[MyAppleMenu] Jul 31, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** Hulu Plus Now Available On Apple TV ****
<http://www.macrumors.com/2012/07/31/hulu-plus-now-available-on-apple-tv/>
Arnold Kim, MacRumors



**** Apple Struggles In Emerging Markets ****
<http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/4072e1aa-d7d3-11e1-80a8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz22C7G6Eoh>
Tim Bradshaw, Kathrin Hille and Kanupriva Kapoor, Financial Times



**** Why Apple’s New Ads Are Stupid, And Why They May Backfire ****
<http://www.mcelhearn.com/2012/07/31/why-apples-new-ads-are-stupid-and-why-they-may-backfire/>
Kirk McElhearn, Kirkville


> Apple has always touted the ease of use of Macs and of Mac OS X, but in these ads – at least two of them – you see people who can’t do what they want with their Macs, and who need a genius to help them. So instead of talking about simplicity, Apple is talking about complexity.



**** Apple OS Updates Scare Me ****
<http://threads.scripting.com/73012ByDw/appleOsUpdatesScareMe>
Dave Winer, Scripting News


> All I want from an operating system is stability and performance. I want it to stay out of my way. I use today's Mac OS largely the same way I used previous versions and how I use Windows. Not looking for innovation in the OS. Pretty sure I'm like most users in this regard. Yet the tech industry seems to think that users want change in the OS.



**** Trigger Private Browsing In Safari For Specific Sites ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/07/30/trigger-private-browsing-in-safari-for-specific-sites/>
Megan Lavey-Heaton, TUAW



**** One Of Apple’s Best Ideas Ever — Made Worse ****
<http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/one-of-apples-best-ideas-ever-made-worse/>
David Pogue, New York Times


> The beauty of the MagSafe connector was that Apple had found precisely the right balance between attachment and detachment. Strong enough to hold the connector in place, weak enough to detach if it gets yanked.

> The MagSafe 2 connector fails that balance test. Badly. The magnet is too weak. It’s so weak, it keeps falling out. It falls out if you brush it. It falls out if you tip the laptop slightly. It falls out if you look at it funny. It’s a huge, huge pain.

Also:
• <a href="http://www.marco.org/2012/07/30/pogue-magsafe-2">One of Apple’s Best Ideas Ever — Made Worse</a> (Marco Arment): To me, it seems worse in every other way: the connector is longer, wider, weaker, uglier, and not available in the more-convenient “L” shape that every MagSafe plug has had for the last couple of years.


**** New Mac Ads: Landing With A Serious Thud ****
<http://kensegall.com/2012/07/new-mac-ads-landing-with-a-serious-thud/>
Ken Segall's Observatory


> How many great campaigns have you seen that appeal to one target group, but turn off everyone else? There’s no excuse for a campaign like that. Apple’s momentum is fueled by the enthusiasm of its core customers. The last thing it wants is to win new customers at the cost of looking ridiculous to its enthusiastic supporters.



**** How To Bring Web Sharing Back To Mountain Lion ****
<http://tidbits.com/article/13168?rss>
Adam C. Engst, TidBITS


> It’s distressing to see Apple simplifying Mac OS X in ways like this, not so much because it’s difficult to bring the functionality back, but because features like Web Sharing have been a mainstay of Mac OS X for so long. Having them deprecated in this fashion is more evidence of how Apple’s vision for the future of the platform is evolving away from where it has been for so long. We can only hope that — if we are indeed slowly being reverted back to the days before so many capabilities were built into the operating system — Apple won’t prevent independent developers from stepping into the breach to maintain and extend such functionality.



**** Apple Design Chief: 'Our Goal Isn't To Make Money' ****
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9438662/Apple-design-chief-Our-goal-isnt-to-make-money.html>
Katherine Rushton, Telegraph


> “Our goal and what gets us excited is to try and make great products. We trust that if we are successful people will like them, and if we are operationally competent we will make revenue, but we are very clear about our goal.”






The Tomorrow Weblog
====================================
**** Building QuickBooks: How Intuit Manages 10 Million Lines Of Code ****
<http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/building-quickbooks-how-intuit-manages-1/240003694>
J.D. Hildebrand And Andrew Binstock, Dr Dobb's


> Continuous integration and delivery based on automated software configuration management are the keys for developing a major retail product.






MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================
**** Titian By Sheila Hale: Review ****
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/artsandentertainmentbooksreview/9432882/Titian-by-Sheila-Hale-review.html>
Alastair Smart, Telegraph


> Sheila Hale's 'Titian' offers a rich depiction of a High Renaissance master and his city.



**** Desks ****
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/poem/2012/07/_desks_by_don_bogen_.html>
Don Bogen, Slate



**** Hitchcock’s Girl ****
<http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/14e3358c-d5f1-11e1-a5f3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz223WTpS7W?src=longreads>
Rosie Millard, Financial Times


> Alfred Hitchcock sabotaged Tippi Hedren’s movie career after she rejected his advances. But the heroine of ‘The Birds’ and ‘Marnie’ says she has no regrets.






SingaporeSurf
====================================
**** Media Literary Council Formed, Bloggers Frown On Move ****
<http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/media-literary-council-formed-bloggers-frown-move-111025765.html>
Andrew Loh, Yahoo!



**** GIC Returns: Half The Story? ****
<http://leongszehian.com/?p=1765>
Leong Sze Hian



**** Press Statement From The Prime Minister On Changes To Cabinet And Other Appointments ****
<http://www.pmo.gov.sg/content/pmosite/mediacentre/pressreleases/2012/July/press_statement_fromtheprimeministeronchangestocabinetandotherap.html>
Singapore Government



**** Restructuring Of MCYS And MICA And Establishment Of New Ministry Of Culture, Community And Youth (MCCY) ****
<http://www.pmo.gov.sg/content/pmosite/mediacentre/pressreleases/2012/July/statement_from_theprimeministeronnewministries.html>
Singapore Government


> A new ministry – the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) – will be established to focus on building a cohesive and vibrant society, and deepening the sense of identity and belonging to the nation. It will assume MCYS’ current roles in strengthening community bonds, promoting volunteerism and philanthropy, engaging youth, and developing the sports. It will also assume MICA’s arts, heritage and national resilience functions (see Annex for a summary of MCCY’s responsibilities);

> MCYS will be renamed the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). It will focus on building strong families, developing our social services and looking after those in need of social support. There is synergy between these portfolios as the family unit is, and should rightfully remain, the fundamental building block of our society; and

> MICA will be renamed the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). It will oversee the development of the infocomm technology, media and design sectors; the national and public libraries; as well as Government’s information and public communications policies. REACH will be transferred from the current MCYS to MCI. The reorganisation will enable the Government to focus more sharply on communication and information.



**** Creating Jobs For Our People Despite Global Uncertainty ****
<http://momsingapore.blogspot.sg/2012/07/creating-jobs-for-our-people-despite.html>
Tan Chuan-Jin, SIngapore Government

Also:
• <a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1216866/1/.html">How long will Singapore's robust labour market last?</a> (S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia)


**** Hanging Onto The Same Old Government ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/07/hanging-onto-the-same-old-government/>
Jackson Tan, The Online Citizen



**** Business Pessimism Persists In Singapore ****
<http://sbr.com.sg/economy/news/business-pessimism-persists-in-singapore>
Singapore Business Review


> New orders for the manufacturing sector plunged by 28 percentage points.



**** No Vacancy: Unemployment Inched Higher To 2.1% ****
<http://sbr.com.sg/hr-education/news/no-vacancy-unemployment-inched-higher-21>
Singapore Business Review



**** The Xenophobic Discourse Of Integration ****
<http://mollymeek.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/the-xenophobic-discourse-of-integration/>
Molitics


> One of the greatest pet topics of the PAP is racial harmony, which is predicated on the recognition of racial differences. The discourse of racial harmony is self-perpetuating. Like the cloud in the sky that remains meaningless until you say that it looks like the face of the devil you have never met, race will only mean something when people are taught to see it. The emphasis on racial harmony provides the teacher who ensures that race is always be in the field of vision to be managed like every other aspect of Singaporean society. The need to put aside differences that are supposed to be coded by race is simultaneously emphasized with the need to view race as a threat. In short, the entire discourse of racial harmony can only make sense if one were in complicity with what is essentially xenophobic.