[MyAppleMenu] Apr 29, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Snow Leopard Users Most Prone To Flashback Infection ****
<http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9226696/Snow_Leopard_users_most_prone_to_Flashback_infection?source=rss_operatingsystems>
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld


> Of the Macs that have been infected by the Flashback malware, nearly two-thirds are running OS X 10.6, better known as Snow Leopard, a Russian antivirus company said Friday.



**** Apple’s Inevitable Path To A Post-PC Era ****
<http://gigaom.com/apple/apples-inevitable-path-to-a-post-pc-era/>
Geoffrey Goetz, GigaOM



**** Apple's Stock-Market Sway ****
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303990604577366332861232436.html>
Steven Russolillo and Jonathan Cheng, Wall Street Journal



**** Firefox: Not A Good Citizen On OS X Lion ****
<http://zerodistraction.com/blog/2012/4/28/firefox-not-a-good-citizen-on-os-x-lion.html>
Alex Knight, Zero Distraction


> Lion is not a new operating system, so the people at Mozilla have had plenty of time to support some of these innovative features that other third party developers have long embraced. How many more versions of Firefox do we have to go until they build a proper Mac browser?

Cross-platform UI development are never going to be good citizens on any platforms. Firefox, Word 6, and almost all Java programs -- you use them only if you <i>have</i> to.


**** Apple’s Response On Its Tax Practices ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-response-on-its-tax-practices.html>
Apple, New York Times


> Over the past several years, we have created an incredible number of jobs in the United States. The vast majority of our global work force remains in the U.S., with more than 47,000 full-time employees in all 50 states. By focusing on innovation, we’ve created entirely new products and industries, and more than 500,000 jobs for U.S. workers — from the people who create components for our products to the people who deliver them to our customers. Apple’s international growth is creating jobs domestically since we oversee most of our operations from California. We manufacture parts in the U.S. and export them around the world, and U.S. developers create apps that we sell in over 100 countries. As a result, Apple has been among the top creators of American jobs in the past few years. 

> Apple also pays an enormous amount of taxes which help our local, state and federal governments. In the first half of fiscal year 2012 our U.S. operations have generated almost $5 billion in federal and state income taxes, including income taxes withheld on employee stock gains, making us among the top payers of U.S. income tax.



**** How Apple Sidesteps Billions In Global Taxes ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html>
Charles Duhigg And David Kocieniewski, New York Times


> Setting up an office in Reno is just one of many legal methods Apple uses to reduce its worldwide tax bill by billions of dollars each year. As it has in Nevada, Apple has created subsidiaries in low-tax places like Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands — some little more than a letterbox or an anonymous office — that help cut the taxes it pays around the world.

> Apple serves as a window on how technology giants have taken advantage of tax codes written for an industrial age and ill suited to today’s digital economy. Some profits at companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft derive not from physical goods but from royalties on intellectual property, like the patents on software that makes devices work. Other times, the products themselves are digital, like downloaded songs. It is much easier for businesses with royalties and digital products to move profits to low-tax countries than it is, say, for grocery stores or automakers. A downloaded application, unlike a car, can be sold from anywhere.






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Has The Internet Run Out Of Ideas Already? ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/29/internet-innovation-failure-patent-control>
John Naughton, The Observer


> We're now at the stage where we should be getting the next wave of disruptive surprises. But – guess what? – they're nowhere to be seen. Instead, we're getting an endless stream of incremental changes and me-tooism. If I see one more proposal for a photo-sharing or location-based web service, anything with "app" in it, or anything that invites me to "rate" something, I'll scream.






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Drawn Together ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/books/review/are-you-my-mother-by-alison-bechdel.html?_r=2>
Katie Roiphe, New York Times


> If one is at first glance tempted to dismiss Alison Bechdel’s “Are You My Mother?” as a glorified comic strip, one would be wildly and woefully misguided: it is as complicated, brainy, inventive and satisfying as the finest prose memoirs.



**** How Free Is The Will? Sam Harris Misses His Mark ****
<http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/04/26/3489758.htm>
Russell Blackford, ABC News


> The point of all this is that humankind has engaged in a sophisticated discussion over many centuries as to whether, in some sense, our choices and actions, and the predictable consequences of our actions, are up to us, or whether, at some point in the order of events, we are bypassed, leaving our efforts essentially futile. The great cultural conversation certainly did not end with the Stoics, and it has continued to the present day. Throughout the medieval period, the issue became entangled with theological considerations, and to some extent this remains so.

> Not surprisingly, recent analyses by professional philosophers have become increasingly fine-grained and technical, particularly, though not solely, where arguments about the role of causal determinism are involved.






SingaporeSurf
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**** Govt Closely Monitoring Inflation: DPM Tharman ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1198179/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia


> Speaking at the May Day dinner, he noted that inflation remains an important challenge and one that union leaders are most concerned about. However, he also explained that this does not mean that the average Singaporean will feel this high inflation.

> That is because more than half of the headline inflation rate of 5.2 per cent came from higher COEs for cars and the effect of higher market rent on houses. 

Of course, your hawkers and your supermarkets will need those COEs for meat and vegetables to be delivered, and your average CEOs will need more money to pay for higher COEs and property tax.


**** Underage Prostitute Deemed As Victim In Eyes Of Law ****
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120429-342792.html>
AsiaOne


> The judged said in his grounds of decision: "What the victim had done may be considered immoral by certain standards. However, this must be weighed against the morality of those whose demand for such services makes this a lucrative trade."



**** The Day That Singaporeans Take To The Streets ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/the-day-that-singaporeans-take-to-the-streets/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread



**** Filipinos FTs Worried About Rampant ‘Anti-pinoy’ Sentiments In Singapore ****
<http://temasektimes.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/filipinos-fts-worried-about-rampant-anti-pinoy-sentiments-in-singapore/>
The Temasek Times



**** Chee Soon Juan: We Do Not Have Political Rights ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/04/chee-soon-juan-we-do-not-have-political-rights/>
Chee Soon Juan, The Online Citizen


> Whether I am right or wrong is the point. If I am wrong then the PAP is right. On this point, Singaporeans must take sides. We must make up our minds about what we want: A free and democratic country with Singaporeans enjoying their rights in a multi-party system or continued one-party rule.

> It is also important to note that these are not my views but the fundamental freedoms that are written into our country's constitution as well as the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteed to all Singaporeans.

> These freedoms are not academic concepts; they are the very tools that the people use to protect ourselves from government overreach and policies that work against our interest.

> Without our human rights – which include our political rights and civil liberties – we cannot address the bread-and-butter issues that affect our everyday lives.



**** In My Mailbox: Loot From Singapore Book Exchange 2012 ****
<http://gatheringbooks.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/in-my-mailbox-loot-from-singapore-book-exchange-2012/>
Gathering Books



**** S'pore Elite In Child Sex Scandal ****
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/290924/under-age-call-girl-scandal-shakes-singapore-elite>
AFP



**** Something To Declare ****
<http://www.smh.com.au/travel/something-to-declare-20120426-1xnf0.html>
Ben Groundwater, Sydney Morning Herald


> It seems fitting that Singapore's seediest locale would have some ridiculously good food. There aren't many red-light districts in the world that have more restaurants than sleazy clubs but these guys take their eating seriously.



**** New PAP Branch Chairmen Expected In Aljunied ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_793765.html>
Andrea Ong And Teo Wan Gek, Straits Times


> Former Aljunied GRC MPs Lim Hwee Hua and Cynthia Phua are expected to resign as People's Action Party (PAP) branch chairmen for their respective wards soon, sources said.

> Names which have surfaced as possible new branch chairmen include those of senior party activists Poon Mun Wai and K. Muralidharan Pillai.



**** The Straits Times And The Language Of A Jilted Lover ****
<http://newnation.sg/2012/04/the-straits-times-and-the-language-of-a-jilted-lover/>
Belmont Lay, New Nation


> All I know is that The Straits Times has overstayed its welcome as an institution.

Also: <a href="http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2012/04/traditional-media-still-the-best-platform-for-national-debate-says-traditional-media.html">Traditional Media Still The Best Platform For National Debate, Says Traditional Media</a> (mrbrown.com).


**** Free Expression Online - Up To A Point ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120429-0000022/Free-expression-online---up-to-a-point>
Teo Xuanwei, Today


> The Internet and social media can be "an enabler of active citizenry and positive change" but "can (also) disrupt social order and harmony", [deputy prime minister Teo Chee Hean] said.

> "At some point in time, there is a need for some organisation - whether it is self-policing or the state to step in," said Mr Teo. Early intervention is better because "if we take a step too late ... emotions would have already been inflamed and it would be hard to calm people down again."