[MyAppleMenu] Mar 2, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** Beyond Browsing: Tricks For Using Safari Like A Pro ****
<http://www.tecca.com/columns/how-to-use-safari-like-a-pro/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tecca+%28Tecca%29>
Michael Gray, Tecca


> Safari has some amazing options for getting the most out of your internet use. It's often easy to miss those tools, though, because Safari is so streamlined. You don't really need to optimize things to get a lot out of Safari; that's part of its elegance. But with these additional tools, you can quickly find yourself surfing like a pro and getting a lot more out of Safari than you thought possible.

The two features I liked most about Safari -- and which are not available on any other browsers on Mac OS X -- are: 1. Reader, 2. Smart Zoom.


**** How To Sell Your Old iPad Now ****
<http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/how-to-sell-your-old-ipad-now/?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Mickey Meece, New York Times



**** How New Mac Security Measures Will Impact AppleScript ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/165641/2012/03/how_increased_mac_security_measures_will_impact_applescript.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Lex Friedman, Macworld


> Apple doesn’t want to annoy you, or restrict you from doing the things you want to do with your Mac. So if you run a script “by hand”—whether from AppleScript Editor, from within Automator, or as a standalone app or droplet—it should be able to do whatever it’s scripted to do, just as it can today. Put another way, you should be able to continue to run scripts by hand just as you always have.

> If, however, a sandboxed app wants to use AppleScript to interact with another app or with other parts of your system—a menubar app that uses AppleScripts to control iTunes, say—then the new restrictions will come into play. A sandboxed app can’t use AppleScript to communicate with another app on your Mac, unless the developer specifically requests (and receives) an entitlement to do just that.

I'm glad to hear that AppleScripts isn't going away in Mountain Lion -- I use it a whole bunch of them every single day.


**** Bookle Makes Your Mac An E-reader ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/165624/2012/03/bookle_makes_your_mac_an_e_reader.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Serenity Caldwell, Macworld


> Overall, I’m impressed by Bookle’s initial feature set, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Currently, there’s no way to search through a book or to add annotations, though according to Engst, these features are planned for a future update. Additionally, the developers are actively seeking feedback from the community for upcoming versions.






The Tomorrow Weblog
====================================
**** Square Is Headed To New York City Taxi Cabs; Will Be An iPhone And iPad Experience ****
<http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/01/watch-out-verifone-mobile-payments-platform-square-is-headed-to-new-york-city-taxi-cabs/>
Leena Rao, TechCrunch

Also: <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203986604577253812764970788.html">Backseats Of Taxis Turn Into Battlefield</a> (Ted Mann, Wall Street Journal).





MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================
**** Why I Love Stationery ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/29/why-i-love-stationery-pens>
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian


> Exercise and memo books, writing sets and endless rubbers, coloured pens and propelling pencils, Post-it Notes and fountain pens, highlighters in different hues, markers – great, galumphing things – and tiny fibre-tips, envelopes all shapes and sizes, notebooks stapled (spiral-bound or sewn-spined) – I own and love them all.



**** On January 1 ****
<http://www.swback.com/issues/014/on-january-1.html>
Elizabeth Robinson, Switchback



**** A Moment Of Inspiration ****
<http://www.esquire.com/features/food-drink/the-community-cookbook/>
Tom Junod, Esquire


> It was a brave man who first ate an oyster, but what kind of man first cooked with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup?






SingaporeSurf
====================================
**** Wise Words And Unkind Words – Chen Versus Nair ****
<http://dotseng.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/wise-words-and-unkind-words-chen-versus-nair/>
Dotseng


> What perhaps we are seeing in the Chen versus Nair exchange is two diametrically opposing logics that drive the PAP and the WP. While the former believes the only thing that really matters in chasing GDP growth along with other hard metrics to keep Singapore competitive – WP seems to recognize there are many “invisibles” that make up the whole calculus of the wealth of a nation and although it is often difficult and at times impossible to track these drivers by using standard metrics, it is nonetheless important to recognize that if these drivers are not nourished, then it is very unlikely that the poor will be able to secure their place in a globalized age.

> When we stand back and watch the Chen versus Nair exchange – we should consider why despite our stellar GDP growth for the last ten years, it seems that there is still so much discontent? Perhaps what Mr Chen says is right. But even if it he erred, there was really no need for Nair to get nasty about it by name calling.



**** Want Better Healthcare? Higher Tax! ****
<http://pratapolitics.blogspot.com/2012/03/want-better-healthcare-higher-tax.html>
Prata Politics


> The PAP government just does not seem serious or sincere enough about assuring us in our growing healthcare worry.



**** It’s Expensive To Be Alive! ****
<http://www.youngpap.org.sg/2012/03/its-expensive-to-be-alive/>
YoungPAP


> Let’s face it, our savings are finite, the problem may span infinitely, should we deplete our wealth on this problem or find another way to deal with it? Should the government tax the people to solve this issue then, bearing in mind the amount of unhappiness increased transport and GST costs have created, a tax to fund subsidises out of the question and superfluous by nature.

> What the government can do is what it has always done, provide jobs for the people and leave the rest up to society. The higher income groups will have to contribute more to aid the rest of society along, for that translate to a more caring and giving society that we hope our Singapore will be.



**** Ng Yi-Sheng ****
<http://weare.sg/ng-yi-sheng/>
We Are Singapore



**** Democrats Welcome Denise Phua's Support On Taxation	 ****
<http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/5162-democrats-welcome-denise-phuas-support-on-taxation>
Singaore Democratic Party


> Such ill-considered policies have caused the present chasm in wealth disparity in our society. The consequences of such inequality, left unremedied, will give rise to grave social and economic problems down the road.  



**** CPF – Any Sense Of Guilt Or Shame? ****
<http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2012/03/cpf-any-sense-of-guilt-or-shame.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News



**** Hougang Voters Could Seek High Court Clarification: Experts ****
<http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/hougang-voters-could-seek-high-court-clarification-experts-084635882.html>
Jeanette Tan, Yahoo!


> Eligible voters from the Hougang single-member constituency (SMC) can consider going to Singapore's High Court to seek clarification on the applicable laws that govern by-elections.

> This, say constitutional law experts, may be the only way for a definite conclusion to be drawn on the ongoing debate over whether or not it is mandatory for a by-election in the constituency to be called following the highly-publicised dismissal of Hougang's former member of parliament (MP) Yaw Shin Leong from the Workers' Party last month.



**** Want More Babies? Then Help Parents Be Parents ****
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120302-331115.html>
Rachel Chan, My Paper


> Children have a right to a life where their parents are their primary caregivers - not surrogates.

The cost of living in SIngapore must be lowered so that we can have single-income families for the majority of our families.


**** Rendezvous Restaurant: Childhood Memories Of Nasi Padang ****
<http://ieatishootipost.sg/2012/03/rendezvous-restaurant-childhood.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ieatishootipost+%28ieatishootipost%29>
Ieatishootipost


> I managed to talk to the 2nd generation owner, Mr Seah King Ming, who told me that the name "Rendezvous" was coined by a friend of his father's at the lawyer's office. The restaurant has been around since 1950 and is arguably the oldest Nasi Padang eatery in Singapore. But the history of the restaurant actually stretches back to before the war.



**** Catch Up, DPM Tharman Tells WP's Gerald Giam ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/Parliament/Story/STIStory_772816.html>
Daryl Chin, Straits Times


> 'So I would like to assure Mr Gerald Giam, who might not have caught up with all the developments... that a family with $1,000 income can now, through our housing subsidies, purchase a small flat,' Mr Tharman added.

I do hope some local reporters go dig out where these $1,000 flat owners are. If I don't see such reports in the local mainstream pro-PAP press, I am going to assume Tharman is spouting nonsense.
Also: <a href="http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/03/tharman-family-with-1000-income-can-own.html">Tharman: A Family With $1000 Income Can Own A Flat…</a> (Diary of A Singaporean Mind).


**** The Slippery Slope Of Subsidy ****
<http://politicalwritings.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/the-slippery-slope-of-subsidy/>
Political Writings


> Opposition MP’s should have asked, what happens after the $1.1B runs out? Will SBS and SMRT scrap those buses and retrench the drivers? Will SBS and SMRT be so efficient and profitable in 5 years time that they will continue operation of these buses on their own? Or will the govt allow fares to rise significantly in 5 years’ time to enable SBS and SMRT to carry on without subsidies? Or perhaps the Govt will propose giving another $1.1B in five years’ time because SBS and SMRT have had no incentive to improve profitability, given they know the Govt will be forced to subsidise them further?



**** What A Horror Story? ****
<http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-horror-story.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News


> Could all the things that were happening in loose immigration policies a haphazard process that is not coordinated, not carefully planned? And now there is a sudden realization that this needs to be studied and review and bottlenecks are appearing everywhere?

There's still no evidence that the PAP government is the right government to bring this little island of ours to the next level.


**** 到建屋局办事处还书？ ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120302_026.shtml>
联合早报


> è™½ç„¶è¿™ç±»æ¡ˆä¾‹ä¸å¸¸å‘ç”Ÿï¼Œä¸è¿‡å¼ å¿—è´¤æé†’ï¼Œå½“å…¬åŠ¡å‘˜éœ€è¦èŠ±æ—¶é—´å’Œèµ„æºå¤„ç†è¿™äº›ä¸åˆç†è¦æ±‚æ—¶ï¼Œå…¶ä»–çœŸæ­£éœ€è¦å¸®åŠ©çš„å…¬ä¼—çš„è¦æ±‚å°±è¢«å»¶åŽå¤„ç†ã€‚

Between having unreasonable citizens and civil servants that refuse to help matters that are not in their department, we should err towards the latter.


**** Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave: MRT, ComfortDelgro And The Government ****
<http://atans1.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/oh-what-a-tangled-web-we-weave-mrt-comfortdelgro-and-the-government/>
Thoughts Of A Cynical Investor


> So while longer term, nationalisisation may be the best way to run a public transport system, it ain’t a short-term fix. The short-term fix is what the government is doing, throw money at the problem.

> Critics should focus on whether the fix is the most cost-effective means of solving an immediate problem, not focus on a possible long-term solution. They should be making a case (not juz asking) for ComfortDelgro and SMRT to make massive rights issues to fund bus fleet expansion. Or asking for detailed details on what taxpayers get in return? Or how to ensure that the other shareholders don’t get a free lunch because of the S$1.1bn package.



**** Conflict In Interpretation? ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120302-0000038/Conflict-in-interpretation?>
Dudley Au, Today


> The electorate are aware of substance and vote according to this factor. It is the individual from which the sum (party) is made and propelled into governance.

> This element must not and cannot be dismissed as inconsequential in considering the vacant Hougang seat.



**** Vikram Nair Compares Chen Show Mao’s Proposals To A Nigerian Scam ****
<http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=7384>
Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net


> It is truly a sad day for Singapore when an MP can claim in Parliament that increased social spending is like scamming the nation, simply because the proposer had not explicitly mentioned from where the funds would be drawn, and exactly what returns could be expected.

> My message to the ruling PAP is that when you invest in the needy and the under-privileged, you don’t quantify potential returns the same way as you grade students on a bell curve or rank civil servants using KPIs. You should know from the start that it is morally the right thing to do, regardless of what the potential returns are.



**** Budget 2012 – Balancing Different Desires ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/community/item/509-budget-2012-–-balancing-different-desires>
Calvin Cheng, Publichouse.sg


> Bread-and-butter issues are of course still important, but for the new post-materialist generation , it is not enough to merely grow GDP per capital , but also to ensure that in our pursuit of growth, nobody gets left behind and we build a cohesive and inclusive society.



**** Ministries To Review Laws On Cyber Crime ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1186368/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia


> The Ministry of Home Affairs is working with the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Arts to review specific laws to protect people against cyber harassment, bullying and other anti-social acts on the Internet.