[MyAppleMenu] Mar 3, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** Apple Still Isn't Doing A Very Good Job Creating U.S. Jobs ****
<http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/03/apple-still-isnt-doing-very-good-job-creating-us-jobs/49443/>
Rebecca Greenfield, The Atlantic


> Certainly Apple's existence supports these employees, but would the FedEx worker not have other deliveries to make without the iPhone? The other 210,000 jobs Apple attributes to the app economy, which Apple has a lot to do with, but again, involves other technology companies. And it's not clear how dependent on Apple any of these app makers are. 



**** Apple's Over-compliant Media ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/mar/02/apples-over-compliant-media>
Dan Gillmor, The Guardian


> Apple is one of the most important enterprises on the planet, for some very good reasons, as well as less praiseworthy ones. It's time for journalists to examine much more closely all aspects of the organization and its power.



**** Apple Touts Its American Hiring Record ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/165670/2012/03/apple_touts_its_american_hiring_record.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Joel Mathis, Macworld



**** Bugs & Fixes: Troubleshoot Messages Beta On A Mac ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/165667/2012/03/bugs_and_fixes_troubleshoot_messages_beta_on_a_mac.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Ted Landau, Macworld


> In deciding whether or not to install Messages Beta today, don’t overlook the word “Beta” in its name. It’s a warning. It means: “This is pre-release software. Expect more bugs and interface glitches than will exist in the release version.” While this means we have to give Apple a bit of a pass before complaining about such bugs, it still pays to be aware of what you can expect. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. With that in mind, here are some of the most significant and common problems that have cropped up thus far.



**** FaceTime For Apes: Orangutans Use iPads To Video Chat With Friends In Other Zoos ****
<http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2012-01/facetime-apes-zoo-orangutans-will-video-chat-using-ipads>
Rebecca Boyle, Popular Science


> Orangutans living in captivity will soon start using iPads for primate play-dates, using Skype or FaceTime to interact with their brethren in other zoos, according to zookeepers. The great apes have been playing with iPads for about six months at the Milwaukee County Zoo, and they’ve been such a hit that other zoos plan to introduce them, too.



**** Air Force Gives $9 Million Award For As Many As 18,000 IPads ****
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-02/air-force-grants-9-million-award-for-as-many-as-18-000-ipad2s.html>
Brendan McGarry, Bloomberg


> The U.S. Air Force awarded a $9.36 million contract to buy as many as 18,000 Apple Inc. iPad 2s in one of the military’s largest orders of computer tablets.

> Taking a cue from commercial airlines, the service will use the tablets to replace the bags of paper manuals and navigation charts carried by pilots and navigators.

Once upon a time, a $9 million order for Apple would be a <i>very</i> big deal.


**** Retina Display Macs, iPads, And HiDPI: Doing The Math ****
<http://www.tuaw.com/2012/03/01/retina-display-macs-ipads-and-hidpi-doing-the-math/>
Richard Gaywood, TUAW


> People shouldn't get their hopes up for how much better a Retina display Mac would be compared to the current offerings. The iPhone 4 was a huge step forward from the iPhone 3GS mostly because the 3GS's screen was comparatively poor. Existing Macs have much better screens to start with, so any improvement will be much more modest.

Retina displays may be coming to every single Apple products with a screen (except non-touch iPods), but except for the iPad, you probably shouldn't expect any major improvements as the chart in this article clearly illustrates.





The Tomorrow Weblog
====================================
**** Meaningful Gestures ****
<http://www.economist.com/node/21548486>
The Economist


> Kinect, Microsoft’s video-game controller that registers a user’s intentions from his gestures, will be the shape of things to come if Chris Harrison, a researcher at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, has his way. Mr Harrison thinks the Kinect’s basic principles could be used to make a technological panopticon that monitors people’s movements and gives them what they want, wherever they want it.



**** What Happened To The Flying Car? ****
<http://www.economist.com/node/21548491>
The Economist



**** Apps Seek To Help Phone Users Track Data ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/technology/apps-seek-to-help-phone-users-track-data-use.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Jenna Wortham, New York Times


> Now companies are introducing services and applications that promise to help phone users manage and understand their data diet — for example, flagging the late-night Tumblr binge that chewed through their monthly data ration. The idea is to help them tweak their behavior and the way their phone works to get the most out of their data plans.



**** Rosey, The Remake ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/technology/for-irobot-the-future-is-getting-closer.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Christopher Drew, New York Times


> Rosey, a metallic maid with a frilly apron, “kind of set expectations that robots were the future,” said Colin M. Angle, the chief executive of the iRobot Corporation. “Then, 50 years passed.”

> Now Mr. Angle’s company is trying to do Rosey one better — with Ava, a 5-foot-4 assistant with an iPad or an Android tablet for a brain and Xbox motion sensors to help her get around. But no apron, so far.






MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================
**** Part Fact Part Fiction Is What Life Is ****
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/03/jeanette_winterson_s_memoir_why_be_happy_when_you_could_be_normal_reviewed_.html>
June Thomas, Slate


> So, what if Jeanette had never met the Wintersons? What if she hadn’t grown up surrounded by madness and unpredictability and the language of the Old Testament? What if she had been loved?



**** Elephant And Piggie Peer Into The Void ****
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/03/mo_willems_meditation_on_death_.html>
David Plotz, Slate


> But there’s one literary depiction of mortality for kids so gripping and so terrifying that it has been haunting me—a fully grown man—since I read it. It is arguably the most disturbing book published in America since <i>The Road</i>. I refer, of course, to Mo Willems’ 2010 picture book, <i>We Are in a Book!</i>



**** In Knots ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/books/review/the-starboard-sea-amber-dermonts-debut-novel.html?_r=1&hpw>
Eleanor Henderson, New York Times


> Dermont may be working within comfortably familiar outlines, but her fusion of the boating novel and the boarding school novel is captivating and inspired.



**** Is The Food Revolution Just A Great Big Fat Lie? ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/02/truth-behind-food-revolution-glaser>
Eliane Glaser, The Guardian


> The spectacle of Jamie Oliver, a cheeky lad from Essex, tearing basil leaves on to spaghetti was in some ways a step forward for equality, but in other ways it was a sneaky step back – because it made it that much harder to notice the dodgy doublespeak that has come to dominate the way we talk about food.



**** Parting Words ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/books/review/for-biographers-leaving-subjects-behind-is-hard.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Robert K. Massie, New York Times


> Setting out to describe a figure from the past, an author has to reach beyond names, places and dates and try to bring a human being back to life. The author does this by becoming an invisible daily witness, standing at the subject’s elbow, listening to the subject’s conversations, observing smiles and frowns, then using the advantage of hindsight to judge harshly when disapproving, indulgently when understanding. As the months and years pass, it often happens — unless the subject is Hitler or Stalin — that the subject becomes a friend.



**** What Makes You Happy? ****
<http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article03011201.aspx>
Jessa Cripin, The Smart Set


> Someone asks, “What would you like to do tonight?” and you have no idea. Maybe your mind goes blank, or maybe you say “Whatever you want to do, dear,” or maybe you default to the same restaurant or the same bar or the same television show. That seems easier, and safer, than admitting to yourself that you don’t know, and don’t know where to go to find an answer.



**** Poets Well Versed In The Art Of Combat ****
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9116335/Poets-well-versed-in-the-art-of-combat.html>
Sameer Rahim, The Telegraph


> We all know about famous poetic friendships — Wordsworth and Coleridge, Eliot and Pound — but an equally strong tradition in English literature has been the poetic feud. In the 18th century Alexander Pope mocked the banal rhymes of his rivals: “Wher’er you find 'the cooling western breeze’, / In the next line, it 'whispers through the trees’.” The Romantics were no friendlier: Byron wrote of “Johnny Keats’ piss-a-bed poetry”.



**** Sorry, There's No Such Thing As 'Correct Grammar' ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/02/no-correct-grammar-martin-gwynne?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Michael Rosen, The Guardian


> One of the interesting things about the word "grammar" is that many of its users think that it is self-evident that it refers to one thing: "the grammar" of the language. If only the matter were that simple.






SingaporeSurf
====================================
**** Vikram Nair Does Not Intend To Engage In Debate With TOC ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1186775/1/.html>
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia


> Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia, Mr Nair reiterated his position that he does not have any legal plans. Mr Nair also said he does not intend to engage in a debate with the TOC on its website.



**** My Eyebrows Rose Thrice, Part 1: Earn $1,000, Buy A Flat ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/my-eyebrows-rose-thrice-part-1-earn-1000-buy-a-flat/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread


> Taken together, what we have is a picture of the minister being right only if we treat the question very narrowly. The moment we try to understand social well-being wholistically, the parts don’t add up.

> That, unfortunately, is a strand that can be traced through many of the government’s assertions each time they are challenged about people’s well-being, whether we’re talking about healthcare, social mobility, income inequality, or in this case, housing. They score on specific points, but only if taken in isolation.

> We should not accept such narrow framing.



**** Leave The Internet Be ****
<http://andrewlohhp.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/leave-the-internet-be/>
Andrew Loh


> It is not my job to tell others how they should behave, what they should speak, how they should speak it, or when they should speak.

> And I would say, it is neither the government’s job to do so.

> Lets not get into this mode of wanting to coerce or control everything. The expiry date for this sort of thinking has long passed.



**** Yale Professors Want Singapore Campus To Protect Human Rights ****
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-02/yale-professors-want-singapore-campus-to-protect-human-rights.html>
Oliver Staley, Bloomberg


> The campus, which Yale will run with the National University of Singapore, will be the first overseas branch in Yale’s 300-year history. It is one of a number of campuses in East Asia being developed by U.S. colleges including New York University and Duke University. Those campuses face restrictions on academic and political freedoms, and Yale professors said they are concerned about human rights in Singapore and the faculty’s exclusion from the planning.

> Christopher Miller, a Yale French and African-American studies professor, raised the issue of homosexuality, which is illegal for men in Singapore, he said. Because it is seldom enforced, Yale has been lured to believe it won’t be a issue for faculty and students, he said.

> “There is no confusion about the law on the books: male homosexuality is illegal,” Miller said in remarks he made at the meeting and e-mailed. “But the Singaporean government has managed to create a ‘twilight zone’ around the question of enforcement. And Yale has fallen into their trap.”



**** $1000 A Month Can Buy Flat. Yes, But… ****
<http://ryangoh.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/1000-a-month-can-buy-flat-yes-but/>
Ryan Goh: Life Through These Eyes


> If buying a flat on $1000 per month household income impairs your ability for a secure financial future, then in my opinion, the policy is not a sound one and should be chucked in the bin like a draft that has errors.



**** 卖屋还债可能须建屋局点头 ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120303_030.shtml>
联合早报


> å›½å®¶å‘å±•éƒ¨é•¿è®¸æ–‡è¿œæ˜¨å¤©åœ¨å›½ä¼šæ‹¨æ¬¾å§”å‘˜ä¼šä¸ŠæŒ‡å‡ºï¼Œå»ºå±‹å±€å°†ä¼šåŠ å¼ºå¯¹æœ‰æ„å”®å–ç»„å±‹è€…çš„å®¡æ ¸ï¼Œç¡®ä¿ä»–ä»¬å°±ç®—å–äº†ç»„å±‹è¿˜æœ‰ç“¦é®å¤´ã€‚å¦‚æžœå‘çŽ°å–æŽ‰ç»„å±‹ä¼šç»™å±‹ä¸»åŠå…¶å®¶åº­å¸¦æ¥æ›´å¤§çš„ä¼¤å®³ï¼Œå½“å±€å°†ä¼šæžåŠ›åŠé˜»è¿™å®—äº¤æ˜“ã€‚



**** 马炎庆：建议让电台 每天播8首方言歌曲 ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120303_028.shtml>
联合早报


> 马炎庆（淡滨尼集选区）昨天在国会上针对方言的使用提出疑问，他问为什么整首方言的《我问天》可以每晚在本地电视台播放，而台湾年轻歌手徐佳莹《身骑白马》只有一段闽南语歌词，却不准播？

> 马炎庆建议让本地两个华语电视台每星期以双声道播放不超过两小时的港台方言节目，并让每个广播电台每天播放不超过8首方言歌曲。



**** MTI Clarifies EDB Lapse In Reporting Pay Structure Changes ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120303-0000030/MTI-clarifies-EDB-lapse-in-reporting-pay-structure-changes>
Lin Yanqin, Today


> Noting that these are "steps in the right direction", Mr Teo said the EDB's lapse lay in failing to inform the PSD of the changes.

> Mr Teo said a clear understanding on the specific areas that require the MTI and the EDB to seek the views of the PSD has been established.



**** Keep It Simple For Hawker Centres ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120303-0000031/Keep-it-simple-for-hawker-centres>
Joseph Khoo Yang Kim, Today


> Is the National Environment Agency (NEA) not socially conscious enough to manage hawker centres anymore?

> Let us keep things simple and outsource only when there is no better way.

Stop creating middlemen so that we don't have hand over extra money to these middlemen.


**** Earn $1000 A Month And You Want To Buy A Flat?! ****
<http://www.facebook.com/notes/tan-chuan-jin/earn-1000-a-month-and-you-want-to-buy-a-flat/338028739573241>
Tan Chuan-Jin, Facebook


> How much is a flat? Using the selling price of a new 2-room BTO flat in Fernvale Lea in Sengkang as an example, it is $100,000 (offered in the Jan 12 BTO exercise; the price range was from $83,000 to $112,000)

>  Deduct the $60,000 [housing grants]. The applicant needs to pay $40,000. 



**** Khaw Boon Wan Clarifies Tharman's "Buying HDB Flat On $1K Pay" ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1186651/1/.html>
Joanne Chan, Channel NewsAsia


> [National development minister Khaw Boon Wan] said Mr Tharman was referring to a two-room Built-To-Order (BTO) flat. That's because such a flat would cost a first-time applicant - who earns S$1,000 - about S$40,000, after subsidies.



**** Vikram Nair’s Response To TOC Article ****
<http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=7388>
Sgpolitics.net


> "Nowhere did I say the idea of investing in vulnerable groups is like investing in a Nigerian scam. I pointed out that the investment concept Mr Chen proposed did not appear to be properly thought through because he did not explain how it was going to be paid for."



**** More Chances For HDB Second-timers To Get Flat ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/Parliament/Story/STIStory_772926.html>
Janice Heng, Straits Times


> Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for National Development, announced on Friday evening that starting with the next launch of Build-To-Order (BTO) flats in March, 15 per cent of new flats in non-mature estates will be allocated to second-timers, compared to 5 per cent previously.

> As for new executive condominiums, second-timers will now be allocated 30 per cent of the units, up from 5 per cent now.



**** PAP MP Is Not Ruling Out Taking Legal Action Against The Online Citizen ****
<http://news.insing.com/tabloid/pap-mp-considers-suing-the-online-citizen/id-47353f00>
Satish Cheney, InSing


> He said that his joke about the Nigerian scam was taken out of context when he was responding to the Workers' Party's Chen Show Mao's views on investments in social capital.

> Responding to the Aljunied GRC MP in Parliament, Nair had said, "Maybe even the Nigerian scheme required you to put $10,000 upfront. But Mr Chen's scheme does not even require a short-term provision. It is not even a deficit for one year. No, no, no. It will pay for itself because it is an investment. So I would like him to explain how he expects these schemes to pay for themselves because, if they do, I will wholeheartedly support it."



**** Seriously, MP Chen's Proposal A Nigerian Scam? ****
<http://kaffein-nated.blogspot.com/2012/03/seriously-mp-chens-proposal-nigerian.html>
Kaffein-nated



**** Hougang Resident Files Affidavit For By-election ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/516-breaking-hougang-resident-files-affidavit-for-by-election>
Andrew Loh, Publichouse.sg


> A resident of the Single-member Constituency (SMC) of Hougang has filed a request with the high court today, Friday, for the prime minister to call a by-election in the ward.

> In the affidavit filed today, Mrs Vellama Marie Muthu said: "Why is it that even the PM is saying, as I am advised, that he even has the power not to call a by-election when he says to the media that he would consider carefully 'whether... to hold a by-election'?"