[MyAppleMenu] May 5, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
====================================
**** Slow Feeds Brings A Simple, Unique Innovation To RSS Apps ****
<http://www.macstories.net/reviews/slow-feeds-brings-a-simple-unique-innovation-to-rss-apps/>
Federico Viticci, MacStories


> Slow Feeds by Stefan Pauwels is an iPhone app that does one thing well: it separates “slow” from high-volume feeds, and it lets you check out both within a single interface. It fixes a simple problem with a unique, yet totally obvious approach: it understands the convenience of RSS for either “low” and “high” volume websites, and doesn’t treat them equally.



**** MacRuby On iOS – RubyMotion Review ****
<http://merbist.com/2012/05/04/macruby-on-ios-rubymotion-review/>
Merbist



**** Apple Prepares Upcoming Java Updates For OS X ****
<http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57428430-263/apple-prepares-upcoming-java-updates-for-os-x/>
Topher Kessler, CNET


> Apple is preparing updates to its Java 6 runtime for OS X 10.6 and 10.7, which will allow it to better co-exist with future versions of the Java runtime. These updates will soon be available for OS X 10.6 as "Java Update 9" and for OS X 10.7 as "Java Update 2012-004."



**** The iPad 2,4 Review: 32Nm Brings Better Battery Life ****
<http://www.anandtech.com/show/5789/the-ipad-24-review-32nm-a5-tested>
Anand Lal Shimpl, AnandTech


> What's different with the $399 iPad 2 is that Apple used it as a vehicle to introduce a new hardware platform, or more specifically, a new SoC.

Make sure, if you are buying one, that you are getting the <i>new</i> iPad 2, and not the older one.


**** AT&T Chief Regrets Offering Unlimited Data For iPhone ****
<http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/att-randall-stephenson/>
Brian X. Chen, New York Times


> When Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chief executive, spoke about the state of the wireless industry at a conference this week, he shared some surprisingly frank comments about the iPhone. In particular, he said that he wished the company had never offered an unlimited data plan for the device and that he loses sleep over free texting services like Apple’s iMessage.

And yet the telco continues to 1. charge high prices for SMS, and 2. not expand SMS to any internet-capable devices.


**** Keep Tabs On Your MacBook’s Power With Battery Health ****
<http://www.cultofmac.com/163831/keep-tabs-on-your-macbooks-power-with-battery-health-os-x-tips/>
Rob LeFebvre, Cult Of Mac



**** CornerClick Adds More Actions To OS X’s Hot Corners, Saves You From Accidentally Activating Them ****
<http://lifehacker.com/5907440/cornerclick-adds-more-actions-to-os-xs-hot-corners-saves-you-from-accidentally-activating-them>
Whitson Gordon, Lifehacker


> CornerClick changes your hot corners to activate with a click or a long hover, so you won't accidentally activate them, while also adding tons of other actions you can perform.



**** iTunes Match Almost A Year Later, A Cautionary Tale ****
<http://www.macgasm.net/2012/05/04/itunes-match-almost-a-year-later-a-cautionary-tale/>
Joshua Schnell, Macgasm


> The term iTunes Match needs to be taken quite literally. Expecting it to do something other than “match” your local files to ones in the cloud is the extent of its capabilities. The moment your local listing changes, so does Apple’s commitment to giving you the tools to back up your files. It’s not called iTunes Backup, or iTunes Streaming, which actually illustrates an important point – there’s a lot of room for iTunes Match to grow up, and we hope that Apple decides to turn iTunes Match into a legitimate cloud service sooner rather than later.



**** Google Said To Face Fine By U.S. Over Apple Safari Breach ****
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-04/google-said-to-face-fine-by-u-s-over-apple-safari-breach.html>
Sara Forden, Bloomberg



**** iOS App Success Is A "Lottery": 60% (Or More) Of Developers Don't Break Even ****
<http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/05/ios-app-success-is-a-lottery-and-60-of-developers-dont-break-even.ars>
Chris Foresman, Ars Technica


> There is no shortage of stories about lone developers who made an app for the iPhone or iPad and had runaway success. But in the real world, the majority of app makers struggle to break even, according to a recent survey by marketing firm App Promo. Though the survey's methodology is a bit on the light side, numerous developers that we spoke to agree that the results—59 percent of apps don't break even, and 80 percent of developers can't sustain a business on their apps alone—are close to accurate.



**** Two Months Later, Apple Acknowledges Use Of OpenStreetMap In iPhoto ****
<http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/05/two-months-later-apple-acknowledges-use-of-openstreetmap-in-iphoto.ars>
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica


> Apple has finally given a public nod to OpenStreetMap, almost two months after it began using OSM's mapping data within iPhoto for iOS. The OpenStreetMap team tweeted about the change on Thursday evening, noting that the app, which was updated earlier this week with relatively minor fixes, quietly gained an OSM mention in the credits.

Also: <a href="http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/how-openstreetmap-got-apple-to-give-it-due-credit.php">How OpenStreetMap Got Apple To Give It Due Credit</a> (Carl Franzen, TPM Idea Lab).





The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Harvard And M.I.T. Take Their Classes Online ****
<http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/harvard-and-m-i-t-take-their-classes-online/?gwh=256C36288C6C95056147C904421CEE8D>
Azadeh Ensha, New York Times


> Digital classrooms are a growing field, thanks in no small part to success stories like the Khan Academy, so it’s no surprise that traditional brick-and-mortar universities are increasingly looking to add an online element to their learning platforms.



**** For Craftsmen, Fragile Lifeline From Craigslist ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/business/economy/for-craftsmen-craigslist-is-a-slender-lifeline.html?gwh=C83C689B24F0FA64B58A8A2884A2A302>
Motoko Rich, New York Times


> With few places to turn, construction workers have colonized Craigslist as the cyberspace equivalent of the street corner or the Home Depot parking lot.






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** In Search Of The Perfect Pencil Point ****
<http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/05/pencils-at-the-new-yorker.html#ixzz1tvlGlURp>
Mary Norris, New Yorker


> In the old days, here at <i>The New Yorker</i>, when your pencil point got dull, you just tossed it aside and picked up a new one. There was an office boy who came around in the morning with a tray of freshly sharpened wooden pencils. And they were nice long ones, too—no stubs. The boy held out his tray of pencils, and you scooped up a quiver of them. It sounds like something out of a dream! Even then I think I knew that the office boy and his tray of pencils would go the way of the ivory-billed woodpecker.



**** Dog Gone ****
<http://gardenandgun.com/article/dog-gone>
Roy Blount, Jr., Garden And Gun


> Yearning for a dog, but not really wanting one.



**** ‘Yours In Truth’ By Jeff Himmelman: Bob Woodward Is The Star Of New Ben Bradlee Book ****
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/in-new-ben-bradlee-biography-bob-woodward-is-the-star/2012/05/04/gIQA4uQk1T_story.html>
Jack Shafer, Washington Post


> Jeff Himmelman uses his new book, “Yours in Truth,” to take shots at Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein and their 1974 book, “All the President’s Men.” But Himmelman’s fire does not come from the usual redoubt of Watergate revisionism. He is a former researcher for Woodward, one who worked so diligently on “Maestro,” the reporter’s 2001 book about Alan Greenspan, that Woodward gushed about him in his author’s note.



**** “City Of Scoundrels: The 12 Days Of Disaster That Gave Birth To Modern Chicago” By Gary Krist And “Detroit: A Biography” By Scott Martelle ****
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/city-of-scoundrels-the-12-days-of-disaster-that-gave-birth-to-modern-chicago-by-gary-krist-and-detroit-a-biography-by-scott-martelle/2012/05/04/gIQAwfy31T_story.html>
Mark Caro, Washington Post


> Choosing the right time frame is a key decision for any storyteller. Can you reveal more about a subject by covering exhaustive chronological ground or homing in on a tightly compressed period? Do you pull back for a wide shot and let events rush by as if in a montage, or do you push in for the close-up and have developments unfold in something closer to real time?



**** 'Private Empire': The Secretive World Of ExxonMobil ****
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2018133763_br04exxon.html>
Ken Armstrong, The Seattle Times


> The title of Steve Coll's latest opus uses the kind of sweeping language — Empire — that could inspire eyes to roll, arousing suspicion of overstatement. But in "Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power", Coll makes his case, powerfully and persuasively, leaving little doubt of ExxonMobil's reach within the world and its impact upon it.



**** John Irving’s Usual ‘Sexual Suspects’ ****
<http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/12277764-421/john-irvings-usual-sexual-suspects.html>
Teresa Budasi, Chicago Sun-Times


> A John Irving novel is something to be savored. He’s a craftsman who chooses words like an artist chooses paint or a master chef chooses ingredients. You expect carefully crafted prose along with a picturesque setting populated with colorful folks whose peccadilloes are sometimes apparent and sometimes yet to be discovered.



**** Comedy Of Errors: Michael Frayn's New Novel Brings High Farce And Big Ideas To A Greek Island ****
<http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/comedy-of-errors-michael-frayns-new-novel-brings-high-farce-and-big-ideas-to-a-greek-island-7711771.html>
Boyd Tonkin, The Independent


> You arrive on a hot day at a foreign airport. After you wheel your bag past a bored customs official, glass doors slide open to reveal that line of sweaty cab drivers who hold up notices carrying strange names. What if, instead of making a frantic search for the saviour who brandishes yours, you chose somebody's else's sign, somebody else's driver – somebody else's life?



**** Your Breasts Are Trying To Kill You ****
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/05/history_of_breasts_by_florence_williams_reviewed_.html>
Lindy West, Slate


> Though that genre of sweeping, single-topic histories can wind up feeling hasty and reductive (it's hard to write the history of one thing without touching on the history of all other things), Williams’ writing is scientifically detailed yet warm and accessible. She also stays firmly away from the juvenile (BOOOOOOOOO!!!) and isn't afraid to delve into her personal life, making Breasts a smart and relatable, if occasionally dry, read.



**** You Are Very Cold, And This Feels Like An Adventure ****
<http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/05/a_self_published_anonymous_novel_of_drunken_romantic_catastrophe_reviewed_.html>
Dan Kois, Slate


> A unique short novel published recently by an anonymous author in Portland, Ore., captures that mixture of exhilaration and dread with an expertise drawn from hard experience. Titled <i>Love Is Not Constantly Wondering If You Are Making the Biggest Mistake of Your Life</i>, it tells the story of your stormy four-year relationship with Anne, a hard-drinking cellist. Why “your” relationship? Because Love Is Not Constantly cleverly adopts the structure and second-person voice of Choose Your Own Adventure novels, those interactive kids’ books of the 1980s.



**** House On Moss Mill Road ****
<http://www.linesandstars.com/issue13brown.html>
Samantha Brown, Lines And Stars



**** Thoughts Of The Poet ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/04/saturday-poem-thoughts-of-the-poet>
John Hartley Williams, The Guardian



**** The Girl Who Fell From The Sky By Simon Mawer – Review ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/04/simon-mawer-girl-fell-sky-review>
Rachel Cooke, The Guardian


> <i>The Girl Who Fell From the Sky</i> is a less capacious, less thoughtful book than <i>The Glass Room</i>, and some readers will find it – a thriller, I suppose – unsatisfying in the end. But who cares, really? It is so beautifully done.






SingaporeSurf
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**** Regulations Will Not Solve The Problem Of Distrust ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/05/regulations-will-not-solve-distrust/>
Shermon Ong, The Online Citizen



**** Raising Wages Will Spur Productivity ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_795367.html>
Gilbert Goh, Transitioning, Straits Times


> The Government should legislate raising the pay of low-wage Singaporeans so that employers will have no choice but to improve productivity later on.

> It is also natural for workers to raise their standards and work rates when they are paid more.



**** Why It Feels As If They're Smaller Now ****
<http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_795451.html>
Vincent Tan Yan Fu, Straits Times


> But many Singaporeans who are eligible to buy flats, and are hunting for one, grew up in HDB flats that were larger because they were built more than 15 years ago.

> The quoted sizes of new flats also include unusable space such as air-conditioner ledges and planter boxes, all of which contribute towards the downsizing of actual living space.



**** GE2011 – One Year On ****
<http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/ge2011-one-year-on/>
Alex Au, Yawning Bread


> Yet these are areas that large numbers of internet-savvy citizens want to have a say on. That being the case, the government cannot totally avoid engagement. But the kind of “engagement” that they can do is limited simply because the above are essentially non-negotiable tenets. The government will make greater use of new platforms to explain their policies or for public relations “spin”, but then they come up against another problem: People expect new media platforms to be used for engagement, not for one-sided pronouncements. However, since the positions of the government are largely non-negotiable, the use of such platforms will inescapably amount to pronouncements, not engagement. And the result will be plenty of opportunity for netizens to decry its insincerity.



**** How Much More Road Must Be Swept Before Salaries Are Raised? ****
<http://www.raviphilemon.net/2012/05/how-much-more-road-must-be-swept-before.html>
Ravi Philemon



**** What's Changed After GE 2011? ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1199399/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Chnnel NewsAsia


> What is clear post-GE 2011 is that both politicians and the people will continue to navigate this new terrain of engagement. 



**** Engagement - The New Game In Town ****
<http://www.publichouse.sg/categories/topstory/item/581-engagement-the-new-game-in-town>
Andrew Loh, Publichouse.sg


> The real question, to me, at least, is: where do we want to go from here? And do we have the courage to stand apart from the crowd and step up and do the thing which we might be criticized for – to engage with the side which has long been seen as not trustworthy?

> If we don’t, then how do we build this trust which is the key to this new game in town?



**** PAP Has Become Incompetent ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/05/tan-jee-say-pap-has-become-incompetent/>
Tan Jee Say, The Online Citizen



**** PAP In The Bathtub ****
<http://politicalwritings.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/pap-in-the-bathtub/>
Political Writings


> Now PAP’s problems are coming with increasing frequency. They are wearing out, they are obsolete, votes now cost too much and support for their old ways of thinking isn’t as great from new voters.



**** Pressure On Middle Class Rising ****
<http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2012/5/5/columnists/insightdownsouth/11233830&sec=insightdownsouth>
Seah Chiang Nee, The Star


> Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew told accompanying journalists to India years ago that his government would want to avoid his host’s plight. Their universities were churning out too many unemployed graduates.

> Recollecting from memory, I gather his rationale being: These unemployed graduates have the knowledge and free time to plan revolutions. They would hang around in coffee shops and talk politics, and soon a revolution brews.



**** Flash Floods Reported In Bt Timah ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1199376/1/.html>
Chnnel NewsAsia


> Flash floods were reported in Bukit Timah early Saturday morning after heavy rain fell over western and northern Singapore from 1.30am to 3.10am.



**** 武吉布朗迫迁墓坟名单有遗漏 ****
<http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/jl120505_002.shtml>
林志强, 联合早报


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**** Tommy Koh On Healthcare And Income Inequality... ****
<http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/05/tommy-koh-on-healthcare-and-income.html>
Diary Of A Singaporean Mind


> Ultimately, what Singaporeans want is have these serious problems more effective addressed and many remain hopeful the PAP can get it done.  However, there will be a point when time runs out and most Singaporeans conclude that the PAP has other interests that stand in the way of making life better for Singaporeans.