[MyAppleMenu] Jan 23, 2009

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Are Today's Macs Related To The Mac Daddy? <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10147692-37.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
by Daniel Terdiman, CNET News.com
The Mac is all about ease of use and simplicity&mdash;as well as the continuity of a low-maintenance user experience.

**** 25 Years Of The Mac: A New Type Of User-Interface <http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=24579>
by Owen Linzmayer, Macworld UK
Discover the story behind Apple's introduction of hte Mac's graphical user interface.

**** 25 Years Of The Mac: The 20 Most Important People In The History Of The Mac <http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=24582>
by Owen Linzmayer, Macworld UK

**** 25 Years Of The Mac: Cold Cash For A Code Name <http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=24578>
by Own Linzmayer, Macworld UK
Jef Raskin bucked the trend in naming the Macintosh project.

**** 25 Years Of The Mac: The Birth Of Desktop Publishing <http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=24580>
by Pamela Pfiffner, Macworld UK

**** 25 Years Of The Mac: Steve Jobs Writes In Macworld <http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=24581>
by Steve Jobs, Macworld UK
Read what Steve Jobs thought of the Mac in the first ever edition of Macworld.

**** The Six Worst Apple Products Of All Time <http://www.macworld.com/article/138404/2009/01/macat25_worstproducts.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Adam C. Engst, Macworld
The Mac is certainly a landmark product, one of the many to make its way out of Cupertino in the last quarter-century. But not everything Apple touches turns to gold.

**** Apple Issues Threat, Palm Investors Fret <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090123.RPALMAPPLE23/TPStory/Business>
by Sinead Carew, Reuters

**** The Mac At 25: Storage <http://www.macworld.com/article/138406/macat25_storage.html>
by Rik Myslewski, Macworld
Make way for faster data connections and solid-state drives.

**** Apple Loses Front Row Dinner-Party Marketeers With Remote Move <http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10011969o-2000331759b,00.htm>
by Andrew Donoghue, ZDNet UK
I guess I am in the minority but I actually like the remote and I think Apple is missing out on a trick here.

**** Apple's Macintosh Celebrates Twenty-Fifth Birthday <http://www.siliconvalley.com/business/ci_11528949>
by John  Boudreau, San Jose Mercury News
The Apple Macintosh, born at the hands of renegade engineers in the early 1980s, changed the relationship between human and keyboard.

**** Apple Mac 25Th Anniversary: The Cult Of Mac Is Still Going Strong <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/apple/4317083/Apple-Mac-25th-Anniversary-The-cult-of-Mac-is-still-going-strong.html>
by Claudine Beaumont, Telegraph
The cult of Mac remains alive and well, thanks in no small part to the foundations laid by that first Apple Macintosh.

**** The Truth <http://daringfireball.net/2009/01/the_truth>
by John Gruber, Daring Fireball
Macworld Expo brings together the full spectrum of people involved in this racket. Designers, engineers, marketing guys, managers, the press, and, yes, just plain /users/. There is nothng else like Macworld Expo, and if it fades away, there will be nothing to take its place.

**** Review: Keynote '09 <http://www.macworld.com/article/138373/2009/01/keynote09.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Franklin N. Tessler, Macworld
Despite some disappointing oversights, Keynote '09 is an evolutoinary upgrade that raises the bar further.

**** The State Of The Mac <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339440,00.asp>
by Laarni Almendrala Ragaza, PC Magazine
Love them or hate them, you can't deny that Apple desktops have led the charge in design innovation.

**** A Trip To Wonderland (Or My Take On Mac OS X) <http://pdathoughts.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/a-trip-to-wonderland-or-my-take-on-mac-os-x/>
by Luca Morandi, PDA Thoughts
After only a short period, I don't want to use anything but Leopard.

**** In Pursuit Of Quality: The Apple "Fanboi" <http://www.salon.com/tech/giga_om/mac_love/2009/01/22/in_pursuit_of_quality_the_apple_fanboi/>
by Tom Reestman, Salon
Apple quality and value are not that hard to find for those who look. Whether they /matter/ to y ou is another thing altogether.

**** What Can We Learn From Apple? <http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/cio-for-hire/?p=150>
by Jay Rollins, TechRepublic
Solution orientation in IT is looking beyond just a single technology. Instead, it focuses on delivering a valuable experience for the end user.

**** Why The SEC Is Probing Steve Jobs <http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/22/technology/stevejobs_disclosure.fortune/?postversion=2009012216>
by Roger Parloff, Fortune
The SEC, trying to reestablish its credibility after years of ignorning explicit and apparently dead-on warnings that Bernard Madoff was running a massive Pnozi scheme, could hardly afford to ignore Apple's latest in-your-face flip-flop concerning Jobs's battles with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.

**** Apple's Success Formula: A Simple Product Line <http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/01/22/apples-success-solution-a-simple-product-line/>
by Matt Burns, CrunchGear
Consumers hate choices. They say they love them, but have you ever stood in front of a wall of plasmas and LCDs with a random person?

**** The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Of Apple's "1984" <http://www.cnbc.com/id/28791291>
by Darren Rovell, CNBC
"Without the 1984 commercial, it would have been very difficult for us to have gotten the attention for a product that really was so innovative at the time."

**** Microsoft Earnings Update: "We Lost Maybe A Point Of Share" To Apple, Says Ballmer <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2009/01/apples_anti-gra.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_byteoftheapple>
by Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek
Microsoft's numbers highlight the fact that Apple isn't only getting more new customers&mdash;but it's getting the best customers.

**** Apple Easing Back Retail Expansion <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10148170-37.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Apple>
by Tom Krazit, CNET News.com
Apple plans to open just 25 stores this year, with roughly half coming outside the U.S., after opening 50 last year. When you consider the retail climate in general, that seems prudent.

**** Handful Of Pencils, Four Rubber Bands = iPhone Stand <http://cultofmac.com/handful-of-pencils-four-rubber-bands-iphone-stand/7357>
by Nicole Martinelli, Cult Of Mac

**** It Was A Great First Quarter, But Are Mac "Switchers" Becoming Harder To Find? <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2009/01/it_was_a_great.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_byteoftheapple>
by Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek
Fir the first time that I can remember, the percentage of Mac buyers at Apple stores who said they were new to the platform fell below 50%.

**** Textcast 1.0.2 <http://www.macworld.com/article/138397/2009/01/textcast.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Frakes, Macworld
If you've got a daily commute or if you travel often, podcasts are a great way to keep up with the latest news and your favorite entertainment. But wouldn't it be great if you could also absorb other information&mdash;say, articles you found online, email messages or attachments, documents you need to read for work, or even your daily RSS fees&mdash;the same way?

**** Four Great Mac Icons <http://www.macworld.com/article/138398/2009/01/macat25_icons.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by John Siracusa, Macworld
What's more iconic than icons?

**** App Store Lessons: Six Ways To Better Promote Your Application <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2009/01/22/app-store-lessons-6-ways-to-better-promote-your-application>
by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica

**** The Mac At 25: Software <http://www.macworld.com/article/138387/2009/01/macat25_software.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Adam C. Engst, Macworld
A new OS X? For sure. An App Store for Mac software? Probably not.

**** 99-Cent Apps A Steal, But Who's Really Being Robbed? <http://www.macworld.com/article/138384/2009/01/appstore_prices.html?lsrc=rss_main>
by Dan Moren, Macworld
The risk we, the consumers, run is forcing the talented, professional developers out of business, and ending up with a proliferation of junk food applications that might satisfy our appentite temporarily, but lack any real redeeming value in the long run.

**** Today 1.6 Task Manager Brings Natural Language To iCal <http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2009/01/22/today-1-6-task-manager-brings-natural-language-to-ical>
by David Chartier, Ars Technica
Second Gear has updated Today, its event and task manager that integrates with iCal and offers a condensed view of the day's agenda. The new version supports natural language when creating events and to-dos, plays better with Spaces, and fixes a handful of bugs.

The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** One Laptop Per Child: When Went Wrong <http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2009/01/19/one-laptop-per-child-what-went-wrong/>
by Jon Evans, The Walrus
1. It was a bad idea to begin with.<br/>2. The XO laptop is a piece of crap.

**** Learning To Think Like A Progammer <http://infovore.org/archives/2009/01/22/learning-to-think-like-a-programmer/>
by Tom Armitage, Infovore
What's really important is to not understand how to do magical things with code, but to learn what magical things are possible, what the necessary inputs for that magic are, and /who to ask to do it/.

MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Don't Fear The Reaper <http://www.salon.com/books/review/2009/01/23/aging/index.html>
by Laura Miller, Salon
Is it really so terrible to grow old? Two new books explore what we can (and can't) learn from the elderly.

**** It Took A Village <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/05/090105fa_fact_menand>
by Louis Menand, New Yorker
How the Voice changed journalism.

**** Books Unbound <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1873122-1,00.html>
by Chris Jackson, Time
We think of the novel as a transcendent, timeless thing, but it was shaped by the forces of money and technology just as much as by creative genius.

**** Middlebrow Messiahs <http://www.city-journal.org/2009/bc0116bb.html>
by Brendan Boyle, City Journal
Robert Hutchins didn't think much of his Yale education, which he said had "nothing to do with any intellectual development." He didn't keep this opinion to himself. When the Yale class of 1921 elected him "most likely to succeed," he delivered a speech titled, "Should Institutions of Higher Learning Be Abolished?" Alex Beam's /A Great Idea at the Time/ shows what an odd answer to this question Hutchins had in mind.

SingaporeSurf
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**** On The Budget <http://kwayteowman.blogspot.com/2009/01/on-budget.html>
by The Kway Teow Man
The KTM thought the Job Credit scheme is an excellent alternative to a cut in the CPF rate for several reasons.

**** Will The Use Of Past Reserves Set A Precedent For Future Drawdowns? <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=2033>
by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net
The government's tapping on past reserves appears to be a pre-emptive measure that gives it the flexibility to deply its current remaining resources in whatever way it sees fit in the future, rather than as a "last resort" when all other measures have failed. This is a departure from the government's previous position that dipping into reserves is strictly a last resort.

**** Red Shirt Protesters Call For Singapore And Burma To Boycott Asean Summit <http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/01/23/politics/politics_30094024.php>
by The Nation
Red shirt protesters who are loyal to ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra called for leaders of Singapore and Burma to boycott the upcoming Asean Summit in Thailand. They rallied in front of both embassies on Friday and submitted petitions to the leaders through representatives of the embassies.

**** Public Transport Council To Reduce Bus And Train Fares <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/404406/1/.html>
by Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia
Public transport operators SBS Transit and SMRT have now said they will not apply for any fare adjustment this year. In fact, they are working with the Public Transport Council (PTC) to pass on savings they will receive from this year's budget to commuters.

**** Filming An Illegal Event Is... Illegal? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/archives/5322>
by The Online Citizen

**** Proposed Amendments To Films Act Are Even More Ambiguous <http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2009/01/proposed-amendments-to-films-act-are.html>
by Martyn See, Only "Objective" And "Factual" Political Films Please, We're Singaporeans

**** A Glimpse Of Chinatown <http://blogofsorts.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/a-glimpse-of-chinatown/>
by Yesterday... Today... Tomorrow

**** Singapore's Limits <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123264905073306835.html>
by Wall Street Journal
It's not often that a Singaporean official concedes the limits of the city-state's economic engineering. But the downturn is proving so severe that the finance minister said in yesterday's budget speech that the government's stimulus package "will not get us out of the recession," but rather "help avert an even sharper downturn."
That ought to be a wake-up call for Singapore, where government built a modern metropolis by hoarding its citizens' capital, plowing those savings into designated industries and opening itself up to foreign trade. The government could unleash more productive, sustainable growth by trimming back its public sector and allowing the economy to diversify on its own.

**** Would You Give Up Seat For This Man? <http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,190611,00.html?>
by Teh Jen Lee, New Paper
We go on the trains to find out.

**** Tax Experts Disappointed <http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_329574.html>
by Michelle Tay, Straits Times
Despite the spectre of the deepest recession in Singapore's history, personal income tax will not be cut this year, said finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Thursday. This surprised many tax experts who were expecting to hear about a direct tax rate cut.

**** My Take On The Key Highlights Of Budget 2009 <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=2026>
by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net
My analysis of the key highlights of Budget 2009 is that some of the more outstanding measures stand a good chance of succeeding only if the economy does not spiral downwards further, turning a sharp recession into a soft depression. It is therefore imperative that the government comes up with backup plans in case the worst cmes to pass.

**** What Is Lacking In Budget 2009? <http://singaporealternatives.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-is-lacking-in-budget-2009.html>
by Goh Meng Seng, Singapore Alternatives
Although the specific steps taken by minister Tharman have generally gone into the right direction (except for the tax cut and rebates) but I think the extend of the budgeted amount is not gong to be big enough to withstand the onslaught of the crisis of confidence as well as the expected huge unemployment we are going to face in the short future.

**** MPs Say Budget Is Bold And Decisive <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/404257/1/.html>
by S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia
Budget 2009 is bold and decisive - that is the general feeling of Members of Parliament.
/No opposition MPs were interviewed for this report./