[MyAppleMenu] Jul 18, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** The FCPX Fiasco <http://www.thomas-fitzgerald.net/2011/07/17/the-fcpx-fiasco/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ThomasFitzgeraldnet+%28thomas+fitzgerald.net%29>
Thomas Fitzgerald

**** For Me, iPod Touch Still Does The Trick <http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_18478594?source=rss>
Mike Cassidy, San Jose Mercury News

The point here is not that we don't need big thinkers innovating in big ways. The fabulous leaps ahead in technology, the unveiling of innovations no one has even dreamed of, are vital to Silicon Valley. But the latest inventory of my own favorite technology has convinced me that technology evolution is every bit as important as technology revolution.

**** Avid To Apple: Thank You, Thank You, Thank You <http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/07/17/avid-to-apple-thank-you-thank-you-thank-you.aspx>
Dan Radovsky, The Motley Fool

**** New Apps Lost In Apple App Avalanche <http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffmcmahon/2011/07/17/new-apps-lost-in-apple-app-avalance/?>
Jeff McMahon, Forbes

So many mobile applications are being developed—especially for Apple‘s iPhone—that deserving apps are languishing unnoticed in the App Store, according to app developers who gathered in Chicago Thursday.

“Discoverability is a big problem in the App Store,” said Ashish Rangnekar of Benchprep, a Chicago startup whose app helps students study for admissions exams like the SAT and GRE.

**** Is The Desktop Having An Identity Crisis? <http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/38047/?ref=rss&a=f>
Christopher Mims, Technology Review

Apple is widely expected to unveil a major update this week to OS X Lion, its operating system for desktop and laptop computers. Microsoft, meanwhile, is working on an even bigger overhaul of Windows, with a version called Windows 8.

Both new operating systems reflect a tectonic shift in personal computing. They incorporate elements from mobile operating systems alongside more conventional desktop features. But demos of both operating systems suggest that users could face a confusing mishmash of design ideas and interaction methods.

**** Why An Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Subscription Makes Sense <http://www.macworld.com/article/161047/2011/07/cs55pro.html>
Pamela Pfiffner, Macworld

Think of it this way: You buy a bicycle as your daily means of transportation around town—with it you visit friends, run errands, make deliveries, and so on. One weekend you decide to take a break by going to a cabin in the countryside. Are you going to buy a car for that one weekend? No, you'll rent a car. That's what the Adobe CS5.5 subscription plan is like.

**** Ownership Is The Way To Go With Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 <http://www.macworld.com/article/161029/2011/07/cs55own.html>
David Blatner, Macworld

I applaud Adobe’s decision to offer subscriptions to some of their software because it offers additional options to customers. I don’t doubt I’ll enjoy visiting Adobe’s “library” from time to time; but when it comes to using the software I love, I want to own it, not work on borrowed time.

**** Tagging And Restricting Movies <http://www.macworld.com/article/161183/2011/07/tag_and_restrict.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

**** Patina <http://brooksreview.net/2011/07/patina/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooksReview+%28The+Brooks+Review%29>
Ben Brooks, The Brook Review

It’s an odd relationship to have: I like the end result of a well worn device that shows the life it has had, but I don’t like the minor nicks and scratches that it takes to get to that point.

**** Time Tracker 1.3.13 <http://www.macworld.com/article/160638/2011/07/timetracker1.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Brendan Wilhide, Macworld



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** In The East Village, Waiting For The Wrecking Ball <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/nyregion/in-the-east-village-waiting-for-the-wrecking-ball.html?_r=3&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all>
Cara Buckley, New York Times

Eleven Second Avenue was squat, ugly and three stories tall. Its neighbor, 9 Second Avenue, was a five-story tenement. They sat next to each other on the west side of Second Avenue, between Houston and East First Streets. Their walls were crumbling, their windows were gone, and squatters and addicts had strewn rotting garbage and filth everywhere. But Ellen Stewart, whose La MaMa Experimental Theater Club was on its way to making her a legend in New York, happened upon one of the buildings and saw home.

**** Books And Other Fetish Objects <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/opinion/sunday/17gleick.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
James Gleick, New York Times

I got a real thrill in December 1999 in the Reading Room of the Morgan Library in New York when the librarian, Sylvie Merian, brought me, after I had completed an application with a letter of reference and a photo ID, the first, oldest notebook of Isaac Newton. First I was required to study a microfilm version. There followed a certain amount of appropriate pomp. The notebook was lifted from a blue cloth drop-spine box and laid on a special padded stand. I was struck by how impossibly tiny it was — 58 leaves bound in vellum, just 2 3/4 inches wide, half the size I would have guessed from the enlarged microfilm images. There was his name, “Isacus Newton,” proudly inscribed by the 17-year-old with his quill, and the date, 1659.

**** The Price Of Typos <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/the-price-of-typos/>
Virginia Heffernan, New York Times

Some readers like to see portraits of authors they admire, study their personal histories or hear them read aloud. I like to know whether an author can spell. Nabokov spelled beautifully. Fitzgerald was crummy at spelling, bedeviled by entry-level traps like “definate.” Bad spellers, of course, can be sublime writers and good spellers punctilious duds. But it’s still intriguing that Fitzgerald, for all his gifts, didn’t perceive the word “finite” in definite, the way good spellers automatically do. Did this oversight color his impression of infinity? Infinaty?



SingaporeSurf
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**** Tan Jee Say The Master Tactician <http://singstatistician.blogspot.com/2011/07/tan-jee-say-master-tactician.html>
Thoughts Of A Singapore Statistician

Mr Tan Jee Say is therefore banking on the PEC’s possible secret leanings to get the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) which he probably would not be able to get under normal circumstances.

If the PEC approves Mr Tan Jee Say’s application, there will be tremendous consequences for the future of the Singapore Presidency. This is because they would have set an important precedent for future Presidential Elections.

**** PAP Govt : We Can't Run Public Transport Efficiently.... <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2011/07/pap-govt-we-cant-run-public-transport.html>
Diary Of A Singapore Mind

If you can drastically improve the quality of life of Singaporeans by accepting some operational losses that can be recovered by using the massive gains in the COE system,  you can create much more "net happiness" and lower the demand for cars...an aspiration that cannot be met for most families in Singapore. While such schemes using cross-subsidies violate PAP's ideology, the large income gap and stagnant wages breaks many of PAP's "self-reliant pay for yourself" schemes. The PAP has to overcome its ideological constraints to begin solving problems faced by Singaporeans otherwise they will face greater uncertainty in the next elections.

**** Have Social Enterprise Run Transport System <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_691660.html>
Patrick Tan, Straits Times

Former deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee was instrumental in the setting up of several social enterprises to take care of the needs of poor Singaporeans, because commercial enterprises were not able to do so. Today, Singapore has some of the best and most successful social enterprises in the world, for example, NTUC FairPrice and NTUC Income.

As the public transport system serves the majority of the population, it is important for the government to be in the driver's seat and be in control of the situation.

**** Why Fare Adjustment Formula Should Be Reviewed <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_691658.html>
Kang Sing Fong, Straits Times

The government and the Public Transport Council should be mindful that public transport companies do not operate in a truly "open" market. In many ways, they have a "captive" market as the commuting public does not really have much choice. Thus, the KPIs should include "social responsibility goals" instead of giving in to shareholder primacy.

**** How To Trust “Kee Chiu” Chan? <http://atans1.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/how-to-trust-kee-chiu-chan/>
Thoughts Of A Cynical Investor

Coming back to Andrew Loh’s quote at the beginning of this post, my problem is ”How can I trust someone that is only willing to enpower me if I do the things that his superiors want me to do?”

**** High Speed Train Will Move Economy <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/7/18/focus/9120536&sec=focus>
Esa Adam, The Star

It is time that the government revived the High Speed Rail (HSR) service proposal to connect Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. In fact an HSR service should link Singapore and Butterworth in Penang.

I think an HSR project will benefit Malaysia more than Singapore if we can align the route to take in the denser populated towns in Malacca and Johor.

**** Elderly In Foreign Nursing Homes – Something Is Not Right <http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/elderly-in-foreign-nursing-homes-something-is-not-right/>
Andrew Loh

I know the problems are not easy to solve but I do feel that we must start an open discussion about this and not pretend that it doesn’t exist or worse, that the solution is to have these elderly folks moved overseas. If this is what we think is the solution, then there is no point in teaching our young about filial piety.

While dollars and cents matter, we should also recognise that dignity and compassion do too.

**** Back To Square One? Singapore Or The PAP <http://pijitailai.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-square-one-singapore-or-pap.html>
Piji Tailai

**** The Forgotten Shores <http://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/the-forgotten-shores/>
The Long And Winding Road

Lying in the (somewhat) remote and relatively undeveloped north-western corner of Singapore is a world that we seem to have forgotten.

**** We Need Leaders Not Just Politicians <http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4899-we-need-leaders-not-just-politicians>
Singapore Democratic Party

Civil society and NGOs know that freedom of speech and freedom of assembly is a potent tool in their work to bring about a free and fair election system without which nothing changes. Just as significantly, Malaysian opposition parties know that they must do the necessary, not just the popular.

In Singapore we, too, need people who will make the sacrifices, not just parliamentarians who go along with the autocratic system. We, too, need leaders not just politicians.

**** Talk Vs Action <http://singaporemd.blogspot.com/2011/07/talk-vs-action.html>
Singapore M.D.

I'm glad that the ST's original feature - which suggests that money is the predominant draw to private practice - was quickly rebutted.

**** KTM Greenery To Be Preserved: Khaw <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_691868.html>
Fiona Low, Straits Times

Speaking to reporters after the walk, Mr Khaw said there were many possibilities for housing development in the areas currently occupied by the tracks.

'But we will do it in a way where we can still preserve this green spine. I'm quite sure it can be done and it will be very nice. We can have urban development but still maintain the greenery,' he said.

**** Myth 229 - The Myth Of Objectivity <http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2011/07/myth-229-myth-of-objectivity.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News

**** PM Lee: Only Lip Service Over Pledges At Swearing-in Ceremony? <http://rogerpoh.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/pm-lee-only-lip-service-over-pledges-at-swearing-in-ceremony/>
Spotlight On Singapore

When citizens cannot even gather peacefully to drink coffee and enjoy the right to privacy without the police turning up, PM Lee’s pledge about a fair and just society sounds hollow isn’t it?

PM Lee must realize the public have not gone into hibernation mode but are watching his every step to see if he carries out his pledges.

**** Education Arrested <http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2011/07/education-arrested.html>
Singapore Notes

Heng blindly defended the rogue police, instead of taking the side of his young charges. That's hardly the ingredient of a good value system that boast of "care and concern for others, values of integrity, values of resilience." But then that's so typical of this breed of civil servants, perpetually sticking up for their own kind, and never own up to their obvious failings.

**** Khaw Will 'Be Mindful' When It Comes To Releasing Information <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110719-0000048/Khaw-will-be-mindful-when-it-comes-to-releasing-information>
Ong Dai Lin, Today

**** No Reason For Sharp Drop In BTO Prices: Khaw <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_691982.html>
Daryl Chin, Straits Times

It is wrong to compare the prices of the latest Build-to-Order (BTO) flats - offered last week - and those launched in May and conclude that Housing Board's prices for new flats are coming down.

National development minister Khaw Boon Wan said this yesterday and added that there is no reason for a sharp decline in prices unless market sentiments dip.