[MyAppleMenu] Apr 3, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** In EMI-iTunes Deal, The Big Loser May Be Microsoft <http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2007/04/emihardware_0403>
by Eliot Van Buskirk and Rob Beschizza, Wired
While Apple scored a public relations coup by offering EMI's DRM-free tracks through iTunes, the company has also struck a major blow against Microsoft in a less obvious arena: music encoding standards.

**** The One True Design Flaw Of All Laptop Computers - That Is An Easy Fix. Who Is Listening? <http://ponzarelli.com/2007/04/02/the-one-true-design-flaw-of-all-laptop-computers-that-is-an-easy-fix-who-is-listening/>
by Ponzi's Schemes
I wonder who is going to be the first company to give us retractable cords. Or at least a wrap lock.

**** Why I Was Wrong About Steve Jobs <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6520801.stm>
by Bill Thompson, BBC News
If Jobs is the man to turn the music industry away from DRM then we will all owe him a massive debt of gratitude. And today, while there is still al lot of manipulation, politicking and arm-twisting to be done, we've taken a small step in the right direction.

**** Apple Still Can't Buy Beatles' Love <http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2007/04/emibeatles_0403>
by Evan Hansen and Michael Calore, Wired
EMI says discussions are ongoing with Beatles publisher Apple Corps to secure the online rights from the world's biggest digital holdout. Those talks are unrelated to the wider issue of selling tracks without anti-copying technology.

**** Apple: Confidence Vs. Protectionism <http://davidweiss.blogspot.com/2007/04/apple-confidence-vs-protectionism.html>
by David Weiss
Apple's sustainable competitive advantage is their deep trust in the inherent value of their products and the experiences they provide. Almost no one has that these days.

**** Apple Playing Second Fiddle: DRM Free Tracks Were EMI's Grand Idea <http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/apple-playing-second-fiddle-drm-free-tracks-were-emis-grand-idea-249008.php>
by Adam Frucci and Brian Lam, Gizmodo
EMI approached Apple about DRM free tracks, not the other way round... The iTunes premium price and AAC 256 kbps format are Apple's marketing decision.

**** Hey Steve! You're Not Done Yet! <http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2007/04/hey_steve_youre_not_done_yet.html>
by Jeremiah Foster, O'Reilly Mac DeveCenter Blog
iTunes removes authorization to play a particular song if your address changes.

**** Industry Reacts To EMI/Apple 'Ditch DRM' Deal <http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&newsID=17671>
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK
The move has attracted broad support from across the independent music industry, though the other majors are maintaining silence on their response at this time.

**** Death To DRM? <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17919248/site/newsweek/>
by Steven Levy, Newsweek
A new deal between Apple and EMI drops restrictive software from their songs, paving the way for better portability of digital music and improved sound quality. So why does it have to cost more?

**** Jobs Unlikely To Push For Lift Of Video DRM <http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/04/02/videodrm/index.php>
by Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service
Even though Jobs has been pushing the music industry to drop DRM, he has different opinions about video.

**** EU Confirms Investigation Into Apple And EMI On Day Of Big Announcement <http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/02/business/music.5.php>
by Thomas Crampton, Internationa Herald Tribune
As EMI Group celebrated its announcement that the record label's digital music catalogue would go on sale on Apple's iTunes online store without built-in copy restrictions, the European Commission confirmed Monday that the two companies were facing an antitrust investigation over the pricing of songs on iTunes.

**** An Experience WIth The Leopard Beta <http://dotnetaddict.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/leopard_beta.htm>
by Kevin Hoffman, The .NET Addict's Blog
Apparently there are a few traces of good customer service left.

**** Apple And EMI Ditching DRM Is Good, But It's Not Good Enough <http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/02/apple-and-emi-ditching-drm-is-good-but-its-not-good-enough/>
by Ryan Block, Engadget
Asking customers to pay 30% more for no DRM and a higher bitrate is a distraction, a parlor trick to take our attention away from the philosophical issue: EMI is still selling DRMed music.

**** The iPhone Has Ruined Me <http://www.macuser.com/iphone/the_iphone_has_ruined_me.php?lsrc=murss>
by Dan Moren, MacUser
The vendors there are clearly more interested in cramming as many bells, whistles, and feature bullet points into their products than in designing something that people can /just use/.

**** One Less Brick In The Wall <http://playlistmag.com/weblogs/ipodblog/2007/04/drm/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
by Christopher Breen, Playlist
So who wins on this one? Just about everyone.

**** DRM's Demise Just The Beginning <http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/editors/2007/04/drm/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
by Dan Moren, Macworld
I'm not going to sink to my knees and thank the record companies for finally deigning not to treat digital music consumers like second-class citizens. This is what we should have had four years ago when the iTunes Store was launched.
If you truly want to look at the /future/ of digital music sales, look no further than last week's announcement of iTunes's new "Complete My Album" feature. That's something that never would have been possible with the old model of music sales.

**** Family Message Center: New Life For Old Macs <http://www.macworld.com/2007/04/features/oldmac_message/index.php?lsrc=mwrss>
by Christpher Breen, Macworld
Say good-bye to the days of hastily scribbled notes shoved behind refrigerator magnets. You can use an outdated Mac to keep track of your family's comings and goings &mdash; it can serve as a messaging hub, an answering machine, a weather station, and the keeper of the family calendar.

**** Analyst: Apple To Hit $200 This Year <http://www.macobserver.com/stockwatch/2007/04/02.2.shtml>
by Jeff Gamet, Mac Observer
Daedalus Capital Founder, Stephen Coleman, thinks Apple's special position in the technology industry is going to carry the company's stock on an upward wave for some time to come.

**** The $300 Mac <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/04/02/the-300-mac>
by Charles Jade, Ars Technica
Via Apple TV Hacks, there is now a how-to for running OS X on the Apple TV.

**** Notes From The Apple/EMI DRM-Free iTunes Announcement <http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&newsID=17659>
by Jonny Evans, Macworld UK

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Web 2.0 Is Vulnerable To Attack <http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=484BC88B-630F-4E74-94E9-8D89DD0E6606>
by kevin Murphy, Computer Business Review
Security researchers have found what they say is an entirely new kind of web-based attack, and it only targets the Ajax applications so beloved of the "Web 2.0" movement.

**** Cold Cash From A Hot Site <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_15/b4029059.htm>
by Ronald Grover, BusinessWeek
Can MySpace pull in revenue fast enough for Rupert?

**** Topix Reinvents Itself As Citizen Journalist Site <http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-6172273.html>
by Elinor Mills, CNET News.com
Topix is reinventing itself from a software-based news aggregator site to a citizen journalist hub where anyone can submit news and photos and sign up to be a volunteer editor selecting featured stories.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Classical Music Looks Toward China With Hope <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/arts/music/03class1.html?ex=1333252800&en=b2798e6d941d42ef&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>
by Joseph Kahn and Daniel J. Wakin, New York Times
With the same energy, drive and sheer population weight that has made it an economic power, China has become a considerable force in Western classical music.

**** Public's Taste For Nonfiction Has Publishers Playing Fast And Loose With Labels <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/03/DDGIFOV5PG1.DTL>
by Oscar Villalon, San Francisco Chronicle
All this legerdemain over categorizing books implies that there's something second-rate about writing and reading fiction.

**** Anger Management <http://www.slate.com/id/2163236/fr/rss/>
by Dahlia Lithwick, Slate
Lessons from an imporable collaboration.

SingaporeSurf
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**** Private Doctors In Singapore Now Free To Set Their Own Charges <http://www.playfuls.com/news_006099_Private_Doctors_In_Singapore_Now_Free_To_Set_Their_Own_Charges.html>
by DPA
Private doctors are now free to set their own fees instead of complying with guidelines fromt he Singapore Medical Association (SMA), news reports said on Tuesday.
The SMA agreed to withdraw the guidelines during its recent annual general meeting to avoid contravening the Competition Act passed last year.

**** A Family Holiday Ruined By Illogical Security Officers <http://spawnily.livejournal.com/413020.html>
by Sandra Tan Hong Lian
Here is an obvious case of security officers trying to get away with their rudeness and aggressiveness by taking things way beyond what was necessary, in the name of following the security protocol.

**** Shifting Sands To Prod 'Safe Haven' Singapore <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37178>
by Rudy Parawisto, IPS
Sand has become the latest weapon in Indonesia's diplomatic row with neighbouring Singapore, over the latter's refusal to sign an extradition treaty that seeks to have corrupt Indonesian businessmen returned from their safe haven in the tiny island republic.

**** Ministers Get Pensions Too <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax-728.htm>
by Au Waipang, Yawning Bread

**** What Happened To Talk Of Integrated Season Pass? <http://www.straitstimes.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.c2aef3d65baca16abb31f610a06310a0/?vgnextoid=7532758920e39010VgnVCM1000000a35010aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:99283209783b1110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD>
by Lim Boon Hee, Straits Times
Whatever happened to the suggestion for an integrated season pass that would allow seamless travel on buses and trains, and save the commuter some money?