[MyAppleMenu] Jan 26, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Interview: Marco Arment <http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2011/01/25/interview_marco_arment.html>
Rands In Repose

"I’d find stuff all day at work that I didn’t have time to read, so I made Instapaper as a simple, one-click link-saving service for myself to time-shift links from the work day to my train commute."

**** Drive Genius 3.1 Adds Live Defrag <http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/01/25/drive-genius-3-1-adds-live-defrag/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loopinsight%2FKqJb+%28The+Loop%29>
Jim Dalrymple, The Loop

**** Default File-sharing Behaviors In OS X <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20029511-263.html>
Topher Kessler, CNET

**** Verizon Dishes On iPhone Hotspot Pricing <http://www.macworld.com/article/157402/2011/01/verizon_iphone_mobile_hotspot_plans.html>
David Chartier, Macworld

Verizon iPhone owners will be able to take advantage of the 3G wireless hotspot feature for an extra $20 per month on top of the iPhone’s required voice and data plans—that’s the same price that applies to current Verizon smartphone owners.

**** Verizon To Offer Unlimited iPhone Data Plan For A Limited Time <http://www.macworld.com/article/157390/2011/01/verizon_iphone_data_plan.html>
David Chartier, Macworld

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon COO Lowell McAdam confirmed that it will offer its $30 unlimited data plan during the launch of the iPhone—but the plan's days are numbered. McAdam did not specify a cutoff date for offering the plan, but he reiterated statements the company made in June 2010 that Verizon will soon follow AT&T’s lead and drop unlimited data plans altogether in favor of a tiered pricing model.

**** New Apple Ad: iPad Is Iconic <http://www.9to5mac.com/49101/new-apple-ad-ipad-is-iconic?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+9To5Mac-MacAllDay+%289+to+5+Mac+-+Apple+Intelligence%29>
Mark Gurman, 9 To 5 Mac

**** iOS 4.3 Cometh: First iOS 4.3 Video Airplay-Capable App Gets Approved <http://appadvice.com/appnn/2011/01/ios-43-video-airplaycapable-apps-approved/>
Alexander Vaughn, AppAdvice

While iOS 4.3 hasn’t been released yet, it seems that Apple is already allowing iOS 4.3 AirPlay-enabled apps into the App Store. The first of them, StreamToMe just made it to the store and allows users to stream video to an Apple TV that was sent from a computer to your device.

**** Cases That Fit Verizon's iPhone 4 May Be In Short Supply <http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/01/25/verizon.iphone.cases/index.html?hpt=T2>
Mark Milian, CNN

A shortage of cases for the Verizon iPhone could be a problem, and not just for people looking to protect their shiny new devices from accidental damage. The cases also can improve cell reception.

It's not clear how stocked Apple Stores will be February 10 with cases that fit the Verizon iPhone. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

**** Apple Revamps Its Public Website Using HTML5 <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/01/26/apple_revamps_its_public_website_using_html5.html>
Daniel Eran Dilger, AppleInsider

Apple has relaunched its entire website with a new design using HTML5, adding a darker, glossy navigation bar and speedy new animated page layouts for Mac and iPod pages. 

**** Bare Bones Software Yojimbo 3.0.1 <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/710244/review/yojimbo_3.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Stuart Gripman, Macworld

If you don’t yet have a place to store your digital odds and ends, and don’t require two-way synchronization with a mobile device, Yojimbo is a very strong option.

**** Yojimbo For iPad <http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=710243&lsrc=rss_main>
Stuart Gripman, Macworld

Yojimbo users who travel with an iPad will want to pick up Yojimbo for iPad—the required Yojimbo 3 for Mac is a free upgrade after all. Those who aren’t invested in Yojimbo should give it serious consideration. Both the iOS and Mac apps are polished and stable. If you need the flexibility of bi-directional synchronization, you’ll have to either look elsewhere or wait and see if a future revision brings it.

**** The Easy Way To Check Your Mac’s Logs Without Fear <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/the-easy-way-to-check-your-macs-logs-without-fear>
Ron McElfresh, Mac360

**** Witch Window Manager On Sale For 48 Hours <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/01/26/witch-window-manager-on-sale-for-48-hours/>
TJ Luoma, TUAW

Witch shows you not just which applications are running, but it also shows you all of the different windows that are running in those applications.

**** iMedia Browser Update Adds Flickr Browsing <http://www.macworld.com/article/157413/2011/01/imediabrowser2.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Philip Michaels, Macworld

**** Developers Hail Mac App Store Successes <http://www.macworld.com/article/157417/2011/01/mac_app_store.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Ben Camm-Jones, Macworld UK

Three weeks after the Mac App Store opened its virtual doors, there are plenty of success stories to be found in the developer community.

**** Macworld Industry Forum: Bill Atkinson On Interface Design <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/01/26/macworld-industry-forum-bill-atkinson-on-interface-design/>
David Winograd, TUAW

Not so long time ago, Atkinson noted, users were quite separate from the computing experience. UI design evolved to the now familiar the desktop metaphor, then stopped. This is going to change with mobile devices.

**** Macworld Industry Forum: Jason Snell On How Apple Does It <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/01/26/macworld-industry-forum-jason-snell-on-how-apple-does-it/>
David Winograd, TUAW

At the Macworld 2011 industry forum this morning, Jason Snell, the editorial director of Macworld magazine, talked about "how Apple does it." His first point was that Apple is not just Steve Jobs. Steve created a great management team that just doesn't get enough press. Regardless of what happens with Steve, Snell says, Apple will do fine. 



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Nixon In China, The Dinner, Is Recreated <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/dining/26nixon.html?ref=dining>
Florence Fabricant, New York Times

Despite the avid global attention to the meal, the menu was “not that exciting,” Mr. Tong said. “In those days the Chinese did not know what Americans liked so they served familiar things like roast pork and Chinese sausages, which are not usual banquet dishes,” he said. “There were two shrimp dishes even though shrimp are not typical of Beijing cuisine, because they heard that Americans like shrimp.” Also on the menu were cucumber slices, tomato slices, sliced roast duck with pineapple, and bread and butter. The beverages included “boiled water (cold).”

But there were also dishes like shark’s fin soup, black mushrooms with mustard greens, spongy bamboo shoots in egg-white consommé, and fish fillets in pickle wine sauce.

**** Letter (Not) From Davos <http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2011/01/letter-not-from-davos.html>
John Cassidy, New Yorker

It’s Davos week again, and we can expect the usual deluge of meaningless stories from journalists desperately trying to justify their presence at the annual Alpine shindig known as the World Economic Forum. If I were there, I’d be doing the same thing, but my invitation got lost in the mail. This year, sadly, I won’t get the chance to discuss over breakfast with Bono how to alleviate African poverty, stop in for a nightcap with Tim Geithner, who is leading the American delegation, or cavort on the dance floor at the Google party with the girlfriend of a minor Russian oligarch.

**** Word <http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article01251102.aspx>
Morgan Meis, The Smart Set

Just the very act of writing down a word tells us about who we really are and what it means to be the creatures we are. It is thus a spiritual act of the highest magnitude. 



SingaporeSurf
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**** Migrants' Stories Shed Light On Singapore's Dark Side <http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/T110125004253.htm>
Ayako Hirayama, Daily Yomiuri

As a rule in Singapore, migrant workers are not allowed to switch employers without returning to their native country and restarting the application process. But they are required to stay in the city-state when their cases are under investigation or in court. In these cases, they are permitted to work for a new employer under a temporary job scheme.

Unswayed by abuse and other ordeals, many migrant workers at the shelter look for new employment in Singapore.

**** Singapore's Growth Not So Rosy For Common Folk <http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/T110125005275.htm>
Ayako Hirayama, Daily Yomiuri

The surge of foreigners has created a backlash to the government's open-door policy. Local residents have increasingly voiced anxiety that migrant workers compete with them for jobs, housing and public transportation.

But despite such gestures on the part of the government, Singapore is still in need of cheap labor as commercial development is booming. Last year, huge casino resorts opened that reportedly cost more than 10 billion dollars to build, while numerous residential and other construction projects are well under way.

**** More Hard Truths About Education In Singapore <http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2011/01/more-hard-truths-about-education-in.html>
Singapore Notes

We know how "brand-name" schools end up with the graduate parents. 18 year old Wong Zheng Kai explained it clearly and patiently to the slow learner: "Hwa Chong's fees would be too taxing on my parents."

**** Conform Or Be Whitewashed <http://newnation.sg/top-story/conform-or-be-whitewashed/>
Syafiqah Omar, New Nation

Before they could even don their masks, however, the wall had already been cordoned off with a red tape. Confused, these artists then approached the park’s administrator, the National Youth Council, who told them that “the authorities have shut down the graffiti walls to prevent it from being used for political agendas.”

All the while, policemen in plainclothes watched them from afar.

**** Japan Is Causing Its Own Demise <http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/japan-is-causing-its-own-demise/>
Simon Black, Sovereign Man

It’s amazing how so many governments don’t get it… going out of their way to repel or even prevent talented foreigners from settling, as if the fundamental freedom to work hard and prosper is somehow derived from bloodlines, ethnicity, or irrelevant, invisible lines on a map.

**** Obstacles Remain For Human Rights Work <http://newnation.sg/current-affairs/obstacles-remain-for-human-rights-work-2/>
Xue Jianyue, New Nation

Despite some progress made, human rights activists have to contend with a bigger obstacle – restrictions from a government afraid of foreign interference in Singapore’s domestic affairs.

**** æ–°åŠ å¡å¯ä»¥å‘å°åŒ—å¸‚å­¦ä¹ ä»€ä¹ˆï¼Ÿ <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl110126_003.shtml>
李承璋, 联合早报

**** Policies That Are Anti Family <http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2011/01/policies-that-are-anti-family.html>
My Singapore News

Babies mean family and family support groups plus a social and economic system to support their growing up to be healthy and well balanced individuals. They need good homes and space to grow up too, without having to worry about the finances and high cost of living, education and medical expenses.

**** Possible Sign Of A Growing Class Divide? <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2011/01/26/possible-sign-of-a-growing-class-divide/>
Faris, Yahoo!

New statistics concerning the parental background of secondary school students in Singapore may be pointing to growing class divisions within society.

The data which was revealed by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Monday, showed parents of students from the top schools largely had higher levels of education than the parents of students from the neighbourhood schools.

**** Singapore Loansharks Hiring Foreign Thugs <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iOj-QdW08slwtLHuenefMsCafs1w?docId=CNG.68cec2fa0c33fd7141297bf4f1271b08.7a1>
AFP

Illegal money lending syndicates in Singapore are hiring more foreign thugs, most of them from Taiwan and Vietnam, to harass delinquent borrowers into paying up, police said Wednesday.

Assistant police commissioner Hoong Wee Teck, director of the Criminal Investigation Department, said loanshark syndicates "are mistaken if they think they can circumvent the law by bringing in foreign nationals to commit crime on their behalf."

**** MM Lee’s Comments On Muslims Draw Criticism <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2011/01/26/mm-lees-comments-on-muslims-draw-criticism/>
Ewen Boey, Yahoo!

**** Singapore – 'You Drop It, You Break It, Its Finished' <http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/sustainability-with-john-elkington/singapore-you-drop-sustainability-business>
John Elkington, The Guardian

Sometimes today's abnormal holds useful clues to tomorrow's normal. Singapore is very far from normal, something that Lee Kuan Yew, the city-state's prime minister from 1959 to 1990, is at pains to point out in his new book, Hard Truths. It's one of the most gripping and personal accounts of the thrills and spills of politics that I have read.