[MyAppleMenu] Dec 28, 2011

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Wed Dec 28 18:59:00 EST 2011

MyAppleMenu
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**** Drag And Drop Email Into iCal To Schedule Important Tasks, And GTD <http://www.macgasm.net/2011/12/27/drag-drop-email-ical-schedule-important-tasks-gtd/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+macgasm%2Fmain+%28Macgasm%29>
Joshua Schnell, Macgasm

By dropping the email into iCal, you’re able to schedule in time to complete the task like you would any other event. The extra-cool thing about doing this is that iCal will create a link to the email in question so that you can reference the original email when the time comes to do something about your email.

**** Voice Recognition Software: Report-writing Without The Writing <http://www.policeone.com/police-technology/police-software/articles/4741949-Voice-recognition-software-Report-writing-without-the-writing/>
Lindsey J. Bertomen, PoliceOne

I tested two Nuance products that I'm pretty sure will be absolutely profound to those who don't already use them: Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 11.5 Premium Edition and MacSpeech Scribe, a personal transcription software package designed for Mac OS X.

**** New Year's Resolution: A Clean Mac <http://www.macworld.com/article/164470/2011/12/new_years_resolution_a_clean_mac.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Macworld

It’s that time again when Mac users make their New Year’s resolutions. How about a simple pledge to keep your computer clean? I’m not talking about deleting cache files or removing old apps you no longer use. I’m talking about your Mac’s screen and keyboard, or its dusty, grungy innards. It’s not difficult to do, but keeping a clean Mac can help it run smoother, and keep you from getting sick as well. Here are a few ways you can keep your Mac looking new and fresh.

**** Post-PC Era, Indeed <http://windonaleaf.net/apple/2011/12/ipad-post-pc-era-indeed/>
Wind On A Leaf

Interestingly, Annette said she didn’t miss having a notebook at all (the kind that needs a battery and a startup jingle, not the kind bound with a useless slinky). She can’t wait to get to college and, while she hasn’t settled on a major, she doesn’t see a notebook in her future. “If I end up needing to do a ton more typing in college than I do now,” Annette said, “I might get a wireless keyboard.”

**** iA Writer Is A Solid No-distraction Writing Tool <http://www.macworld.com/article/164543/2011/12/ia_writer_is_a_solid_no_distraction_writing_tool.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Kirk McElhearn, Macworld

If the app’s minimalism agrees with you, you may find that the Mac version’s similar simplicity frees your mind from the many confusing features in traditional word processors, and the many distractions on your Mac, letting you do what a tool like this is designed for: writing.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Kickstarted: How One Company Is Revolutionizing Product Development <http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/20/2644358/kickstarter-success-product-development-revolution>
Thomas Ricker, The Verge

The million dollar idea. We’ve all had it at one time or another, with very few luxuries to show for our sudden fits of brilliance. Unfortunately, it’s not the idea but its execution that yields rewards. Faced with the daunting prospect of applying for a bank loan or seeking private investors, most would-be inventors wither against the obstacles, shrinking into the comfort and stability of their nine-to-five lives and disappearing into what T. S. Eliot called the shadow between conception and creation. Never pursuing their passion. Never taking a risk to bring something new into this world.

Enter Kickstarter, a thoroughly modern twist on the concepts of commerce and patronage; an approach so alluring that it now counts over one million people who have combined to pledge more than $100 million to fund ideas both big and small, serious and whimsical, since it launched in April of 2009. Kickstarter projects span the creative fields of art, comics, dance, design, fashion, film, food, games, music, photography, publishing, theater and technology. It’s this latter category that interests us and the savvy venture capitalists, manufacturers, and retailers who regularly monitor Kickstarter’s pages in the hope of getting a jump on the next big thing.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** If Cave Men Told Jokes, Would Humans Laugh? <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/books/how-to-think-like-a-neandertal-by-thomas-wynn-and-frederick-l-coolidge-review.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Katherine Bouton, New York Times

You may think you know someone who thinks like a Neanderthal. You may even think you know someone who is a Neanderthal, or at least part one. Chances are you’re right about both. Webster’s definition of Neanderthal is unflattering: “suggesting a cave man in appearance or behavior.” (The definition of cave man: “One who acts in a rough primitive manner, esp. toward women.”)

But Thomas Wynn (an anthropologist) and Frederick L. Coolidge (a psychologist), both at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, offer a very different picture in “How to Think Like a Neandertal,” their engaging reconstruction of Neanderthal life.

**** In Madrid’s Heart, Park Blooms Where A Freeway Once Blighted <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/arts/design/in-madrid-even-maybe-the-bronx-parks-replace-freeways.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all>
Michael Kimmelman, New York Times

All around the world, highways are being torn down and waterfronts reclaimed; decades of thinking about cars and cities reversed; new public spaces created.



SingaporeSurf
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**** His Life Is In The Hands Of A Few Men <http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/his-life-is-in-the-hands-of-a-few-men/>
Andrew Loh

Words fail me when I know that the only issue which matters to the Cabinet is not the life of a young man (Vui Kong was 19 when he was arrested in 2007), but the dubious claim of deterrence which the mandatory death penalty is suppose to serve – a claim which many have debunked and disproved.

If Vui Kong is hanged, I can only conclude that the Cabinet is an unfeeling one – that its claim to want a compassionate society is nothing but hot air coming out of the chimney of political vents.

**** Top-flight Singapore <http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/sc-trav-1227-business-class-20111227,0,4381728.story>
Josh Noel, Chicago Tribune

A hotel executive recently told me that flying Singapore Airlines is so pleasant, losing a bag became a positive experience. Airline staff apologized profusely, delivered the bag within a few hours and gave him a free flight.

It made him want Singapore Airlines to lose another of his bags.

**** 新加坡黄金区大厦淹水 业者和政府部门各执一词 <http://www.nanyangpost.com/news/singapore/8201.html>
南洋视界

烈大厦管理层发言人说，淹水是因为地下排水的史丹福沟渠满溢造成的。但公用事业局坚称，淹水是因为雨太大，大厦的水泵排水不够快。

公用事业局昨天在一份文告中说，烈大厦的情况主要是因为长时间的大雨，直接下到露天的地下一层平台。“持续三小时大量的雨水可能超过了大厦水泵的排水量。”

但是，烈大厦发言人反驳说，大厦的3.3KW的水泵，每分钟可排水相当于15个浴缸的水，并排入史丹福沟渠中。但史丹福沟渠当时满溢了。

**** Contact Singapore Not Following “Singaporeans First”? <http://www.icedwater.com/contact-singapore-not-following-singaporeans-first/>
Icedwater

**** 我的住家又淹水了 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl111228_007.shtml>
佘金注, 联合早报

滨海湾蓄水池建成后不久，去年7月就发生了前所未有的乌节路大淹水，周围的其他地区也不能幸免，包括我家就淹到屋子内大约0.7米高，过后又连续几次小淹。大约一年，再没什么严重水患，但最近又小淹了。

**** 道歉比解释更真诚 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl111228_004.shtml>
陶杰, 联合早报

有的时候，解释给人的感觉就是不敢承担责任，或者是推诿责任。或许是政府觉得一旦道歉在先，会给百姓的感觉是此事政府有责任，是政府的不作为所致，为此而影响政府的威信，其实不然。不管发生什么事情，只要是与民生有关的责任，政府第一时间出来都应该是道歉在先，解释在后，道歉不仅不会抹黑政府，相反会让百姓感觉到政府的担当和富有责任感。因为道歉比解释更真诚。

**** The Fiasco That Distracted Us From The Bigger SMRT Fiasco <http://siewkumhong.blogspot.com/2011/12/fiasco-that-distracted-us-from-bigger.html>
Siew Kum Hong

**** Troubled Waters Over Liat Towers As Management, PUB Disagree <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_749440.html>
Grace Chua, Straits Times

The management of Liat Towers and national water agency PUB do not see eye to eye on how last Friday's heavy rain turned the building's basement into a pond.

**** PUB And Liat Towers "Ponding" Over Brown Water <http://socialpr.blogspot.com/2011/12/pub-and-liat-towers-ponding-over-brown.html?m=1>
Aaron Koh, Small steps for Social PR

**** Foreigner Accused Of Violence Allowed To Leave S'pore But Chee Cannot <http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/5087-foreigner-accused-of-violence-allowed-to-leave-spore-but-chee-cannot>
Singapore Democratic Party

How did it come to this: An accused facing charges of violent assault who is a well-to-do foreigner and therefore a flight-risk is allowed to leave the country whereas a Singaporean who is made a bankrupt by his political opponents and has every reason to remain in Singapore is not?

**** MOE’s Revision Of Sexuality Education <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/12/moe-revision-of-sexuality-education/>
Yap Kim Hao, The Online Citizen

The teaching of abstinence alone is not the practical answer and this is a historical lesson that we have learnt. Information about contraception is the realistic approaach to prevent the rise of sexually transmitted diseases.

The revision by MOE of sexuality education in our educational institutions should not regress to past practices but proceed forward through contraception to a more healthy future for all regardless of religious affiliation and cultural conditions.

**** Acts Of Silencing Large And Small <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/acts-of-silencing-large-and-small/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread

This pattern of our own government so readily resorting to silencing makes doing the same by individuals and smaller private groups seem more acceptable, normative even. I think it is a danger we should more clearly recognise.

**** Know When To Draw The Line For GDP Growth <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC111228-0000108/Know-when-to-draw-the-line-for-GDP-growth>
Tan Chi Wei, Today

It is important to note that GDP figures do not reveal the distribution of wealth and income. This means some people could make a lot of money while others hardly make ends meet. A rising GDP still could be accompanied by rising poverty.

**** Prices Of Tiong Bahru Pre-war Homes Surge <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1173750/1/.html>
Ng Puay Leng, Channel NewsAsia

Thanks to a new breed of indie retail shops and coffee houses, the 20 blocks of pre-war conserved flats have attracted renewed interest from home buyers and this has pushed up home prices in the area by about 50 percent over the last two years.

**** Singapore Press Says Yahoo! ‘Deliberately’ Committed Plagiarism <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-28/singapore-press-says-yahoo-used-news-content-without-permission.html>
Shamim Adam And Andrea Tan, Bloomberg

“These acts of infringement were committed by Yahoo to direct and maximize traffic to its website in order to drive up its page views and advertising revenue,” Singapore Press said today. “This was not done for the public interest, as claimed by Yahoo, but instead in furtherance of its own vested financial interest.”

**** SMRT Secures Track Claws <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1173755/1/.html>
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

In its latest update following the two train disruptions this month, operator SMRT said it has completed securing the claws along all underground tracks on both the North-South and East-West Lines.

**** Authorities Bird-brained Over Crows, Pigeons And Mynahs <http://everythingalsocomplain.com/2011/12/28/authorities-bird-brained-over-crows-pigeons-and-mynahs/>
Everything Also Complain




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