[MyAppleMenu] Feb 2, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Cannot Delete Or Open Specific Files That Are 'In Use' <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20030253-263.html>
Topher Kessler, CNET

**** Mac Basics: Closing Windows Versus Closing Programs <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20030236-263.html>
Topher Kessler, CNET

**** GadgetTrak App Tracks Stolen iPhones <http://www.macworld.com/article/157594/2011/02/gadgettrak25.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Miller, Macworld

The updated app adds a couple of new features. It now supports cameras; if you have an iPhone 4, it'll use both front- and back-facing cameras, so you can take a picture of the perp as well as his surroundings. It uses push notifications, so you can send the miscreant a message. And you can set up an e-mail account to which all of the tracking details will be sent. 

**** Instapaper To Adopt Revamped Payment Sharing Service <http://www.macworld.com/article/157583/2011/02/readability_project_instapaper.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Chartier, Macworld

**** Caffeine 1.1.1 <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/805301/review/caffeine_111.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Frakes, Macworld

Caffeine is useful when you’re watching a movie or online video, giving a presentation, or looking at a complex document: Instead of having to go to the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences to turn off all screen-dimming, screen-saver, and sleep options, you just click Caffeine’s systemwide menu-bar icon to activate a “sleepless” state.

**** Apple Changes The In-app Purchase Game <http://www.macworld.com/article/157585/2011/02/inapppurchase.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Jason Snell, Macworld

But it turns out that Sony may have been a canary in the proverbial coal mine.

**** Seashore Review <http://www.macworld.co.uk/macsoftware/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=3258440&olo=rss>
Karl Hodge, Macworld

Seashore’s not perfect. You’re stuck with GIMP’s workflow which demands that you create a new document at start-up. But, it’s a vast improvement over its parent and much better than many commercial budget tools.

**** How To Use Your Mac To Create A Table Seating Plan <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/how-to-use-your-mac-to-create-a-table-seating-plan>
Jeffrey Mincey, Mac360

Yes, Perfect TablePlan is a one-trick pony, and not an app the average Mac user will need every day. But if you plan events and seating and guest tracking is important, this app is worth a look.

**** iPhone App Strips Out Spam To Turn Twitter Into A News Reader <http://mashable.com/2011/01/31/smartr/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29>
Jennifer Van Grove, Mashable

Smartr for iPhone, which comes from natural language processing startup Factyle, gathers all the tweets in your Twitter timeline and determines which of them have meaningful content. The app then fetches the web pages housed within tweets and optimizes the content — text, images and video — for iPhone.

**** How To Make Free iPhone Ringtones On A Mac <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/how-to-make-free-iphone-ringtones-on-a-mac>
Alexis Kayhill, Mac360

**** iRejected! How Apple Took Nine Weeks To Arbitrarily Reject Our App <http://blog.forumwarz.com/2011/02/01/irejected-how-apple-took-nine-weeks-to-arbitrarily-reject-our-app/>
Forumwarz

In other words, after nine long weeks, Apple invented a policy to reject our game.

Why was it rejected? Because, apparently, Apple can’t take a joke.

**** Apple Confirms Verizon iPhone Pre-order <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/02/02/apple-confirms-verizon-iphone-pre-order/>
Dave Caolo, TUAW

Coming as no surprise, Apple has issued a press release stating that the Verizon iPhone 4 will be available to qualified Verizon Wireless customers for pre-order on Thursday, February 3rd via the online Apple Store and Verizon Wireless online.

**** Apple iPhone Games For Children Rack Up Shocking Bills <http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2011/02/for_sezer_and_lorin_ulku.html>
Cecilia Kang, Washington Post

Tobias Egede Feldt started a Facebook page called "Ban Credit Card Bait Apps on Apple Appstore" two days ago after his two children, ages 4 and 6, downloaded the free game Smurf Village but racked up charges buying berries on the game. Games targeted to kids, particularly, should be more clearly labeled, he said.

**** Two New Jersey Apple Stores To Open For Non-retail Activity On Sundays <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/02/02/two-new-jersey-apple-stores-to-open-for-non-retail-activity-on-s/>
Kelly Hodgkins, TUAW

To work around these Sunday commerce restrictions, the Apple stores will be open for non-sale activities such as customer training sessions and Genius Bar visits.

**** Apple To Crack Down On Newspaper, Magazine App Payments <http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/02/02/apple-to-crack-down-on-newspaper-magazine-app-payments/>
Russell Adams, Wall Street Journal

Developers of magazine and newspaper apps have received notice from Apple Inc. that beginning on March 31, any app that does not take payments through its iTunes store will be rejected.

While the rule is not new, strict enforcement of it is. Apple’s push to crack down on developers may be a reflection of how important these revenues have become for Apple.

**** News Corp. Launches The Daily News Magazine For iPad <http://www.macworld.com/article/157609/2011/02/thedaily.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Philip Michaels, Macworld

News Corp. on Wednesday took the wraps off The Daily, its national news publication built specifically for the iPad. The media giant is touting its new offering as the first national daily news publication built from the ground up for Apple’s tablet, while Apple is using The Daily’s introduction to usher in a new form of subscription billing for iOS apps.

**** Apple Introduces Paid Subscriptions For iOS Apps <http://www.macworld.com/article/157610/2011/02/apple_ios_paid_subscriptions.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Chartier, Macworld

The Daily—and soon other publications, according to Cue—can charge subscription fees for their content over a certain period, such as a week or month. These charges can be set up to auto-renew, with your iTunes account automatically being charged no more than 24 hours before the expiration date of your current subscription period. Your auto-renewal will be disabled, however, if a publication raises its subscription price. If you opt to begin paying for a subscription during a free trial, billing will begin immediately, not at the end of the trial period. And you’ll be able to manage all your subscriptions through a new section in your iTunes account.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Phantoms Of The Mind, No Longer Shocking But No Less Haunting <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/books/02book.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Dwight Garner, New York Times

Judith Guest’s 1976 novel, “Ordinary People,” and the 1980 film adaptation starring Timothy Hutton, were groundbreaking because they underscored Ms. Guest’s title. Mental illness could occur in the most ordinary families, these works suggested. It could happen to anyone.

The appeal of the Irish journalist Patrick Cockburn’s distressing new memoir, written with his son Henry, is quite the opposite, because the large Cockburn family is completely extraordinary.

**** The Dead Chipmunk <http://believermag.com/issues/201102/?read=article_bachelder>
Chris Bachelder, The Believer

An interrogation into the mechanisms of jokes.

**** Astaire The Artist, Even In Blackface <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/arts/dance/30astaire.html?_r=1>
Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

On the occasion of the reissues of the two most indispensable books about Astaire, it’s worth taking another look at “Bojangles.” Though blackface certainly often expressed racist sentiment — I shudder to recall the TV “Black-and-White Minstrel Show” of my youth — it was often used subversively. Here Astaire is subverting racist caricature to celebrate the black tradition of tap dance.

**** Cracking The Scratch Lottery Code <http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/ff_lottery/all/1>
Jonah Lehrer, Wired

The apparent randomness of the scratch ticket was just a facade, a mathematical lie. And this meant that the lottery system might actually be solvable, just like those mining samples.

**** Does This Rabbit Taste Like Tires? <http://www.slate.com/id/2283223/?from=rss>
Catherine Price, Slate

Road kill: It's what's for dinner.

**** A Discourse On Emerging Tectonic Visualization And The Effects Of Materiality On Praxis <http://www.slate.com/id/2283172/?from=rss>
Witold Rybczynski, Slate

Or an essay on the ridiculous way architects talk.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Man Files Court Papers Alleging Discrimination <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110202-0000216/Man-files-court-papers-alleging-discrimination>
Leong Wee Keat, Today

The summons was filed by lawyer M Ravi on behalf of Mr Mohammed Alias Abdullah, 38.

Mr Mohammed told reporters on Monday that he acted after reading an excerpt from the book "Hard truths to keep Singapore going" and cited the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act.

**** Class C Wards Are Highly Affordable <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_630740.html>
Karen Tan, Ministry Of Health, Straits Times

To keep health-care costs low, our policy is to prescribe standard drugs and cost-effective implants for our subsidised patients. However, where the patients have expressed a strong preference for such non-standard items despite knowing that they will have to pay for them, we will meet their requests.

**** Where Is Home Now For Me? <http://darryl-giggs.livejournal.com/25227.html>
Babolat

I remember the bus rides home after school, where traffic was relatively smooth, buses were not always packed like sardines and when I could actually get a seat in the MRT train. It's really hard to explain that nostalgic feeling, but if you grew up in the 1990s, you'll understand what I'm talking about. People weren't always friendly in Singapore, I guess, but while you wouldn't expect anyone to greet you on the streets (like in Western countries), you also wouldn't expect the rudeness that is so prevalent today in the Singaporean society (take a MRT train ride during peak period if you want to know what I'm talking about).

**** PKMS Calls For Mr Lee Kuan Yew To Be Investigated For Sedition <http://www.temasekreview.com/2011/01/29/pkms-condemned-mr-lee-kuan-yews-statements/>
Temasek Review

In a press statement forwarded to Temasek Review (TR), the PKMS “expressed its disappointment with Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s many statements in his new book Hard Truth."

The statement also alleged that Mr Lee Kuan Yew had committed an offence under the Sedition Act and should be dealt with in accordance with the law.

**** MOM Report- Estimated 500,000 Earn Less Than $1,200 Or Are Unemployed <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/02/mom-report-estimated-500000-earn-less-than-1200-or-are-unemployed/>
Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen

**** æŽæ€»ç†ï¼šç¤¾ä¼šå˜åŒ–å¿«é€Ÿä»¤å¥½äº›äººæ— æ‰€é€‚ä»Ž 政府会处理“疏离感”问题 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp110202_018.shtml>
联合早报

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**** PAP Kindergartens Charge Parents For Being Late <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4550-pap-kindergartens-charge-parents-for-being-late>
Singapore Democratic Party

**** Rising Singapore Wealth Means Family Dinner Becomes Bali Break <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-01/rising-singapore-wealth-means-family-dinner-becomes-bali-break.html>
Shamim Adam And Ron Harui, BusinessWeek

Outbound travel during the New Year period is expected to be 10 percent higher than in 2010, according to Robert Khoo, chief executive officer of Singapore’s National Association of Travel Agents.

“People feel better about their jobs, they have income and they have discretionary spending,” said Song Seng-Wun, an economist at CIMB Research Pte. in Singapore. “The middle class are finding that they’re having more money in their pockets.”

**** Battlestar Galactica Roller Coaster To Reopen On Feb 21 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1108444/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia

After almost a year of being grounded, the world's tallest duelling roller coaster, the Battlestar Galactica, will resume operations on February 21.

It was shut down in March last year, just weeks after a grand opening of the theme park, after a failure had been detected on one of the seats during routine checks.

**** The Third Chee Soon Juan <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/02/the-third-chee-soon-juan/>
Joshua Chiang, The Online Citizen