[MyAppleMenu] Aug 1, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Apple Design Chief Sir Jonathan Ive: iPhone Was 'Nearly Axed' ****
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/9440639/Apple-design-chief-Sir-Jonathan-Ive-iPhone-was-nearly-axed.html>
Katherine Rushton, Telegraph


> Speaking at a British Business conference running alongside the Olympic Games, Sir Jonathan said that it was not uncommon for Apple’s designers to feel they are "pursuing something that we think 'that's really incredibly compelling', but we're really struggling to solve the problem that it represents".

> However, the designer added that the firm does not get enough credit for its decisions to stop working on devices that are “competent” as opposed to “great”.



**** Apple’s CPU Architect Jim Keller Departs To Head Up Chipmaker AMD’s Processor Group ****
<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/08/01/apples-cpu-architect-jim-keller-departs-to-head-up-chipmaker-amds-processor-group/>
Robin Wauters, The Next Web



**** Q&A: Cleaning Up The Mac’s Sidebar ****
<http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/qa-cleaning-up-the-macs-sidebar/?partner=rss&emc=rss>
J.D. Biersdorfer, New York Times



**** MagSafe 2 ****
<http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2012/08/01/magsafe_2/>
Lukas Mathis, Ignore The Code


> But with either an L-shaped connector or the MagSafe 1’s stronger magnets, this probably wouldn’t have happened. And perhaps the thicker glass on the older MacBooks would have survived this accident. Tiny design decisions can add up.



**** Always Arrive On Time With Twist For iOS ****
<http://www.zdnet.com/always-arrive-on-time-with-twist-for-ios-7000001894/>
Jason D. O'Grady, ZDNet



**** Inkling Now Available For iPhone ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/07/31/inkling-now-available-for-iphone/>
Mike Schramm, TUAW



**** Mountain Lion And The Ancient AirPort Base Station ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167965/mountain_lion_and_the_ancient_airport_base_station.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld



**** Avoid Security Risks With iTunes Connect Scraping Services ****
<http://www.marco.org/2012/07/31/itc-sales-users>
Marco Arment


> Fortunately, you can avoid both risks, for the most part, by creating an additional user in iTunes Connect that only has access to sales reports.



**** BeQuiet Keeps Your Mac's Speakers Muted ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167958/bequiet_keeps_your_macs_speakers_muted.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Karissa Bell, Macworld


> Launch the app and your Mac’s external speakers are immediately muted. Better yet, they remain muted, even if you launch another application, or if your headphones come unplugged. If you do have headphones plugged in, however, that volume is maintained and can be freely adjusted.



**** Why Developers, Customers Should Be Wary Of The Mac App Store ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167941/why_developers_customers_should_be_wary_of_the_mac_app_store.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Lex Friedman, Macworld


> If you’re concerned, you have two tools you can use: The first is to stop shopping at the Mac App Store when possible, and buy apps direct from developers instead. And the second is to share your feedback with Apple directly.

> It’s definitely too soon to panic about the future of the Mac App Store and OS X. But it’s not too soon to be concerned.






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** First Look: Simple Reimagines Banking ****
<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/08/01/first-look-simple-reimagines-banking/>
Benjamin Jackson, The Next Web



**** Digg Launches Redesign And New App With Editorial Curation, No Comments ****
<http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/31/3207670/digg-redesign-live>
Dieter Bohn, The Verge






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** How To Write Great ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/books/review/how-to-write-great.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Roger Rosenblatt, New York Times


> And yet, at the end of the day — our own or days in general — what else do we seek from our books? The verities need not be expressed gently, unambiguously or in rhyming couplets, but it is the verities that make us know ourselves. And you can swoon your critical head off over Joyce’s bourgeois “Ulysses” and Robert Graves’s girl-crazy “Ulysses,” and still know in your acritical heart that neither holds a candle to the original wild sailor or even to Tennyson’s old salt, who strove, sought and found, and did not yield.



**** How To Write How-To ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/books/review/how-to-write-how-to.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Augusten Burroughs, New York Times


> In order to pass along the knowledge of how to succeed, first you must know how to fail.



**** Thank You For The Light ****
<http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2012/08/06/120806fi_fiction_fitzgerald>
F. Scott Fitzgerald, New Yorker



**** Mo Said She Was Quirky By James Kelman – Review ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/aug/01/mo-said-quirky-james-kelman-review>
Alex Clark, The Guardian


> Past and present blur in James Kelman's curiously compelling novel.






SingaporeSurf
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**** PR Exercise Or Genuine Response To Singaporeans' Needs? ****
<http://yoursdp.org/news/pr_exercise_or_genuine_response_to_singaporeans_needs/2012-08-01-5282>
Singaore Democratic Party



**** Up Standards, Please, With S&CC Hike ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120801-0000159/Up-standards,-please,-with-SCC-hike>
Rashid Osman, Today



**** The MLC And The Big Fat White Elephant In The Room ****
<http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/the-mlc-and-the-big-fat-white-elephant-in-the-room/>
Andrew Loh


> The best thing about the online landscape is the messiness of it.

> And the best thing the Government can do is to leave it be.

> Sadly, though, it seems the MLC is just a sugar-coated version of its 2007 “counter-insurgency” attempt at controlling the Internet – while it ignores the white elephant in its midst.



**** High Court Dismisses Hougang By-election Case ****
<http://sg.news.yahoo.com/high-court-dismisses-hougang-by-election-case-20120801.html>
Jeanette Tan, Yahoo!


> In a more than 50-page written judgement issued on Wednesday, Justice Philip Pillai concluded that “there is no requirement” in Singapore’s constitution to call elections to fill elected Member of Parliament (MP) vacancies.

> Pillai ruled that the Parliamentary Elections Act "merely provides the mechanism to hold such an election (the by-election) should the Prime Minister decide to call one", instead of determining whether or not one should be held, much less <i>when</i>.



**** Thanks To PAP's Liberal Acceptance Of Immigrants, We Are Fooked AfookGAIN! ****
<http://feedmetothefish.blogspot.sg/2012/07/thanks-to-paps-liberal-acceptance-of.html>
Feed Me To The Fish



**** Some Members Concerned About Changes ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120801-0000061/Some-members-concerned-about-changes>
Woo Sian Boon, Today


> The restructuring of the Government ministries - which will see the arts being parked under a new Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) - have led to concerns among some members of the arts community.

> Chief among their concerns was that this could mark a return to the days when the arts were seen as a means to an end, instead of being seen as "intrinsically valuable", as actress Janice Koh put it.



**** The Public Had The Right To Know: Khaw ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120801-0000098/The-public-had-the-right-to-know--Khaw>
Today


> "Did I jump the gun? I don't think so. There had been many Singaporeans writing to me expressing concern about the issue. The public have a right to know, and I thought that I should share this interim finding with the public, so long as what I disclosed did not affect the on-going audit," said Mr Khaw in a blog post today - his first comments on the issue since the matter was turned over to the CPIB.

> "I wrote then, that the decision to buy foldable bikes was justified. However, to signal my dissatisfaction and to convey a public message (not just to NParks but to all MND officers) that we should always seek value for money and ensure contestability when procuring goods or services, I added that I thought the procurement could have been better handled and NParks could have gotten a better deal," he said.



**** NTUC: Making It Easy To Gamble? ****
<http://inhisblood.blogspot.sg/2012/07/ntuc-making-it-easy-to-gamble.html>
Covered In His Blood


> Near my house, on the top floor of AMK Hub, there is a very popular leisure outlet and I am not talking about the cinema. It is a NTUC Club or what is actually a very large jackpot room in the middle of a bustling town centre and very accessible to nearby residents.



**** The Cultivation Of Infantilism And The Rise Of Super Establishment Trolls ****
<http://mollymeek.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/the-cultivation-of-infantilism-and-the-rise-of-super-establishment-trolls/>
Molitics


> To be sure, the PAP does want a “bottom-up” approach to Internet regulation, but it wants to create the bottom in its image.



**** Media Literacy Council Is Yet Another Attempt At Stifling Dissent ****
<http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=7781>
Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net


> The government is trying to re-establish the groundwork leading towards a set of rules governing internet behaviour for Singaporean users, even whilst the original proposal was shot down and thoroughly debunked by netizens.



**** How Media Illiteracy Is Promoted ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/how-media-illiteracy-is-promoted/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread


> We should revel in highly partisan media, for the truism is this:  A challenging environment sharpens our adaptive skills; too much spoonfeeding of pre-digested mush leads to mental flabbiness.