[MyAppleMenu] Aug 7, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** What It's Really Like Working Inside Apple On Its Intenret Projects: Really, Really Tough <http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/08/06/what_its_really_like_working_inside_apple_on_its_internet_projects_really_really_tough.html>
by Charles Arthur, The Guardian
Eddy Cue's real speciality is to be able to take what Steve asks for, imlement it, hit the target dates, make it work, and /keep the damn thing a secret until Steve announces it/.

**** TubeTV 1.0 <http://www.macworld.com/article/134460/2008/08/tubetv1.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Roman Loyola, Macworld

**** Softbank Adds Most Mobile Users In 4 Months, Helped By iPhone <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aPlDDqQO9cEM&refer=japan>
by Pavel Alpeyev, Bloomberg
Softbank Corp., Japan's third-largest mobile-phone company, added the most users in four months in July after starting to sell Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G in the country. The increase is its biggest since March when it introduced free calls between family members.

**** The $1000 iPhone App <http://www.kottke.org/08/08/the-1000-iphone-app>
by Jason Kottke, Kottke.org
Excluding I Am Rich would be excluding for taste... because some feel that it costs too much for what it does... Imagine if Apple chose which music they stocked in the iTunes store based on the company's taste.

**** The Opaque Side Of Apple <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/06/AR2008080603568.html?hpid=news-col-blogs>
by Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post
Don't-look-behind-the-curtains tactics don't work when customers just want to know that their purchase will work as advertised, or when would-be customers want reassurance that they're not buying into a failed experiement.

**** Mac Laptop Prices Steady As Windows Prices Fall <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10008602-37.html>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
Speculation that Apple might be slashing Mac prices in the coming weeks could get a boost from new data released by The NPD Group.

**** Personal Shopping At The Apple Store: Mac Addict Goes Undercover <http://www.windycitizen.com/blogs/tech-loop/2008/08/06/personal-shopping-at-the-apple-store-mac-addict-goes-undercover>
by Blake Schnitkey, The Windy Citizen
The beauty of a personal shopping appointment at the Apple Store was the simple pleasure of knowing that your questions, no matter how ridiculous, would be answered thoroughly.

**** MacBook Air Is Light, Yes, But It's No Lightweight <http://ngadventure.typepad.com/blog/the-adventure-life-macbook-air.html?sr=hotnews>
by Steve Casimiro, National Geographic Adventure
Of course the Air is sexy and of course the Air is imperfect&mdash;but it's far more versatile than most believe. The Air is designed to be a leading edge, attention-getting product. By that measure, it's a smashing success. The surprise is that the deeper, more fundamental qualities&mdash;computing, usability, comfort&mdash;also make it a smashing success.

**** Apple's Ability To Deactivate Malicious App Store Apps <http://www.macrumors.com/2008/08/06/apples-ability-to-deactivate-malicious-app-store-apps/>
by Arnold Kim, MacRumors.com
Apple could presumably deauthorize applications already installed on every iPhone.

**** "I Am Rich" iPhone App - A Steal At $999.99! <http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2368>
by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet.com
Update: And it's gone.

**** What's In A Name? <http://www.macworld.com/article/134880/2008/08/spotlight2504.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by John Gruber, Macworld
Apple has been making it easier for its customers to understand its Mac offerings. The trade-off, though, is that Apple's product lineups are deliberately sparse.

**** More Ways To Protect Yourself From Phishing Scams <http://www.macworld.com/article/134874/2008/08/opendnsphish.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
OpenDNS is an alternative "phone book," and it's one that comes with many features (most are optional) that you probably won't find in your ISP's DNS servers. One of those features is phishing protection, based on OpenDNS' PhishTank project.

**** OpenCL: What You Need To Know <http://www.macworld.com/article/134858/2008/08/snowleopard_opencl.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
Graphics technology is at the center of Apple's Snow Leopard efforts.

**** More Countries Due To Get iPhone 3G In August <http://www.macworld.com/article/134870/2008/08/august_iphone.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Moren, Macworld
We're now just starting to get wind of which of those countries will make the cut on August 22nd, a mere sixteen days from now.

**** PlayFirst Offers Cooking Dash Game <http://www.macworld.com/article/134871/2008/08/cookingdash.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
PlayFirst on Wednesday announced the release of Cooking Dash, a new spin-off of the eronomously popular Diner Dash series of causal games.

**** Review: PersonalBrain Pro 4.5 <http://www.macworld.com/article/134792/2008/08/personalbrain45.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Lee SHerman, Macworld
Mirroring the way a human thinks is a tough job for software, but PersonalBrain 4.5, a powerful brainstorming and knowledge management tool, falls just shy of artificial intelligence.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Flock Web Browser Eases Multitasking But Has Drawbacks <http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20080806/flock-web-browser-eases-multitasking-but-has-drawbacks/>
by Walter S. Mossberg, AllThingsD

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Unholy Saturday <http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/levine_su08.html>
by Philip Levine, Threepenny Review

**** Why The World Needs Quantum Mechanics <http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/?p=455>
by Michael Nielsen
Conventional wisdom holds that quantum mechanics is hard to learn. This is more or less correct, although often overstated. However, the /necessity/ of abandoning conventional ways of thinking about the world, and finding a radically new way - quantum mechanics - can be understood by an intelligent person willing to spend some time concentrating hard.

**** From A To Zyxt <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/books/review/Baker-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>
by Nicholson Baker, New York Times
Ammon Shea, a sometime furniture mover, gondolier and word collector, has written an oddly inspiring book about reading the whole of the Oxford English Dictionary in one go.
Shea's book offers mor ethan exotic word lists, though. It also has a plot.

**** Journalist Seeking Paycheck? Try India <http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/08/07/journalists_go_to_india/index.html>
by Arun Venugopal, Salon
As U.S. newsrooms shrivel, India's are booming. And they're hiring, not firing reporters and editors.

**** Roadside Americana <http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/chi-farmstand-6aug06,0,3909351.story?track=rss>
by Emily Nunn, Chicago Tribune
The farm stand has a place in our hearts&mdash;and, we're happy to report, on MapQuest too.

**** The Power To Say No <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121798048776515149.html?mod=rss_Books>
by Steve E. Landsburg, Wall Street Journal
If you need both an operating system and a browser to get on the internet, would you rather acquire them from a single monopolist or from two competing monopolists?

**** Struck By Lightning <http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2008.07-struck-by-lightning-jill-frayne/>
by Jill Frayne, The Walrus
It's random and electric, and we are forever drawn to its deadly charms.

SingaporeSurf
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**** Malaysia-Singapore Technical Committee Resolving Issues <http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/NewsBreak/20080807172836/Article/index_html>
by Bernama
The Malaysia-Singapore Technical Committee has begun cooperating to resolve issues arising out of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s decisions made on the two countries' overlapping territorial claims recently, including over South Ledge.

**** Others <http://blogs.channelnewsasia.com/joanne-leow/2008/08/07/others/>
by Joanne Leow, Channel NewsAsia
It's hard to find a country <like Singapore> that accepts biracial or multiracial kids with no questions asked, with hardly a second look.

**** Maintaining Law &amp; Order A Balancing Act For Home Team: Minister <http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_265412.html>
by Bertha Henson, Straits Times
Deputy prime minister and home affairs minister Wong Kan Seng acknowledged the anxieties officers now face: that rules and regulations will be tightened even further, leving little room for judgment calls. Another worry: That penalties for mistakes will be so harsh that officers focus on avoiding errors, rather than do the job of arresting and detecting.

**** National Day Or MP Day? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/08/national-day-or-mp-day/>
by Gerald Giam, The Online Citizen
PAP and its town councils immediately stop the use of public funds to promote their partisan causes. For a start, all the spotlights for the billboards should remain off at night to save electricity.

**** You May Be Facing Jail In Bhutan And Iran <http://www.waxmanmedia.com/archives/2733>
by Lionel Waxman, Flashpoint
No blogger should be exposed to worldwide jurisdiction. On the other hand, each country is at liberty to criminzlise and punish any activity which offends them.

**** Singapore's Model For Success Was Philippines <http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/aug/07/yehey/top_stories/20080807top7.html>
by Dante "Klink" Ang, The Manila Times
In 1965, the Philippines was one of the most promising countries in Asia. Today, Singapore leads the pack.

**** Of Fliers, And The Freedom Of Speech
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
I am of two minds about people distributing fliers into my face, as described here by Delphine Tan <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/269270.asp>.
It is an annoyance, no doubt about it. Especially since they almost always block traffic (read: make me reach my destination many precious seconds late).
On the other hand, do we really want a society where you have to register your name and IC number with the police, swear that you are not distributing religious or 'senstiive' materials, and stand at destinated spots or parks, before you can distribute your fliers?
Freedom of expression is important, and we should treasure whatever we have, even though it means some annoyances along the way.
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