[MyAppleMenu] Mar 20, 2012

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Tue Mar 20 18:59:00 EDT 2012

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** Apple Responds To Supposed iPad Heat Issues ****
<http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/03/20/apple-responds-to-supposed-ipad-heat-issues/>
Jim Dalrymple, The Loop


> “The new iPad delivers a stunning Retina display, A5X chip, support for 4G LTE plus 10 hours of battery life, all while operating well within our thermal specifications,” Apple representative Trudy Muller, told The Loop. “If customers have any concerns they should contact AppleCare.”



**** Mr. Daisey And The Fact Factory ****
<http://grist.org/media/mr-daisey-and-the-fact-factory/>
Scott Rosenberg, Grist


> I’m sorry, that’s not the statement of a theater artist examining his soul; that’s the statement of a public figure doing damage control.



**** New iPad Revolutionary In Its Subtlety Of Change ****
<http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/11408049-452/review-new-ipad-revolutionary-in-its-subtlety-of-change.html>
Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times


> The point of this thing is more clear. Its elements do their jobs better, more efficiently . . . and with a great deal more panache and style. The process of making the new iPad was one of examining every element and figuring out how to improve it in place.



**** My Father’s Final Gift ****
<http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/my-father-final-gift/>
Aza On Design


> In it is my father. The man who invented the Macintosh and misnamed what should be the “typefaces” menu the “fonts” menu. He never forgave himself for his incorrect usage of English. He groomed with exacting use of language and considered that mistake a failure of being young and reckless with semantics.



**** How To Secure DNS With DNSCrypt ****
<http://www.esecurityplanet.com/mac-os-security/how-to-secure-dns-with-dnscrypt.html>
Eric Geier, eSecurity Planet


> This open-source software for Mac and Linux does for DNS what SSL does for HTTP: It encrypts DNS traffic to prevent spoofing, snooping, and man-in-the-middle attacks.



**** A Sad Story ****
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/curtain_call/2012/03/mike_daisey_s_the_agony_and_the_ecstasy_of_steve_jobs_how_the_storyteller_betrayed_his_art_.single.html>
Jason Zinoman, Slate


> By inventing events that audiences thought were real, Daisey turned Chinese workers into abstractions, means to an end. He became a <i>de</i>humanizing storyteller.



**** Mike Daisey Was Wrong About Apple In China ****
<http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/03/19/apple_in_china_mike_daisey_was_substantially_wrong.html>
Daniel Engber, Slate


> In Daisey World, the worker-rights violations at Apple’s factories are several orders of magnitude more common than they are in real life. On the radio, he states that among the Foxconn workers he met in Guangzhou, 5 or 6 percent were underage. Later fact-checking revealed that the real proportion is closer to 0.05 percent. He also specifically exaggerated the suicide rate at Foxconn factories. And his story—essentially a description of an <i>ad hoc</i> experiment for which he surveyed a random sample of workers—suggests false prevalence rates for other kinds of abuse, too.



**** Chinese Writers Say Apple Is Online Book pirate ****
<http://www.stltoday.com/business/national-and-international/chinese-writers-say-apple-is-online-book-pirate/article_1775e7f8-6112-52f1-bf66-d2884cf6f78e.html#ixzz1pZheMLTc>
Associated Press


> A group of prominent Chinese writers have demanded millions of dollars in compensation from Apple Inc. for allegedly selling unlicensed versions of their books in its online store, a lawyer said Monday.



**** Welcome To The Post PC Era ****
<http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/03/welcome-to-the-post-pc-era.html>
Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror


> At the point where these simple, fixed function Post-PC era computing devices are not just "enough" computer for most folks, but also fundamentally innovating in computing as a whole … well, all I can say is bring on the post-PC era.



**** Apple Confirms: Three Million iPads Sold In 4 Days ****
<http://www.macstories.net/news/apple-confirms-three-million-ipads-sold-in-4-days/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+macstoriesnet+%28MacStories%29>
Federico Viticci, MacStories



**** Developer ID Gotcha ****
<http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/2390/developer-id-gotcha>
Daniel Jalkut, Red Sweater Blog



**** Pixel-pumping Prowess: Ars Reviews The Third-generation iPad ****
<http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2012/03/pixel-pumping-prowess-ars-reviews-the-third-generation-ipad.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss>
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica



**** PhotoZoom Pro 4 Review ****
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/macsoftware/reviews/?reviewid=3345219&olo=rss>
Duncan Evans, Macworld UK


> In our low-res portrait test PhotoZoom Pro 4 produced the best result here, producing a good combination of artefact reduction, detail and edge smoothing. It wasn’t as good on the noisy, high-res landscape, though, with a little jagged edge and more noise.



**** The Case For Buying iPads For Your Kids ****
<http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/03/buying-ipads-for-your-kids/>
Brad Moon, Wired


> My wife and I made the decision last year to equip our kids with iPads, something that might have sounded excessive only the year before. Now it only makes sense. When you do the math, an iPad (or tablet of choice) for a child makes sense; when you have more than one child, the upfront hardware expenditure is higher, but the savings are even greater.

Buy refurbished.


**** What Apple's Dividend And Buybacks Mean To You ****
<http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/03/what-apples-dividend-and-buybacks-mean-to-you.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss>
Anders Bylund, Ars Technica


> The announced quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share works out to an annual yield of about 1.8 percent to investors. That's hardly ultra-generous, even by tech standards: Intel's yield is 3 percent today, Microsoft pays out 2.5 percent, Texas Instruments runs a 2.1 percent payout, and telecoms like Verizon and AT&T typically sport yields north of 5 percent. Rather, it's a modest dividend along the lines of IBM and Cisco, both in the general neighborhood of 1.5 percent.

> As for the share buybacks, the program isn't designed to juice share prices. Instead, Apple plans to neutralize the dilution from employee stock purchase programs and equity grants.






MyAppleMenu Reader
====================================
**** After A Very Long Difficult Day ****
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/poem/2012/03/_after_a_very_long_difficult_day_by_brenda_hillman.html>
Brenda Hillman, Slate



**** What Happens When A 35-Year-Old Man Retakes The SAT? ****
<http://deadspin.com/5893189/what-happens-when-a-35+year+old-man-retakes-the-sat>
Drew Magary, Deadspin


> Before you even begin taking the SAT, it's already worn you down.



**** What Hath Bell Labs Wrought? The Future ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/books/the-idea-factory-by-jon-gertner.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Michiko Kakutani, New York Times


> In today’s world of Apple, Google and Facebook, the name may not ring any bells for most readers, but for decades — from the 1920s through the 1980s — Bell Labs, the research and development wing of AT&T, was the most innovative scientific organization in the world. As Jon Gertner argues in his riveting new book, “The Idea Factory,” it was where the future was invented.



**** Sea Of Stars ****
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/pictures/120319-glowing-waves-ocean-blue-bioluminescent-plankton-science/>
Ker Than, Photography by Doug Perrine, Alamy, National Geographic


> The biological light, or bioluminescence, in the waves is the product of tiny marine life-forms called phytoplankton—and now scientists think they know how some of these sea beasts create their brilliant blue glow.



**** The Tao Of The C Train. ****
<http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-tao-of-the-c-train>
Kendra Eash, McSweeney's Internet Tendency



**** Alphabet Soup ****
<http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/lifestyle/christopher-hirst/alphabet-soup>
Christopher Hirst, More Intelligent Life


> Food and drink are no longer enough. Increasingly, restaurants also provide customers with a puzzle—why do they have such baffling names?






SingaporeSurf
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**** Singapore: Food Centre Etiquette ****
<http://thebountifulplate.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/singapore-food-centre/>
The Bountiful Plate


> Welcome, to the Singapore lunch time reservation system, where the smart punters stay ahead of the race by leaving their less-treasured belongings to reserve a space <i>before</i> they join the queue to buy their lunches! It’s a bizarre scene, and one that I’m now used to seeing but still find amusing.



**** Why Was Chia Choon Leng Not Prosecuted? ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/540-why-was-chia-choon-leng-not-prosecuted?>
Andrew Loh, Publichouse.sg



**** Illegal 'Farmers' In Clementi Get Deadline Extension ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_779614.html>
Grace Chua, Straits Times


> The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has given those illegally farming the land at Clementi a three-month extension from Tuesday to work out a compromise.



**** More Breakdowns Coming ****
<http://hardhitting-nobs.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-breakdowns-coming.html>
Musings From The Lion City


> The fact that the SBS has no idea why the steel cables broke is to me is more alarming than anything else. This isn’t one issue which you can fix.



**** Singapore Considering Giving Community Farm The Boot ****
<http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/03/20/singapore-considering-giving-community-farm-the-boot/>
Matthew Allen, Wall Street Journal


> Many commentators on social media have expressed dismay that a seemingly harmless activity such as growing fruit and vegetables should draw the threat of legal action from the state, though others have said that the farms are dirty and should be cleared, and that the land should be opened up to all.

> In the farmers’ case at Clementi, many residents believe that if there is unused land available, small-scale food cultivation by residents would surely be a good use for it, although with some controls over potentially harmful practices such as burning foliage.



**** SDP's Healthcare Proposal.... ****
<http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/03/sdps-healthcare-proposal.html>
Diary Of A Singaporean Mind


> As Singapore became more developed, the PAP govt shifted more and more of the financial burden to the sick and their families.



**** Bukit Brown – What We’ve Really Lost ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/03/bukit-brown-what-weve-really-lost/>
Joshua Chiang, The Online Citizen


> We’re a young nation whose collective memories get shorter by the day, because so many of those things that will help us remember are no longer around. And because we no longer feel that sense of history, we don’t feel anything when we further sever our ties to the past. It’s a vicious cycle.



**** New Media Regulation, Moderation Or Free For All ****
<http://chemgen.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/new-media-regulation-moderation-or-free-for-all/>
Chemical Generation Singaore



**** The Dead Don't Stand A Chance ****
<http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2012/03/dead-dont-stand-chance.html>
Singapore Notes


> Compared to the leisurely time-table for the Hougang by-election or the COI for the SMRT debacles, the dead are given a shorter time-line.



**** The Stranger Side Of Singapore: Tan Moh Hong Crocodile Farm ****
<http://www.travelfish.org/blogs/singapore/2012/03/19/the-stranger-side-of-singapore-tan-moh-hong-crocodile-farm/>
Travelfish


> The first indicator that the croc farm was going to be a blast from the past was the delightfully kitschy hand-painted sign displayed along Upper Serangoon Road. Though Tan Moh Hong Crocodile Farm looks like it’s been on 'pause' for decades, the area around it has continued to develop and the farm is in the middle of a residential area.



**** Singapore Banker Held In China ****
<http://www.heraldsun.com.au/archives/old-news-pages/singapore-banker-held-in-china/story-e6frf7ko-1226304616111>
AFP


> Police in China have held a Singaporean banker for two weeks without allowing her access to a lawyer after her client allegedly fled the country with millions of dollars, her fiance says.



**** Eat. Drink. Mandarin. In Singapore ****
<http://www.peckishlaowai.com/2012/03/19/eat-drink-mandarin-in-singapore/>
Peckish Laowai


> She told me that Chinese students found Mandarin really hard and that it was one of the most difficult subjects they had to study in school. My answer was ‘Great – then there is hope for us laowai!’. (The way I see it you can either you can feel intimidated by conversations like that or look at it optimistically and tell yourself you can do it too.)



**** Keep A Little Bit Of Old Seletar In New Developments ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_779368.html>
Edwin Pang, Straits Times



**** Pre-installed, Non-removable Phone Apps Infringe Users' Rights ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_779403.html>
Benjamin Lau, Straits Times


> Such apps are not required for operating the smartphone and may not benefit users in any way.

> Such actions are presumptuous, to say the least, and indicate a lack of respect for consumer rights, consent and privacy. Worse, users cannot remove these apps in their smartphones.

"Open".


**** Competing Estates ****
<http://mysingaporenews.blogspot.com/2012/03/competing-estates.html>
Chua Chin Leng, My Singapore News


> We do not have to come to such a state if we have been more prudent, less greedy, and more sensitive to our past and our future. The human greed of today, in the name of progress, is going to destroy everything that will allow the human beans to live a little longer.



**** MOS Tan Chuan-Jin: We Failed To Conduct A Session In Line With What Campaigners Wanted ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/03/mos-tan-chuan-jin-we-failed-to-conduct-a-session-in-line-with-what-campaigners-wanted/>
Tan Chaun-Jin, Singapore Government, Facebook


> Yesterday's session on Bukit Brown was never intended to be the type of dialogue desired and claimed by these groups. Nor was it a response to their earlier request.

> I had explained that our intent was simply to share with a range of stakeholders on some of the background information and considerations we had previously shared with other groups and to also highlight the road plans which were being announced. It was not a consultation effort to debate about whether the road would be built or not. That has already been stated in Parliament. We were announcing the details, alignment etc.



**** 别再自欺欺人说我们有双语优势了 ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl120320_003.shtml>
陈果丰, 联合早报


> 已经展开跨国业务的特大型审计公司，仍然极端缺乏双语人才，这就是我们新加坡目前的语文实况和困境，我们真的不要再自欺欺人说我们有“双语优势”了！



**** 选后政策为了迎合选民？ 国大论坛嘉宾看法不一 ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120320_020.shtml>
何惜薇, 联合早报



**** 电动扶梯突停乘客纷纷滚下 ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp120320_011.shtml>
联合早报


> 文礼地铁站的电动扶梯昨早突然发生故障，造成一名男乘客不慎摔倒，结果引发了“骨牌”效应，站在他后面的乘客也纷纷滚下电动扶梯。

Also: <a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_779534.html">Escalator Breakdown Delays Boon Lay MRT Users</a> (Straits Times).


**** Big Portion Of Arrears Eventually Recovered: Health Ministry ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120320-0000044/Big-portion-of-arrears-eventually-recovered--Health-Ministry>
Bey Mui Leng, Ministry Of Health, Today


> The total amount written off in FY2010 was S$37 million, equivalent to about 1 per cent of total hospitals' revenue for the same year.

> This is still a sizeable amount and the ministry is working with our hospitals to see how we can further reduce such write-offs.



**** "Lack Of Good Faith On The Part Of MND": Community For Bukit Brown ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/539-lack-of-good-faith-on-the-part-of-mnd-community-for-bukit-brown>
Publichouse.sg


> However, we were informed that there would be no time at today’s session for presentations apart from those put forward by the various official agencies. We regret that this meeting has largely turned out to be a unilateral dissemination of information by particular agencies.

> The fact that this meeting is held after LTA’s announcement of plans for the new highway demonstrates the old practice of presenting decisions as fait accompli to concerned groups instead of genuine engagement and discussion.

What is the government afraid of?






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