[MyAppleMenu] Jun 25, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** Does Mountain Lion Fulfill The Promise Of Lion? ****
<http://www.technightowl.com/newsletter/2012/06/newsletter-issue-656/#lion>
Gene Steinberg, TechNightOwl


> For the most part, Mountain Lion appears to be a credible and compelling upgrade. It's good to see the enhanced security and direct support for social networking. For any Lion user that has a compatible Mac, I don't see any significant downsides. And, assuming the final release is stable and snappy, the $19.99 purchase price would seem to make it an upgrade that vindicates the promise of Lion and makes OS X a lot more useful.

And I don't think Apple is done yet with Mac OS X.


**** The Unedited Q&A: Apple Retail Employees Respond To NYT’s Profile, Share Life From Inside The Apple Store ****
<http://9to5mac.com/2012/06/25/the-unedited-qa-apple-retail-employees-respond-to-nyts-profile-share-life-from-inside-the-apple-store/>
Mark Gurman, 9 To 5 Mac



**** How To Choose A To-do Manager ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167399/how_to_choose_a_to_do_manager.html#lsrc.rss_main>
David Sparks, Macworld


> I recommend you pick a task system as sophisticated as you need it to be, but not one bit more complex than that. It is just too easy to spend hours getting your to-do list just so and not actually accomplishing any of the tasks on it. If a task management system is too distracting or fiddly, find something else. After all, the goal of task management is to complete, not manage, tasks.

I use OmniOutliner for my To-do lists.


**** Apple V. Motorola And The Meaning Of "Goodwill" ****
<http://tushnet.blogspot.sg/2012/06/apple-v-motorola-and-meaning-of.html>
Rebecca Tushnet



**** Bardowl iPhone App Wants To Be 'Spotify For Audiobooks' ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2012/jun/25/bardowl-iphone-app-audiobooks>
Stuart Dredge, The Guardian


> British startup Bardowl is pitching itself as a "Spotify for audiobooks", aiming to disrupt the business of Audible, which has built its business around selling audiobook downloads.



**** Daily iPhone App: Ocarina 2 Makes For More Virtual Tunes ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/06/25/daily-iphone-app-ocarina-2-makes-for-more-virtual-tunes/>
Mike Schramm, TUAW



**** New Airport Express A Tiny Wi-Fi Base Station Powerhouse ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167395/new_airport_express_a_tiny_wi_fi_base_station_powerhouse.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Glenn Fleishman, Macworld


> The quibbles about USB and ethernet are relatively minor compared to the features available in this mighty mite. For the money, the Express makes an effective base station for modestly sized apartments or homes, or where access is only needed in a few adjacent rooms in an office. This sleek model is the right choice for many, and at $80 less than the AirPort Extreme, a prudent one as well.



**** Photos To Movies: How To Transform Images Into A Motion Picture ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1167368/photos_to_movies_how_to_transform_images_into_a_motion_picture.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Jeff Carlson, Macworld



**** iTunes Tip: Add Custom Genres To iTunes ****
<http://www.mcelhearn.com/2012/06/25/itunes-tip-add-custom-genres-to-itunes/>
Kirk McElhearn, Kirkville



**** Problems Reported Mounting USB 3.0 External Drives On New MacBooks ****
<http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/problems-reported-mounting-usb-30-external-drives-on-new-macbooks/13188>
David Morgenstern, ZDNet



****  ****
<http://www.myapplemenu.com/2012/06/25/article01/>


If iPhoto and Aperture can share a single photo library, surely iPhotos on different computers can also share a single photo library, right?





The Tomorrow Weblog
====================================
**** The New York Times Gets All The News That’s Fit To Print – All Of It – Into Flipboard ****
<http://allthingsd.com/20120624/the-new-york-times-gets-all-the-news-thats-fit-to-print-all-of-it-into-flipboard/>
Peter Kafka, All Things D


> Like the New York Times? Like Flipboard? Here’s a corporate mash-up for you: The Time’s subscribers will soon be able read the entire paper on the aggregation/recommendation app.



**** New Computer Algorithm Knows Your Phony Smile ****
<http://mashable.com/2012/05/25/algorithm-smile/>
Sonia Paul, Mashable






MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================
**** Poem Of The Week: Goblin Market By Christina Rossetti ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/25/poem-week-goblin-market-rossetti>
Carol Rumens, The Guardian



**** The Importance Of Being Prolific ****
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ae-0624-prolific-artists-20120622,0,2113276.column>
Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune


> Does it matter that Steven Soderbergh works fast and Jonathan Franzen works slowly?



**** Review: 'Cronkite' By Douglas Brinkley Is Occasionally Critical ****
<http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-walter-cronkite-20120624,0,2830820.story>
Wendy Smith, Los Angeles Times


> General readers will probably not be bothered by Brinkley's uneven tone, and there's no question that the biography comprehensively and capably narrates Walter Cronkite's life and career through the "Legacy of War" documentary that aired on PBS six weeks before his death in 2009. What's missing from "Cronkite" is a coherent, sharply articulated point of view of the sort that makes Robert Caro's multi-volume biography of LBJ so stimulating, albeit sometimes maddening. Instead, it settles for a cover-all-bases approach that gets the job done but reveals little about Walter Cronkite that we didn't already know.






SingaporeSurf
====================================
**** The Cost Of The Right To Own A Car In Singapore ****
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18580173>
Rico Hizon, BBC



**** Jealous Over Singapore… ****
<http://vincentloy.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/jealous-over-singapore/>
Vincent Loy


> Even now, you can see a lot of Malaysians from Johor are willing to pass by immigration stop every day, facing serious congestion just to work in Singapore to earn for better and much reasonable pay.



**** Number Of Patients Waiting For Liver Transplant Triples ****
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120625-355333.html>
AsiaOne



**** Foreigners As The Convenient Scapegoats ****
<http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/foreigners-as-the-convenient-scapegoats/>
Andrew Loh



**** SPH Falls Out Of Open Train Door ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/sph-falls-out-of-open-train-door/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread


> From now on, anytime the government tries to paint new media as untrustworthy, they’re going to have this incident thrown back at them like so many cream pies. Pflaphtt.



**** S’pore Has To Go ‘Cold-turkey’ On Foreign Workers: Tin Pei Ling ****
<http://sg.news.yahoo.com/s’pore-has-to-go-‘cold-turkey’-on-foreign-workers--tin-pei-ling.html>
Jeanette Tan, Yahoo!



**** Say What, Swee Say? ****
<http://feedmetothefish.blogspot.sg/2012/06/say-what-swee-say.html>
Feed Me To The Fish


> How in hell can PAP ministers justify and defend their million dollars salaries with COI and demean the labour of the poor with crap like this is sinful!



**** Protest Outside S'pore High Commission In KL Over Bersih Rally ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1209766/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia


> Supporters of the Malay rights group, Perkasa, have staged a protest outside the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

> They called for an official apology and for three Singaporean officials to be recalled immediately.



**** Inflation Remains Elevated As CPI Rises 5% In May ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_814825.html>
Magdalen Ng, Straits Times



**** Chan Heng Chee "Mouthing PAP Mantras" ****
<http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2012/06/chan-heng-chee-mouthing-pap-mantras.html>
Teo Soh Lung, Singapore Rebel


> The PAP’s constant refrain that “we cannot forget our fundamental vulnerabilities as a small, multiracial society” is simply a ploy to perpetuate Fear in us.

> I am tired of intelligent people like Professor Chan Heng Chee mouthing PAP mantras without making any attempt to investigate the past and without reflecting on what their friends who have been imprisoned under the ISA went through. It is time they stand up for what is right and speak the truth.



**** Singapore Is Getting Rude ****
<http://www.isuhot.com/?p=1674>
Isuhot Dot Com


> For a country that describes itself as a developed nation, this uncivilized manner, not respecting their neighbor really showed how rude they are.



**** Where Wall Street Goes To Skirt Regulations ****
<http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business/120622/singapore-hong-kong-banks-arbitrage-derivatives-exchanges>
Michael Moran, GlobalPost



**** Public Trashport ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/public-trashport/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread



**** Trust No One? ****
<http://berthahenson.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/trust-no-one/>
Bertha Harian


> Of course, there’s this layer of people in the media called sub-editors whose role is also to do some fact-checking. Most times though, it is for accuracy – checking against past information, making dates and designations clear etc. But catching out a  journalist who is determined to lie….? Tough.

> That’s why I thought that Stomp fiasco about a content producer who uploaded the picture of the opened MRT door is so regrettable. Funny thing, I never expected trouble to come from in-house. Over the years, I have wondered what would happen if a fake, scandalous, libellous picture was posted and Stomp and ST (despite prior disclaimers) had to take responsibility. Stomp editors have probably caught some of these fraud pictures before it went up. Still there were many instances when pictures posted even by the well-meaning don’t tell the whole story.



**** $5B Camo Snafu ****
<http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/06/24/062412-news-camouflage-fiasco-1-5/>
Erik German, The Daily


> Over the next year, America’s largest fighting force is swapping its camouflage pattern. The move is a quiet admission that the last uniform — a pixelated design that debuted in 2004 at a cost of $5 billion — was a colossal mistake.

> Soldiers have roundly criticized the gray-green uniform for standing out almost everywhere it’s been worn. Industry insiders have called the financial mess surrounding the pattern a “fiasco.” 

Previous:
• <a href="http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/publications/cyberpioneer/news/2008/September/03sep08_news.html">Looks do matter - new SAF combat uniform</a> (Sherlyn Quek, Mindef, 3 Sep 2008): Extensive research by DSTA revealed that this pixelised pattern helps to generate a 'quivering' effect which reduces the eye's ability to discern recognisable shapes.


**** Forget About Minimum Wage For Now ****
<http://blogging4myself.blogspot.sg/2012/06/forget-about-minimum-wage-for-now.html>
Blogging For Myself


> My take? I realized we may be the only country with the administrative capability to do better than using a minimum wage policy. We can narrowly cast and target our solutions. The cleaning industry is the first sector to be addressed. Clearly the need to raise cleaners pay is the greatest.



**** Imagining A Post-PAP Singapore... ****
<http://searchingforenlightenment.blogspot.sg/2012/06/imagining-post-pap-singapore.html>
Random Thoughts Of A Free Thinker



**** S’pore’s Opposition Shows Signs Of Identity Crisis ****
<http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/singapore-opposition-shows-signs-identity-crisis-173009656.html>
P N Balji, Yahoo!


> Tapping ground sentiments to win elections is a short-term tactic. If it has ambitions in the middle term of becoming a strong force in Parliament and in the long term of being an alternative to the PAP, a clear differentiation in ideologies and strategies is needed.

> Waiting for the PAP to implode is like chasing the rainbow in the sky. You can never catch it!

Also:
• <a href="http://blogging4myself.blogspot.sg/2012/06/pn-balji-on-workers-party.html">PN Balji on the Worker's Party</a> (Blogging for Myself): What I want is what LTK and his colleagues have repeatedly emphasized: that Singaporeans should be at the center of government policies.


**** Stomp Staff Sacked Over False 'MRT Open Door Photo' ****
<http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Motoring/Story/A1Story20120625-355071.html>
AsiaOne


> Following investigations by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Ms Francis eventually admitted that she had taken the image from a post on social networking site Twitter.

> On discovering this, Mr Patrick Daniel, editor-in-chief of SPH's English and Malay Newspapers Division, sent a letter to Mr Tan Ek Kia, the interim chief executive of rail operator SMRT, apologising for the incident.



**** S'pore Could Get Better Deal Buying Gas From US ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC120625-0000006/Spore-could-get-better-deal-buying-gas-from-US>
Lee Yoong Yoong, Today


> With Singapore's robust sea linkages and connectivity, coupled with the availability of modern technology for LNG or LPG liners to carry gas more effectively, it may not be utopian after all to believe that buying gas from as far afield as the US could be a more cost-efficient energy security move than importing from within South-east Asia.



**** Seats On Public Transport Are A Necessity, Not A Luxury ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_814676.html>
Mei Ding, Straits Times



**** Time To Open Up Effective Feedback Channels For National Servicemen? ****
<http://guanyinmiao.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/time-to-open-up-effective-feedback-channels-for-national-servicemen/>
Guanyinmao's Musings



**** How Many Work Permit Holders Pay Income Tax? ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120625-0000026/How-many-work-permit-holders-pay-income-tax?>
Sng Hui Ying, Research Assistant To Professor Lim Chong Yah, Today



**** JB Nursing Homes: Understand The Obligations, Says Acting Minister ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120625-0000028/JB-nursing-homes--Understand-the-obligations,-says-Acting-Minister>
Teo Xuanwei, Today


> Even as eldercare facilities reported more cases of families defaulting on payment, acting minister for community development, youth and sports Chan Chun Sing reiterated yesterday that legal options should be the "last resort" for preventing children from abandoning their parents in nursing homes, be it here or across the Causeway.