[MyAppleMenu] Jan 1, 2012

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Sun Jan 1 18:59:00 EST 2012

MyAppleMenu
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**** Seeing it ****
<http://daringfireball.net/2011/12/seeing_it>
John Gruber, Daring Fireball


> And a great product is defined by the experience of actually using it (including buying it and setting it up) — not by its individual components’ technical specifications.

Remember all the MP3-player manufacturers who proudly proclaimed they have FM radio?


**** The Un-Internet ****
<http://scripting.com/stories/2011/12/31/theUninternet.html>
Dave Winer, Scripting News


> This time around, Apple has been the leader in the push to control users. They say they're protecting users, and to some extent that is true. I can download software onto my iPad feeling fairly sure that it's not going to harm the computer. I wouldn't mind what Apple was doing if that's all they did, keep the nasty bits off my computer. But of course, that's not all they do. Nor could it be all they do.



**** Does Apple Service Stolen Phones? ****
<http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1108987--does-apple-service-stolen-phones>
Francine Kopun, The Star


> The Apple clerk at the Genius Bar assumed it was a phone malfunction, and seemingly without checking to make sure, handed the man a brand new phone and put Barkley’s stolen phone in the back, to be sent off for servicing.

> “The thief got their phone, I got mine and because of their own indifference, Apple is out a $500 phone.”



**** iPad? There's An Ape For That: Orangutans Master Skype And Even Painting On Apple gizmos ****
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2080342/iPad-Theres-ape--orangutans-master-Apple-gizmos.html?ito=feeds-newsxml>
Rob Waugh, Mail Online


> Orangutans have an 'innate' ability to use Apple iPads - and enjoy using the touchscreens, say researchers at a Milwaukee zoo.

> The great apes at a Milwaukee zoo enjoy video-calling other apes on their iPads via Skype, and like watching other zoo creatures such as penguins. They can even draw their own artworks.






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Sex Education Gets Directly To Youths, Via Text ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/31/us/sex-education-for-teenagers-online-and-in-texts.html?_r=1&ref=technology>
Jan Hoffman, New York Times


> Sex education is a thorny subject for most school systems; only 13 states specify that the medical components of the programs must be accurate. Shrinking budgets and competing academic subjects have helped push it down as a curriculum priority. In reaction, some health organizations and school districts are developing Web sites and texting services as cost-effective ways to reach adolescents in the one classroom where absenteeism is never a problem: the Internet.



**** Amazon Democratizes Supercomputing ****
<http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/helloworld/27453/?p1=blogs>
David Zax, Technology Review


> Though Amazon's offering pales in comparison to some of those 41 faster supercomputers--Amazon can run at 240 teraflops, handling 240 trillion calculations a second; Fujitsu's K Computer runs at 10.51 petaflops, or 10 <i>quadrillion</i> per second--EC2 represents a real potential disruption in the supercomputing market.






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Books That Are Never Done Being Written ****
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203893404577098343417771160.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews>
Nicholas Carr, Wall Street Journal


> That's an attractive development in many ways. It makes it easy for writers to correct errors and update facts. Guidebooks will no longer send travelers to restaurants that have closed or to once charming inns that have turned into fleabags. The instructions in manuals will always be accurate. Reference books need never go out of date.

> Even literary authors will be tempted to keep their works fresh. Historians and biographers will be able to revise their narratives to account for recent events or newly discovered documents. Polemicists will be able to bolster their arguments with new evidence. Novelists will be able to scrub away the little anachronisms that can make even a recently published story feel dated.



**** The Power Point ****
<http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/nurkse_w12.html>
D. Nurkse, The Threepenny Review



**** Why Slate Is Wrong About D.C. ****
<http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/general/2011/12/30/why-slate-is-wrong-about-d-c/>
Ryan Little, Washington City Paper


> D.C.'s cultural strength comes precisely because the city isn't in the business of manufacturing coolness.






SingaporeSurf
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**** 2011 : A Year Of Awakening.... ****
<http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/01/2011-year-of-awakening.html>
Diary Of A Singaporean Mind


> 2011 was a year when many Singaporeans were politically awakened to see that change is badly needed in our country. Many of the negative effects of PAP policies were felt by ordinary citizens and social contract under which Singaporeans gave up certain civil liberties in return for prosperity was broken.

Citizens have been giving feedback to the government all these years. From blogs to social networking tools to kopi-tiam talks, the feedback are all there. Forget about REACH or heavily-“moderated” Facebook pages or finding new ways to “engage”; the government just need to listen.


**** Flooding In Singapore - We Need Solutions, Not Excuses ****
<http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2012/01/flooding-in-singapore-we-need-solutions.html>
Gilbert Koh, Mr Wang Says So


> We don't care what happened 142 years ago. We don't even care what happened 50 or 30 years ago. Singapore has a flood problem <i>today</i>. And it is your responsibility to fix it. Even if global warming is causing climate change and heavier rains nowadays, it is <i>still</i> your responsibility to fix the flood problem.

> You should spend less time worrying about how to protect your public image. And more time actually working to solve the flood problem. You'll probably make more progress that way. And the people of Singapore will appreciate it. So please stop being stupid, and go and do the right thing.

People who want to serve will hunker down and do the hard work. People who treat government jobs as just a job and a career will need to find excuses to justify for their salary.


**** Final Pieces Of KTM Railway Track Removed ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_750774.html>
Straits Times


> The tracks at the old Bukit Timah station, now a conserved building, have been retained though most of the 26km tract from Woodlands to Tanjong Pagar has been turfed over. Also being preserved are two historic steel bridges and their tracks, one in Dunearn Road and the other in Upper Bukit Timah Road near the Rail Mall.



**** 工人党：救济人民是政府责任 不应由议员承担

****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120101_012.shtml>
联合早报


> “我们不希望陷入得自行推出福利计划的局面，因为这将让国人不去关注政府为什么没有帮助穷人，这也会把照顾穷人的责任放在反对党手中，那是不对的。”



**** 阿裕尼集选区居民：社区活动比以前少了 ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120101_013.shtml>
联合早报


> 阿裕尼集选区议员、工人党主席林瑞莲受访时透露，目前每名议员有约三四十名志工帮忙，阿裕尼选区委员会的总人数至少有200人，包括工人党支持者及阿裕尼集选区的居民。

> 如今市镇会上轨道了，基层团体也壮大了，阿裕尼集选区议员更有条件举办社区活动。林瑞莲表示，他们打算从今年起增加举行社区活动的次数。



**** Starting The New Year With Race And Religion ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/starting-the-new-year-with-race-and-religion/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread



**** A Despot Will Always Be A Despot ****
<http://www.newsintercom.org/?p=1736>
NewSintercom


> For what the fund is worth, it does not change his despotic “I know how best you should live your life” attitude and abusing his power to do social engineering. Unless and until he admits that people have a right to live as they please without infringing other people’s rights, he will always be noted as a cursed despot.



**** Dying Detroit, Thriving Singapore- Two Cities From Which We Can Learn So Much ****
<http://truebluenz.com/2011/12/31/dying-detroit-thriving-singapore-two-cities-from-which-we-can-learn-so-much/>
TrueblueNZ


> The main reason the left lost in Singapore is Lee Kuan Yew’s knowledge of communist subversion strategies. He fought them all his younger life, and learned well from this experience, and was always able to identify their work. He was a man of iron compared to the jelly backed wimps we are saddled with in New Zealand.



**** Singapore Stamp Duty A Blessing? ****
<http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/12/31/business/10115755&sec=business>
Choong En Han, The Star


> Singapore's decision to impose additional taxes on private property purchases may be a blessing in disguise for other property markets in the region.

> CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Malaysia executive director Paul Khong says move will have a positive impact on Malaysian properties especially those in Johor.



**** Workers Party ‘Responsible’ For Increased Suicides At Bedok Reservoir? ****
<http://www.tremeritus.com/2011/12/31/workers-party-responsible-for-increased-suicides-at-bedok-reservoir/>
TR Emeritus


> After being scoffed by Netizens for his bold proclamation that “PAP grassroots leaders are genuine ‘volunteers’ who join the grassroots to serve ordinary Singaporeans without any other ulterior motive”, the Young People’s Action Party (YPAP) leader cum funeral blanket seller, Mr Sear Hock Rong, has returned with a wilder claim – this time targeting the Worker’s Party (WP).

> In a posting made on his facebook page in November 2011, Mr Sear suggested that since the Worker’s Party won the Aljunied GRC, there has been an increase in the number of suicides at Bedok Reservoir.

The comment Mr Sear made: "Why so many ppl committing suicide there after the opposition took over the area? :("






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