[MyAppleMenu] May 3, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** Is Apple’s Dropbox-Related App Rejection Process Getting Ridiculous? ****
<http://techland.time.com/2012/05/03/is-apples-dropbox-related-app-rejection-process-getting-ridiculous/>
Matt Peckham, Time


> Then again, we’ve known about Apple’s App Store policies for nearly a year, and we know Apple’s not bashful about enforcing them. From Apple’s standpoint, the company no doubt believes it’s closing a potential backdoor that might be exploited were it to approve external linking of this sort. The downside is that, in pursuing this sort of aggressive protectionism, the company appears to be obstructing simplicity and usability by problematizing the way interdependent apps interact.



**** The Dark Side Of IAP: EA Shuts Down Rock Band For iPhone ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2012/may/02/iap-rock-band-games>
Stuart Dredge, The Guardian


> People who own the game have been reporting a pop-up message titled "Dear Rockers", which continues thus: "On May 31, Rock Band will no longer be playable on your device. Thanks for rocking out with us!"

> Yes, and thanks for spending money via in-app purchases on songs to play at 69p a time, too.



**** OS X Mail Checking For New Messages Even When Set To Manual ****
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57426627-263/os-x-mail-checking-for-new-messages-even-when-set-to-manual/>
Topher Kessler, CNET



**** Oxford University IT Staff 'Somewhat Overwhelmed By Mac Malware' ****
<http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/oxford-university-it-staff-somewhat-overwhelmed-by-mac-malware/4937>
Ed Bott, ZDNet



**** Taking A Cut ****
<http://brooksreview.net/2012/05/apples-cut/>
Ben Brooks, The Brooks Review


> I think Apple is entitled to their cut too — just so long as they continue to do an excellent job vetting the apps.

Getting a 30% cut on <i>everything</i> also makes things simple for Apple: there is no need to classify things and make arbitrary decisions.


**** Are Macs More Secure? ****
<http://allthingsd.com/20120501/are-macs-more-secure/>
Walt Mossberg, AllThingsD


> My take on this is that while Mac users must be careful where they surf, and Apple will have to step up its game against these attacks, an unprotected Macintosh is still, in daily use, far less likely to become infected than an unprotected Windows PC. How users handle this depends on their habits and their tolerance, both for risk, and for the downsides of constantly running security software, which can sap resources and be annoying. I advise all Windows users to run such software. But I see it as optional for Mac users, at least today.

I, for one, continue to trust Apple to have my best interest in mind, but I do wish Apple will respond faster in the future.


**** The Food Lover’s Guide To Paris ****
<http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/the-app-for-that-the-food-lovers-guide-to-paris/>
LIndsey Tramuta, New York Times


> After over a year of testing addresses with the help of a small team, Patricia Wells, the award-winning author and former food critic for The International Herald Tribune, condensed her favorites into The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris, the digital version of her pre-eminent culinary bible of the same name last updated in 1999.



**** Apple ID Horror Story ****
<http://tidbits.com/article/12977?rss>
Chris Owen, TidBITS


> I had heard anecdotally that some people had been having issues with Apple’s recent security upgrade for at least some iTunes accounts, but it’s hard to know what to make of such reports until you experience the problems yourself. And, sadly, I can now understand what others have gone through.



**** Hands On With Amazon Cloud Drive For Mac ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1166647/hands_on_with_amazon_cloud_drive_for_mac.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Lex Friedman, Macworld


> Despite some interface limitations, Amazon Cloud Drive certainly works for quickly storing your documents online. If you prefer full two-way sync, however, you may prefer one of its (ever more numerous) competitors.



**** Creating Videos With 5.1 Audio For The Apple TV, Mac, And iOS ****
<http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides/2012/05/creating-videos-with-51-audio-for-the-apple-tv-mac-and-ios.ars>
Iljitsch Van Beijnum, Ars Technica


> The new Apple TV eats near-Blu-ray quality X.264 video for breakfast—but when it comes to audio, the device is a picky one. With AirPlay streaming, on the other hand, audio is much more flexible than video. What's going on inside the diminutive media player, and what should those of us doing our own audio/video encoding keep in mind?



**** Restarting A Remote Mac ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/1166645/restarting_a_remote_mac.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld



**** Create Multiple Mail Signatures On Your iPhone With Signatures ****
<http://www.macstories.net/reviews/create-multiple-mail-signatures-on-your-iphone-with-signatures/>
Lukas Hermann, MacStories






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Programming Languages Not Copyrightable Rules Top EU Court ****
<http://www.pcworld.com/article/254835/programming_languages_not_copyrightable_rules_top_eu_court.html>
Jennifer Baker, IDG News



**** Open Source Has Become Mainstream But Still Drives Innovation ****
<http://www.zdnet.com/news/open-source-has-become-mainstream-but-still-drives-innovation/6361287>
Yves De Montcheuil, ZDNet



**** HTML5-based MeeGo Successor Tizen Hits 1.0 Milestone ****
<http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/05/html5-based-meego-successor-tizen-hits-10-milestone.ars>
Ryan Paul, Ars Technica






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** The Call Of The Future ****
<http://www.wilsonquarterly.com/article.cfm?AID=2140>
Tom Vanderbilt, The Wilson Quarterly


> Before probing into the future of voice telephony, and the idea that we find it ever easier to do without it, we need to ask a simpler question, one that turns out to be curiously relevant to current discussions of the impact and role of a communication technology such as the Internet in our lives: What <i>was</i> the telephone call?






SingaporeSurf
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**** Older Workers Disadvantaged By Workplace Safety Rules? ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120503-0000168/Older-workers-disadvantaged-by-workplace-safety-rules?>
Ralph S Lesslar, Today


> It would have cost more than $2,000 and taken five to six months to complete, which neither my training provider nor I, as a retiree who was appointed on a part-time basis, were prepared to pay.

> So, all the experience, knowledge and skills that we could impart to the younger generation in our respective vocations - and I have been training for well over 35 years - are now sitting on the shelf.



**** ä¸­å›½ç§»æ°‘ä¸æ„¿æˆæ–°åŠ å¡å…¬æ°‘ å‰²èˆä¸ä¸‹â€œä¸­å›½æ ¹â€ ****
<http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2012-05-03/105224362310.shtml>
中国新闻网



**** Tunnel Vision On Birth Rate And Integration ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/578-tunnel-vision-on-birth-rate-and-integration>
Ravi Philemon, Publichouse.sg


> I agree that we cannot not consider attracting the demonstrably best and brightest from all over the world to make Singapore their home, as part of an answer to the declining citizen population; however, the fact that Singapore's aging phenomena may make immigration a friction-inducing issue cannot be ignored.

> And so besides the existing government initiated integration programmes (the latest being the PA’s Integration Council), other effective assimilation programmes that take a holistic view of immigration in areas like housing, transportation, employment and schooling, must also be considered.



**** Celebrity Nightclubs Shake Up Southeast Asia ****
<http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/05/03/celebrity-nightclubs-shake-up-southeast-asia/>
Shibani Mahtani, Wall Street Journal


> But for luxurious nightclubs, the focus for many developers is Singapore, which until the past few years was derided by partygoers as one of the most boring places in Asia. Nikki Beach and the Castlewood Group are eager to build a new beach club in Singapore where there is “plenty of money to be spent,” and are only holding off because they have not “found the perfect venue,” Mr. Comer said.



**** Norwegian Ambassador Puts Pressure On Singapore In Human Rights Case ****
<http://www.scandasia.com/viewNews.php?coun_code=sg&news_id=10526>
Dennis Krog, ScandAsia.com


> Chee Soon Juan has always claimed that the charges against him are politically motivated, and according to Aftonposten in Norway the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store has answered a question on the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget, with following.

> “The case regarding Dr. Chee Soon Juan has been addressed by the Norwegian Ambassador to Singapore, who has asked the Singaporean authorities to reconsider their decision.”

The original news article: <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/Jonas-Gahr-Store-ber-Singapore-tenke-seg-om-6819280.html#.T6KFZ-3XdnD">Jonas Gahr Støre Ber Singapore Tenke Seg Om</a> (Aftenposten).


**** World's Best Airport Named ****
<http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/worlds-best-airport-named-20120503-1y17m.html>
Craig Platt, Sydney Morning Herald


> South Korea's Incheon Airport has again been named the world's best, taking out the top award for the second time after first winning in 2009.



**** Worker's Party's Idea On Transport Comes To The Fore.... ****
<http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/05/workers-partys-idea-on-transport-comes.html>
Diary Of A Singaporean Mind


> Just maintaining basic service quality at acceptable levels won't give us the big leap in improvement in quality of life we want to be able to look forward to as Singaporeans.  Re-nationalization is one approach worth considering and it is far more workable than the current setup in which govt depend on private for-profit companies to deliver and have limited control over them when they don't.



**** SDP's Response To Govt's May Day Message	 ****
<http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/5232-sdps-response-to-govts-may-day-message>
Singaore Democratic Party


> Yes, we know that it can de done. The SDP has been saying it for years. The question is: What has the Government been waiting for all this time? 

> In the last decade at least, Singapore's low-income workers have been seeing their wages stagnate. When one factors in inflation, their incomes have actually diminished.

> All this time, our productivity has plunged because the government insists on bringing in foreign workers by the millions and in so doing depressed wages.



**** Rail Claws Dislodge Despite Cable Ties: COI ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1198991/1/.html>
Hetty Musfirah, Chnnel NewsAsia


> Rail claws on SMRT's train network have continued to dislodge from the third rail even after they were secured with cable ties, following the massive train disruptions on the North-South line last December.

> When asked why the claws dislodged, Mr Loke said the cable ties used were the "normal, industrial cable ties, not the special one."



**** The Uncanny Wisdom Of Population Augmentation ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/05/uncanny-wisdom-population-augmentation/>
Howard Lee, The Online Citizen


> As such, population stability needs to be considered not just quantitatively, but qualitatively. NPTD's paper did not outline measures that would make it sustainable in the long term for the organic replavement of our population, such as encouraging an efficient, pro-family economy.



**** Employer Fined After Maid Fell To Death ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1198975/1/.html>
Chnnel NewsAsia


> The employer of a foreign domestic helper who fell from height and died, has been slapped with a maximum fine of S$5,000. 

> Forty-six-year-old Gan Hui Leung pleaded guilty on Thursday to one charge of failing to ensure her then-domestic helper, Ms Siti Ustima, performed her duties in a safe manner during the term of employment. 



**** HDB Four-room Flat Sizes, 1996 To 2011 ****
<http://measuredmusings.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/hdb-four-room-flat-sizes-1996-to-2011/>
Measured Musings


> "Minister Khaw is accurate in saying the flat size hasn’t changed in the past 15 years because the mid-90s was the last time that HDB changed flat sizes."



**** What IPS's Report Shows About Government's Intent ****
<http://asingaporeanson.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-ipss-report-shows-about.html>
A Singaporean In Australia


> I'll like to remain you again that our birthrate was 1.16 last year. If our government is insistent on maintaining the working adults: elderly ratio and with a decline birthrate that doesn't look anywhere on the reversing trend, we could be looking at a proportion of 40% foreigners instead of 33% in future.

> Another point to take that if government chose scenario three as the probable scenario, we are looking at a nice 6.8 million population in 2030. What happened to the original 6.5 million projection? No, we need another 300,000 people to prevent the economy from shrinking, slowing down blah blah blah. Expect these headlines next year.



**** Seen And Heard #2 ****
<http://www.angmohlian.com/the-idealist/seen-and-heard-2/>
Angmohlian



**** Amnesty International Implores Singapore To Join Global Trend Toward Abolition Of Death Penalty ****
<http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press-releases/amnesty-international-implores-singapore-to-join-global-trend-toward-abolition-of-death-penalty>
Amnesty International


> Amnesty International today calls on Singapore to join the global trend toward abolition of the death penalty and establish a moratorium on all executions, following the country's announcement that it carried out four executions in 2011, after no executions the previous year.



**** Of Cleaning Windows And The Internet Code Of Conduct ****
<http://unbrandedbreadnbutter.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/of-cleaning-windows-and-the-internet-code-of-conduct/>
Unbranded Bread N Butter


> Almost every other day, I wonder why we pay so much for these super talented, super high flying ministers and civil servants when the solutions they come up with sounds like what I would do after six cans of cheap beer and two shots of thai whiskey.



**** Money Never Enough ****
<http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2012/05/money-never-enough.html>
Singapore Notes


> Ministers and other political appointment holders cooked up a new formula to award themselves 2.625 months of "national bonus" for last year's lacklustre performance, with nothing to show for it except nation wide chaos in floods, transportation, housing and spiralling inflation. PM helped himself to twice the payout, 2 x 2.625 months of his $2.2 million a year. How did Lim Swee Say put it? Q.E.D. - Quite Easily Done. You don't need a degree in Mathematics to understand why Prof Lim's shock therapy was shot down in flames.



**** Why More Migrants Needed In S'pore ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1198946/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Chnnel NewsAsia


> Another study has been released in support of Singapore's need to attract new migrants to slow down the impact of an ageing and dwindling population.



**** More Woes For SMRT ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120503-0000085/More-woes-for-SMRT>
Tan Weizhen, Today


> Following the release of SMRT's full-year results earlier this week, analysts have painted a bleak picture of the financial health of the troubled transport operator, with a Citigroup report even going so far as to suggest that re-nationalisation could be on the cards.



**** All Flats Sold Directly By HDB Are Subsidised ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC120503-0000059/All-flats-sold-directly-by-HDB-are-subsidised>
Ignatius Lourdesamy, Housing & Development oard, Today


> All flats sold directly by the Housing and Development Board under the Build-To-Order and Sale of Balance Flats exercises are subsidised. They are priced considerably lower than comparable resale flats.



**** Stage Actress Emma Yong Dies ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120503-0000001/Stage-actress-Emma-Yong-dies>
Today



**** HDB Flat Sizes Have Remained Unchanged The Past 15 Years: Khaw Boon Wan ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_794673.html>
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times


> National development minister Khaw Boon Wan has assured Singaporeans that HDB flats are not shrinking, contrary to popular belief.

15 years -- that's about when Punggol and Sengkang new towns were started, where the flats are significantly smaller than flats in other areas such as Woodlands and Jurong West, right?
Also:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blog.toomanythoughts.org/2012/05/hdb-5-room-flat-sizes-1974-2016.html">HDB 5-room flat sizes, 1974-2016</a> (Too Many Thoughts, Yu-Mei Balasingamchow).</li>
<li><a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1164517/1/.html">Smaller Flats Do Not Mean Lower Quality Of Living: HDB CEO</a> (Joanne Chan, Channel NewsAsia, 10 Nov 2011): Public flats in Singapore may be getting smaller but this has not lowered quality of living, says Housing and Development Board's (HDB) CEO, Dr Cheong Koon Hean. The size of HDB flats has shrunk by five to 10 per cent over the last 20 to 30 years.</li>
</ul>