[MyAppleMenu] Aug 29, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** The Mac At 25: Andy Hertzfeld Looks Back <http://news.oreilly.com/2008/08/the-mac-at-25-andy-hertzfeld-l.html>
by James Turner, O'Reilly News
Andy Hertzfeld is one of the original designers of the Macintosh and author of the book, /Revolution in the Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made/, which chronicles the efforts to create the Mac.

**** Apple Updates Final Cut Express, Releases ProRes QuickTime Decoder <http://www.macworld.com/article/135276/2008/08/fceupdate.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
According to the notes provided by Apple, Final Cut Express 4.0.1 addresses compatibility issues with AVCHD camcorders, improves stability when using third-party FxPlug plug-ins, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

**** Bare Bones Releases BBEdit 9.0 <http://www.macworld.com/article/135267/2008/08/bbedit.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple and Jason Snell, Macworld
Bare Bones Software on Thursday released BBEdit 9, a major update to the venerable text editor. This new version adds several significant features, including a rewritten project manager, improvements to its search and document-comparison features, and a new text-completion interface.
See Also: BBEdit 9.0 Adds Something For Everyone <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9749>, by Adam C. Engst, TidBITS.

**** Permanently Delete Mail Messages <http://www.macworld.com/article/135270/2008/08/maildelete.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld

**** BeFit Helps Track Nutrition Patterns <http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/08/28/befit.released/>
by MacNN
A new application for tracking nutritional intake has been released for the Mac, BeFit.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Does Silicon Valley Face An Innovation Crisis? <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/does-silicon-valley-face-an-innovation-crisis/>
by Claire Cain Miller, New York Times

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** The Expatriate <http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080814/REVIEW/559194546/1008>
by Michael Donohue, The National
Around the time of the Chinese Revolution in 1949, a small crowd of foreign sympathisers came to help build the Maoist dream. Sixty years later, one of them is still there.

**** Rumors About Me <http://www.all-story.com/issues.cgi?action=show_story&story_id=386>
by Yasutaka Tsutsui, translated by Andrew Driver, Zoetrope

SingaporeSurf
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**** 3 Ways To Tackle Section 33 <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_273233.html>
by Jeremy Au Yong, Straits Times
The current wide-ranging ban on party political films stifles expression. It also stands in the way of works that could contribute to well-informed, rational and insightful debate on issues. That is the iew of the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS), which says the outright ban must go.

**** MCYS Says Table Tennis Saga Is Over <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/372602/1/.html>
by Valarie Tan and Patwant Singh, Channel NewsAsia
In a special media conference on Friday evening, the Ministry for Community Development, Youtha nd Spots announced that team manager Antony Lee will continue for another three months, to finish up his Olympics reports. He will then move to the Singapore National Olympic Council in November.
President of the Singapore Table Tennis Association, Lee Bee Wah, apologised for causing grievances and stress.

**** Ok Online, Not Ok Offline <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_273227.html>
by Jeremy Au Yong, Straits Times
While rle changes may eventually allow Singaporeans to put political films online, that should not translate into leeway for such films to be screened in public without a permit. Aims deputy chairman Tan Cheng Han on Friday exlained why a distinction should still be made between what is permissible online and offline.

**** National Solidarity Party Says Government Can Do More For Singaporeans <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/372571/1/.html>
by Lee Siew Hoon, Channel NewsAsia
The National Solidarity Party (NSP) said the government could do more to liberalise the political landscape by expanding the platform for greater public participation in politics and parliamentary elections.

**** Council Suggests Distribution Of Political Films And Lifting Ban On Websites <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/372554/1/.html>
by May Wong, Channel NewsAsia
The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society has suggested that the making and distribution of political films be allowed and also to lift the ban on 100 websites in Singapore.

**** ASEAN Again Seeks Funds For Eight-Nation Rail Link <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/372510/1/.html>
by AFP
The ASEAN blog will try again to spark investor interest in a much-delayed railway link from Singapore to the Chinese city of Kunming, officials said Friday.

**** Advisory Council Proposes Further Liberalisations Of The Internet <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/08/advisory-council-proposes-further-liberalisations-of-the-internet/>
by Gerald Giam, The Online Citizen
Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) sought to walk the middle ground by providing alternatives to an outright repeal of section 33 of the Films Act, which prohibits party policial films. These included narrowing the scope of the law to ban only films which make "scurrilous and false allegations that undermine respect for the government", appointing an "independent advisory panel" to decide on political films, or a classification system for political films.
AIMS also pushed for internet election advertising regulations to permit videos or recordings of election rallies and the use of blogs and social networking tools during the election period. However one of its recommendations to allow party political films, but restirct their release only during a "blackout period" during an election campaign. This is likely to invite the most debate.
See Also:
Engaging New Media, Challenging Old Assumptions <http://www.aims.org.sg/library/docs/AIMS%20consultation%20paper%20-%20Engaging%20New%20Media.pdf>, a consultation paper by the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS). (Note: PDF document.)

**** Limit Protection For Content Hosts <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_273131.html>
by Chua Hian Hou, Straits Times
Give limited protection to those running blogs, forums and other publicly editable content sites from defamation lawsuits to help free and responsible speech flourish online. This is the same protection internet service prodiers already get.
Such protection, said the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (Aims), will at one stroke solve two problems: unmeritorious lawsuits against content hosts who are not responsible for the defamation to begin with, and overzealous censorship by content hosts worried about such prosecution.
/Can we also extend this to the 'real' world, so that printers will also not get sued?/

**** By-Election Denial A Sad Case Of Irony <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/08/by-election-denial-a-sad-case-of-irony/>
by Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen
When the people of Jurong GRC, and the people of Bukit Batok in particular, feel they are not being adequately represented and wants a by-election, is it right for the government to dismiss their call?

**** Government Doesn't Get It? Don't Be So Fast To Judge
by Heng-Cheong Leong, MyAppleMenu
As a software developer, I've learnt that whenever there is a bug, always assume it's my fault, and start debugging there. If one starts by assuming the fault lies in the operating system or the compiler, one will almost always lose a lot of time and effort chasing down the wrong path.
Similarly, in a debate, whenever you start by assuming that it is the other party that just "doesn't get it", then you're bascially starting to dig a hole to bury yourself. All your arguments, most likely, are simplying attacks on strawmen, and you are, most likely, totally missing out on the other points of views. In other words, your words will simply indicate that it is /you/, instead, that just doesn't get it.
We see this self-destructing behavior in a lot of pre-internet-crash internet companies, who blamed everyone but themselves of just "didn't get it."
Today, I see this self-destructing behavior in this article <http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2008/08/new-media-this.html>, accusing the Singapore government of just "doesn't get it." But read carefully, and you'll discover that it is the anonymous writer who simply didn't get it.
<p class="permlink">Permanent Link to This Post <http://www.myapplemenu.com/singapore/2008/08/29/id0008/>

**** 'No Whale Sharks' <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_272924.html>
by Ang Yiying, Straits Times
Nature and animal welfare groups in Singapore have banded together againt to oppose the move by the integrated resort on Sentosa to bring in whale sharks for its oceanarium.

**** What People Of Bukit Batok Say <http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,174746,00.html?>
by Arul John, New Paper
The majority of parlimentarians voted one way, and heartlanders the other.