[MyAppleMenu] Oct 15, 2012

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Adobe Ships Acrobat XI Featuring New Cloud Services ****
<http://www.macworld.com/article/2012031/adobe-ships-acrobat-xi-featuring-new-cloud-services.html>
Jackie Dove, Macworld


> Adobe is shipping Acrobat XI, a new version of its cross-platform PDF authoring and viewing software, featuring augmented tools for cloud services such as online forms and digital signatures.



**** Microsoft’s Xbox Music Service To Launch On Android And iOS Soon ****
<http://gigaom.com/2012/10/14/xbox-music-android-ios/>
Janko Roettgers, GigaOM


> Microsoft announced the launch of Xbox Music Sunday night, which could become the company’s first serious attempt to take on both Spotify and iTunes. It will debut on Microsoft’s own platforms first, but come to Android and iOS soon after. That’s a remarkable different tune from a company whose most recent attempt in the digital music space focused all around its ill-fated Zune device.

Good for Microsoft. GIve the same freedom to the Office team too.


**** How To Introduce Yourself To Siri ****
<http://52tiger.net/how-to-introduce-yourself-to-siri/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+52Tiger+%2852+Tiger%29>
Dave Caolo, 52 Tiger


> After just a few minutes, my friend had introduced himself to Siri, as well as his wife, his extended family and a few co-workers. That makes Siri much more pleasant to use. Now he can say things like, “Call my wife” or “Send a text to my manager” and Siri will know who he’s talking about. Likewise, he can ask about work, and Siri will understand that he means the office.



**** Hands On: Securing iOS, Pwning Your Kids With Apple Configurator 1.2 ****
<http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/hands-on-securing-ios-pwning-your-kids-with-apple-configurator-1-2/>
Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica


> Apple recently released the latest version of Configurator, the company's management software for iOS devices, for download in the Mac App Store.  Configurator version 1.2 is intended to give organizations a way to mass-configure iPads, iPhones, and even iPods with applications, settings, and security policies. It's also, as it turns out, the perfect tool to prank a teenage son, teaching him the hazards of leaving his iPad unattended and of interrupting conference calls with extended drum solos.






The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Google Wants To Join The Party, Not Crash It ****
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/technology/google-devices-integrated-daily-lives.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0>
Claire Cain Miller, New York Times


> Googling the answer to a question has become accepted social behavior, but “it’s still somewhat awkward when you see that at a dinner party,” said Amit Singhal, senior vice president in charge of search at Google. “The key to the future is how can you make such conversations socially even more normal?”

> Mr. Singhal is talking about what computer scientists call ubiquitous computing or intelligence augmentation — the idea that computers will no longer be devices we turn on, but will be so integrated into our everyday environment that we can ask them to do things without ever lifting a finger.



**** New Programming Language Makes Social Coding Easier ****
<http://www.technologyreview.com/news/429544/new-programming-language-makes-social-coding/?ref=rss>
Rachel Metz, Technology Review


> Dog, a new programming language, could make it easier and more intuitive to write all sorts of social applications—anything from peer-to-peer question-and-answer sites to online dating. And because Dog incorporates natural language, this may make it easier for newbies to learn to code, too.






MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Suddenly Everyone Wants New Yorker Style Content. Only One Catch: Who Is Going To Write It? ****
<http://pandodaily.com/2012/10/12/suddenly-everyone-wants-new-yorker-style-content-only-one-catch-who-is-going-to-write-it/>
Sarah Lacy, PandoDaily


> So people want to pay for long form journalism, and readers want to read it. Wow, suddenly journalism isn’t so dead, right? Not so fast. There’s still one big problem here: Who the hell is going to write all this brilliant New Yorker style prose?



**** How Large Is The Observable Universe? ****
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/blog/2012/10/how-large-is-the-observable-universe/>
Paul Halpern, Nova


> Or to draw from a famous comment by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the observable universe contains “known unknowns,” such as dark matter, that could eventually be analyzed. Beyond the observable universe lie “unknown unknowns”: the subject of speculation rather than direct observation.






SingaporeSurf
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**** Singapore At A Glance (Part 1 Of 2) ****
<http://sharkingforchipsanddrinks.com/2012/10/15/singapore-at-a-glance-part-1-of-2/>
Sharking For Chips And Drinks…


> A huge number of cafes do not serve any type of cooked breakfast – so they have to try to survive off just coffee and cakes. Ask any of Melbourne’s cafes how long they can last by taking cooked food off the menu and surviving off just the profits of coffee and pastries – they will probably explain that it would be better off closing up shop.



**** Building A New Social Compact ****
<http://www.onesingapore.org/news/building-a-new-social-compact/>
Nicole Seah, One Singapore


> Sceptics may argue that we will not be able to get the money, it is not fiscally feasible.  To that I say, if the government sees value in closing up this inequality gap, if they start to place emphasis on doing so, it will be important enough to have a budget. We could have used the same argument against F1, the Youth Olympics or the Integrated Resorts. But the government felt that the benefits would be important to Singaporeans, and so, money was put aside for these projects.



**** Man Charged With Stealing Tins Of Baby Milk Powder ****
<http://singaporeshortstories.blogspot.sg/2012/10/man-charged-with-stealing-tins-of-baby.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+SingaporeShortStories+(SINGAPORE+SHORT+STORIES)>
Singapore Short Stories


> While I am not able to deduce the financial situation of the man and his family, I understand that for a family with a modest total household income of say $2,000 to $3,000, few tins of baby milk powder can be quite financially taxing on the whole family’s monthly financial budget.



**** Current Nuclear Energy Technology "Not Suitable For Use In S'pore" ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1231418/1/.html>
Olivia Siong, Channel NewsAsia


> "The risks to Singapore, given that we are a small and dense city, still outweigh the benefits at this point. As we are planning for the very long-term and not for our immediate energy needs, we prefer to wait for technology and safety to improve further before reconsidering our options. Over time, nuclear power plants with safer and more robust designs will be developed," said Mr Iswaran.



**** SMRT Raises Bus Drivers' Pay ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC121015-0000116/SMRT-raises-bus-drivers-pay>
Today



**** More HDB Flats To Cater To Singles ****
<http://www.singapolitics.sg/news/more-hdb-flats-cater-singles>
Tessa Wong, Straits Times


> He would have started to wind down flat-building but with the governmen's plan to tweak a policy restricting singles from buying HDB flats, he has "deliberately ramped it up a little bit higher".



**** S’pore Must Keep Religion And Politics Separate: DPM Teo ****
<http://www.singapolitics.sg/news/s’pore-must-keep-religion-and-politics-separate-dpm-teo>
Tessa Wong, Straits Times


> While individuals are free to exercise their political rights, religious organisations cannot cross into politics and vice versa, he said.



**** Calibrating Immigration And Foreign Worker Inflow — What Does It Really Mean? ****
<http://refocusing.blogspot.sg/2012/10/calibrating-immigration-and-foreign.html>
Reflections On Change


> The government should tell us how immigration and foreign worker inflow have been calibrated in the past, and how they will be calibrated in the future.  Calibration should not be a woolly, ill-defined and imprecise philosophical concept.



**** The Canary In The Coal Mine Of Racial Speech ****
<http://www.singapolitics.sg/views/canary-coal-mine-racial-speech>
John Lui, Straits Times


> From my interview with panel member Cheryl Ng, it is clear that she and the others understand the artist's intention behind the slurs uttered by Pang's character. They just think that there will be enough people laughing with Pang's character, not at him, to cause offence.



**** George Yeo: Why I Left Politics ****
<http://www.singapolitics.sg/news/george-yeo-why-i-left-politics>
Straits Times


> 'The opposition leader who beat me, when he was interviewed, said: ‘We won not because my opponents [meaning me and my team] did not do a good job, but because people wanted us in Parliament.’

> “I thought if there was not something that I could change, because it was not something about me, maybe it was time to open a new chapter of my life.”



**** New Rules, Tough Talk As Singapore Seeks To End Tax Haven Image ****
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/14/us-singapore-tax-idUSBRE89D0GM20121014>
John O'Callaghan And Rachel Armstrong, Reuters


> Over the past three years, Singapore has upgraded half of its 70 tax treaties with other countries to make it easier to exchange information on possible tax dodgers.

> The first stage of a peer review by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2011 found Singapore had most of the agreed standards in place but needed to continue to update and expand its information exchange pacts.



**** Premiums And Deductibles Revised ****
<http://singaporedesk.blogspot.sg/2012/10/premiums-and-deductibles-revised.html>
Singapore Notes



**** Singapore's Pension System In Need Of Reforms ****
<http://sbr.com.sg/hr-education/news/singapores-pension-system-in-need-reforms>
Singapore Business Review


> The report recommends that Singapore’s retirement income system can be improved by:increasing participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans; increasing the labour force participation rate amongst older workers increasing the percentage of CPF contributions required to be saved for retirement; raising the level of basic social assistance available to the poorest members of society.



**** Why No Retention In Primary School? ****
<http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC121015-0000033/Why-no-retention-in-primary-school?>
Jennifer Sullivan, Today


> There is so much concentration on the top pupils, but what happens to children who are slower to develop, whose parents lack the money to buy the extra support?



**** Political Conversation Or Spiritual Dialogue? ****
<http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=7809>
Patrick Kee, Sgpolitics.net



**** SMRT Train Services On East-West Line Delayed Due To Fault ****
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1231312/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia


> SMRT train services on the East-West line were delayed for more than an hour on Sunday evening due to a train fault.



**** What Happens When 4% CPF Rate Ends In 2014? ****
<http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/10/what-happens-when-4-cpf-rate-ends-in-2014/>
Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen


> Are there any countries in the world which pay a low interest rate for the citizens' pension funds to invest and keep the difference?