[MyAppleMenu] Jun 16, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Doo Automatically Organizes Your Documents, Syncs Them To The Cloud And Across Multiple Computers ****
<http://lifehacker.com/5918814/doo-automatically-organizes-your-documents-syncs-them-to-the-cloud-and-across-multiple-computers>
Adam Dachis, Lifehacker



**** Apple’s iOS 6 Works With National Alerts Program ****
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57453889-37/apples-ios-6-works-with-national-alerts-program/>
Roger Cheng, CNET


> The system allows for the government to broadcasat emergency messages, as it’s already done on television and radio. The push for alerts to appear on phones has gone on for a while, with other manufacturers already putting the feature into their phones. With iOS 6, Apple joins the fold.



**** Apple Charges 54% More To Replace Retina MacBook Pro's Battery ****
<http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9228158/Apple_charges_54_more_to_replace_Retina_MacBook_Pro_s_battery?taxonomyId=12>
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld


> Admittedly, the battery in the MacBook Pro is more powerful than the Air's: Apple rated the former at 95 watt-hours (Whr), meaning that it can produce one watt of power for 95 hours, or, say, 5 watts of power for 19 hours. The 13-in. MacBook Air's battery, on the other hand, is rated at 50 Whr.

> But while the 15-in. non-Retina MacBook Pro battery is also rated at 95 Whr., it costs just $129 -- the same as the Air -- to have Apple replace that laptop's battery.



**** Why Upgrade Pricing Isn’t Coming To The App Store ****
<http://www.macstories.net/stories/why-upgrade-pricing-isnt-coming-to-the-app-store/>
Gabe Glick, MacStories


> I think it comes down to one of Apple’s core values: simplicity.

Remember that Mac OS X never had different upgrade pricing. Whether you are upgrading through every version or only upgrading every other version, the price is still the same.


**** Dropbox Update For iOS Now Available, Removes Upload Limits ****
<http://www.macgasm.net/2012/06/15/dropbox-update-for-ios-now-available-removes-upload-limits/>
Kaylie Moise, Macgasm



**** Screw Upgrades: The New MacBook Pro <i>Is</i> The Future ****
<http://christina.is/the-new-macbook-pro>
Christina Warren


> If the new MacBook Pro means that I have to take it in to Apple or TekServe for repair if it needs a new battery or has an issue with the screen – well, OK.

> Frankly, the fact that computers are now powerful enough to be built more as appliances is great news. This is progress – even if it rankles the collars of nerds everywhere.

I wish some inventors can make some sort of case or something to add additional storage capacity to my MacBook Air, just like those iPhone cases with batteries.


**** Podcasts On My Phone ****
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/2012/06/16/article02/>
Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu

Yes, I would like to see a good podcasting app on my iPhone.
And here's my feature request: syncing of podcasts, syncing of podcast playlists (that I create on my Mac using AppleScript), and syncing of play status and positions.
Oh, and please make them available in countries that don't have iTunes Match.


**** Back To The Mac ****
<http://www.marco.org/2012/06/15/back-to-the-mac>
Marco Arment


> This new-old Mac Pro will make me very happy for the next 12–18 months until the next model comes out, and then I’ll decide what to do. If the next one sucks for some reason, I can skip it. And if it’s good enough to buy, I’ll sell this one, probably losing about $1000 on it. To me, it makes sense to buy 12–18 months of high-end computing happiness for about $1000.



**** Lab Tests: Apple Boosts Performance In New 13- And 15-Inch MacBook Pros ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167300/lab_tests_apple_boosts_performance_in_new_13_and_15_inch_macbook_pros.html#lsrc.rss_main>
James Galbraith, Macworld



**** Improved iWork File Sharing Coming In Mountain Lion ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167305/improved_iwork_file_sharing_coming_in_mountain_lion.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Ted Landau, Macworld






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Smartphone App And QR Code Lets You Wirelessly Withdraw ATM Cash ****
<http://dvice.com/archives/2012/06/smartphone-app-1.php>
Adario Strange, DVICE






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Why I Hate Dreams ****
<http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/jun/15/why-i-hate-dreams/>
Michael Chabon, New York Review Of Books


> I hate dreams. Dreams are the Sea Monkeys of consciousness: in the back pages of sleep they promise us teeming submarine palaces but leave us, on waking, with a hermetic residue of freeze-dried dust. The wisdom of dreams is a fortune on paper that you can’t cash out, an oasis of shimmering water that turns, when you wake up, to a mouthful of sand. I hate them for their absurdities and deferrals, their endlessly broken promise to amount to something, by and by. I hate them for the way they ransack memory, jumbling treasure and trash. I hate them for their tedium, how they drag on, peter out, wander off.



**** Changing Lanes ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/books/review/dan-gets-a-minivan-by-dan-zevin.html?gwh=535886754A6EBB3086DB128BC5590B91>
Dan Saltzstein, New York Times


> The subtitle of “Dan Gets a Minivan” — “Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad” — nicely encapsulates a genre that has provided rich fodder for former dudes like Bill Cosby (“Fatherhood”), Robert Wilder (“Daddy Needs a Drink”) and Dave Barry (take your pick). It has also spawned a lucrative second career for the actor Paul Reiser (“Couplehood,” “Babyhood,” “Familyhood”).

> Add to that list Dan Zevin. A “comic correspondent” for NPR and a humor columnist, Zevin is on his fourth dude-in-­transition book, and “Dan Gets a Minivan” finds him in apparently full embrace of his new identity. For Zevin, the minivan is a symbol — not of conformity or the constraints of family, but of freedom.



**** What Matters In Jane Austen? By John Mullan – Review ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/15/what-matters-in-jane-austen-review>
Tessa Hadley, The Guardian


> Here are two readable, gossipy, involving books about Austen that more or less manage to square this critical circle (and any reader of Austen knows that gossip is no inferior indulgence, but the essence of narrative).



**** A Revolution Of The Book ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/15/adam-thirlwell-revolution-of-the-book>
Adam Thirlwell, The Guardian


> I didn't, however, have any plans to do my own experiment with visual tricks. But then I began to write a very small story of world history, and my resolutions began to dissolve.






SingaporeSurf
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**** It Seems Like We Don't Get It. I Don't Get It Why? ****
<http://thinkformesingapore.blogspot.sg/2012/06/it-seems-like-we-dont-get-it-i-dont-get.html>
Think For Me, Singapore


> Instead of foreigner bashing, we should be worried about what this government, that 60% of you so happily voted in, has done with our retirement funds.

> Instead of foreigner bashing, we should be worried if the systems in place can protect your safety if Singaporeans ever took to the streets.

> Instead of foreigner bashing, the 60% of winners should now "repent" and "regret".



**** My Meeting With Minister K Shanmugam Sc ****
<http://gintai.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/my-meeting-with-minister-k-shanmugam-sc/>
Gintai_昇泰


> The minister seemed taken aback when I told him that many Singaporeans are going over to JB to buy the exact medicine which is about a third of what it costs here. In fact, some doctors even encourage patients to procure their medicine supply from JB. He replied that he would look into it.

> To my next question on why the government or CPF charges an “admin fee” when I use my own CPF to pay for my medical fees in polyclinic and hospital? Do I get charged for using my own money in the bank to pay for purchases? He will pass my message onto the relevant agency. He seemed to understand my point, and I won on that.



**** Law Minister Explains Court Sentencing Of Dr Woffles Wu ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1208018/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia


> The minister said the statements in question were made by Mr Kuan, which was why the charge could only be that of abetment.

> Turning to the case of the 25-year-old, dubbed the sticker-lady, who was arrested for vandalism, Mr Shanmugam said there are no hard and fast rules on what's considered art on public buildings. He said the government must look at the consensus of the majority and how the majority would like society to be structured.



**** Singapore’s Unemployment Up Slightly, Job Vacancies Decline In Q1 2012 ****
<http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsbusiness.php?id=673258>
Bernama



**** Data Cap Cut: IDA Doesn't Intervene In Telcos' Commercial Decisions ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_811430.html>
Ng Sook Fun, Infocomm Development Authority Of Singapore, Straits Times


> For competitive markets such as the mobile services market, the IDA generally does not intervene in commercial decisions by the mobile operators to package and price their services, so long as the regulatory rules and requirements continue to be met.



**** Women Who Seal The Deal With Sex ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120616-0000022/Women-who-seal-the-deal-with-sex>
Tan Weizhen, Today


> In this era of equal opportunity, and with ever more women working their way to success through knowledge, talent and hard work, instances of women sales professionals offering sex in exchange for a quick, sure-fire way of clinching deals have been thrust into the limelight.



**** New Measures To Increase Train Service Reliability ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120616-0000033/New-measures-to-increase-train-service-reliability>
Amanda Lee, Today


> In a joint statement yesterday, the SMRT said it will refurbish and replace train components, such as the propulsion and pneumatic systems. The operator will also replace parts of the signalling system.



**** In Liberal Education, A Cover-Up Worse Than The Crime ****
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-sleeper/in-liberal-education-a-co_1_b_1599511.html?utm_hp_ref=business>
Jim Sleeper, The Huffington Post


> It would be amusing if it weren't so distressing that what really set off all those alarm bells in New Haven and Singapore wasn't this critique and the growing bewilderment, foreboding, heartbreak, and anger over its asphyxiation by a thousand bromides from gilded functionaries, but rather my one, passing account of one man's prediction over dinner that, in exchange for Yale's name and services, Singapore will give it some preferred investments.

> <i>Investments in what?</i>



**** Living In A Shoebox ****
<http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=insightdownsouth&file=/2012/6/16/columnists/insightdownsouth/11488687&sec=Insight%20Down%20South>
Seah Chiang Nee, The Star


> Even discounting baby condos, which are a special breed, the average size of a normal private apartment on the island republic has been shrinking over the years.



**** Asking The Right Questions In The Woffles Wu Case ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/06/asking-the-rightquestions-in-the-woffles-wu-case/>
Choo Zheng Xi, The Online Citizen


> The correct public body to direct your ire towards would be the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), who decides on what charges to proceed on.



**** Don’t Dismiss The Government’s Engagement ****
<http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/dont-dismiss-the-governments-engagement/>
Andrew Loh


> So, I would be fair and see things in the broader sense – that there is more engagement going on (much of it behind the scenes) than what many see or know. And I am glad that the government is doing this, after all the criticisms we have laid at its door for being out of touch and elitist.

Closed-door meetings, unfortunately, doesn't promote transparency. You don't who are behind the doors and what they said and whether there are any corruption going on.