[MyAppleMenu] Apr 19, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** Plants Vs. Zombies Updated With New Mode ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/04/19/plants-vs-zombies-updated-with-new-mode/>
Mike Schramm, TUAW



**** Apple Now Giving Away Snow Leopard To MobileMe Customers For Free ****
<http://www.macgasm.net/2012/04/18/apple-now-giving-away-snow-leopard-to-mobileme-customers-for-free/>
Joshua Schnell, Macgasm


> In an article sent to MobileMe customers, Apple has recommended that potential customers get in touch with Apple to receive a free DVD of Snow Leopard so that users can upgrade to Lion, and move to iCloud.



**** Time To De-Flash Your Site? ****
<http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9226222/Time_to_de_Flash_your_site_?taxonomyId=11>
David Weldon, Computerworld


> Cunha's experiences illustrate a growing dilemma for corporate website strategists and developers: We live in an increasingly mobile society, and managers, coworkers and customers increasingly access the Web from mobile devices. If you want the mobile Web experience to be truly accessible, you may need to create a scaled-down version of your website for iDevices, and keep Flash off it.



**** Ambitious Photo Tools That Won’t Make You Feel Dumb ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/technology/personaltech/ambitious-photo-tools-that-avoid-making-you-feel-dumb.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Bob Tedeschi, New York Times


> IPhoto is comprehensive and easy to use, which is one of the toughest tricks for an app. Comprehensive apps are like the really smart guy at the party whom people like to talk about but no one wants to talk to. More often than not, ambitious apps are so complicated that they leave you with the feeling that you’re stupid.

> But Apple, which makes iPhoto, has done a great job of making the software accessible, especially on the iPad, where the app’s Help feature is one of the best I’ve seen.



**** Apple Wants Trial On E-book Price-fixing: Lawyer ****
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/18/net-us-apple-ebooks-idUSBRE83H1CN20120418?utm_source=loopinsight.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loopinsight%2FKqJb+%28The+Loop%29>
Grant McCool, Reuters


> Apple Inc wants to go to trial to defend itself against U.S. government allegations that it conspired with publishers to raise prices of electronic books, a lawyer for the Silicon Valley giant said in court on Wednesday."Our basic view is that we would like the case to be decided on the merits," Apple lawyer, Daniel Floyd, told U.S. District Judge Denise Cote. "We believe that this is not an appropriate case against us and we would like to validate that."



**** techBASIC 2.0 Brings Sensor Data Collection, Analysis And Visualization To iOS ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/04/18/techbasic-2-0-brings-sensor-data-collection-analysis-and-visual/>
Steven Sande, TUAW


> Scientists and hobbyists who want to use their iOS devices as tricorders now have a new tool to help them to bring that dream to life. Byte Works has released version 2.0 of techBASIC, a US$14.99 scientific and educational programming environment for iOS that can be used to pull in data from internal (accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyroscope) and external sensors.



**** Draw Something Update Adds Sharing, Saving And Undo ****
<http://www.macrumors.com/2012/04/18/draw-something-update-adds-sharing-saving-and-undo/>
Jordan Golson, MacRumors



**** Undoing The Damage Wrought By Microsoft's Outlook Update ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1166434/undoing_the_damage_wrought_by_microsofts_outlook_update.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld



**** Apple Has Released Apple Configurator 1.0.1 ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/04/18/apple-has-released-apple-configurator-1-0-1/>
Victor Agreda, Jr., TUAW



**** Lion Designer Lets You Tweak The Look Of Lion ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1166427/lion_designer_lets_you_tweak_the_look_of_lion.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Dan Frakes, Macworld


> Have you ever wished you could change the background of OS X Lion’s Dashboard or Mission Control features? Or the look of the login screen or LaunchPad? If you browse the tips on Mac OS X Hints, you’ll find a bunch of individual hints—most requiring trips to Terminal or digging into system-level folders—for making these kinds of tweaks. But an easier approach is to use Lion Designer.



**** Frequently Asked Questions About Spotlight ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1166423/frequently_asked_questions_about_spotlight.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Sharon Zardetto, Macworld






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Using Foursquare Data To Redefine A Neighborhood ****
<http://www.technologyreview.com/web/40224/?ref=rss>
Rachel Metz, Technology Review


> Defining the makeup of a particular neighborhood can be tricky. Locals may agree on the general area and character of, say, Manhattan's Upper West Side, but we all have different opinions about what really goes on there, or even what its precise boundaries are.

> With this in mind, a research project called Livehoods, from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, aims to shed some light on how people really inhabit their cities—and how this changes over time—by mapping data collected from 18 million Foursquare check-ins that have been sent out via Twitter.



**** Searching For The Next Snuggie ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/is-this-really-the-golden-age-for-inventors.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Adam Davidson, New York Times


> America has always been the land of tinkerers, from Benjamin Franklin and Henry Ford to Steve Jobs and the guy who created the Flowbee. But today’s basement inventors have it easy in ways their predecessors couldn’t have imagined.






MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================
**** My Stardust Memories ****
<http://theamericanscholar.org/my-stardust-memories/>
William Zinsser, The American Scholar


> The year was 1980, and I was sitting at my typewriter in New York, plying my writer’s trade. When the phone rang I had no great expectations; freelance writers answering the phone tend to be braced for negative news.

> “Bill, honey?” said a young woman’s voice. “This is Sandra from Woody Allen’s office. Woody wondered if you’d like to be in his new movie.”



**** Appetite ****
<http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2002/05/11>
Maxine Kumin, The Writer's Almanac



**** When Bad Is Good ****
<http://www.artnews.com/2012/04/12/when-bad-is-good/>
Richard B. Woodward, ARTnews


> If, as Jones asserts, bad taste is nothing but good taste after a few years of aging, declaring support for someone with a bruised reputation can be just a clever way of getting a jump on next season’s fashion.

> But the larger question is whether bad taste is even a consideration anymore. And if so, what might it mean?



**** Why The Famous Five Had The Perfect Austerity Diet ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/18/famous-five-perfect-austerity-diet?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Josh Sutton, The Guardian


> Well over half of the books were written during food rationing. Perhaps Blyton is consciously enticing her readers with elaborate descriptions of foods way beyond the ration book allowance.






SingaporeSurf
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**** Nationalizing MRT Services Via A New National Transport Board Is The Only Way To Stop All MRT Breakdown, Poor MRT Services Nonsense! ****
<http://singaporeshortstories.blogspot.com/2012/04/nationalizing-mrt-services-via-new.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SingaporeShortStories+%28SINGAPORE+SHORT+STORIES%29>
Singapore Short Stories



**** Police To Install CCTV Cameras At 300 Housing Blocks, Carparks ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1196288/1/.html>
Claire Huang, Channel NewsAsia


> The cameras will be placed at public spaces, as well as key entry and exit points. Signs will also be put up to indicate where the cameras are.

> While there will not be "live" monitoring of cameras, the footage captured will be kept for a month. Police said this has worked in their favour in the past, with molesters and thieves arrested.

We are becoming more like London.


**** Singapore’s Newest Challenge: Social Discontent ****
<http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/04/19/singapores-newest-challenge-social-discontent/>
Sam Holmes, Wall Street Journal


> But now, analysts at one bank have raised concern about a data point not usually seen as a threat: social and political discontent.

> Local sociopolitical blogs the Online Citizen and the Temasek Review, once rare voices of online political dissent, have increasingly become sounding boards for local disaffection about foreigners.

> CIMB says the shift in policy toward “more inclusive growth” will reduce foreign direct investment and population growth while raising inflation. “This raises medium-term competitiveness concerns for Singapore,” CIMB said.



**** Are Asia's Productive Economies Losing Their Edge? ****
<http://www.cnbc.com/id/47097417>
Ansuya Harjani, CNBC Asia


> In a report titled, “Is Productivity Growth Slowing in Asia?” Neumann writes that global manufacturing hubs including China and Vietnam together with South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan have seen the most marked slowdown in recent years.

> According to Neumann, Western economies such as the United States have improved productivity at a faster pace than Asia following the global financial crisis. American firms have used the crisis to “trim excess fat”, reorganize their supply chains and invest in their IT infrastructure, he said, leading to greater productivity.



**** Hong Kong Climbs In Livability Index; Singapore Wins ****
<http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/04/18/hong-kong-climbs-in-livability-index-singapore-wins/?mod=google_news_blog>
Te-Ping Chen, Wall Street Journal


> Pollution is Hong Kong’s “big Achilles heel,” says Lee Quane of ECA International. For the last 13 years that ECA’s conducted the current iteration of its survey, Singapore has consistently outranked Hong Kong.  Mr. Quane says “the main reason is basically air quality,” an issue he says has become especially apparent in the last five years.

Setting quota on car ownership does have positive effects on our health and the city's livability. I am not sure about this, but perhaps the high cost of car ownership may be offset by lower healthcare bills?


**** New Scoot Airline To Launch Singapore-Sydney Flights On June 4 ****
<http://www.ausbt.com.au/new-scoot-airline-to-launch-singapore-sydney-flights-on-june-4>
David Flynn, Australian Business Traveller



**** Job Bias Against Singaporeans The Top Complaint ****
<http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Office/Story/A1Story20120419-340668.html>
Samantha Boh, My Paper



**** We're Not Trained To Deal With Emergency Situations, Train Operators Say ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120419-0000133/Were-not-trained-to-deal-with-emergency-sitations,-train-operators-claim>
Sumita Sreedharan, Today


> Both SMRT train operators that took the stand on the fourth day of the Committe of Inquiry said that they had not received training on how to deal with passengers in emergency situations.



**** Proposal With Minimal Govt Funding Favoured For High-speed KL-S'pore Rail Bids ****
<http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/19/business/11130275&sec=business>
Sharidan M. Ali, The Star


> Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chief executive officer Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal said if the project received the go-ahead from the Government, the authorities would favour a proposal from private parties that would involve the smallest amount of financial assistance from the Government.

If SMRT bid and won this tender, we may get free shuttle buses between KL and Singapore. :)


**** Singaporeans Smirking At Mr Key ****
<http://robertwinter.blogspot.com/2012/04/singaporeans-smirking-at-mr-key.html>
Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow


> Singapore got to where it is by means of an authoritarian government, economic intervention (especially on currency fluctuations), corporatist institutions and lots of education. And in in 1979-80, it deliberately forced up wages by about 20% to cull low efficiency, low wage operations and promote high-road commercial behaviours.



**** Singapore Day For 3000 In New York ****
<http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2012/04/singapore-day-for-3000-in-new-york.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News


> To go home and contribute $1m to the property market and another $100k to buy a COE just do not make money sense. One bowl of laksa may be $10 in New York, but still very cheap.



**** Passengers At Circle Line Stations Left Scrambling ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_790388.html>
Jose Hong, Straits Times


> Unlike the stations from Bishan to one-north where shuttle buses were available to help affected passengers, commuters at other stations along the Circle Line were left scrambling for other ways to get to their destinations.

No thanks to the route-planning folks at LTA who had, over the years, limited public transportation between any two points in Singapore to just a single path.


**** Late Again? Get An Excuse Slip From SMRT ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_790389.html>
Miranda Yeo, Straits Times


> This practice has been in place for more than two years but had gone unnoticed until the recent spate of MRT breakdowns, an SMRT spokesman said. The spokesman added that he was unable to say how many slips were distributed on Wednesday.



**** No. 1 Employment Gripe: Bosses Prefer Foreigners ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_790390.html>
Toh Yong Chuan, Straits Times


> Complaints that employers prefer foreigners over locals have for the first time topped the list of grievances that Singaporeans have over unfair employment practices.



**** Singapore Casinos Admirable: NZ PM ****
<http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Singapore-casinos-admirable-NZ-PM-TGMKC?opendocument&src=rss>
AAP


> As the government looks to ink a deal for Sky City to build a new convention centre, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has likened the deal to Singapore's construction and development during a whirlwind visit to the country - but says his government has no plans to introduce hefty restrictions on local patrons.

> "[A levy] hasn't been something that New Zealand's ever thought was necessary," Mr Key told media in Singapore. Only a "small fraction" of people who had problems with gambling, while banning beneficiaries would be difficult.

In Singapore, either you are rich, and you gamble at the two casinos, or you are not that rich, and you gamble at your neighborhood Toto and 4D centers.


**** Study On New Johor-Singapore Rail, Road Links ****
<http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120419005524/Article/index_html>
Sharen Kaur, Business Times


> People familiar with the matter said several options were being considered by both governments.

> They said the governments were mulling whether to build an elevated rail and road link or underground tunnels between the two cities.

I hope they don't take too long to finish the MRT link. And I hope the trains will not break down every other month.


**** 环线故障　乘客：出了什么毛病？ ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120419_026.shtml>
黄伟曼, 联合早报


> æ˜¨å¤©å—çŽ¯çº¿æ•…éšœå½±å“çš„ä¹˜å®¢å—è®¿æ—¶å¤šç”¨â€œä¹ ä»¥ä¸ºå¸¸â€ã€â€œæ–°å¸¸æ€â€ã€â€œä¹ æƒ¯äº†â€æ¥è¡¨è¾¾å¯¹åœ°é“ç˜«ç—ªäº‹ä»¶çš„æ— å¥ˆã€‚å¤§å®¶éƒ½å¸Œæœ›çŸ¥é“ï¼Œæˆ‘å›½ä¸€ç›´ä»¥æ¥è¢«èª‰ä¸ºâ€œä¸–ç•Œçº§çš„åœ°é“äº¤é€šç³»ç»Ÿâ€ç©¶ç«Ÿå‡ºäº†ä»€ä¹ˆæ¯›ç—…ï¼Ÿ



**** Public Spaces Are Just That - Meant For The Public ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_790151.html>
Kong Hong-Ping, Straits Times


> Public spaces are, by their very nature, public and shared, especially in a small nation where every available public resource should be maximised and utilised to the fullest by every law-abiding resident who chooses to do so.



**** Address Policies That Obstruct Inclusiveness ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_790145.html>
Tan Keng Tat, Straits Times


> Inflation, a silent tax, is still perniciously high at nearly 5 per cent. Interest rates have fallen to historic lows, rewarding stock market and real estate speculators while punishing bank savers, Central Provident Fund members and retirees on fixed income.

> The MAS should raise interest rates to tame inflation.



**** NSF's Death: Doctor Queries Medical Protocol In Field, SAF Centres ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_790238.html>
Ng Shin Yi, Straits Times


> Can the SAF shed light on the standards of its medical officers, who often take up duty at its centres after having graduated from medical school only one to two years earlier, and are expected to perform life-saving resuscitation?

> As time and advanced medical support are of the essence, the SAF may want to harmonise its protocol with the SCDF's, and consider direct evacuation to a hospital when a soldier collapses in the field.



**** MRT Inquiry Seems To Be Moving On The Wrong Track ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120419-0000095/MRT-inquiry-seems-to-be-moving-on-the-wrong-track>
Raymond Lee Weng Fatt, Today


> Should not the aim of convening the COI be to establish the true root cause of the disruptions and not to engage in finger-pointing?

> Since it has been stated upfront that the proceedings are non-adversarial, why is there a need to hire expensive senior counsel, some at the expense of taxpayers?



**** Why Minimal And Inadequate Information On Train Services? ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120419-0000092/Why-minimal-and-inadequate-information-on-train-services?>
Chew Thian Chye, Today



**** Barring Foreigners From Some Little India Void Decks Is Abominable, Says A Reader ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120419-0000075/Barring-foreigners-from-some-Little-India-void-decks-is-abominable,-says-a-reader>
Danny G Tan, Today


> The void deck is a distinct public space; barring anyone from such a space goes against this distinction. This is another manifestation of a disturbing Singaporean trait: The "not in my backyard" syndrome.



**** Privatised, But Not Deregulated ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120419-0000003/Privatised,-but-not-deregulated>
Cheow Xin Yi, Today


> Could - or should - London's public bus transport model be the future for Singapore's own?



**** Think Twice Before Pocketing A 'Find'; You May Be Breaking The Law ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120419-0000070/Think-twice-before-pocketing-a-find-you-may-be-breaking-the-law>
Syed Amir Hussain, Today


> Finders are not always keepers, and a finder who dishonestly keeps his find may instead "find" himself in violation of the law, according to High Court Judge Steven Chong in a written judgment released on Tuesday.



**** Third Day Of MRT Inquiry Sheds Light On Problems Faced By Train Drivers During December Breakdowns ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120419-0000094/Of-failed-devices-and-questionable-decisions,,,>
Sumita Sreedharan, Today


> Of failed devices and questionable decisions...

Unprepared for anything out of the norm.


**** Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre: Carrot Cake – Black Or White? ****
<http://singaporeactually.com/2012/04/19/bedok-interchange-hawker-centre-carrot-cake-other-yummy-local-food/>
Singapore Actually



**** A Milder ER II Is Workable ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120418-0000156/A-milder-ER-II-is-workable>
Paul Chan Poh Hoi, Today


> The issue is that if our high-growth economic model of many years has left domestic industry workers struggling to make a decent living, compared to those earning 10 times more, we need to correct this quickly.

> The labour movement should support ER II to narrow the income disparity. ER II may incur the risk of some unemployment, inflation and jitters among foreign talent, but the "shock therapy" is necessary at this juncture.