[MyAppleMenu] Dec 4, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Hunted Cow’s Andrew Mulholland On Battle Dungeon’s Untimely Demise ****
<http://pockettactics.com/2012/12/04/hunted-cows-andrew-mulholland-on-battle-dungeons-untimely-demise/>
Owen Faraday, Pocket Tactics



**** How To Play And Control Music Using Siri ****
<http://www.imore.com/how-play-and-control-music-using-siri>
Allyson Kazmucha, IMore



**** iTunes 11’S Mysterious Cloud Icon ****
<http://robottuxedo.net/itunes-11s-mysterious-cloud-icon>
Matthew Panzarino, Robot Tuxedo


> So, the cloud icon is simply an indicator that at least one of the items in your library is available in Apple’s cloud infrastructure somewhere. Whether by purchase or by ‘match’, it’s not just on your physical hard disk.

> Confusing? Maybe, but there it is.



**** Why ‘The Daily’ Failed ****
<http://daringfireball.net/2012/12/why_the_daily_failed>
John Gruber, Daring Fireball


> Their success was that they got over 100,000 readers to pay at least $40 per year for a subscription. How many digital publications can say that? Not many. And the iPad — with Apple’s simple, trusted, familiar payment mechanism — made that possible. The Daily’s problem was simply that they weren’t conceived to operate on $5 or $6 million per year in revenue. A smarter, smaller team could.



**** Holiday Guide: How To Buy Apple Gear, Affordably ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/2017848/holiday-guide-how-to-buy-apple-gear-affordably.html>
Joel Mathis, Macworld



**** Review: Das Keyboard Model S Professional For Mac Is A Solid Mechanical-switch Keyboard ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/2017803/review-das-keyboard-model-s-professional-for-mac-is-a-solid-mechanical-switch-keyboard.html>
Peter Cohen, Macworld


> The Model S Professional For Mac represents a good Mac-specific start for Das Keyboard. It provides a solid and reassuringly physical mechanical-keyboard experience, and its keyswitch technology and physical design differentiate it from the popular Matias offerings, providing a crisp, clicky sensation. However, I hope the next version of the Model S will offer standard Mac function keys, instead of just media-control keys.



**** Apple Launches iTunes Store In Russia, Turkey, India, South Africa & 52 Additional Countries Today ****
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/12/04Apple-Launches-iTunes-Store-in-Russia-Turkey-India-South-Africa-52-Additional-Countries-Today.html>
Apple



**** Apple iMac 27-Inch (Late 2012) ****
<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2412808,00.asp>
Brian Westover, PC Magazine


> With its beautiful design and quality fabrication, the iMac 27-inch (Late 2012) is the best all-in-one desktop we've ever seen, with a look and feel that manufacturers will be trying to replicate for years. It's not without a few frustrations, like the lack of height adjustment and a price that will give some shoppers a stroke, but there's no denying that the iMac we reviewed—the top spec'ed model of Apple's best configuration—is worth every penny.



**** iTunes 11 Interface Innovations ****
<http://www.macstories.net/links/itunes-11-interface-innovations/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+macstoriesnet+%28MacStories%29>
Federico Viticci, MacStories


> But at the same time, as a non-power user of iTunes 11, I found it to be extremely complicated and confusing in other areas: the Done button to dismiss the device window, the separation of sections, views, devices, and Store buttons across the entire window, and the non-native sharing of the iTunes Store.



**** What's On My iPad Mini ****
<http://speirs.org/blog/2012/12/3/whats-on-my-ipad-mini.html>
Fraser Speirs



**** Create A Time Capsule Of Your Life With Little Memory For iPhone ****
<http://www.imore.com/create-time-capsule-your-life-little-memory-iphone>
Leanna Lofte, IMore



**** The Design Of A Site Meant To Be Read ****
<http://brooksreview.net/2012/11/readable/?utm_source=loopinsight.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loopinsight%2FKqJb+%28The+Loop%29>
Ben Brooks, The Brooks Review



**** Slogging Through RSS Feeds ****
<http://www.macdrifter.com/2012/12/slogging-through-rss-feeds.html?utm_source=loopinsight.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loopinsight%2FKqJb+%28The+Loop%29>
Macdrifter



**** Apple’s iTunes Would Be One Of World’s Biggest Media Companies ****
<http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-12-03-apple’s-itunes-would-be-one-of-world’s-biggest-media-companies/>
Edmund Lee, Bloomberg



**** VPN For The Rest Of Us: Interview With WiTopia ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/12/03/vpn-for-the-rest-of-us/>
Erica Sadun, TUAW



**** Apple 'Hard At Work' On Next Version Of Logic Pro ****
<http://www.macrumors.com/2012/12/03/apple-hard-at-work-on-next-version-of-logic-pro/>
Eric Slivka, MacRumors



**** iTunes 11 Interface Innovations: Good And Bad, But Not Ugly ****
<http://tidbits.com/article/13422?rss>
Adam C. Engst, TidBITS


> You can quibble with the old sidebar interface, but it was always clear where you were, and what you were working on. This new approach is undeniably more attractive and probably easier to use when you are within a screen, but moving between screens with so few locational and navigational clues is going to be a major problem for less-sophisticated users.



**** How To Exclude Holiday Tracks From Genius Playlists ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/2017845/how-to-exclude-holiday-tracks-from-genius-playlists.html>
Christopher Breen, Macworld


> In the case of genius playlists you must indicate to iTunes where you don’t want the genius feature to tread. And you do that by simply switching off the tracks.



**** Review: Firetask A Getting Things Done Manager Worth Considering ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/2017493/review-firetask-a-getting-things-done-manager-worth-considering.html>
Stuart Gripman, Macworld


> Firetask 3.0 is a well-designed and executed task manager with nearly all of the right features and zero bloat. Whether or not the letters GTD mean anything to you, if you’re serious about taming your to-do list Firetask is well worth your consideration.






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Red Cloth ****
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/poem/2012/12/_red_cloth_by_sara_peters.html>
Sara Peters, Slate



**** Antarctic Eats ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/books/review/hoosh-by-jason-c-anthony.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Rebecca P. Sinkler, New York Times


> “I am not dead,” exclaimed an astonished Capt. Georges Lecointe on awaking one morning circa 1897. Or perhaps we should say “complained.” In the throes of scurvy, his ship trapped in the ice in the black Antarctic winter, one of the leaders of the first major scientific expedition of the heroic age had been saved from death by a “last meal”: penguin that tasted like “beef, odiferous cod fish and a canvas-backed duck, roasted together in a pot with blood and cod-liver oil for sauce.” The poor man might have welcomed death.



**** The Bookstore Strikes Back ****
<http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/12/the-bookstore-strikes-back/309164/?single_page=true>
Ann Patchett, The Atlantic


> You may have heard the news that the independent bookstore is dead, that books are dead, that maybe even reading is dead—to which I say: Pull up a chair, friend. I have a story to tell.



**** 3 Theses About The Daily's Demise ****
<http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/print/12/12/3-theses-about-the-dailys-demise/265842/>
Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic


> It's not a technical proposition to get people to share your content. Sure, there are things you can do that marginally improve your share rates by placing the buttons in the right places, etc. But the main determinant of social sharing is the quality, tone, and form of your stories. The only way to figure out what works -- because it's constantly evolving -- is to keep sending work you love out into the ecosystem and seeing what gets amplified. Then, you take that feedback, write another thing you love and send it back into the field. If a bunch of stuff sits behind a paywall, that iterative cycle gets broken. You don't know what's working.