[MyAppleMenu] Mar 30, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Xcode 4: The Windows Vista Of Apple IDEs? <http://www.pcworld.com/article/223631/xcode_4_the_windows_vista_of_apple_ides.html>
Mike Keller, PC World

Opening new tabs or one of the seemingly infinite side bars in Xcode 4 (more on that later) chug along with what I could imagine would be nice animations if they weren’t so slow and choppy. Quick info that used to be available at the whim of a key command, such as opening the Debugging Console, now require a button press and a wait through a sliding animation.

Whereas the IB of old had its own menu bar items and key commands, they are now all tucked away within Xcode’s sea of sidebars- take a look at the screenshot for an unholy mess of a UI.

**** MyThoughts 1.2.1 <http://www.macworld.com/article/153971/2011/03/mythoughts1.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Jeffery Battersby, Macworld

MyThoughts is an interesting mind mapping tool that is fun to use and which makes it possible for you to create really interesting looking maps. But its lack the depth to make it a complete and powerful business tool for creating mind maps. While I like the application for the unique maps it creates, I’m more interested in seeing what the future holds for MyThoughts than I am in using it to create my own maps.

**** iPad In The Enterprise: Three Worries Remain <http://www.macworld.com/article/158914/2011/03/ipad_enterprise.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Tom Kaneshige, Macworld



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** A Very Big Bang <http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/4158/full>
Wilson Da Silva, Cosmos

On one clear day 65 million years ago, the sky suddenly fell in, and 80% of all life became extinct. But this cataclysm also opened the door for humans to inherit the Earth.

**** A Murder Foretold <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/04/04/110404fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all>
David Grann, New Yorker

Rodrigo Rosenberg knew that he was about to die. It wasn’t because he was approaching old age—he was only forty-eight. Nor had he been diagnosed with a fatal illness; an avid bike rider, he was in perfect health. Rather, Rosenberg, a highly respected corporate attorney in Guatemala, was certain that he was going to be assassinated.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Online Smearing Of PAP Candidate Tin Pei Ling Is Hypocritical And Cowardly <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=6488>
Sgpolitics.net

This behaviour is deplorable, silly and cowardly. It also smacks of a great deal of hypocrisy. On one hand, netizens often decry that the PAP resorts to gutter politics against opponents like Dr Chee Soon Juan and the late J.B. Jeyaretnam. Now, they are behaving in the same fashion.

**** 'We Are Getting Pledges To Not Raise Rentals' <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC110330-0000036/We-are-getting-pledges-to-not-raise-rentals>
Lim Hwee Hua And Cynthia Phua, Today

We have secured some assurances on not raising rentals and will continue to do so.

**** Just Another Brick In The Wall <http://dlzj.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/just-another-brick-in-the-wall/>
Ἴκαρος Flew Too High

At the moment, Tin is probably competing with Foo Mee Har for the dubious honour of giving bad answers in response to serious questions, and as such, lack the substance we expect of politicians. It was almost certainly embarrasing for Foo to have said that “Malaysia is a good place for hawker food” in response to Singapore-Malaysia relations, but i think Tin also comes close to rivalling her more illustrious senior when it comes to being overly carried away with youthful thinking. When asked in a recent STOMP interview on what her greatest regret was, Tin answered that it was her failure to take her parents to Universal Studios at Sentosa. When confronted with a question on which PAP policy she would change if she had the chance to, Tin didn’t have much to say – not too great a performance for a future lawmaker, no? Everything else is, well, pretty much standard and dour PAP replies. Well, sorry to you PAP voters out there, but i was expecting a bit more class from your lot.

**** Quality, Not Quantity <http://singaporekopitok.blogspot.com/2011/03/quality-not-quantity.html>
Singapore Kopi Tok

**** Singapore In The Malay World <http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/26393/>
Din Merican

**** Can Singapore Become A Country Of High Ideals? <http://entrepreneur.com.sg/wordpress/?p=1366>
Singaporean Entrepreneurs

No one from the PAP has adequately answered the questions and points raised made by Sylvia Lim regarding the salary levels (up to or surpassing S$2M annually) of ministers.

**** Mixed Views On Youngest PAP Candidate In Three Decades <http://www.todayonline.com/SingaporeVotes/EDC110330-0000055/Mixed-views-on-youngest-PAP-candidate-in-three-decades>
Leong Wee Keat, Today

One grassroots volunteer, who has served 10 years with his MP, said he would prefer not to serve under a younger MP, such as Ms Tin. "My MP should be someone I could look up to and respect," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "During an MPS, you have cases with family problems. If you don't even have a family, how would you be able to understand?"

However, grassroots leaders in MacPherson, where Ms Tin will serve, are confident she will be up to the task. "I don't see age as an issue as long as you have the heart to serve," said MacPherson Community Club Management Committee assistant secretary Muthukumar Nallayan.

**** Hawkers Please Be Responsible <http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2011/03/hawkers-please-be-responsible.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News

Who are the real culprits that are fleecing on the people and raising the cost of living?

**** Nuclear Power To Go Underground? <http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/03/nuclear-power-to-go-undergroun.html>
Phil McKenna, New Scientists

It may sound like a crazy idea, but Singapore, a tiny island country whose population would have no place to go in the event of a wide-scale evacuation, is giving buried nukes a closer look. 

The Singapore government authorized a feasibility study for underground reactors last year without setting a timetable for completion.  Hooman Peimani, an energy security specialist at the National University of Singapore, says recent events in Japan may help push the idea forward.

**** A Handbag And A Pack Of Wolves <http://onesingaporean.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/a-handbag-and-a-pack-of-wolves/>
One Singaporean

While I disagree with the behaviour of some in their attacks on Tin Pei Ling, I do – at the same time – feel that the bigger point is this:

This saga shows that we need to put a stop to a Govt which runs such a system which today has resulted in a pack of wolves going so mercilessly after a young woman.

This pack of wolves have learnt from their master.

**** CNA, Why Different Rules For PAP? <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4694-cna-why-different-of-rules-for-pap>
Singapore Democratic Party

Singaporeans must not be lulled into accepting that this is the natiural order of things, that the system must necessarily be tilted in favour of the PAP. We must speak up and speak up loudly against such double standards. 

As it is few question why the PAP is given one-leg up over the rest even if the Constitutio expresly forbids this. For example, PAP-affiliated groups like the PAP Community Foundation and the Consumers Association of Singapore are allowed to conduct public assemblies and processions whereas civil society and opposition parties are banned.

**** As The Parliamentary Elections Approach, Should I Or Shouldn’t I? <http://harishpillay.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/as-the-parliamentary-elections-approach-should-i-or-shouldnt-i/>
Harish Pillay, Life One Degree North, One-O-Three Degrees East

Although the PAP will deny that it is vote buying (and “robustly” defend it), perhaps this time, the real truth slipped out.  I was surprised to see a qoute in none other than the local MSM daily which printed a “notable quotes” blurb on Sunday March 27, 2011 that quoted a PAP MP saying “The election should be after they get the cash, and before they finish spending it all!”

They, the PAP, have no shame. Really.

**** Widening Income Gap Is Not Just The Responsibility Of The Singapore Government <http://ian.onthereddot.com/2011/03/30/widening-income-gap-is-not-just-the-responsibility-of-the-singapore-government/>
Ian On The Red Dot

The widening income gap isn’t just a problem for the government, it is one that all of us must solve together. The problem is, once most of us get the sniff of money, of prestige, of power, we forget. We forget.

**** Eye On The Ball <http://tribolum.com/archives/2011/03/eye-on-the-ball.php>
Tribolum.com 

We vote because we want the best among us to represent us, and to bring out the best in us in order to move us onward as a nation. How we conduct ourselves as voters reveals volumes of who we are as a people, and it is likely that unless we keep our eye on the real social issues before us, we will have wasted our vote and turned the democratic process into nothing more than vain pageantry.

**** 选前报道 前左派人士之子普杰立： 用正当平台提批评 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp110330_007.shtml>
游润恬, 联合早报

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**** The General Elections: Thinking About Group Representation Constituencies <http://guanyinmiao.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/the-general-elections-thinking-about-group-representation-constituencies/>
Guanyinmiao's Musings

Beyond the imminent Elections, it is definitely high time for us to consider the prospect of rendering all constituencies into single member constituencies (SMCs), thereby levelling the playing field for all interested and able political candidates.

**** Will Tin Pei Ling Backfire? <http://ge2011.theonlinecitizen.com/2011/03/will-tin-pei-lin-backfire/>
The Online Citizen

If Ms Tin turns out to genuinely lack any substance, she runs the risk of being discarded on the garbage heap of patronizing gestures the PAP has made to reach out to the “youth vote”. She will be written off as the 2011 incarnation of P65 MPs doing hip-hop, and bring back memories of the P65 blog’s empty promises of e-engagement before it became conspicuously defunct.

Ms Tin’s first lengthy video appearance on RazorTV has drawn critical reviews and derision from her peers.

**** Retiring 'People's MP' Of Joo Chiat Is Baffling <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_650849.html>
R. Sivasubramaniam, Straits Times

He is not an MP who puts in token appearances at community functions. At Laguna Park, where I reside, he would attend our National Day food fair, and spend hours talking with residents. My previous MPs would visit, stay for an hour or so, and then leave. His bicycle tours around the constituency were another feature of his desire to meet and serve the residents.

He should be allowed to serve at least one more term. Asking him to retire early, when much older MPs are allowed to carry on, suggests that Mr Chan was not competent, which is untrue.

**** Day Off Isn't A Maid's Perk But A Right <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_650732.html>
John Gee, Transient Workers Count Too, Straits Times

Is there any other job in which having a regular day off would be considered a perk rather than a right?

**** Tin Pei Ling's Baptism Of Fire: Should Bloggers Have Lit The Match? <http://journalism.sg/2011/03/30/tin-pei-ling/>
Cherian George, Journalism.sg

Certainly, the online world should help to level what is undoubtedly a tilted offline playing field. This imperative is what motivates some of Singapore’s best online journalism. But, there are surely some limits. Websites that say they want to help raise the level of Singapore’s political discourse shouldn’t go lower than the politicians themselves.

And the truth is that the political parties have been more civilised than they’ve been given credit for. Think back to the Workers’ Party’s calm under fire when attacked by the PAP over the so-called James Gomez affair. And consider the restraint that the PAP showed over the sensational revelations about one Opposition leader’s penchant for photographing himself in the nude. What they may say in private is another matter, but what's contributed to the stream of public discourse should meet some basic level of civility.

**** GE: PAP Introduces Fourth Batch Of New GE Candidates <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1119666/1/.html>
Hetty Musfirah, Channel NewsAsia

**** Online And TNP Survey Results Vastly Different <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4695-online-and-tnp-survey-results-vastly-different>
Singapore Democratic Party

**** On Mediacorp’s Heartland Voter Survey, Part 2 <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/on-mediacorps-heartland-voter-survey-part-2/>
Yawning Bread

To sum up, the more one thinks about these numbers produced by Mediacorp and Today newspaper’s survey, the more unsure one becomes as to what they really represent. Today asserted that the rising cost of living is the “hottest” of three issues. Yet even though the cost of living affects everybody, only about half  said they were dissatisfied with the government’s measures. This is unlike housing prices which only affects the (approximately) half of the population that does not own a property, and this entire half  (52.4 percent of total) is dissatisfied. So. . . . which is the hottest issue again?