[MyAppleMenu] May 15, 2008

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Intel Disclaims ZDNet Report Over Larger iPhone Or Internet Tablet <http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/05/15/intel_disclaims_zdnet_report_over_larger_iphone_or_internet_tablet.html>
by Jack Schofield, Guardian
Rumours that Apple is about to launch an ultramobile tablet have not been confirmed by Intel.

**** Microsoft To Deliver Mac Office File Converters In June <http://www.macworld.co.uk/macsoftware/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=21338>
by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Microsoft will deliver its delay-plauged Open XML file converters for Office 2004 for Mac next month, the company reaffirmed Tuesday.

**** 12 Effective Strategies Apple Uses To Create Loyal Customers <http://www.insidecrm.com/features/strategies-apple-loyal-customers/>
by Inside CRM
Complete solutions, familiar formats and "the cool factor" keep customers coming back.

**** How Apple Is Changing DRM <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/may/15/drm.apple>
by Tim Anderson, The Guardian
DRM might not stop pirates, but it does rivals. And in business, the later can be a greater threat than the former.

**** Can Apple Advertise The Mac Like The iPhone? No. <http://thesmallwave.com/2008/05/13/can_apple_advertise-the-mac-like-the-iphone-no/>
by The Small Wave
There's really nothing Apple could show that Microsoft (if they desired) couldn't easily conter with an ad of their own.

**** iPhone Shortage, Deliberately Designed <http://www.9to5mac.com/iphone_supply_magic_trick>
by Andy Space, 9 To 5 Mac
Apple is stimulating demand for the new device when it ships by making it hard to get hold of the current edition.

**** Press Gets Sneak Peek At Apple Store <http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2008/05/press_gets_snea.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2>
by Hiawatha Bray, Boston Globe
Time and again, Apple serves up features like touch-screen controls that seem unnecessary, irrelevant &mdash; until you try them. Apple vice president Ron Johnson says the new store's "green roof" is that kind of innovation. A rectangle of lush grass surrounds the skylight. This lucky reporter was taken up to see it; store customers never will, unless they look down at it from a room in one of the nearby hotels.

**** O2 Hints At 3G iPhone Launch Date <http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/may/14/telecoms.apple>
by Richard Wray, The Guardian
The 3G version of the iPhone will be unveiled "in the coming weeks", the boss of Apple's exclusive mobile phone partner in the UK and Ireland hinted today.

**** Intel Germany Executive Reportedly Confirms Atom-Based iPhone <http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9944266-37.html>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
In what might be a high-profile case of career suicide, an Intel Germany executive has reportedly confirmed that Apple plans to use Intel's Atom processor in a future iPhone.

**** The Apple Tease <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/05/the_apple_tease.html>
by Maggie Shiels, BBC
Apple media figures are stonewalling on whether or not Mr Jobs will actually be taking the wraps off a new 3G smartphone at the WWDC event.

**** Is Apple Eating Into Vista? <http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2008/05/is_apple_eating.html>
by Zack Urlocker, InfoWorld

**** Another Get A Mac Ad Surfaces <http://www.macuser.com/advertising/another_get_a_mac_ad_surfaces.php?lsrc=murss>
by Aayush Arya, MacUser
This one, titled "Sad Song", has John Hodgman donning a hat, carryng a guitar, and singing "Vista Blues" in tandem with a dog.

**** Apple Shows Off New Flagship Boston Store <http://www.macworld.com/article/133476/2008/05/boston_applestore.html>
by Dan Moren, Macworld
Apple has big plans for its latest retail store and its first in downtown Boston&mdash;literally. The new brick-and-mortar outlet, opening Thursday on Boston's tony Boylston Street, will be the largest Apple Store in the United States with three floors of retail space.
/After so many years and so many stores, new stores still carry an air of excitement./

**** Report: Time Capsule Sales Strong, Not Hurting AirPort <http://www.macworld.com/article/133473/2008/05/timecapsule.html>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
All indications are that Time Capsule has a bright future.
/When will Apple have one single set-top box to do it all? Apple TV for video, Time Capsule for networking and backup, and iPod dock for charging - is it time to merge them all up into one single device?/

**** From The Lab: Comparing New iMacs To Older Models <http://www.macworld.com/article/133467/2008/05/imaccomparison.html>
by James Galbraith, Macworld
Real performance progress has been made at each iteration of the iMac. So when does an upgrade make sense? That is entirely based on who you are and what you use your Mac for.

**** Apple's Developer Conference Sold Out <http://www.macworld.com/article/133468/2008/05/wwdcsoldout.html>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Apple confirmed on Wedneday that its Worldwide Developer Conference, being held June 9-13 in San Francisco, has sold out for the first time in the history of the annual event.
/This is indeed good news for both the iPhone and Mac platform. Existing Mac developers: watch out for the incoming competition./

**** GhostReader Assistive Software Adds New Voices <http://www.macworld.com/article/133465/2008/05/ghostreader.html>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
GhostReader converts text to speech and works in PDF, Word and other documents, and can speak any selected text in any application.

**** BurnAgain FS Enables Multisession Disc Burning <http://www.macworld.com/article/133462/2008/05/burnagainfs.html>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** CBS Buying CNET For $1.8 Billion <http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/5/cbs_buying_cnet_for_1_8_billion>
by Peter Kafka, Silicon Alley Insider
CBS will pay $11.50 a share for CNET. The all-cash deal represents a premium of 44% over above the $7.95 CNET closed at yesterday.

**** The Microsoft Effect: An Outfit Some Love To Hate <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080514.wgtmicrosoft15/BNStory/Technology/home>
by Matt Hartley, Globe And Mail
Just because you're arguably the most influential technology company on the planet doesn't mean everyone's going to add you to their friends list.

**** NBC-Vista Copy-Protection Snafu Reminds Us Why DRM Stinks <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080514-nbc-vista-copy-protection-snafu-reminds-us-why-drm-stinks.html>
by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica
Handfuls of Windows Vista Media Center users found themselves blocked from making recordings of their favorite TV shows this week when a broadcast flag triggered the software's built-in copy protection measures.

**** 'Grand Theft Auto' Helps U.S. Xbox Sales Top 10 Million <http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207800200>
by Antone Gonsalves, InformationWeek

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Forget Armageddon - We Need To Imagine Now <http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/05/forget_armageddon_we_need_to_i.html>
by James Meek, Guardian
To counter the dangerous fantasies of Bush, Blair and Bin Laden, we must learn to imagein the present in all its complexity.

**** Because No Man Should Feel The Agony Of This FIlm <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-kass-14-may14,0,3973697,full.column>
by John Kass, Chicago Tribune
It is the never-ending question to the never-ending story, why men would rather chop their toes off with a rusty hoe than walk across the street to see "Sex and the City."

**** A 30,000-Volume Window On The World <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/garden/15library.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin>
by Alberto Manguel, New York Times
For the last seven years, I've lived in an old stone presbytery in France, south of the Loire Valley, in a village of fewer than 10 houses. I chose the place because next to the 15th-century house itself was a barn, partly torn down centuries ago, alrge enough to accommodate my library of some 30,000 books, assembled over six itinerant decades. I knew that once the book found their place, I would find mine.

**** 'A Freewheelin' Life' By Suze Rotolo <http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-et-book15-2008may15,0,6529457.story?track=rss>
by Kristina Lindgren, Los Angeles Times
This memoir is more &mdash; and in some way less &mdash;- than a full accounting of life with the man she calls "the mover and shaper of the cutlure of that era." It is a vivid insider's portrait of Greenwich Village, ground zero at the cusp of a new era, a place "people like me went &mdash; people who knew in their souls that they didn't belong where they came from."

**** It's All In My Head <http://www.slate.com/id/2191312/?from=rss>
by Jessica Winter, Slate
Did Truman Capote and Ralph Ellison have writer's block&mdash;or were they just chronic procrastinators?

SingaporeSurf
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**** Failed Asia Campus Cost $47M <http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/failed-asia-campus-cost-47m/2008/05/14/1210444530198.html>
by Harriet Alexander and Brian Robins, Sydney Morning Herald
The University of NSW lost $47.6 million through the closure of its Singapore campus, the first official figures to disclose the extent of the financial fallout over the controversial enterprise show.
The Singapore government had contributed nearly $26 million in loans and grants towards its establishment, resulting in an ugly dispute over liability of costs when the university pulled out.
An audit raised concerns about a possible conflict of interest when the campus was terminated. THe university's Asia president, Greg Whittred, was also a member of Singapore's Economic Development Board, the main creditor when the campus collapsed.

**** China Eastern Says Singapore Air Deal Very Likely <http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSSHA29390120080515>
by Hua Zhongwei and Fang Yan, Reuters
China Eastern Airlines is still in talks to sell a stake to Singapore Airlines, and it is very likely the two carriers will complete a deal, China Eastern chairman Li Fenghua said on Thursday.

**** Full-Day Bus Lanes Extended To 11 CBD Locations From June 2 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/347916/1/.html>
by Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia
Driving in the Central Business District will be a different experience from June 2. That's when full-day bus lanes will be extended to 11 new locations. The extension is in addition to such lanes already in operation along six stretches of roads, like Orchard Road and Eu Tong Sen Street.
See Also: LTA Extends Bus Lane Scheme To Improve Travel Experience For Bus Commuters <http://app.lta.gov.sg/corp_press_content.asp?start=1929>, by Land Transport Authority, Singapore Government.

**** A Psychological Perspective <http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/?p=764>
by Anthony Yeo, theonlinecitizen

**** Pulau Batu Puteh: Past, Present And Future <http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Columns/2240632/Article/index_html>
by Rais Yatim, New Straits Times
In the end, it is what Malaysia and Singapore do after May 23 that will decide whether we canbring closure to a bilateral issue that has besieged us for more than three decades. Whatever the final outcome, Malaysia and Singapore will remain steadfast as friends and neighbours bound by understanding and harmony.

**** Singapore's GIC Says Subprime Crisis Hurting Asia <http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSSIN14062820080515>
by Daryl Loo and Kevin Lim, Reuters
The real estate arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) said on Thursday that the credit crunch arising from the U.S. subprime crisis is being felt in Asian property markets.

**** Eight Appeals And MP's Help Later, Still No Go <http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_237513.html>
by Samuel Tang, Straits Times
We are faced with the sole option of hiring a maid based on ministry's policy, rather than our needs.

**** Same Brand Of Rice, Very Different Prices <http://www.todayonline.com/articles/253935.asp>
by Alicia Wong and Ng Jing Yng, Today
Checking on the regular price &mdash; before any discounts &mdash; of fragrant rice at supermarkets/hypermarts over May 6 and 7, the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) found some huge price differences.