[MyAppleMenu] Feb 3, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Can Bells And Whistles Save The Book? ****
<http://www.salon.com/2012/02/02/can_bells_and_whistles_save_the_book/>
Laura Miller, Salon


> Attempts to invigorate books with video and other digital bells and whistles keep bumping up against this fundamental problem: You can’t really pay much attention to anything else while you’re reading, so in order to play with any of these new features, you have to stop reading. If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, then the attentional tug of all these peripheral doodads is vaguely annoying, and if you’re not engaged by the story, they aren’t enough on their own to win you over.

> The latest crop of enhanced e-books struggle mightily to overcome this dilemma. The vast majority of such books are kids’ titles, for the simple reason that literature for young children has always included images. The pictures give kids something to look at as the books are being read aloud to them, and this helps cement the relationship between printed and spoken language. Every children’s e-book offers a read-aloud feature in which a recorded voice recites the text. Most offer the ability to tap individual words to hear them spoken aloud. Parents understandably believe that these apps will help their kids learn to read — and that they make tempting, but still educational, alternatives to television.



**** Apple Is Censoring Music On iTunes Match ****
<http://mashable.com/2012/02/02/apple-censoring-itunes-match/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29&utm_content=Google+Reader>
Chris Taylor, Mashable


> Apple is unintentionally censoring rap music and other explicit tracks downloaded using its iTunes Match service — by replacing them with the clean versions of the same songs.



**** Security Concerns On Apple's FileVault Decryption Via FireWire ****
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57370628-263/security-concerns-on-apples-filevault-decryption-via-firewire/>
Topher Kessler, CNET


> Because of the stringent requirements for obtaining the encryption keys, it is highly unlikely that a thief would uncover your files. Instead, it is far more likely that a thief would format the drive and get rid of the system to the quickest and highest bidder. Nevertheless, if you are still concerned, then there are a couple of things you can do to prevent such access to your system and protect your data.



**** FileVault 2 Easily Decrypted, Warns Passware ****
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57369983-263/filevault-2-easily-decrypted-warns-passware/?tag=mncol;txt>
Topher Kessler, CNET


> In a statement (PDF) issued this morning, password recovery company Passware has claimed that it can fully decrypt a FileVault-encrypted Mac disk within an hour. Using a live-memory analysis approach via the system's FireWire connection, Passware says its utilities can sample system memory and extract the encryption key for FileVault disks. The process apparently takes no more than 40 minutes, regardless of the length or complexity of the password used.



**** How To Install Boot Camp And Run Windows On Your Mac ****
<http://www.pcworld.com/article/249059/how_to_install_boot_camp_and_run_windows_on_your_mac.html>
Michael King, PCWorld


> Shortly after the first Intel-based Macs arrived on the market, Apple released a tool called Boot Camp, which lets Mac owners install and boot their machines natively into Microsoft Windows alongside an existing OS X installation without running two operating systems concurrently--perfect for running performance-intensive applications that don't work in a virtual machine (such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion). Here’s how to set up Boot Camp.



**** Tim Cook Boasts About Apple's Charitable Contributions During Internal All-hands Meeting ****
<http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/2/2766403/tim-cook-apple-charity-project-red-stanford>
Nilay Patel, The Verge


> Apple CEO Tim Cook held a town hall meeting last week to celebrate Apple's record quarter, and in addition to giving employees deep discounts on Apple products, we're now hearing that he spent quite a bit of time focusing on Apple's charitable contributions.



**** Avid Brings Its “Pro-sumer” Video Editing App To iPad ****
<http://allthingsd.com/20120201/avid-brings-its-pro-sumer-video-editing-app-to-ipad/>
Lauren Goode, AllThingsD


> Avid, maker of high-end digital video and audio production tools, is bringing its “pro-sumer” video editing software to the iPad.

> Full projects and video files can be transferred to and from the Avid Studio app via iCloud and iTunes. Finished movie files can also be shared directly from the Avid app to Facebook and YouTube.



**** Some 10.7.3 Users Encounter Nasty Bug; Fix Available ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/165183/2012/02/some_10_7_3_users_encounter_nasty_bug_fix_available.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Lex Friedman, Macworld


> Some folks who installed 10.7.3 via Software Update—using the traditional update approach—discovered upon rebooting that every app they launched would crash, and the ensuing error dialog box sported bizarre overlays: gradient boxes reading “CUI CUI,” along with bright red question marks.

> The good news is, there's a fix. The bad news is, it isn't simple to perform. The combo updater—the version that could also update older versions of Lion—seems to resolve the issue for afflicted users. The problem, however, is that getting the installer to run can be a bit of an issue, if your Web browser crashes each time you try to download it.



**** Reported iMessage Bug Is Not A Bug Says Apple ****
<http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/02/reported-imessage-bug-is-not-a-bug-says-apple/?utm_source=loopinsight.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loopinsight%2FKqJb+%28The+Loop%29>
Jim Dalrymple, The Loop


> “This was an extremely rare situation that occurred when a retail employee did not follow the correct service procedure and used their personal SIM to help a customer who did not have a working SIM,” Apple representative Natalie Harrison told The Loop. “This resulted in a temporary situation that has since been resolved by the employee.”

I wish Apple (or someone) will come up with a list of things to do and not to do regarding your SIM card. Looks like a minefield of iMessage hurt out there.





The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Too Young To Fail ****
<http://www.technologyreview.com/business/39592/?ref=rss>
Jessica Leber, Technology Review


> Laura Deming was studying for finals in a crowded MIT reading room last April when her phone rang. That's when she learned she may never again take another exam.

> Deming, only 17, had just been chosen by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel for a high-profile experiment: Put $100,000 apiece in the hands of 24 entrepreneurial teenagers and give them free rein to pursue innovative ideas.






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** I Greet You In The Middle Of A Great Career: A Brief History Of Blurbs ****
<http://www.themillions.com/2012/02/i-greet-you-in-the-middle-of-a-great-career-a-brief-history-of-blurbs.html>
Alan Levinovitz, The Millions


> Blovers and blaps… what next? For my part, I can see where Orwell, Paglia, and Miller are coming from, and I certainly wouldn’t bemoan the disappearance of blurbs. But not everyone is like me.






SingaporeSurf
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**** Development Of Bukit Brown Cemetery Will Proceed As Planned ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_762675.html>
Grace Chua, Straits Times


> The Government will go through with the building of a controversial road across Bukit Brown Cemetery, suggested Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin in a Facebook post on Friday.



**** Eldercare Centres Do Not Affect Flat Prices, Say Some Residents ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1180809/1/.html>
Evelyn Lam Li Ting, Channel NewsAsia


> While residents in Woodlands are petitioning for a proposed eldercare centre in their neighbourhood to be moved elsewhere, others living near one in Ang Mo Kio feel differently.



**** Interview: Ng Eng Hen, Singaporean Minister Of Defence ****
<http://www.janes.com/products/janes/defence-security-report.aspx?ID=1065932245>
Dzirhan Mahadzir, IHS Jane's


> The security challenges facing Singapore encompass both traditional and non-traditional threats, according to Singapore's Minister of Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen. "In terms of traditional threats," he said, "the world is increasingly interconnected and even events that take place far away affect Singapore.

> "If someone suggested 10 to 15 years ago that Singapore would send assets and troops to Afghanistan it would have been dubbed a fantasy, but here we are with a number of rotations to Afghanistan [and the] Gulf of Aden, as many other countries are."



**** Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Sees More Foreign Gamblers ****
<http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/02/03/singapores-marina-bay-sands-sees-more-foreign-gamblers/>
Sam Holmes, Wall Street Journal


> Analysts say the growth in the foreign share suggests traffic from Singaporeans–a political hot potato in the city-state–is at least stabilizing.

> That would be welcome news to lawmakers, who have anxiously watched local patronage at Singapore’s two casinos since they opened in early 2010, and to Marina Bay Sands, which is betting on a greater contribution from Asia’s more lucrative VIP gaming market for earnings momentum.



**** Govt's Foreign Worker-productivity Policy In Disarray	 ****
<http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/5125-foreign-workers-and-productivity-a-government-in-disarray>
Singaore Democratic Party


> While Mr Tharman waxed eloquent on the need to boost productivity by reducing our dependence on foreign workers, two years later, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin tells us that the number of foreign workers has, in fact, increased.

> Mr Tharman can come up with grandiose announcements but the truth is that the PAP is bankrupt of ideas. It does not know how to take our economy forward without relying on cheap foreign labour. Just two years into its existence, the ESC's economic strategy is in disarray.

I wonder if our prime minister has set workers' productivity as a KPI for the manpower minister.


**** Airport Taxi System Needs Sorting Out ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_762318.html>
Vijay Kumar Rai, Straits Times


> We heard more shouts from the coordinator and his assistants - obviously intended to intimidate us into boarding the limousine cab as directed - but we ignored the commotion.

Even though the LTA has de-regulated the taxi fare structure for many years already, the physical infrastructure hasn't catch up.


**** Press Freedom Important ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_762462.html>
Lee Seck Kay, Straits Times


> First World Singapore's largely affluent population should not be short-changed by journalists and editors who are afraid of their own shadows: fearing to exercise their professional freedom.



**** Ex-SPP Members Say They Did Not Quit Over Succession Issues ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120202-0000157/Ex-SPP-members-say-they-did-not-quit-over-succession-issues>
Today


> The six stressed that their "differences in opinion over leadership style have never ever been with Mr Chiam". 



**** StarHub’s Domain Name Purchase Sparks TLD Debate ****
<http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/289055,starhub8217s-domain-name-purchase-sparks-tld-debate.aspx>
Margz Osborne, Campaign Asia-Pacific


> Kinderis’ trademark protection argument in favour of TLD’s is also one of the key concerns surrounding the programme – that it is simply a money-making exercise, with brands feeling compelled to buy the TLD for fear of cybersquatters.



**** Why There Will Never Be Opposition Unity ****
<http://newnation.sg/2012/02/why-there-will-never-be-opposition-unity/>
Belmont Lay, New Nation


> The fact that talented people would rather walk away and consider their options than acquiesce to a structure or system that they don’t relate to is highly laudable.

But, on the other hand, to win elections, to govern well, to achieve your vision, you will have to work with others who will not exactly share your visions, and who will have different priorities. Singapore politicians -- both PAP and oppositions -- will need to learn to work with others that hold different ideas and ideals.


**** Among Friends ****
<http://www.economist.com/node/21546047>
The Economist


> This week it naturally suited the Burmese delegation to accept this argument and to thank Singapore for continuing to trade with and invest in Myanmar even when its generals were shunned by the West. Yet an equally convincing case can be made that the real impetus behind reform was the desire to see Western sanctions lifted.