[MyAppleMenu] Feb 12, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Air Force May Buy 18,000 iPads From Apple ****
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/11/BUIQ1N3RJ3.DTL>
Bloomberg


> The Air Mobility Command plans to issue a request for proposals to purchase between 63 and 18,000 "iPad 2, brand name or equal devices" to lighten the load of flight crews. The goal is to replace the bag of manuals and navigation charts weighing as much as 40 pounds that's carried by pilots and navigators.



**** Bookle: Hands-on With The New Mac EPUB Reader App ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/02/11/bookle-hands-on-with-the-new-mac-epub-reader-app/>
Steven Sande, TUAW


> Bookle looks good, and is an excellent 1.0 implementation of a Mac ebook reader.



**** Using Apps To Help Treat Autism ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/165339/2012/02/using_apps_to_help_treat_autism.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Kerry Davis, IDG News Service


> “The more we dig, the bigger the rabbit hole is and we’re starting to think tech is a really big key for how we can develop therapies quickly,” said Marc Sirkin, vice president of social marketing and online fundraising for Autism Speaks.






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Here’s Looking At You (But I’m Still Texting) ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/business/texting-without-looking-on-a-new-touch-screen.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Ane Eisenberg, New York Times


> Researchers have created a prototype for a touch screen that can be used to send messages while it’s concealed in a jacket or pants pocket. The stealthy screen works when it is touched through the fabric, whether it is silk, cotton or even thick fleece.






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Beyond Good And Awful: Literary Value In The Age Of The Amazon Review ****
<http://entertainment.time.com/2012/02/08/beyond-good-and-awful-literary-value-in-the-age-of-the-amazon-review/>
Lev Grossman, Time


> It’s a basic but still weird fact about books that two people’s experiences of the same book can be radically different but equally valid.



**** How To Officially Forget ****
<http://www.themorningnews.org/article/how-to-officially-forget>
Jonathan Gourlay, The Morning News


> More than two decades later, a return visit to Tiananmen Square finds it scrubbed clean—just as it was immediately following the Incident. Except now there is thick smog, and ghosts. In contemporary Beijing, the past is like Kentucky Fried Chicken: unavoidable.



**** Berlin Stories By Robert Walser – Review ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/12/robert-walser-berlin-stories-review?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
JS Tennant, The Guardian


> In these autobiographical sketches of <i>flânerie</i>, the self-effacing Walser (who was a favourite of Kafka's) enjoys presenting himself as the wide-eyed provincial revelling in the cultural life of the German capital.



**** Kind Of Cruel By Sophie Hannah – Review ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/12/kind-cruel-sophie-hannah-review?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Alison Flood, The Guardian


> Through its slow unspooling of Amber's past, it also becomes an exploration of memory and the way trauma lives on in the present. Cool, calculating and utterly chilling, <i>Kind of Cruel</i> is another compulsive book from Hannah, to be gulped down with all the lights on and someone to grab when the sense of menace grows too great.






SingaporeSurf
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**** Yaw Celebrates CNY With Hougang Residents ****
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120212-327430.html>
AsiaOne


> While some Hougang constituents expressed disappointment by the rumours, many still showed support of Mr Yaw and his work.



**** Communication Is Key To Winning Back Aljunied GRC: Victor Lye ****
<http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120212-327450.html>
AsiaOne


> "The electorate does not want to be talked down to and told what is good for them - or not - when it comes to their vote.

> "We cannot talk down to them as though we know better. Our electorate is no longer a child."

Does anyone else feel the message here is that "we still know what's better for them, it's just that we cannot talk like that"?


**** Singapore – Time To Get Your ‘Mojo’ Back! ****
<http://imranwrites.blogspot.com/2012/02/singapore-time-to-get-your-mojo-back.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FZobK+%28The+Grand+Moofti+Speaks%29>
The Grand Moofti Speaks


> As long as Singapore's bureaucrats could copy and replicate progress, the country leapfrogged from the Third World straight to the First World.

> However, Singapore's future development script is unique and unwritten. The city's revered mandarins cannot merely look elsewhere and copy. To move forward requires creative thinking exclusive to Singapore's particular conditions.



**** Hits And Misses By The Singapore Defence Industry ****
<http://kementah.blogspot.com/2012/02/hits-and-misses-by-singapore-defence.html>
David Boey, Senang Diri


> Beyond all the smiles and handshakes, the clinking glasses on the cocktail circuit, Singaporeans must realise that our defence industry has a somewhat shady reputation among weapons makers. If you get the chance at SA2012, speak to old Singapore hands privately and listen to what they have to share. Unless we calibrate our industrial relations well, there is a high risk that this island will someday be lumped into the same category as weapons industry pariahs than nobody wants to work with, sell to or rub shoulders with.



**** Government Fights Lonely Battle For Eldercare Centres ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/government-fights-lonely-battle-for-eldercare-centres/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread


> Two things then naturally followed. Moderate-thinking civil society lost its vitality, and the PAP government gained such a reputation as a bully that no one is keen on speaking up to defend its plans. And so on this and many other issues, the government is left to fight its own battles, and every argument quickly morphs into a PAP-versus-the-people contest.



**** Losing Faith Because Of Police's Incompetence ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/471-losing-faith-because-of-polices-incompetence>
Andrew Loh, Publichouse.sg



**** Sultan Shoal, Singapore ****
<http://isnowhere.com/2012/02/11/sultan-shoal-singapore/>
A Life In Transit


> Sadly, while the lighthouse will continue to act as a beacon to ships since it was built in 1895, I will never get a chance to return. The company that owns the chalets has decided the cost of maintenance was too great to bear and will no longer take vacationers after June. The lighthouse and military radar will continue to function. I am grateful for the one chance to revisit my past and leave it with great memories.



**** Online Retailers, Not E-books, Threat To Bookstores ****
<http://www.zdnetasia.com/online-retailers-not-e-books-threat-to-bookstores-62303799.htm>
Liau Yun Qing, ZDNet


> Andreas said OpenTrolley's business has been brisker in 2011 than 2010, and people are still buying books because e-books are not yet readily available in Asia due to licensing issues.

> The e-book titles available today are limited and there are not many good e-readers in the market, too."Apple's iPad doesn't sell e-books in Singapore yet, except those free, out-of-royalty old titles," he added.

SingTel is already into the e-book market in Singapore, and it is probably well-known how to purchase e-books from Amazon even though the e-books are technically not for sale for Singaporeans.


**** Singapore Says It With Flowers ****
<http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/144281/singapore-says-it-with-flowers>
Philip Lim, AFP


> The tropical city-state cultivates special orchid varieties and names them after a motley mix of foreign leaders and celebrities as part of its diplomatic repertoire.

> What is striking in the VIP and Celebrity Orchids sections of the National Orchid Garden – part of the 63-hectare (156 acre) Singapore Botanic Gardens – are the famous names rather than the variety of blossoms.



**** Seeing Red Over UOB Staff Dinner 'Blackface' Photos ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_765755.html>
Jeannani Durai, Straits Times


> Several Chinese employees of United Overseas Bank have raised eyebrows online after posting pictures of themselves in 'blackface' at a Bollywood-themed staff dinner.

Don't they have any sense of history?


**** Charge Phone For Free As You Shop At These Stores ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_765773.html>
Lim Yan Liang, Straits Times


> At fashion brands Topshop and Warehouse, customers in need of an emergency injection of cellular power are ushered towards a slim tower at a corner of the store labelled 'Free Phone Charging'. Painted a sleek white, the kiosk has 10 lock-and-key cubbyholes that emanate a soft white glow behind a frosted glass window.

Now if shops can provide ample chairs for tired husbands to sit while their wives shop.


**** Police’s Manpower Shortage, ‘How Is That My Problem?’ – Expat Assault Victims Tell All ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/02/polices-manpower-shortage-how-is-that-my-problem-expat-assault-victims-tell-all/>
Jewel Philemon, The Online Citizen


> The investigation officer’s reaction was one of casual nonchalance. According to Mr Wong, the IO claimed that the police force is short of manpower and that they handle an average of forty cases a month. “How is this my problem!”, Mr Wong asks.

> Mr Liew recounted that it was months before their statements were submitted to court and that even that was only done after much coaxing. “We trust the authorities to do their job. But nothing is being done! What else do we need to do.”

> It took fifteen months for the case to get to the courts. Fifteen months filled with headaches and roadblocks and justice has still not been served. “You have facts! What is holding you back?”, Mr Liew questions, “I don’t want to speculate, but why is it stagnating?”

See also: <a href="http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120211-327285.html">One More Expat Jumps Bail And Flees</a> (The New Paper).


**** Employ Singaporeans First ****
<http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2012/02/employ-singaporeans-first.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News



**** 60网上寻芳客受调查 åŒ…æ‹¬åæ ¡æ ¡é•¿ã€é«˜çº§å®˜å‘˜ã€å¾‹å¸ˆç­‰ ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120212_001.shtml>
刘丽仪, 联合早报


> 至少60åç”·å­æ¶‰åŠé€šè¿‡ç½‘ä¸Šå–æ·«é›†å›¢å«–å¦“ï¼Œå…ˆåŽè¢«è­¦æ–¹ä¼ å¬é—®è¯ï¼Œä»–ä»¬åŒ…æ‹¬æ ¡é•¿ã€çºªå¾‹éƒ¨é˜Ÿçš„é«˜çº§å®˜å‘˜ã€å¾‹å¸ˆã€å•†äººå’Œè·¨å›½ä¼ä¸šç®¡ç†å±‚ç­‰ã€‚

See also: <a href="http://news.insing.com/tabloid/civil-servants-in-vice-probe/id-ef2e3f00">Civil Servants In Vice Probe</a> (Shin Min Daily News).


**** PayPal Wants You To Shop While Straphanging In Singapore ****
<http://allthingsd.com/20120209/paypal-wants-you-to-shop-while-straphanging-in-singapore/?mod=atdtweet>
Lauren Goode, AllThingsD


> No longer just about using your smartphone to make purchases, mobile payment options are now popping up in transit systems in metropolitan areas, as companies look to gauge consumers’ appetites for buying products while truly on the go.



**** Yaw Shin Leong Should Either Come Clean, Or Resign As MP ****
<http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=7321>
Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net



**** Hard Truths Apply To WP Too ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/02/hard-truths-apply-to-wp-too/>
The Online Citizen


> This editorial is not so much about whether a MP's private life is relevant to his work and standing as an MP. Rather, it is about the responses of Mr Yaw and the WP to the allegations.

> It also opens up the darker side to the WP’s branding as the “pragmatic” alternative to the PAP: Mr Yaw’s resignation, without an accompanying explanation, comes across as a misguided and unprincipled half-measure to stop the chatter. 



**** An Ageing Population? – Part 1 ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/02/an-ageing-population-part-1/>
Gordon Lee, The Online Citizen


> The political agenda is simple – for this Government to justify an influx of immigrants with as little uproar as possible. After all, increasing the population by opening the floodgates is the easiest way to increase GDP – and GDP figures seem to make headlines every week, highlighting this Government’s “success”, “pragmatism“ and “enlightened” economic policy.



**** How Did These 2 Manage To Flee Singapore? ****
<http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/how-did-these-2-manage-to-flee-singapore/>
Andrew Loh


> Singaporeans deserve to know what the authorities plan to do next and they should also explain how 2 men accused of violent assaults are able to flee Singapore so easily.



**** Why Tin Pei Ling Is Cooler Than You ****
<http://newnation.sg/2012/02/why-tin-pei-ling-is-cooler-than-you/>
Terence Lee, New Nation


> Ideally, I would want somebody who is both eloquent and good at implementing her words. But if I were forced to choose between either, give me the latter anytime.

> So yes, while Tin may have her fair share of WTF-did-she-really-say-that quotes, she’s actually making real impact on the lives of MacPherson residents.