[MyAppleMenu] Jul 23, 2007

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Copyright Conundrum: How Smart Is Your iPod? <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070723.wipod23/BNStory/PersonalTech/home>
by Grant Robertson and David George-Cosh, Globe And Mail
It's a question that's more suited to a graduate philosophy course than a courtroom. But for the past six months, Canadian lawmakers have been wrestling over a vexing problem that has big implications for music lovers and the record industry: What is an iPod?
Is it a modern day music box that captures songs, or a mindless computer that simply plays them?

**** iPhone Flaw Lets Hackers Take Over, Security Firm Says <http://news.com.com/iPhone+flaw+lets+hackers+take+over%2C+security+firm+says/2100-1002_3-6198116.html?tag=nefd.top&from=myapplemenu>
by John Schwartz, New York Times
The researchers, working for Independent Security Evaluators, a company that tests its clients' computer security by hacking it, said that they could take control of iPhones through a Wi-Fi connection or by tricking users into going to a web site that contains malicious code. THe hack, the first reported, allowed them to tap the wealth of personal information the phones contain.

**** Apple Results Eyed For iPhone Sales <http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN2227181520070722>
by Scott Hillis, Reuters
Apple Inc. is expected to show a 35 percent surge in quarterly profit this week, but the focus will be on just two days: the last 48 hours of June when its highly anticipated iPHone went on sale.
The iPhone contributed virtually none of the $637 million Apple is forecast to have earned, but investors are eager for the first official word on how many of the combination phone, web browser, media player devices were sold at launch.

**** Vista Use Grows As Mac OS X Stays Flat <http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9027558>
by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Windows Vista's share of online users has increased every month this year, while rival Mac OS X &mdash; to which Vista has often been compared &mdash; has shown little, if any, growth, a metrics company reports.
Vista's increases have come at the expense of Windows XP and Windows 2000... Windows over total has remained flat.
/Despite what the headline say, the real news is probably that nobody is growing at the expense of the other guy./

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Microsoft: Privacy Champion? <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2007/tc20070722_107100.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives>
by Aaron Ricadela, BusinessWeek
The tech giant and others are getting serious about giving web surfers more control over how information from their online behavior is used.

**** Digg Labs' Fascinating, Confusing Tools <http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19079/>
by John Borland, MIT Technology Review
Data visualization is changing behavior on the popular bookmarking site.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** The World Without Us <http://www.salon.com/books/review/2007/07/23/weisman/>
by Gary Kamiya, Salon
What would the earth look like if humans suddenly disappeared? An audacious new book imagines a people-free planet, and restores our sense of awe.

SingaporeSurf
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**** IDR Ministerial Committee Forms 4 Workgroups At First Meeting <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/289863/1/.html>
by S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia
A joint statement issued by the two countries says the workgroups will look into areas like facilitating immigration clearance, enhancing transport links, tourism cooperation, and environmental collaboration.

**** How To Make Enemies And Alienate People... In Malaysia <http://knifetricks.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-make-enemies-and-alienate-people.html>
by Knife Tricks
/Ousted!/ is the gripping story of Lee Kuan Yew's greatest defeat. Lee would remain prime minister of Singapore for the next 25 years and see his elder son ultimately succeed him. Today, as the "minister mentor," Lee earns a salary of about US$1.8 million &mdash; that's not a typo &mdash; to advise his son and generally do what he wants.
Journalists still call. Heads of government still send gifts. It's a good gig for a semi-retired politican.
But he once had a chance to run a real country, and he failed.

**** Open Skies And The MAS-AirAsia Discord <http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/23/business/18371960&sec=business>
by B.K. Sidhu, The Star
"If Malaysia wants to become a low-cost carrier (LCC) hub, it needs to be connected to at least all the major cities in Asean."

**** MOH To Legalise Collection Of Patient Data <http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_141787.html>
by Melissa Kok, Straits Times
The Health ministry (MOH) is proposing a new bill to make it compulsory for healthcare institutions to provide patient information for its national database of non-communicable diseases, like cancer and heart disease.
If the bill is passed, MOH wil be able to collect relevant medical information for statistical analysis and health policy research, to aid formulate public health policies on disease prevention and control.

**** Taxis Should Find Ways To Bridge Supply-Demand Gap: Labour Chief <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/289810/1/.html>
by Today
Labour chief Lim Swee Say called on taxi companies on Sunday to differentiate their services from other forms of public transport such as the MRT or buses.
/The problem is that there are no incentives for taxi companies to differentiate. After all, the taxi companies are making good profits on the existing models. The tight regulations by the Singapore government, such as the heavy-handed minimum service standard requirements, means that innovation are not encouraged, and every taxi companies ended up looking exactly the same./

**** Maids  Face Legal Problems In Singapore <http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20070723.F15&irec=13>
by Rahayu, Solidaritas Migran Scalabrini, Jakarta, Jakarta Post
We value the opportunity to earn a living in Singapore for our families and we believe that there is justice in the system.
However, it is really very difficult for domestic workers without the means and resources to fight false accusations.

**** The Singapore Air Rights Debate <http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/23/business/18372192&sec=business>
by B.K. Sidhu, The Star
AirAsia Bhd boss Datuk Tony Fernandes believes Malayisa has more to gain than Singapore if the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore air sector is open to competition.
"We cannot continue to isolate ourselves. As it is, Malaysia is already losing out by not opening up the route with travellers bypassing Kuala Lumpur to go to Singapore or Bangkok."

**** Sense Made Of The Dollars In Ez-Link Card <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/201641.asp>
by Kathryn Lau, TransitLink, Today
See Also:
Explain Why It Costs So Much Just To Get A New Ez-Link Card <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_140404.html>, by Shen Shifa, Straits Times.
/Of course, the question that we should have an answer is not in this conversation: why are expensive technologies being used, rather than cheaper alternatives? If the more expensive technologies is going to bring savings, why aren't these savings reflected in the selling price?/

**** $2,500 To Rent A 3-Room Flat? <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax-762.htm>
by Au Waipang, Yawning Bread
Reporting new records reached in rental rates may make striking headlines, but it in turn fuels more greed among property owners and much despair among tenants. Yet records are always anomalies. An equal effort should be made to report averages to better reflect the situation.
/One common statistical technique that I am aware of is to always strike off the highest and lowest score, which is another way of saying that records are always anomalies./

**** Leave Kids Something To Remember <http://tnp.sg/columnists/story/0,4136,136653,00.html?>
by Leong Ching, New Paper
We can't feel part of the same country if it is like a dune of shifting sand, change from one day to the next, with no sense of permanence, no sense of history.