[MyAppleMenu] Jun 20, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** MacBook Pro 15-Inch And 13-Inch non-Retina Models Occupy The Consumer Space ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167330/macbook_pro_15_inch_and_13_inch_non_retina_models_occupy_the_consumer_space.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Jackie Dove, Macworld


> The traditional MacBook Pros hold fast to their unibody form factor and design, upgradability, and price, and target the mid-market of non-creative professionals that seeks to balance features with affordability. The new MacBook Pros are not flashy like the new Retina MacBook Pros, but they offer advantages in price and the flexibility to get into the system and tailor it to your needs after purchase.



**** Apple’s Vision For Paid Upgrades ****
<http://www.marco.org/2012/06/19/apples-vision-for-paid-upgrades>
Marco Arment


> The other problem with this approach is that it makes it impossible to issue bugfixes or other minor updates to the previous version without making it available for sale publicly, which would lead to some new customers inadvertently purchasing the old version and being quite unhappy about it.



**** Customer: Apple Store Denied Me iPad For Speaking Farsi ****
<http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/customer-apple-store-denied-me-ipad-speaking-farsi/nPY4p/>
Amy Napier Viteri, WSBTV.com


> An Alpharetta woman and one of her friends say the Apple Store turned them away after they heard them speaking Farsi. 

> A manager showed Viteri Apple's policy. It said the exportation, sale or supply from the U.S. to Iran of any Apple goods is strictly prohibited without authorization by the U.S. government. The manager also told Viteri they have to rely on customers to be honest.

To me, it seems that Apple is in the wrong here.


**** Google's, Apple's Eyes In The Sky Draw Scrutiny ****
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/19/us-google-privacy-idUSBRE85I1QU20120619?feedName=technologyNews&feedType=RSS>
Alexei Oreskovic, Reuters


> Schumer told Reuters in a statement on Tuesday that he wanted Apple and Google to clarify their plans and ensure "they understand the significance of our concerns over the potential publication of images captured in people's backyards and other private settings."

> On Monday, Schumer wrote to the two rival Silicon Valley corporations, accusing them of "an unprecedented invasion of privacy" by using filming technology capable of imaging objects as small as 4 inches.



****  ****
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/2012/06/20/article01/>


The <a href="https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2012/">WWDC 2012 Session Videos</a> are out.


**** Apple’s Illogical App Store Upgrade Process ****
<http://www.mcelhearn.com/2012/06/19/apples-illogical-app-store-upgrade-process/>
Kirk McElhearn, Kirkville


> Apple needs to figure out a better way to do this. It is illogical, confusing, and, in the end, unfair for many users who will end up buying older versions of apps that have been upgraded.

I wonder why FileMaker did not simply remove the older version of Bento from sale in the App Store.
(But I do think the writing is on the wall: there will <i>not</i> be any upgrade pricing mechanism in the app stores.)


**** Use Looky To Turn On Your Mac's Camera In A Hurry ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167320/use_looky_to_turn_on_your_macs_camera_in_a_hurry.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Lex Friedman, Macworld


> Looky, a menu-bar utility for quickly popping open a live view from your Mac’s built-in camera, is at best a nicety, and at worst a bit superfluous. But it turns out that the utility can prove useful at times.






The Tomorrow Weblog
====================================
**** Free Speech For Computers? ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/opinion/free-speech-for-computers.html?gwh=251153ADF7C09782BB14A1754343FE9C>
Tim Wu, New York Times


> Do machines speak? If so, do they have a constitutional right to free speech?

> This may sound like a fanciful question, a matter of philosophy or science fiction. But it’s become a real issue with important consequences.



**** Nature Follows A Path Of PIxels Into Children's Hearts ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/science/nature-follows-the-internet-into-childrens-hearts.html?gwh=9329FDA69ABC23FA8E8DC0D6D0B8B493>
Carol Kaesuk Yoon, New York Times



**** Ex-Googlers Launch MightyText, An iMessage For Android Users ****
<http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/19/ex-googlers-launch-mightytext-an-imessage-for-android-users/>
Rip Empson, TechCrunch






MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================
**** The Fall Of The Creative Class ****
<http://thirtytwomag.com/2012/06/the-fall-of-thecreative-class/>
Frank Bures, Thirty Two Magazine


> But I’ve been down that road, and I know where it goes. I know that it leads both every­where and nowhere. I know you could go down it for­ever and never quite arrive. And I know now that it may be wiser to try to cre­ate the place you want to live, rather than to keep try­ing to find it.






SingaporeSurf
====================================
**** Singapore Overtakes Hong Kong As Home To Asia's Wealthy ****
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/20/us-singapore-wealth-idUSBRE85J0BA20120620>
Kevin Lim, Reuters



**** Kind Act Harshly Repaid On The MRT ****
<http://blogging4myself.blogspot.sg/2012/06/kind-act-harshly-repaid-on-mrt.html>
Blogging For Myself


> My gut feel is that our society now have a lot more angry people than before. We have become such an unhappy place.



**** Singapore Remains At Tier 2 Of Watchlist Monitored By US State Department ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_813054.html>
Amelia Tan, Straits Times


> Singapore has been placed at Tier 2 of a watchlist monitored by the United States (US) State Department - the same tier it occupied the year before. This means that the Department views the Singapore government as one which does not fully comply with its Victims of Trafficking Protections Act's minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with those standards.



**** Conscription: Necessary Or Outdated? ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/06/conscription-necessary-or-outdated/>
Bryan Cheang, The Online Citizen



**** Making Justice Count ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/645-making-justice-count>
Andrew Loh, Publichouse.sg



**** Has Singapore Ever Executed An Innocent Person? ****
<http://secondchances.asia/has-singapore-ever-executed-an-innocent-person/>
We Believe In Second Chances


> "I haven't gone through the facts of each case, but I have complete faith in our judiciary."

That's not the same as never executed an innocent person. In the judicial system, we only prove beyond all reasonable doubts. We don't prove beyond all doubts, because we can't. And that's why, in my humble opinion, we should abolish death penalty.


**** Local Vs FT IT Diploma Holders ****
<http://gintai.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/local-it-vs-ft-diploma-holder/>
Gintai_昇泰


> As a Singaporean, his life is no better than a Malaysian even though they possess the same qualifications. It must be his bad karma or rather the Malaysian IT manager that opened up a valuable career path for his friend Param? Life is really full of little ironies as far as Train Officer Arasu is concerned. It appears that it’s better to be a Malaysian like his friend Param than a Singaporean. Really langgar!

Didn't Malaysia complain about brain drain just a few days ago? I wonder when Malaysia will start to compete for workers by promising a more balanced lifestyle.


**** 李总理再次承诺 行动党将继续为后港居民服务 ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120620_010.shtml>
联合早报


> 后港区20å¤šå¹´æ¥éƒ½æ˜¯å·¥äººå…šçš„å ¡åž’ï¼Œå°½ç®¡æ„è¯†åˆ°è¯¥åŒºçš„æ°›å›´ä¸Žå…¶ä»–é€‰åŒºéžå¸¸ä¸åŒï¼ŒæŽæ˜¾é¾™æ€»ç†å†æ¬¡æ‰¿è¯ºï¼Œäººæ°‘è¡ŒåŠ¨å…šå°†ç»§ç»­æœåŠ¡åŽæ¸¯å±…æ°‘å¹¶é€æ¸èµ¢å¾—ä»–ä»¬çš„æ”¯æŒã€‚

> 总理也说，刘程强已经不是后港区的议员，当选的方荣发和刘程强不同，后港区选民可在未来四年里评估方荣发是否妥善地服务他们。

Given PAP's track record in Hougang, I wonder what PM Lee meant when he said "continual service." Is he talking about not making Hougang residents early-adopting guinea pigs of <a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-ruling-party-rebuffed-election-163717024.html">estate upgrading</a>, raising the fitness level of Hougang residents by <a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/hougang-residents-are-special--sylvia-lim.html">removing bus services</a> and making them walk more, or maintaining harmony and inclusivity by pretending to work with the Workers' Party via the <a href="http://happyangelclub.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/police-report-no-a201205232006-2/">adding of sentences</a> to Lianhe Zaobao's reporting?


**** Top 20% Pay 84% Of Taxes ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/top-20-pay-84-of-taxes/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread


> If the “top 20%” earn 95 percent of all income earned, and they contribute only 84% of all taxes collected, that won’t sound very progressive, will it?

> Furthermore, taxes include excise taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, petrol and diesel, and the 7% Goods and Services Tax. The immediate payer of tax to the government may be companies – and as far as alcohol, petrol and diesel are concerned, almost surely among the largest companies – but in actual fact the taxes are passed directly to the consumer, some of whom are rich, some poor. I doubt if there is any data as to which consumer is within which income bracket. That being the case, how does our government arrive at the simple statistic of 84% of taxes paid by “top 20%”?



**** Parent Volunteer Scheme Discriminates ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120620-0000067/Parent-volunteer-scheme-discriminates>
Perry Tan, Today


> While it is true that parents' mentality plays a part in the parental volunteerism frenzy, the Education Ministry cannot absolve itself of responsibility by simply asking parents to "chill" and rhetorically declaring that "all schools are good".