[MyAppleMenu] Apr 22, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Skeuomorphism & Storytelling ****
<http://tobiasahlin.com/blog/skeumorphism-and-storytelling/>
Tobias Bjerrome Ahlin


> It is often said that design should be invisible. More importantly, design should empower. An interface that is not only easy to use, but fun to use, engages the user and creates an experience where obstacles are easier to overcome, and thus an experience where the product is easier and more effortless to use. Done right, skeuomorphism can retain the simplicity and ease of use of an interface while empowering users to act.



**** Apple Offers To Settle Ebook Price Fixing Row In Europe But Will Fight Case In The US ****
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/electronics/9217264/Apple-offers-to-settle-ebook-price-fixing-row-in-Europe-but-will-fight-case-in-the-US.html>
Katherine Rushton, The Telegraph


> The technology company was initially tight-lipped about the US case but last week broke its silence to declare itself innocent and paint itself as a hero for breaking Amazon's "monopolistic grip". It said the iPad's bookstore "fostered innovation and competition".

> However, it has taken an altogether different approach in Brussels. Joaquín Almunia, the European Union competition commissioner, said he has received settlement offers from Apple and all the publishers other than Penguin.

Are EU's settlement terms better for Apple than US'?





The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Start-up Spotlight: Buy And Sell Used Fashions On Threadflip ****
<http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-threadflip-20120419,0,5345317.story>
Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** No Sympathy For The Creative Class ****
<http://www.salon.com/2012/04/22/no_sympathy_for_the_creative_class/>
Scott Timberg, Salon


> They’re pampered, privileged, indulged – part of the “cultural elite.” They spend all their time smoking pot and sipping absinthe. To use a term that’s acquired currency lately, they’re <i>entitled</i>. And they’re not – after all – real Americans.

> This what we hear about artists, architects, musicians, writers and others like them. And it’s part of the reason the struggles of the creative class in the 21st century – a period in which an economic crash, social shifts and technological change have put everyone from graphic artists to jazz musicians to book publishers out of work – has gone largely untold. Or been shrugged off.



**** The Art Of Waiting ****
<http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6694>
Belle Boggs, Orion


> It’s spring when i realize that I may never have children, and around that time the thirteen-year cicadas return, burrowing out of neat, round holes in the ground to shed their larval shells, sprout wings, and fly to the treetops, filling the air with the sound of their singular purpose: reproduction. In the woods where I live, an area mostly protected from habitat destruction, the males’ mating song, a vibrating, whooshing, endless hum, a sound at once faraway and up-close, makes me feel like I am living inside a seashell.



**** The Apartment By Greg Baxter – Review ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/22/the-apartment-greg-baxter-review>
Julie Yerson, The Guardian


> Only a very brave – or very foolish – aspiring novelist would first publish a memoir about trying, and failing, to write a novel, as Greg Baxter did in his acclaimed <i>A Preparation for Death</i> (2010). But on the evidence of this, his first published novel, all those fictional cul-de-sacs prepared him rather well.






SingaporeSurf
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**** Bt Panjang LRT Service Disrupted ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1196826/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia


> The Bukit Panjang Light Rapid Transit (LRT) service was disrupted on Sunday afternoon due to a train fault between Bukit Panjang and Senja stations.

> Service A was restored two-and-a-half hours later.



**** Would You Like Your Singapore ‘Mordor’ Or ‘Shiny’? ****
<http://kirstenhan.me/2012/04/22/would-you-like-your-singapore-mordor-or-shiny/>
Kirsten Han, Funny Little World



**** What Tin Pei Ling Could Teach Dr Lam ****
<http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/what-tin-pei-ling-could-teach-dr-lam/>
Thoughts Of A Cynical Investor


> He shld know that in S’pore, self-help (including help from family, relations and friends) and, if that fails, aid from charities is what S’poreans in trouble are conditioned to do. The government has always said welfare should be the last resort, not the automatic default. If this is true for true blue S’poreans, why should PRs be any different? PRs tua kee, is it Dr Lam?



**** Memories Of Toa Payoh (2) - I Saw Them Building The Flyovers To Toa Payoh ****
<http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/2012/04/memories-of-toa-payoh-2-i-saw-them.html>
Lam Chun See, Good Morning Yesterday


> I studied at the Anglo-Chinese School from 1964 to 1968. Every afternoon, I would take Tay Koh Yat bus no. 9a from Newton Circus to my home at Lorong Chuan. During this period I saw them construct two of Singapore’s earliest flyovers.



**** Pity Mr Lui But He Deserves Some Credit ****
<http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/pity-mr-lui-but-he-deserves-some-credit/>
Andrew Loh


> In the meantime, I think Mr Lui deserves some credit for trying to get to the bottom of it all. In any case, I do feel Mr Lui is a more empathetic transport minister than his predecessor, Mr Raymond Lim, whose attitude and behaviour seemed to me arrogant and condescending.

To be better than the trio that forced Lee Hsien Loong to apologize -- that's a very low bar.


**** A Country Without Shame ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/a-country-without-shame/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread


> Instead, the MDA has a tendency to gloss over this crucial distinction and use Orwellian-speak, saying that they are not in the business of censoring films. By that, they use the narrowest of narrow definitions of the word (in keeping with inch-wide minds?) to mean that they do not do the actual snipping. Yes, but as the example of Shame shows, they demand that someone else snips in submission to their demands, or else the film is deemed contraband. Such dishonesty in language is another characteristic of illiberal, undemocratic systems trying to disguise themselves.



**** Welcome To S'pore - But We're Getting Picky ****
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120422-341210.html>
Nisha Ramchandani, The Business Times


> STB has been conducting consumer insight research to establish which travellers it should be targeting and to better understand their decision-making process.



**** Singapore To Lend IMF $5 Billion ****
<http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Story/A1Story20120422-341212.html>
Malminderjit Singh, The Business Times


> The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday announced that Singapore will make a bilateral loan of US$4 billion to the IMF but stressed that this contribution will be by way of contingent loans to the Fund, and not directly to countries borrowing from it. "Hence, as with our permanent capital subscriptions to the IMF (or quota subscriptions), this bilateral loan will remain part of Singapore's Official Foreign Reserves," MAS said in a statement.

> Singapore joined other countries at the G-20 spring meetings in Washington to make this commitment to the IMF.



**** The Death Of Pte Lee Rui Feng In Perspective ****
<http://newasiarepublic.com/?p=37933>
Daryl Yong, New Asia Republic


> As long as we remain wilfully blind to the evil behind such a moral code, we will continue forcing young men to work to death at gun point. Everyone knows that Private Lee was not the first man to die from military service forced upon him against his will. We all know that he will not be the last.



**** Two Different Perspectives To Raise Pay ****
<http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2012/04/normal-0-microsoftinternetexplorer4_22.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News


> From the above, it is obvious that there are more reasons to give pay rise to ministers. There are 11 reasons compare to 7 reasons for the workers.



**** Ambassador’s Smug Take On Illiberal Democracy ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/571-ambassador’s-smug-take-on-illiberal-democracy>
Koh Jie Kai, Publichouse.sg


> In any event, whatever Singaporeans (Muslims or not) want to say is really none of any other country’s business. It was disappointing that Chan failed to assert robustly that what Singaporeans can say in their own country is a matter for Singaporeans and Singaporeans alone. And I believe that the defence of this freedom is a worthy cause for Singaporeans to fight and die for. It is certainly a better cause than “competitiveness”, the benefits of which, in the context of our increasing inequality, have meant little for too many Singaporeans in recent years.



**** Faster, Lower-cost Registration Of Medical Devices ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120421-0000041/Faster,-lower-cost-registration-of-medical-devices>
Tan Weizhen, Today


> On why it took the HSA time to implement these changes, given that amendments to the regulatory framework were implemented in phases starting from 2002, Dr Lim said the industry only felt the impact of the changes from 2007 when enforcement kicked in. 

> He added that the HSA needed sufficient information to calibrate the framework and stressed patient safety.



**** Chicken Rice War At Maxwell Road Food Centre ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_791438.html>
Kenneth Goh, Straits Times



**** Chiam See Tong: Government Treats CPF As A Business ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/04/chiam-see-tong-government-treats-cpf-as-a-business/>
Kumaran Pillai, The Online Citizen


> He spoke about how to cope with the rising costs of living, declining real wages and the rent seeking practices of our government – the things that professors won’t talk about. He gave an example of how the interest rates from the CPF Board have been declining over the years, starting from 6% to the current 2.5% per annum. He also spoke about how the government has been using the CPF monies to finance the GLCs; and about how the government has systematically eroded our personal savings by transferring wealth into our national savings and reserves.



**** Our Income Gap Reflects The Power Distrribution In Our Society......... ****
<http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/04/our-income-gap-reflects-power.html>
Diary Of A Singaporean Mind


> Today we see the extreme outcomes of these unbalanced policies.- workers who work honest full time jobs earning less what they need to live on and leaders who get paid millions for regurgitating old ideas and peddling failed solutions. Things are not going to improve for our werkers because they have little power to bring about outcomes that will make their lives better.



**** LTA, SMRT Team To Look Into Pre-empting Faults ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120422-0000011/LTA,-SMRT-team-to-look-into-pre-empting-faults>
Teo Xuanwei, Today


> This comes after the North-South East-West and Circle lines saw four disruptions in six days - once during the evening peak period on April 13, and three more on consecutive mornings last Monday to Wednesday.

> Making his first comments on those incidents, Mr Lui said the spate of "serious disruptions" in the short span was "not acceptable".

Also: <a href="http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120422_003.shtml">一周内五次地铁故障 吕德耀：不可接受</a>（李静仪，联合早报）