Singapore will still have demand for Malaysian talents in the next 10 years or longer. It is expected to continue absorbing Malaysian talents because it is easier for Malaysians to adapt to the Singapore society as they have similar cultural background. Also, Singaporeans find it easier to accept Malaysians. In addition, once the Malaysian talents are attracted by the fair policies of Singapore, they will settle down in the country.

**** Singapore Exports Unexpectedly Rebound In August <http://www.rttnews.com/Content/AsianEconomicNews.aspx?Id=1421731&SM=1>
RTT News

Singapore non-oil domestic exports recorded an unexpected double digit growth in August, after easing in the previous month few months, led by both electronic and non-electronic shipments.

**** Singapore Government Starts To Rein In Casinos <http://www.asiancorrespondent.com/the-asia-file/singapore-government-starts-to-rein-in-casinos>
Ben Bland, Asian Correspondent

The government's plan to use the casinos to bring in big spending foreigners while sparing its citizens the negative consequences of mass market casino gambling will be very hard to pull off.

**** Arts Community Gives Mixed Response To Censorship Review Committee's Report <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1081896/1/.html>
Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia

While some agreed with the need for a more transparent regulatory process, others said the recommendations offered nothing new. 

Some were also sceptical of having a term licensing system.

**** Lee Kuan Yew Urged Not To Raise Sensitive Issues On Malaysia <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/9/17/nation/20100917210227&sec=nation>
Bernama

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has urged Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew not to raise sensitive issues on Malaysia which could threaten stability and racial harmony in this country.

"As a respected Asian statesman, he (Lee) should not issue statements that could hurt the feelings of his neighbours (Malaysians)," he said.