[MyAppleMenu] Aug 26, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** China Lifts iTunes Block But For Tibet Album <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/25/BU1M12I285.DTL>
by Verne Kopytoff, San Francisco Chronicle
Apple Inc.'s iTunes online music store is back up and running again in China after it was apparently blocked last week by local authorities. However, the web page for downloading a pro-Tibet album, which is suspected of prompting the crackdown, remains unavailable on the service.
/Well, iTunes is not a web site, so I don't really understand what the author means when he wrote that the "web page" for downloading the pro-Tibet album is still blocked./

**** Steve Jobs Still Parking In Handicapped Spaces - The Pictures <http://cultofmac.com/steve-jobs-still-parking-in-handicapped-spaces-the-pictures/2613>
by Leander Kahney, Cult Of Mac
Steve Jobs is still parking in handicapped spaces at Apple, according to a new snap posted to Flickr.

**** Adium 1.3 Is Better, Faster, Stronger, But Not Harder <http://www.macuser.com/software/adium_13_is_better_faster_stro.php?lsrc=murss>
by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen, MacUser
Version 1.3 of the multi-protocol chat client introduces an all-new Contact Inspector, adds contact search, better MSN support, and Facebook chat support for the first time.

**** OmniFocus For Mac And iPhone - A Perfect Task Management Solution <http://theappleblog.com/2008/08/25/omnifocus-for-mac-and-iphone-perfect-task-management-solution/>
by Brandon Eley, The Apple Blog

**** A Tale Of Two Tetrises <http://www.macworld.com/article/135200/2008/08/iphone_tetris.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jason Snell, Macworld
When it comes to software, sometimes simplicity rules, less is more, and a free clone fashioned by a college student can teach a few things to a $10 program generated by a company that generated four billion dollars in revenue in its most recent fiscal year.

**** MathMagic 5.8 Adds QuarkXPress 8 Support <http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/08/25/mathmagic.58.ships/>
by MacNN
The update allows the Pro edition of the software to create and edit equations within the QuarkXPress 8 graphics suite.

**** Survey Says Slow iPhone 3G Speeds May Be Due To Carriers <http://www.macworld.com/article/135188/2008/08/wired_iphone3g.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Moren, Macworld

**** TickerMenu 1.0 Offers Stock Tracking In Menu Bar <http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/08/25/tickermenu.10.ships/>
by MacNN
Users can choose which stocks to track by entering a stock's symbol, and the display is color-coded to instantly show a gain (green) or decline (red) in stock value.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Moving Security To The Cloud <http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/21303/?a=f>
by Kate Greene, MIT Technology Review
Combining scanning approaches could keep PCs safe from viruses.

**** Amazon May Enter College Textbook Market With New Kindle <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080825-amazon-may-enter-college-textbook-market-with-new-kindle.html>
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
If true, it will have to compete with a number of other digital textbook options, but has the potential to win students' affections by changing the textbook market for the better.

**** Darling, It's Over: Has Technology Made It Impossible To Have An Affair? <http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/features/darling-its-over-has-technology-made-it-impossible-to-have-an-affair-908376.html>
by Nick Harding, The Independent
Mobile phones, BlackBerrys, emails, social networking... Never before has it been so easy to cheat on a partner. But has technology made it simply too difficult for philanderers to cover their tracks?

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** 'Burn Notice.' The Novel <http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-ca-tie-ins24-2008aug24,0,1463672.story?track=rss>
by Tod Goldberg, Los Angeles Times
Does a real writer accept a gig doing books spun off from films or TV shows? A real writer found the answer to his own question.

SingaporeSurf
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**** HDB Lease Buyback Scheme Could Be Implemented In January 2009 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/371792/1/.html>
by Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia
The Lease Buyback Scheme to help low-income households monetise their flats for their retirement needs could be implemented as early as January next year.

**** Can A Person Or A Government 'Not Corrupt' In Law Be 'Corrupted' In Fact? <http://feedmetothefish.blogspot.com/2008/08/can-person-or-government-not-corrupted.html>
by Feed Me To The Fish

**** Temasek's Profit Rises On Asset Sales As Shares Drop <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aryWrzrZ7T_M&refer=asia>
by Jean Chua, Bloomberg
Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore's $130 billion sovereign wealth fund, said full-year profit doubled as sales of energy and Chinese banking assets countered slowing returns from stock market investments. Net income rose to a record S$18.2 billion in the year ended March 31, up from S$9.1 billion a year earlier, Temasek said in its annual report released today. The company sold Tuas Power for S$4.24 billion in March.

**** On Trial: New Ez-link Card <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_272050.html>
by Christopher Tan, Straits Times
Besides train and bus fares, the new ez-link card can be used to pay for electronic road-pricing (ERP), carparks, cabs as well as a meal or merchandise.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said there is little to prevent a card issuer from giving the <new> card free of charge.

**** Single Intake For Junior Colleges And Millennia Institute From 2009 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/371730/1/.html>
by Lee Siew Hoon, Channel NewsAsia

>From next year, all junior colleges and the Millennia Institute will start the school term for Year 1 students with a single intake in end January or early February. To facilitate the single-intake, the 'O' level results, which are currently released late January, will be released early January.


**** Only Fruitcakes Demonstrate <http://catscarpediem.blogspot.com/2008/08/only-fruitcakes-demonstrate.html>
by Carpe Diem
Demonstrations are in essence anti-establishment activities. To then obediently follow the rules that are aimed at controlling scope and nature of such activities revolts against every notion of a demonstration.

**** Singapore Consumer Price Index For Households In Different Income Groups, January - June 2008 <http://app.sprinter.gov.sg/data/pr/20080825995.pdf>
by Department Of Statistics, Singapore Government
During the first half of 2008, the inflation rate for households in the lowest 20% income group was 7.4 per cent while the CPIs for the middle 60% and highest 20% income groups rose by 6.9 per cent each.
(Note: Link goes to a PDF document.)

**** Minister Wants Full Review <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_272024.html>
by Jeanette Wang, Straits Times
Sports minister Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday promised a full review of the episode that has left the fate of two Singapore table tennis officials in the balance.

**** Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund Is Outpacing The Country ETF <http://seekingalpha.com/article/92513-singapore-sovereign-wealth-fund-is-outpacing-the-country-etf>
by Carl T. Delfeld, Seeking Alpha
The lesson is that it pays to play as a big boy with lots of cash and negotiating leverage.

**** Handouts Will Not Be Pegged To CPI <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/272917.asp>
by Neo Chai Chin, Today
Minister of state for community development, youth and sports YuFoo Yee Shoon said the ministry already keeps a close eye on Public Assistance (PA) rates. "We will monitor the cost of living, we will monitor every item... We should also bear in mind that we should not overdo it."
/This from the person whose salary is automatically pegged to the richest people in Singapore./

**** Lost Neighbourliness <http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_271901.html>
by Lim Wei Chean, Straits Times
Neighbourliness has evaported at Laguna Park, the East Coast condominium now split by the prospects of a collective sale.

**** First Time Live For N-Day Rally Speech <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_271887.html>
by Ananda Perera, Straits Times
After the broadcast I rushed back to meet Mr Lee in the make-up room. He asked if the broadcast went live without any technical hitches. I said it went flawlessly. He said good and I lived to tell the tale!
/I am curious on what was originally scheduled for channels 5, and 8, and what was the 'competition' on channels 3 and 10../

**** Poor Worry About Food; Others About Transport <http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime%2BNews/Story/STIStory_271851.html>
by Bryan Lee, Straits Times
Inflation hit low-income families hardest in the first half of the year although richer households were barely better off in the face of a global onslaught of surging prices.
/Barely better off? I don't think so. Forced to skip luncheon meat for lunch is a totally different deal between low income and higher income folks./

**** Can Or Not? <http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,174409,00.html?>
by Low Ching Ling, New Paper
Is it time to say goodbye to some other sacred cows?

**** Kids And Arts Central To Be Relaunched As "Okto" <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/371587/1/.html>
by Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia
The opportunity came in March when Parliament decided to expand Vasantham Central into a standalone Tamil-language channel.
/Hopefully, it will not have a big and ugly bug on the top right of the screen. (And I have no idea how to pronounce okto. Okay-Too?)/

**** The First Fruits Of Civil Disobedience <http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2008/yax-927.htm>
by Au Waipang, Yawning Bread
On all these fronts, the government was faced with an embarrassing gap between what the law said and what was do-able without losing moral force. And that was the whole point of civil disobedience: to create a gap that can only be closed by the government making an accommodation.

**** Of Concessions And Tokenism, Worrying Trends In Policy Making <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/08/of-concessions-and-tokenism-worrying-trends-in-policy-making/>
by John Ang, The Online Citizen
If we take this round of liberalisation as a victory and grow comfortable walking hand in hand with the government down the path of being liberal in spirit but not in our laws, we could end up losing more freedom than we've actually gained.

**** Liberalization Of Speaker's Corner: Let's See Whether The Authorities Truly Use A "Light Touch" <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=522>
by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net
Let's see whether the authorities will be truly unbiased and transparent about the whole process of applications, approvals or rejections, and their conduct towards peaceful demonstrators at Speaker's Corner.

**** Flip Flop By The Police: Are Burmese Activists In Singapore Keeping Within The Law Or Not? <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=513>
by Sgpolitics.net