[MyAppleMenu] Nov 4, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Crappy Computers ****
<http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2012/11/04/crappy_computers/>
Lukas Mathis, Ignore The Code


> In reality, it’s exactly backwards: proficient users can deal with a crappy computer, but casual users need as good a computer as possible.



**** Where The iPad Mini Fits On My Digital Tool Belt ****
<http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/02/should-you-buy-an-ipad-mini/>
MG Siegler, TechCrunch


> In other words, if you’re debating between a large iPad and the mini version, you’re probably going to buy the mini version. And for most users, I think that will be the right choice.



**** 'Drop Test' Finds iPad Mini Is More Rugged Than Nexus 7, 3Rd-gen iPad ****
<http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/11/02/drop-test-finds-ipad-mini-is-more-rugged-than-nexus-7-3rd-gen-ipad>
AppleInsider


> An informal drop test performed by a third-party warranty firm found that despite having an extremely thin bezel, Apple's new iPad mini outperformed both Google's Nexus 7 and the third-generation iPad.



**** First Apple Store In S. China Opens Nov 3 ****
<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-11/02/content_15870490.htm>
Huang Yuli, Xinhua


> Fan Xingchen, an employee at a sales company and Apple fan, said he was looking forward to the opening. He already has four Apple products and plans to buy a new 15-inch Mac.

> "For small accessories I will go to a reseller in the neighborhood, but if I buy a big thing like an iPhone or a computer, I will be more likely to go to an Apple store, I think they're more reliable and that the product life will be longer," he said.






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Let’s Limit The <i>Effect</i> Of Software Patents, Since We Can’t Eliminate Them ****
<http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/11/richard-stallman-software-patents/>
Richard Stallman, Wired


> We should legislate that developing, distributing, or running a program on generally used computing hardware does not constitute patent infringement. 






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Man Of The House ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/books/review/may-we-be-forgiven-by-a-m-homes.html?ref=books&_r=0>
Garth Risk Hallberg, New York Times


> For a while there, in the middle of the last century, New York’s northern suburbs were something like the literary capital of the country. The novels of Richard Yates and the stories of John Cheever reimagined Westchester County as a mythic landscape to rival Yoknapatawpha, and the rider of the Metro-North as a prism for American yearning and unease. Then the ’60s came along and scrambled the cultural map. But the Westchester mystique persists, in “Mad Men” and men’s wear — and in much of A. M. Homes’s best fiction.



**** Poster Poems: November ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/nov/02/poetry>
Billy Mills, The Guardian


> The first real winter chills have inspired many poets, and encouraged them – and you – to stay inside and write. (Unless you're lounging next to a pool in Australia)



**** Names For The Sea: Strangers In Iceland By Sarah Moss – Review ****
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/nov/02/sea-iceland-sarah-moss-review>
Kathleen Jamie, The Guardian


> According to some Iceland is, or was, "the happiest country in the world, a paradise of gender equality, fine schooling and public art". Referring to a camping trip she took there with a student friend, Sarah Moss calls Iceland "the landscape of our coming of age". Years later, now a novelist and academic with a partner and two infant children, Moss spotted an advert. Iceland was not quite perfect. All it lacked, it seemed, was an expert in 19th-century British literature. It was the prospect of a better society, a "not-Englishness" which made her apply for the post at the University of Iceland, but the very day she accepted the job the IMF had to step in to save Iceland from going bust. A collusion between the then government and a group of avaricious bankers known as the Viking Raiders had brought the country to near collapse. The value of Moss's salary dropped by a third. There was fear that schools would close, that nothing would be imported. One of the most gripping passages in her book is an account Moss is given of the 2009 "Pots and Pans Revolution", when the people brought down that government, armed only with noise.






SingaporeSurf
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**** An Analysis Of The SDP Housing Plan ****
<http://leongszehian.com/?p=2003>
Leong Sze Hian


> In summary, my opinion is that generally, the SDP Housing Plan may help to reduce much of the financial stress that so many Singaporeans are faced with today. I therefore suggest that the government, stakeholders and Singaporeans, engage with more ideas, feedback and suggestions, to explore the possibility of refining and using some if not all of the features in the SDP Housing Plan.



**** Hasnor Vs Maria: You Are The Judge ****
<http://asingaporeanson.blogspot.sg/2012/11/hasnor-vs-maria-you-are-judge.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ASingaporeanInAustralia+(A+Singaporean+In+Australia)>
A Singaporean In Austrlia


> If the journalist Maria was right that Hasnor the taxi driver lied about his earnings, it reflects how shoddy the journalistic standards of Straits Times was by publishing unverified untruths to the public. If Hasnor was telling the truth, it reflects very poorly on the credibility of the the Straits Times and how unscrupulous our mainstream media has become.



**** SMU To Start Classes Earlier In Bid To Ease Congestion ****
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Edvantage/Story/A1Story20121103-381273.html>
AsiaOne


> National University of Singapore's Associate Professor Lee Der Horng said the 7.30am to 8.30am period was very busy in general and starting classes later, say, at 9am would be a better option.

Why not have classes on Saturdays and Sundays? :-)


**** Singapore’s Muslim Marriage Courses Under Fire ****
<http://www.bikyamasr.com/80143/singapores-muslim-marriage-courses-under-fire/>
Tiddy Smith, Bikya Masr


> Singapore’s leading association for Muslim converts, Darul Arqam, has begun an internal investigation into lecturer misconduct after several attendees of the organization’s pre-marriage courses voiced concerns over violent and sexist content in the lectures and course materials. Specifically, attendees allege that male students are encouraged to beat wives who refuse to submit to sex, while female students are taught that if they refuse sex with their husbands angels of Allah would curse them.



**** Education Dominates Singapore's 'Different' Culture ****
<http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/11/education_dominates_in_singapo.html>
Brent Larkin, The Plain Dealer


> It is the only Asian nation with a AAA credit rating from all three rating agencies.

> Taxes and unemployment are low. Acute poverty has all but disappeared. Measured by purchasing power, per-capita income is the world's third-highest.

> And no one would dispute that the key to all this success has been education. In 2011, Singaporean students ranked first in the world in eighth-grade science and math testing. They have ranked in the top three every year since 1995.



**** Singapore Thru' Eyes Of Gurkhas ****
<http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Singapore+thru'+eyes+of+Gurkhas&NewsID=353108>
The Himalayan Times



**** Online Media Keeps Alive Debate On Death penalty ****
<http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/online-media-keeps-alive-debate-on-death-penalty-1.165744>
P. N. Balji , New Straits Times


> Third, many are not convinced that those hanged for such offences are really guilty because they are just bit players in the nefarious drug business with the kingpins licking their wounds in some nearby hideout.

> Fourth, the tough laws don't seem to have made Singapore a drug-free country. Heroin use has surged, drug seizures have spiked and since 2005, drug arrests have jumped by 300 per cent.

> But it is the online media, with The Online Citizen (TOC) in the forefront, that has kept the issue on the boil.



**** In Labor Crunch, Singapore Bosses Become Delivery Men ****
<http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-01/singapore-managers-turn-delivery-men-in-labor-crunch-economy>
Shamim Adam, Bloomberg


> “The government is acutely aware that there are a lot of tradeoffs involved,” said Varathan. “It is a choice to bite the bullet and move a few rungs up on the productivity ladder because it’s going to be better for Singapore 20 years down the road, not just in two years.”

We shouldn't have gone down the route we've gone down, creating businesses that may not survive without paying less than liveable wages.