[MyAppleMenu] Mar 5, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Create Custom Alert Sounds For Your Mac <http://www.macworld.com/article/157724/2011/03/alert.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Chris McVeigh, Macworld

After awhile, Mac OS X’s alert sounds can be downright grating, as can many of the sounds you hear in Mail, iCal, and iChat. Happily, creating a custom alert sound and adding it to your system isn’t complicated—you just need to know what you’re doing.

**** Search For Files By Name <http://www.macworld.com/article/158303/2011/03/search_file_name.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

**** How To Use Your Mac Without A Mouse <http://www.macworld.com/article/157890/2011/03/mousefreemac.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Lex Friedman, Macworld

Becoming a mouse-avoiding keyboard junkie is a learnable skill; it requires practice and memorization—especially muscle memory. Everyone knows a few keyboard shortcuts (like Command-P for print, or Command-Q for quit). Mastering more, along with other efficient ways to control your Mac without reaching for the mouse, will help you get your work done faster, leaving more time for Angry Birds.

**** iOS 4.3 Brings A Handful Of New Features And New Headaches <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/03/04/ios-4-3-brings-a-handful-of-new-features-and-new-headaches/>
Chris Rawson, Macworld

Most of the big features you probably already know about, because Apple's described them. I'll walk you through those features now just to give you an idea of what you're in for when iOS 4.3 sees public release on March 11. Follow along onto the next page for a guided tour.

**** Vevo In, Netflix Out On iOS 4.3 AirPlay Update <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20039328-17.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
Don Reisinger, CNET

Music-video site Vevo is one of the few companies to acknowledge that it's ready to take advantage of the new AirPlay functionality. The company added support for the feature on Wednesday to its iPad and iPhone apps.

But unlike Vevo, Netflix doesn't see the benefit of adding support for Apple's new feature, and won't offer it in its iPhone or iPad apps, GigaOm reported yesterday.

**** NetNewsWire 4.0 Lite Debuts In Mac App Store <http://www.macworld.com/article/158359/2011/03/netnetwswirelite_4.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Dan Moren, Macworld

If you’ve considered dipping your toe into the world of RSS readers, but didn’t know where to start, you might want to investigate the latest offering from NewsGator. NetNewsWire Lite 4.0, a slimmed-down version of the venerable news reader, is now available in the Mac App Store as a free download.

**** Facing The MobileMe Calendar Upgrade <http://www.macworld.com/article/158367/2011/03/mobileme_calendar_upgrade.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Ted Landau, Macworld

My best advice at this point is to upgrade as soon as possible. Don’t wait until the last minute. Here are a few personal tips to assist in your transition.

**** First Look At Home-Sharing In iOS 4.3 <http://appadvice.com/appnn/2011/03/homesharing-ios-43/>
Alexander Vaughn, AppAdvice

**** How And Where To Buy An iPad 2 <http://www.macworld.com/article/158355/2011/03/ipadshopping.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Joel Mathis, Macworld

You may not be able to place an order for the iPad 2 until the new tablet arrives a week from Friday. But you will have a wider ranger of shopping options compared to what was available a year ago for the original iPad’s launch.

**** New App Provides A 360-Degree View <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/60024/?ref=technology>
Jennifer 8. Lee, New York Times

The effect is somewhat akin to being able to manipulate Google Streetview through tilting and moving the mobile device around, instead of using a mouse.

**** MacBook Pro Review (Early 2011) <http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/04/macbook-pro-review-early-2011/>
Nilay Patel, Engadget

Something tells us the next revision of the MacBook Pro will offer a more radical external redesign to go along with Lion, but that's a long ways off -- until then, this MacBook Pro represents the best blend of power, portability, and battery life we've come across to date. We'll see how the PC world responds with its Sandy Bridge systems soon enough.



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Armies Of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced By Cheaper Software <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/science/05legal.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
John Markoff, New York Times

Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, “e-discovery” software can analyze documents in a fraction of the time for a fraction of the cost. In January, for example, Blackstone Discovery of Palo Alto, Calif., helped analyze 1.5 million documents for less than $100,000.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Have It Your Way? Purist Chefs Won’t Have It! <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/nyregion/05puritans.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Diane Cardwell, New York Times

New York has spawned a breed of hard-line restaurants and cafes that are saying no. No to pouring takeout espressos, or grinding more than a pound of coffee at a time. No to taming the intensity of a magma-spicy dish. And most of all, no to the 21st-century conviction that everything can be accessorized to the customer’s taste.

**** The Billionaire Who Is Planning His 125th Birthday <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/magazine/06murdock-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Frank Bruni, New York Times

So that sore throat wasn’t just an irritant. It was a challenge to the whole gut-centered worldview on which his bid for extreme longevity rests. “I went back in my mind: what am I not eating enough of?” he told me. Definitely not fruits and vegetables: he crams as many as 20 of them, including pulverized banana peels and the ground-up rinds of oranges, into the smoothies he drinks two to three times a day, to keep his body brimming with fiber and vitamins. Probably not protein: he eats plenty of seafood, egg whites, beans and nuts to compensate for his avoidance of dairy, red meat and poultry, which are consigned to a list of forbidden foods that also includes alcohol, sugar and salt.

**** Godzilla In Mexico <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/05/roberto-bolano-godzilla-in-mexico?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Roberto Bolaño, The Guardian

**** Why Do Writers Abandon Novels? <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/books/review/Kois-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Dan Kois, New York Times

“A book itself threatens to kill its author repeatedly during its composition,” Michael Chabon writes in the margins of his unfinished novel “Fountain City” — a novel, he adds, that he could feel “erasing me, breaking me down, burying me alive, drowning me, kicking me down the stairs.” And so Chabon fought back: he killed “Fountain City” in 1992. What was to be the follow-up to his first novel, “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” instead was a black mark on his hard drive, five and a half years of work wasted.

**** City Of The Future: An Airport? <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/books/review/Powell-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Michael Powell, New York Times

Kasarda, a professor in the business school at the University of North Carolina who has consulted with four White House administrations and numerous cities and governments, believes that something very different from La Guardia is transforming our world: the gleaming “aerotropolis,” with a state-of-the-art airport at its center, surrounded by customized transportation links, fine restaurants, designer shopping and nearby corporate suburbs connecting workers umbilically to the global marketplace. The aerotropolis, he says, represents not just a redesign of travel but a vital new economic paradigm. From the United States to Holland to Dubai, no nation in this “frictionless” age of fast-paced and highly competitive trade can long survive without airport hub cities built to spec.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Retiring Army Chief To Enter Politics? <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110305-0000211/Retiring-army-chief-to-enter-politics?>
Leong Wee Keat, Today

News of the Chief of Army's early retirement has sparked talk that he may be fielded as a People's Action Party (PAP) candidate in the coming General Election.

Only 41, Major-General (MG) Chan Chun Sing (picture), who has held the post for only a year, will hand over the command baton to Brigadier-General (BG) Ravinder Singh Harchand Singh, 46, on March 25.

**** Baby Bonus Wasteful <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC110305-0000193/Baby-Bonus-wasteful>
Lin Ziyuan, Today

The current Baby Bonus schemes are both insufficient and wasteful. We have ended up subsidising parents who would have had their children anyway, even without the help. Subsidising the cost of bearing and raising children is a laudable thing to do as a society, but it will not solve the problem of declining fertility.

But there is a way we can have an eye-catching Baby Bonus that will change people's minds while not breaking the bank - have a lottery.

**** Boundaries Review Panel Should Be Neutral <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC110305-0000217/Boundaries-review-panel-should-be-neutral>
Woo Weng Kah, Today

The committee, which is currently chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, should not report to any person(s) of affiliated political interests. It must be neutral in all aspects. It should comprise non-partisan Singaporeans with no political links and come under the purview of the President of Singapore, who is a neutral party.

The EBRC should be convened by the President, who should also select and appoint its members from various agencies. To incorporate accountability and transparency, the committee's report should explain the reasons, and give facts and figures to substantiate changes made in the redrawn boundaries.

**** 选择是选举的关键 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl110305_017.shtml>
白士德, 联合早报

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**** 为何“派糖”还要被打？ <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl110305_015.shtml>
吴慧敏, 联合早报

香港这次“派糖”的经验，值得让所有领导人引以为戒。“派糖”其实没想象中简单，忽视通胀的政治代价也非常高。

特别是对进入大选年的本地执政党来说，应该可以更清楚地看到通货膨胀比民主更像洪水猛兽，更容易挑动小市民的神经，已成了这次竞选必须谨慎经营的重点课题之一。

**** 选区划分能更透明吗？ <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl110305_013.shtml>
郭丽娟, 联合早报

æ–°åŠ å¡ç¤¾ä¼šå·²æ—¥ç›Šæˆç†Ÿï¼Œäººä»¬å¯¹äºŽæ”¿æ²»å¼€æ”¾çš„è¯‰æ±‚åªä¼šè¶Šæ¥è¶Šé«˜ï¼Œæ‰§æ”¿å…šè¿Ÿæ—©å¾—æ ¹æ®é€‰æ°‘çš„å„ç§è¦æ±‚ä½œå‡ºç›¸åº”è°ƒæ•´ã€‚å†µä¸”æŽæ€»ç†å·²ç»åˆè·¨å‡ºä¸€æ­¥ï¼Œåœ¨åŽ»å¹´å®£å¸ƒå¯¹æ”¿æ²»åˆ¶åº¦è¿›è¡Œæ”¹é©ï¼Œå¦‚å¢žåŠ éžé€‰åŒºè®®å‘˜äººæ•°å’Œå•é€‰åŒºæ•°ç›®ï¼Œæœªæ¥çš„æ€»ç†è‚¯å®šå°†ä¼šé¢å¯¹é€‰æ°‘æ›´å¤šçš„è¯‰æ±‚ï¼Œå¿…é¡»åœ¨æ­¤åŸºç¡€ä¸Šç»§ç»­æŽ¨è¿›æ”¹é©ã€‚

**** TOC Reader Questions Policy On Foreign Immigrants <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/03/toc-reader-questions-policy-on-foreign-immigrants/>
Alvin Ho, The Online Citizen

**** Singapore Will Not Reduce GST <http://www.tax-news.com/news/Singapore_Will_Not_Reduce_GST____48084.html>
Mary Swire, Tax-News.com

**** Budget Gives More Than Required - Ministers' Pay? <http://de-leviathan.blogspot.com/2011/03/budget-gives-more-than-required.html>
De Leviathan @ SG

All Singaporeans would know that the stellar GDP growth last year must be significantly due to the opening of the 2 casinos, so why is the PAP Govt banking on the casino revenue to determine and pay its own BONUS and pay hikes which are linked to our fiscal policies?

**** Sex Business Is Booming In Singapore <http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2011/03/05/2003497438>
AFP

Despite its prudish reputation — the government still bans magazines like Playboy and Penthouse — Singapore allows prostitution to thrive in strictly designated areas, and Geylang is the largest and most famous.

Brothels operating out of houses operate in the district alongside budget hotels, sidewalk cafes, community associations and even Buddhist temples.

Despite the presence of legal prostitution, foreign women on short-term visitor passes also ply their trade on the streets and lanes of Geylang, and there seems to be enough business for everyone.

**** PAP Enters The Digital Warfare <http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=insightdownsouth&file=/2011/3/5/columnists/insightdownsouth/8191894&sec=Insight%20Down%20South>
Seah Chiang Nee, The Star

Some analysts believe the youth vote is the hardest for the PAP to win.

A post 2006 election survey by the Institute of Policy Studies showed that about half of those under 35 are categorised as swing-voters, who could be persuaded by either side.

About a third, clamours for more voices in Parliament.

**** Notes From A H1N1 Survivor <http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2011/03/notes-from-h1n1-survivor.html>
Gilbert Koh, Mr Wang Says So

The HR policies of European MNCs in Singapore are influenced by their headquarters back in Europe, where they actually have, you know, human rights. Generally, it isn't considered proper to discriminate against an employee because of reasons such as his race, age, religion, gender, marital status or sexual orientation.

But that's in Europe. Not Singapore.

**** 选前报道 同个邻里划分成两个选区 亨德申第94座“落单” <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp110305_008.shtml>
陈锦柏, 联合早报

新的选区划分后，一些基层和居民发现亨德申路有一个有趣的现象：第91座到95座组屋都属于丹戎巴葛集选区的范围，它们共用同一个停车场，在同一个邻里内，唯独第94座组屋纳入了拉丁马士单选区。

**** 月入顶限提高首日　建屋局接三份申请 四房式申请者要求改购三房式 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp110305_007.shtml>
李静仪, 联合早报

三房式组屋申请者的家庭月入顶限宣布提高第一天，之前原本“被迫”选购较大型单位的申请者，有些已改变初衷，迫不及待改成购买三房式单位，以便减轻日后供屋的压力。

**** “Tony Tan & Gang” To Join SPP? Not True, Says Tan <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/03/tony-tan-gang-joining-spp-not-true-says-tan/>
The Online Citizen

There is no truth to the news that Mr Tony Tan and the breakaway group of former Reform Party members are joining the Singapore People’s Party (SPP). Neither is the group “expected to officially submit their application for party membership on Saturday, 5th March.”

Mr Tan confirmed this with The Online Citizen today, Saturday.

**** Singapore GE: Opposition Parties To Contest All Seats <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1114574/1/.html>
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

Singapore's major opposition parties have come to an agreement to contest all 27 constituencies in the next General Election (GE), which is due before February 2012.

At Saturday's meeting, they also agreed to avoid three-cornered fights in Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), meaning most of the GRCs are likely to see a straight fight. However, in the case of the 12 Single-Member Constituencies (SMCs), the party leaders said discussions are ongoing.

**** Will The Morning After See 86:1? <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/will-the-morning-after-see-861/>
Yawning Bread

Unless overall PAP vote share falls to 60 percent or less, we cannot expect significant opposition gains, least of all in GRCs. If you are like my straw poll friends and do not think such a large shift is likely, then I’d say keep the possibility firmly in mind — that you get out of bed after polling day to find headlines that say 86:1.

**** Options For The Gang Of Nine <http://newasiarepublic.com/?p=24756>
Donaldson Tan, New Asia Republic