[MyAppleMenu] May 6, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Dear Aunt TUAW: Help My Windows Stay Put <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/05/dear-aunt-tuaw-help-my-windows-stay-put/>
Erica Sadun, TUAW

Stay from Cordless Dog allows you to store window configurations exactly as you like for each monitor configuration you use. Stay can automatically restore your windows as you attach and detach your monitors, and as your applications are launched.

**** An Easy, Simple Way To Sync Files, Folders, Disks <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/an-easy-simple-way-to-sync-files-folders-disks>
Ron McElfresh, Mac 360

**** Find Your PPC Applications <http://tidbits.com/article/12156?rss>
Matt Neuburg, TidBITS

No bad thing is going to happen to your computer the day Lion goes final. Your current hardware won’t refuse to boot up. Your current system won’t stop working. Your favorite applications will still be your favorite applications. But suppose, just for the sake of argument, that you become interested in upgrading to Lion. And suppose, for the sake of even further argument, that Lion lacks Rosetta. What might the loss of Rosetta mean to you?



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Can Publishers Create A Business Class For News? <http://gigaom.com/2011/05/04/can-publishers-create-a-business-class-for-news/>
Mathew Ingram, GigaOM

In their ongoing struggle to get readers to pay for content, some media companies have implemented paywalls, while others have hitched their wagon to Apple’s app store and are trying a subscription model. But what if, instead of trying to charge everyone for the same content, publishers could come up with something similar to what business class achieves for airline passengers: a premium experience. Would people pay for that?



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Does Revenge Serve An Evolutionary Purpose? <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=revenge-evolution>
Katherine Harmon, Scientific America

Why all the celebration after the killing of Osama bin Laden? A psychologist who studies evolution and human behavior explains the complex desire for vengeance.

**** The Joy Of Unhappy Marriage Literature <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/may/06/unhappy-marriage-literature?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Victoria Beale, The Guardian

As the happy glow of that wedding fades, literature provides some brilliant examples of what's in store when the honeymoon ends.



SingaporeSurf
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**** How Goes It At The Singapore Biennale? <http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/05/06/how-goes-it-at-the-singapore-biennale/>
Kristiano Ang, Wall Street Journal

Organizers of the contemporary art fair, ending May 15, had hoped to draw 650,000 visitors. The Singapore government heavily backed the two-month-long exhibition. It funded much of the Biennale’s 6 million Singapore dollar (US$5 million) budget – and even granted permission for Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi to transform the city-state’s landmark Merlion statue into a hotel for the duration of the festival.

But it seems the public hasn’t responded. On a holiday in late April, only a handful of visitors showed up at the Old Kallang Airport, one of the Biennale’s four exhibition sites. Entry at the fair is free on holidays and Sundays.

**** In Singapore, Political Campaigning Goes Viral <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/world/asia/06iht-singapore06.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
Seth Mydans, New York Times

In a nation where government opponents are often sued over defamation and where carefully vetted public speech has been permitted only in a little park called Speakers’ Corner (which has been shut down during the campaign), experts say the new opening, if only in the virtual world, appears to be a redefinition of what are known here as “out-of-bounds markers.”

Despite the changes to Internet regulations, demonstrations and public speech still require permits in Singapore. Political speech is restricted to candidates. Opposition politicians and news media face the possibility of defamation suits. The mainstream news media are tightly controlled and have not acted as a check on the government, experts say.

Campaign itself has been transformed as social media give smaller, poorer parties a wider audience, bringing greater inclusiveness and competitiveness to political debate.

**** Letter To Elections Department On Voting Procedures For Visually-handicapped Singaporeans <http://maruah.org/2011/05/06/letter-to-elections-department-on-voting-procedures-for-visually-handicapped-singaporeans/>
Maruah

We understand that the current voting procedure for visually-handicapped Singaporeans requires the voter to inform the presiding officer of his/her choice, with the Presiding Officer then marking the ballot paper on behalf of the voter. This presents two issues, viz. the presiding officer becomes aware of how the voter had cast his/her vote, and there being no way to confirm whether or not the presiding officer had in fact marked the ballot paper in accordance with the voter’s instructions.

**** Welcome To Cooling Off Day! <http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2011/05/welcome-to-cooling-off-day.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mrbrown+%28mrbrown%29>
mrbrown

Meanwhile, I plan to have an ice cold beer for Cooling Off Day today, which is still allowed.

**** Singapore's 'Accountability Election' <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859304576304303121839170.html>
Garry Rodan, Wall Street Journal

Although the opposition is waging a more effective battle than it has in the recent past, translating greater support into substantial seat gains is mathematically difficult under the current voting system. But Mr. Low's promise of a First World Parliament invites Singaporeans yearning for greater democratic political accountability to register their vote accordingly. Who is accountable to whom is as much an issue as the economy in this campaign.

**** In Singapore, Faith Debate Simmers <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704810504576304903513140160.html>
Sam Holmes, Wall Street Journal

Maintaining religious harmony has gotten tougher as some groups, especially Christians, have increased their share of the population and taken a more visible role in day-to-day life, expanding churches and weighing in more regularly on local political issues, such as whether to more aggressively regulate the city-state's booming casinos or stand against liberalizing the country's rules against homosexuality.

Christians are also heavily represented in the halls of power, with about 40% of Singapore parliamentarians in the term now ending identifying themselves as Christians. In Saturday's polls, roughly half of the incumbent People's Action Party's new candidates vying for seats identify themselves as Christians, according to local media accounts. Comparisons to past years' parliamentary breakdown by faith weren't immediately available and several lawmakers don't make their affiliation public.

If religious groups further expand, they could start to play a bigger role in policy, analysts say. Well-organized religious groups could also create new sources of political power in a city-state that has historically been dominated by a single political organization—Mr. Lee's PAP, which is expected to retain power after Saturday's vote.

**** Singapore Vote Seen As Its Fiercest Yet <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704810504576304983484886282.html>
Chun Han Wong, Wall Street Journal

Gains for the opposition are far from assured. Residents have flirted with opposition candidates in the past only to abandon them on election day. Although analysts believe there is a strong chance opposition groups will gain at least a few new seats in Singapore's Parliament, they say it is also possible opposition leaders will win more votes than in the last polls in 2006—and still wind up with less power than before, depending on which seats they claim.

The stakes for Singapore are high, either way. Voters are increasingly disenchanted with inflation and a wide gap between rich and poor, and many fear the country's economic model—which relies heavily on exports to the West—isn't sustainable. Singapore's founder and guiding architect, Lee Kuan Yew, is 87 years old, leaving many residents worried about what will happen whenever he exits the stage.

As a result, some analysts believe Saturday's election could spell the beginning of the end of one-party dominance in Singapore—or, it could provide a mandate for another generation of Mr. Lee's People's Action Party to carry on once Mr. Lee is gone.

**** Your Vote Is Secret <http://blog.dk.sg/2011/05/05/your-vote-is-secret/>
Dee Kay Dot As Gee

Until now, I still got people who thinks that their vote is not secret. That’s nonsense. Nobody knows who you voted for unless you tell them. Your vote is secret. The entire process is witnessed by all political parties. It there is any discrepancies in the process, they would have raise it by now.

**** Singapore Wealth Gap Weighs On Lee’s Ruling Party Before Vote <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-05/singapore-wealth-gap-weighs-on-lee-s-ruling-party-before-vote.html>
Stephanie Phang And Shamim Adam, Bloomberg

Dissent is growing among Singaporeans who may feel less beholden to a ruling party that led the island out of colonial rule than past voters. The shift mirrors that in nations from Malaysia to India, where the hold of independence-era parties has weakened. The last polls, in May 2006, returned the PAP to power with about 67 percent of the votes cast, down from 75 percent in the 2001 elections.

“They keep telling us how they built Singapore,” said Alvin Lee, a 25-year-old economics and finance student at Singapore Institute of Management who plans to vote for the opposition. “They are really very complacent.”

Singapore’s Gini coefficient, a gauge of income inequality, rose to 0.48 last year from 0.444 in 2000, according to the statistics department. A reading of zero means income equality, while a reading of one means complete inequality. Inflation accelerated to a two-year high of 5.5 percent in January.

“It’s very pressurizing living in Singapore,” said housewife Low Bee Kian, 39, who has three children aged 10 to 16. “Everything is so expensive. The government says the economy is doing well but why am I not feeling it?”

**** Overview Of The Yale-NUS College Reactions: Motivated By Professor Miller’s Article <http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=11612>
Koh Choon Hwee, The Kent Ridge Commons

**** Diverse Political Landscape Emerging In Singapore <http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201105/s3209773.htm>
ABC

So the long and short of it is that society's more diverse, different issues, different interests emerge. They need political voice and they will be articulated politically, as such it's inevitable that you will see far more what you would say democratic landscape emerging from the bottom up.

**** Singapore Heads To Polls Amid Simmering Discontent <http://www.mysinchew.com/node/57154>
AFP

While the PAP appears to be rattled, some analysts say a last-minute switch to the ruling party by undecided voters worried by the prospect of instability could set back the opposition's plans to win more seats.

They are not even ruling out an 87-0 victory for the PAP, which would be the first clean sweep by the ruling party since 1980.

**** As Singapore Gets Ready To Vote, New Media Amplifies Voice Of Opposition <http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2069923,00.html?xid=rss-world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fworld+%28TIME%3A+Top+World+Stories%29>
Neel Chowdhury, Time

Opposition parties believe that first-time voters may be more open to political change, unlike older voters who have generally been stalwart supporters of the ruling party. Those same older voters remember how the PAP built Singapore from its perilous beginnings in 1965 to the prosperous city state that it is today. Even so, analysts caution that even outspoken younger voters who may not fully share their grandparents' respect for the ruling party may change their minds once they step in the voting booth. "Every election has its share of grumbling," says George. "In the past this would have taken place in coffee shops. Now the online media has provided a forum for that."

**** Singapore Elections Marked By Online Buzz Of Discontent <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/06/singapore-elections-internet>
Kate Hodal, The Guardian

Singapore is known worldwide for its censorship and corporal punishment. But in the runup to Saturday's elections more and more people have started to speak out against the clan that has ruled Singapore for almost 50 years. Parallels with the Arab spring are striking, even if revolution is not just around the corner.

**** Chinese Buyers Taking Singapore Property Prices To A New High <http://www.pattayamail.com/property/chinese-buyers-taking-singapore-property-prices-to-a-new-high-3223>
Property Wire

Buyers from mainland China are fuelling a property boom in Singapore where the price of mass market private apartments have increased to new highs in the first quarter of this year, the latest figures show.

**** Poll Will Sling Singapore In New Direction <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/poll-will-sling-singapore-in-new-direction/story-e6frg6ux-1226050011488>
Bruce Loudon, The Australian

Win or lose Aljunied, the PAP appears set for its usual overwhelming victory. Nothing seems likely to dent that.

But the election was never realistically about a change of power. The opposition's prospects were always modest. What the contest has done, however, is generate lively debate on a range of key issues that go to the heart of where Singapore is headed.

Immigration and housing are issues that will continue to resonate long after the PAP wins its inevitable victory. The outcome of the debate surrounding them will be decisive to the state's future.

**** Tin Pei Ling Clarifies Facebook Posting On Cooling-off Day <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1127234/1/.html>
Sharon See, Channel NewsAsia

Ms Tin said she found out it was one of her administrators, Ms Denise He, who had mistakenly made the post. "She wanted to post the comment in her personal capacity, and she was using her mobile phone. But she didn't realise that she had inadvertently posted as my profile rather than her own ... It was an honest mistake," Ms Tin said.

Ms Tin asked her administrator to remove the comment immediately.

**** Reprise Of The $8 Heart Bypass <http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2011/05/reprise-of-8-heart-bypass.html>
Singapore Notes

Days before polling day, May 7, Khaw suddenly decides to provide fresh information (just like Vivian Balakrishnan's revelations about the YOG budget). Mr Khaw clarified what he described as lies over his medical bill, that his heart bypass operation last year cost him only S$8. Khaw revealed that his total bill for a week's stay in an a Class A ward came up S$25,000. He said the "bulk" of this was paid for by MediShield and Medisave, but he did not say exactly how much. There's reason for him to keep the cards close to his heart.

**** A Singaporean's Message For Polling Day <http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2011/05/singaporeans-message-for-polling-day.html>
Gilbert Koh, Mr Wang Says So

"‘Cooling-off day’ is supposed to be a time to reflect, to help us make rational choices at the ballot box. The PAP’s track record and self-engineered compensation scheme leaves me with little doubt about the direction it will take our country towards should it even receive a shadow of a mandate. The electoral system tilts the results in their favour before a single vote has been cast."

"I ask you, friends and fellow citizens, to vote wisely this Saturday: not for the PAP, but for Singapore and Singaporeans."

**** Choosing Between A Small World And A Bigger One <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/choosing-between-a-small-world-and-a-bigger-one/>
Au Waipang, Yawning Bread

The larger party, the PAP, offers a small world. It promises more of the known — present policies and directions, the known way of doing things. There is the comfort of the familiar, even if it’s that of familiar abuse, though George Yeo, fighting desperately for re-election in Aljunied GRC, has suggested that going forward, the PAP will be a softer, more amenable party (Note, however, that no other PAP leader has endorsed the same hope). It also offers precinct-level carrots, appealing to self-interest and materialistic desire.

The smaller parties offer a bigger world. Like embarking on any adventure, it can feel scary. But they speak of the longer term, of systemic risk and the possibility of systemic failure. They speak of rethinking old models, of re-considering the present obsession with putting more and more money into the national piggy-bank (a.k.a national reserves). They appeal to the bigger sense of self, asking voters to look beyond personal gain to the lives of others, particularly those less fortunate than ourselves.

That is what your vote will be about: Between little “me” and a higher, bigger, braver and more noble “us” .

**** Chiam See Tong Has Given Potong Pasir A History, A Heritage And A Memory <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/chiam-see-tong-has-given-potong-pasir-a-history-a-heritage-and-a-memory/>
Liew Kai Khiun, Yawning Bread

Whatever may be the outcome on 8 May 2011, to Mr and Mrs Chiam See Tong,  thank you very much for struggling against all odds for the past three decades. You have given an entire generation of ordinary people like me a sense of dignity and pride as residents of Potong Pasir, as Singaporeans, and as human beings in Singapore Inc.

**** Battle For Aljunied: Vote For Opposition <http://rogerpoh.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/battle-for-aljunied-vote-for-opposition/>
Spotlight On Singapore

**** Response To PAP Accusations That WP Is Against Upgrading <http://wp.sg/wpge/2011/05/response-to-pap-accusations-that-wp-is-against-upgrading/>
Workers' Party

The PAP accusations are a cheap attempt to frighten voters into thinking that voting for WP will lead to a crash in housing prices. This is far from the truth.

WP is a responsible and rational party. We share many Singaporeans’ concern about the affordability of public housing. Our proposal to peg the price of new HDB flats to the median incomes of Singaporeans who qualify for those flats is aimed at ensuring that new flats are always affordable to Singaporeans, especially young couples who are buying their first home. It will not cause a crash in the value of existing flats.

All new Built-to-Order (BTO) flats overtime will become resale flats only after the 5 year minimum occupation period, and any moderate adjustments to lower the price of new flats will have little impact in the value of the resale flats. This is because these two markets operate independently, with different sets of eligibility criteria.

**** Voting Along Municipal Lines: Penny-wise, Pound Foolish <http://flaneurose.blogspot.com/2011/05/voting-along-municipal-lines-penny-wise.html>
Flaneurose

Think of the last 5, 10 years. What issues have impacted your life the most? What have your heaviest concerns been about? What are the root causes of your worries, your angsts, and the things that keep you up late at night?

Almost without exception, I think I can state categorically that the most immediate concerns of most Singaporeans stem from issues related to national policies implemented in the last 10 years. These policies heavily impact important issues such as the cost of living, housing, influx of foreigners, income inequality, unemployment, health care, retirement and education.

In Singapore, the PAP designs and implements all major policies that govern the lives of Singaporeans. These are NATIONAL policies. In this country, national policies impact your life the most, and they have far-reaching effects on you, your family and your children.

These policies are more important than whether your MP can successfully petition for public funds to be spent in your constituency on playgrounds, covered walkways, refurbished wet markets and other matters that I deem of little consequence. Even the value of your property (if you own one) is dictated more by decisions made at the national level, e.g. zoning and land use planning done by the URA, or transportation infrastructure planned by the LTA.

**** Singapore Election: Young Voters Could Be The Key <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13305828>
Sharanjit Leyl, BBC

What is making the elections so interesting for many observers is the fact that a large number of young Singaporeans - an estimated 600,000 people aged 21 to 34 - will be first-time voters. They are seen as more open to political change so there is uncertainty over where their allegiances lie.

"The overwhelming political dominance of the PAP is seen not just as an anomaly but as a freakish state of affairs," says Eugene Tan, an assistant professor of law at Singapore Management University. "That makes Singaporeans, along with the dissatisfaction on the ground and the PAP's seeming lack of concern, more amiable to the opposition's pitch."

Echoing this sentiment is Singaporean writer Catherine Lim, who says that the young voters are generation Y, a group completely different from their parents and grandparents, who still see themselves as owing an enormous debt of gratitude to the PAP for giving them subsidised government flats with proper sanitation.