[MyAppleMenu] Jan 8, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** The Big Apple Letdown: No Mac Netbook Is A Good Thing <http://www.gottabemobile.com/2009/01/08/big-apple-letdown/>
by GottaBeMobile.com
The introduction of a low cost Mac netbook would harm the current, developing market.

**** Waiting For Apple To Meet 'Computer Detox' Promise <http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/toxics/waiting-for-apple-to-meet-computer-detox-promise20090107>
by Greenpeace
The only new product Apple has announced so far at this year's Macworld was a new MacBook Pro with reduced amounts of PVC and BFRs. Which is good, but not what Apple had promised for 2009 and no substantial further progress than the MacBooks announced in October.
/I think Apple can 'conveniently' blame Macworld Expo, by claiming the MacBook Pro 17-inch is actually an end-2008 product. "But we have to push back the production schedule a bit so that we'd have a hardware to announce at Macworld Expo." :-)/

**** Town Hall Gives Clues To Future Directions For Macworld Expo <http://www.macworld.com/article/138033/2009/01/expotownhall.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld
Future Macworld Expos could embrace film or music festivals. Or they could return to East Coast destinations like Boston or New York. Or they could move from cty to city.
Those were some of the ideas floated at Wednesday night's town hall meeting, in which Macworld Expo organizers tossed around ideas with Expo attendees and exhibitors about the future shape of the annual Mac trade show.

**** Is The Real Steve-Note 09 Coming Next Month? <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/jan/08/steve-note>
by Jack Scholfield, The Guardian
El Jobso is going to give the real keynote later, and he'll use it to announce the things that Schiller wasn't allowed to unveil.

**** Apple Awards Raises To Key Executives <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10135386-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
Apple awarded three key members of its executive team with $100,000 raises to kick off its 2009 fiscal year.

**** OfficeTime Update Offers More Time-Tracking Reports <http://www.macworld.com/article/138020/2009/01/officetime.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dale Roe, Macworld
Transcena Design announced OfficeTime 1.4, with the latest version of the time-tracking program allowing you track your time and review instant reports of where you've been spending your time.

**** Apple Shows Us DRM's True Colors <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/apple-shows-us-drms-true-colors>
by Richard Esguerra, Electronic Frontier Foundation
An inventory of Apple's remaining DRM armory makes it vividly clear that DRM is almost always about eliminating legitimate competition, hobbling interoperability, and creating de facto technology monopolies. The majority of these DRM efforts do not have even an arguable relation to "piracy."

**** Apple's Brilliant Video Engineer: Anonymous No More <http://technologizer.com/2009/01/06/apples-brilliant-video-engineer-anonymous-no-more/>
by Harry McCracken, Technologizer
Schiller, who demoed iPhoto himself, didn't show off iMovie 09&mdash;instead, he brought Randy Ubillos onstage. The software's creator got to do the demo and receive the applause.

**** Apple Without Its Core <http://www.slate.com/id/2208025/?from=rss>
by Farhad Manjoo, Slate
It wasn't only that Schiller had nothing great up  his sleeve; he also lacked his boss's ethereal style.

**** Analyst: Steve Jobs Is Still In Charge <http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/01/06/analyst-steve-jobs-is-still-in-charge/>
by Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune
"If Phil Schiller had made a significant announcement, we would have seent aht as a sign of a changing-of-the-guard, but that was not the case," said Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster.

**** Apple's Jobs Takes $1 Salary, But Holdings Suffer <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPeXv1HkhasFbNWTiBBxjd4Gua6QD95IL21O0>
by Jordan Robertson, Associated Press
As he's done for the last decade, Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs took home his customary $1 annual salary in 2008, but the economic meltdown and Apple's falling stock price whacked half a billion dollars off the value of his personal holdings in the company.

**** Apple's Modern Look Rejected In Georgetown As Store Hits Snag <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aS_KgwQkQHnk&refer=us>
by Rochelle Garner, Bloomberg
Apple's architects, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, proposed building a store with an all-glass front at street level, topped by a slab of masonry with an Apple logo cut through it. THat's not Georgetown's style, a committee apoointed by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts said last month when rejecting the plan.

**** Who Did Apple Hurt With Its Macworld Announcements? <http://venturebeat.com/2009/01/07/who-did-apple-hurt-with-its-macworld-announcements/>
by Maya Baratz, Venture Beat
In yesterday's keynote address at Macworld, Apple unveiled a series of software product upgrdaes that will potentiallyencorach on the territory of a handful of startups and larger companies. Should you be worried?

**** Macworld Expo Best Of Show 2009 <http://www.macworld.com/article/138002/2009/01/bos2009.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Macworld

**** Is It Time To Kill The Apple Press Event? <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10134243-17.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
by Don Reisinger, CNET News.com
Is it time for Apple to finally put an end to its strategy of holding major events to unveil product updates? It may heop Apple build hype for a product, but I can't help but wonder if the company has gone to the well one too many times.

**** Microsoft: Mac Office Use Is 77% <http://www.techflash.com/Microsoft_Mac_Office_77_37139129.html>
by Todd Bishop, TechFlash
About 77 percent of Mac users in the U.S. are running Microsoft's Office for Mac, the Redmond company said today.
/I sure hope Microsoft is not counting the Messenger IM client as part of Office. :-)/

**** 17 Inch MacBook Pro: A Missed Opportunity <http://www.thomas-fitzgerald.net/2009/01/07/17-inch-macbook-pro-a-missed-opportunity/>
by Thomas Fitzgerald
As the company grows and as the user base grows, the one thing from Apple that isn't growing is choice. You have their limited line up of computers and that's it.
/Apple as a company has definitely grown significantly in the last decade, but if we only look at the Mac portion of the company, how much has that grown?/

**** Things Task Management Software Helps You Get Organized <http://www.macworld.com/article/138013/2009/01/things.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dale Roe, Macworld
Things take a unique approach to personal task management. It offes great flexibility through the use of tags and an intelligent, contextual filter bar that enales users to drill down through long lists of to-dos.

**** Autodesk Offers Three New Mac Creative Software Tools <http://www.macworld.com/article/138006/2009/01/autodesk.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Peter Cohen, Macworld
The company's new offerings includ Toxik, a procedural compositing tool; Mudbox, designed for digital sculpting and texture painting; and ImageModeler, image-based modeling and photogrammetry software.

**** First Look: Numbers '09 <http://www.macworld.com/article/137986/2009/01/numbers09fl.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
New features gained, some old issues squashed in updated spreadsheet app.

**** The History Of The Mac, Told By Those Who Were There <http://www.macworld.com/article/137927/2009/01/wtmoverview.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Rob Griffiths, Macworld
Initial thoughts about the film "Welcome to Macintosh".

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Google News <http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/07/technology/lashinsky_google.fortune/>
by Adam Lashinsky, Fortune
CEO Eric Schmidt wishes he could rescue newspapers.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Inching Its Way Back Onto The Lip <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/fashion/08CODES.html?ref=todayspaper>
by David Colman, New York Times
Beards have had their moment, now it's time for mustaches to get their 10 minutes of fame.

**** End Times <http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200901/new-york-times>
by Michael Hirschorn, The Atlantic
Can America's paper of record survive the death of newsprint? Can journalism?

SingaporeSurf
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**** Police, SCDF Say No Foul Play Behind Singapore Flyer Incident <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/401149/1/.html>
by Channel NewsAsia

**** EDB CEO Teo Ming Kian And PAP Ministers Must Be Seeing Red Over Satyam's Fraud <http://wayangparty.com/2009/01/08/edb-ceo-teo-ming-kian-and-pap-ministers-must-be-seeing-red-over-satyams-fraud/>
by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club Of Singapore

**** More On Leave, Short-Week <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_323582.html>
by Li Xueying, Straits Times
In a signal that a wave of retrnechments may be on the way, the number of unionised workers who have been asked to go on a shorter work week or to clear their leave has drastically spiked in the past month.

**** Pay Up Fines Or No Books <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_323463.html>
by Derrick Ho, Straits Times

>From April, members with unpaid library fines and fees will not be allowed to borrow until they have settled the outstanding amount.


**** Singapore To Legislate On Right To Work Until 65 <http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37334620090108>
by Reuters
Singapore plans to compel firms to offer re-employment to staff when they reach retirement age and introduce an annuity to help it cope with a rapidly ageing population, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday.

**** Work As Long As You Can <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_323425.html>
by Straits Times
This is the advice from prime minister Lee Hsien Loong to older and retired Singaporeans, who he said should stay active and engaged as they can still contribute much to the orkforce and community.
See Also:
Speech By Mr Lee Hisen Loong, Prime Minister, At The AARP-Council For Third Age Conference: Reinventing Retirement Asia <http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/csg/speech/S-20090108-1.html>, by Singapore Government.

**** Singapore Flyer Files Police Report After Information Leak <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/401000/1/.html>
by Derrick A. Paulo, Today
The Singapore Flyer management has filed a police report after an information leak resulted in a news report on Wednesday on the sudden resignation of its general manager Steven Yeo.

**** Temasek's Merrill Losses Could Exceed $2Bn <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b1845f60-dcf3-11dd-a2a9-000077b07658.html>
by Saskia Scholtes and Greg Farrell, Financial Times
Temasek, the Singapore state investment fund, is sitting on significant paper losses related to its stake in Merrill Lynch, the investment bank acquired by Bank of America last week. The state agency's unrealised losses could amount to more than $2bn, excluding any hedges, according to a Financial Times analysis based on publicly available filings.
Some 40 per cent of Temasek's portfolio is in the financial sector, and it has suffered paper losses on other investments, including Barclays, Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

**** Food-Tripping In Singapore <http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20090107-182013/Food-tripping-in-Singapore>
by Lea Salonga, Philippine Daily Inquirer
We arrived at around 1.30 a.m. on New Year's Eve in Singapore, one of my favorite cities for&mdash;food!

**** Museum Of Failed Love Offers Balm For Heartbreak <http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE50623G20090107?feedType=RSS&feedName=lifestyleMolt&pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0>
by Rina Ota, Reuters
The "Museum of Broken Relationships", which opened in Singapore on Wednesday, is a traveling display of items related to failed relationships donated by people who live in the cities the museum has visited.

**** Passenger Numbers Drop For Taxis, But Rise For MRT Trains <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/400867/1/.html>
by Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia
People in Singapore seem to be choosing cheaper ways to travel in these tough economic times. Latest figures from the Land Transport Authority showed that taxis are picking up fewer passengers while MRT trains are carrying more.