[MyAppleMenu] Dec 17, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** iPhone 3G Successfully Unlocked By Hackers <http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=24008>
by Dan Moren, Macworld
Five months after the release of the iPhone 3G last July, a team of hackers has finally figured out a way to alter the device's software so that it can be unlocked for use on networks other than AT&amp;T's in the US for example.

**** Control Freak Steve Jobs's Chaotic Macworld No-Show News <http://valleywag.com/5111912/control-freak-steve-jobss-chaotic-macworld-no+show-news>
by Owen Thomas, ValleyWag
I think there must have been a ferocious debate within Apple about whether he should go on with his keynote, which was brought to a head by the /BusinessWeek/ story. It's the opposite of how Jobs likes to operate. And it's the clearest sign that something is wrong with Jobs.

**** Why The Mac Mini Is The Best Mac On The Market <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10124019-17.html>
by Don Reisinger, CNET News.com
Besides pricing, the Mac Mini offers the best value of any Mac on the market.

**** Battery Life Still Bane Of Apple iPhone User Experience <http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/12/battery_life_st.html>
by Alexander Wolfe, InformationWeek

**** Mac OS X 10.5.6 Users Report Crashes, Blue Screens <http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212500729>
by Paul McDougall, InformationWeek
Apple's latest update to its Leopard operating system, OS X 10.5.6, appears to be creating more problems than it's fixing on users' Macs.

**** AT&amp;T Starts Selling Refurbished iPhones <http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/iphone/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212500815&subSection=Macintosh+Platform>
by Antone Gonsalves, InformationWeek

**** Without Macworld, How Will Apple Create The Buzz? <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10124956-37.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
It may seem obvious to say this, but Apple's performance in the future will mostly rely on the quality of its products rather than its marketing vehicle of choice.

**** Why Is Steve Jobs Skipping Macworld? <http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1866956,00.html?xid=rss-business>
by Josh Quittner, Time
Why wait until the last minute and raise the obvious questions about Jobs's health?

**** Apple At Expo: What Went Wrong? <http://www.macworld.com/article/137596/2008/12/apple_kills_expo_reax.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jason Snell, Macworld
I don't want Macworld San Francisco 2010 to be like Macworld Boston 2005. But that's still the most likely scenario, and it's a crying shame. I may understand Apple's motivation, but I can't agree with it. Macworld Expo and its community of users and vendors deserve better.

**** The End Of An Era For Macworld Expo <http://www.macworld.com/article/137595/2008/12/expochanges.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
For the developers, and for myself and my fellow mebers of the Mac community, I really hope that Macworld Expo finds a way to survive and thrive in the post-Apple era. Unfortunately, it seems to me that Macworld Expo is now like a mall that's lost its large anchor tenant. While the mall may continue to operate for some period of time, the number of shoppers will decline, smaller retailers will fold up shop, and&mdash;eventually&mdash;the mall will close with a whimper, leaving people only with memories of what used to be.

**** Politics Not Pancreas The Reason For Jobs' Macworld Exit <http://www.cnbc.com/id/28265938>
by Jim Goldman, CNBC
Steve Jobs is fine. It's Macworld the expo that's on its last legs.

**** Netbook From Apple Next Month? Don't Bet On It! <http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3195>
by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet.com
This whole brouhaha is based on little more than speculation, and to me it seems highly unlikely.
See Also: Apple 'Netbooks', Eh? <http://daringfireball.net/2008/12/apple_netbooks_eh>, by John Gruber, Daring Fireball.

**** Mac Sales Down? Hold On Just A Minute! <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/12/mac_sales_down.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_byteoftheapple>
by Arik Hesseldahl, BusinessWeek
By nearly any measure November of 2008 is difficult to compare to November of 2007.

**** Adobe Lightroom 2.2 Now Available <http://www.macworld.co.uk/procreative/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=24003>
by Nick Spence, Macworld UK
Adobe Lightroom 2.2 includes additional camera raw support for a range of camera makes and models and numerous bug fixes.

**** iCash 5.0 Offers Personal Finance Tools <http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/12/16/maxprog.updates.icash.50/>
by MacNN

**** Does Apple Need To Learn How To Make A $500 Computer That's Not A Piece Of Junk? <http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3192>
by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet.com
The problem is most of these people would like a cheap Mac because they are disillusioned with their cheap PCs. I don't think that cheap Macs are the answer.

**** NVIDIA: MacBook Pro GPU Material Not Faulty <http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/12/16/nvidia.explains.lead.bumps/>
by Electronista

**** Apple Announces Its Last Year At Macworld Expo, No Jobs Keynote <http://www.macworld.com/article/137587/2008/12/macworldexpo.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Apple on Tuesday announced that Macworld Conference &amp; Expo 2009 will be the company's last. The company also said Steve Jobs will not deliver his traditional keynote at the event htis year.
In his place, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, will deliver the keynote on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at the Moscone West hall.
/The shifting of Apple's product releases timetable is almost completed, a decade later./
See Also: IDG: Macworld Expo Still On For 2010, Even Without Apple <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/12/16/idg-macworld-expo-still-on-for-2010-even-without-apple>, by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica.

**** AOL Releases AIM 1.0 For OS X <http://www.macworld.com/article/137578/2008/12/aimfinal.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Moren, Macworld

**** Pair Of Mac Fandom Films To Be Shown At Macworld Expo <http://www.macworld.com/article/137575/2008/12/mac_films.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Derik DeLong and Cyrus Farivar, Macworld

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Avoiding The Uncanny Valley Of User Interface <http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000869.html>
by Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Sewage Has Its Say <http://www.slate.com/id/2200535/?from=rss>
by Steven Cramer, Slate

**** Twenty Years On: Internalising The Fatwa <http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6019>
by Kenan Malik, Spiked
Twenty years later, the Rushdie Affair seems equally like a conflict from a different age - but for the opposite reason. Not only have the issues that it raised - the nature of Islam, and its relationship to the West; the meaning of multiculturalism; the boundaries of tolerance in a liberal society; the limits of free speech in a plural world - become some of the defining problems of the age. But the politics of the pre-Rushdie age are now what seems anomalous.

SingaporeSurf
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**** 'Old Faithful' To Go In Three Months <http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/2430067/Article/index_html>
by New Straits Times

**** Singapore Reports Fall In Shipping Traffic <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2275d384-cb2e-11dd-ba02-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1>
by John Burton, Financial Times
Singapore, the world's biggest container port, suffered last month its first fall in throughput traffic since 2001 due to a slowdown in global exorts that has affected the Asian shipping industry.

**** Traffic Jams, Confusion At Newly Opened Malaysian Checkpoint <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/396766/1/.html>
by Cheryl Lim Mei Ling, Channel NewsAsia
Motorists at the checkpoint were greeted with long queues, traffic confusion and teething problems.
See Also:
Massive Traffic Congestion At CIQ <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/12/16/nation/20081216200935&sec=nation>, by The Star. The congestion involved traffic into Johor that snaked all the way to Woodlands in Singapore during peak hours due to motorists being caught off guard that the toll collectin system at the complex was cashless.

**** North East CDC Sees 25% Spike In Number Of Walk-Ins Looking For Jobs <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/396741/1/.html>
by Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia
Unlike the past, there is a significant number of professionals, managers and executives who are also seeking help.