From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sun Mar 1 18:59:01 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 1 Mar 2009 23:59:01 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 1, 2009 Message-ID: <20090301235901.22863.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** In Past Month Apple Stock Has Outperformed Just About Everything by David Zeiler, Baltimore Sun AAPL???s continued above-average performance indicates fears over Jobs have indeed subsided (though any bad news or rumors could quickly reignite them). I also think AAPL is benefiting from Wall Street???s consternation over where to put its money in such a dreadful market. It???s one of the few companies not going over the edge. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** WP's Yaw Shin Leong Gives Free Bullets To PAP To Shoot At Opposition Again by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club **** ????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ???????????????2001??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????PMET????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Workers, Employers Urged To Have Sense Of Balance When Dealing With Retrenchments by S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said that despite the gloom, Singapore is not in a bad position. Stop thinking of your job that has been lost. Think of other people's job that has yet to be lost when you go vote. **** What Is The Approval Rating Of PM Lee? by Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club Being a strong government as so often proclaimed by the PAP, it should not be afraid to put its track record under intense public scrutiny. Is Mr Lee afraid that he will not garner a respectable approval rating for his stewardship of the nation since the last general election? The PAP government has a habit of saying that the election is the only way of gauging people's choice. In between, the government can damn well do whatever it wants. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Mon Mar 2 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 2 Mar 2009 23:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 2, 2009 Message-ID: <20090302235900.26671.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Why I Switched From A BlackBerry Pearl To An iPhone by Mike Elgan, Computerworld Sure, the iPhone's battery life is still horrible. And many of the original flaws still exist. But the quality of apps, the user experience, from browsing the App Store to installing to using applications on the iPhone is so good that I was compelled to give up my Pearl. Microsoft may have put a computer on every desk, but it is the iPhone that had put a computer in every pocket. **** Local University Goes Green With Apple by GottaBeMobile.com **** iPhone's Misplaced Decline Button? by Shawn Blanc iPhone offers two different locations to touch in order to answer an incoming call. If answering from a locked-screen state, you touch the bottom-left corner and slide to the right; if answering from a non-locked-screen state you touch the bottom-right corner. **** Apple: Eight iPhone Annonyances by Gerg Kumparak, Seeking Alpha We???ve been using the iPhone for just a few months shy of two years now, and a few things that once seemed trivial have come to drive us up the wall. You???ll find no mention of the glaring faults (The lack of MMS, Copy and Paste, etc) in this list - we???re talking about the stuff that we just can???t believe made it through Apple???s user experience team. **** Apple Is Definitely "Thinking Ahead" by Kim Cofino, Always Learning If I wasn???t already convinced that Apple is the best choice for education, I certainly would be now. **** Ars Reviews iLife '09: Making The Cut With iMovie And iPhoto by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica More demanding users will not likely be satisfied with the all the improvements. The new or casual user, however, will most likely be pretty impressed with the results they can achieve with a minimum of fuss, all with an interface that stresses results but allows for play and experimentation. **** Does Japan Really Hate The iPhone? by Bobbie Johson, The Guardian All that's clear is that while the iPhone might not be a strong player in Japan's mobile culture ??? and with no support for emoticons, no built-in TV, no multimedia messaging it's not a surprise - it seems that plenty of Japanese people like it well enough. Not as exciting, but probably a bit more realistic. **** Review: Painter 11 by Lesa Snider King, Macworld Corel delivers 40 new brushes, tool enhancements, and a tidier interface. **** Cover Flow In Safari Is A Winner by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld Having a visual way of seeing the sites I visit is a huge time saver, especially when you add in the ability to search your history. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Sleuthing Software Can Reassemble Deleted Photos by Anne Eisenberg, New York Times One day, this software may be useful not only in its consumer applications, restoring snapshots that have accidentally been erased, but also in recovering deliberately deleted images that might provide evidence in cases of corporate spying or child pornography. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** One-Way Ticket To Mars by James C. McLane III, Search Our best hope to reach the red planet might be to send just one person there ... forever. **** Don't Worry, Bedtime's Safe With The Lads by Alessandra Stanley, New York Times Everything changes on television, except late night. **** Contemplating The New Physicality Of Cinema by C.S. Leigh, The Believer Mourning the death of the fetid, human way we used to interact with movies. **** Hawkins Stable by Jean Valentine, The New Yorker **** Contemplation by Meredith Root-Bernstein, The New Yorker **** The Background Hum by Daniel Zalewski, The New Yorker Ian McEwan's art of unease. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Dismayed At A Straits Times' Reader's Deprecating Attitude Towards Singaporeans And The Rule Of Law by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net This is blatant insensitivity towards Singaporeans who are struggling to make a living and who find themselves competing against a horde of unskilled foreign labour due to an inability of the authorities to properly enforce existing regulation. **** The Illusion Of Chasing Internet Credibility by The Wayang Party Club **** Asean, Armed With New Charter, Remains Far From EU Dream by Daniel Ten Kate and SHamim Adam, Bloomberg "Asean's biggest problem is that the individual members haven't been willing to sacrifice for the common good," said Michael Montesano, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. **** Reservist Is A Drag by Ponderings Of A Pandarific Po I understand and support the theory behind reservist training, but the kind of training we do and the mentality behind it? **** Asian Summit Edns Without Specific Economic Solutions by Tim Johnston, Washington Post Southeast Asian leaders concluded a two-day meeting Sunday that was dominated by the search for a coordinated response to the economic crisis but fell short of coming up with specific remedies. **** Sabah Popular With Singaporeans by New Straits Times Sabah has become a choice destination for those living in Singapore thanks to the global economic downturn which has seen short-haul and regional flights becoming more popular. **** Orchard Road's Flooded Walkway A Horror by Yuxiang's Corner **** Is Singapore Not Worth Defending? by A Lesser Mortal When leaders consider ???Welfare as a dirty word??? and seriously go about effecting this concept, they cannot and will not be able to attract followers who will be willing to die for them. Our so-called ???leaders??? are not natural leaders. They cannot easily command the respect of the people in times of crisis. They can be considered as good administrators and, may be, good technocrats and managers too. But definitely not leaders in the truest sense of the word. **** ASEAN Rights Push Backfires Over Myanmar: Analysts, Activists by AFP An attempt by Southeast Asian leaders to prove their commitment to human rights backfired at their weekend summit, mainly due to Myanmar's military junta, analysts and activists said. **** ??????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Unemployment Insurance - The Economic Stabiliser by Ravi Philemon, The Online Citizen **** Seven Months' Jail For A Kiss And A Lick by Au Yaipang, Yawning Bread **** Confess Or We'll Throw 377A At You by Au Yaipang, Yawning Bread 377A is being used as a bargaining chip to get a guilty plea. **** Singapore Student Kills Self After Stabbing Professor by Reuters **** PM Lee Ran Out Of Words To Defend Temasek And GIC by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club Does Mr Lee seriously think he can convince Singaporeans by using the same ???long term perspective??? argument again and again in a circular manner? **** Citi Rescue Gives Prince, Singapore Sweeter Terms by David Reilly, Bloomberg The issue is the conversion terms. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte Ltd. and a few other big holders of convertible preferred stock such as former Citigroup Chief Executive Sanford Weill and his family trust could get a better deal than many run-of-the-mill investors who hold regular preferred stock. **** Exhibition Of Registers Of Electors And Registration Of Overseas Electors by Elections Department, Singapore Government The revised Registers of Electors for all 23 Constituencies (14 Group Representation Constituencies and 9 Single Member Constituencies) have been completed and will be exhibited for public inspection from 3 March 2009 to 16 March 2009 at the Elections Department, the Inspection Centres for the respective Constituencies and at nine Overseas Registration Centres. During this period, online checking of the Registers of Electors may also be made via the Elections Department's eServices provided at its website (www.elections.gov.sg). (Note: Link goes to a PDF document.) From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Tue Mar 3 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 3 Mar 2009 23:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 3, 2009 Message-ID: <20090303235900.89783.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Fortune Names Apple "Most Admired" Two Years In A Row by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica In an annual survey that asks business people to rank the top 50 companies they admire most, Fortune has bestowed the title of "Most Admired Company" to Apple for the second time in two years. **** Apple Releases Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.5 by Peter Cohen, Macworld The updated software adds support for two new cameras: Nikon???s D3X and Epson???s R-D1x. It also ???addresses issues related to specific cameras and overall stability,??? according to Apple. **** Apple Releases Battery Update 1.4 For All MacBook Models by Jonathan Seff, Macworld Apple on Monday released Battery Update 1.4, an update for all MacBook models designed to improve the ability of MacBook batteries to maintain a charge when shut down and not used for an extended period of time. **** Apple Ready With New Time Capsules, AirPort Extremes by AppleInsider Apple is poised to introduce new versions of its Time Capsule wireless backup appliance and AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless routers, regulatory filings with the Federal Communications Commission reveal. **** Dealing With The Madness Of Combo Ports by David Morgenstern, ZDNet If your Mac???s audio suddenly silences, it may likely be that your headphones port has been taken over by its hidden and usually silent partner. The solution requires a low-tech device: a wooden toothpick. **** How To Manage Your iPhone Apps In iTunes by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica Here are the quick facts you need to know regarding where your applications are stored, how to delete (and restore) them, and what happens to your application data. **** Apple Mac Growing Overseas But Facing Challenges by Gabriel Madway, Reuters As U.S. demand for personal computers craters, Apple Inc is getting a boost from overseas PC sales, where iPods are hugely popular but Macs have not been a major presence. Although analysts see the international market as fertile ground for Macs, they say the growth momentum may be tough to maintain due to the spreading economic gloom, Mac's higher price point and smaller retail distribution network. **** Customer Refuses To Give Up, Convinces Apple To Give Him What He Paid For by Chris Walters, The Consumerist James almost got cheated out of CS4, the suite of graphics software sold by Adobe, when he bought a new Macbook Pro recently. He kept pressing the issue though, and his persistence and level-headedness finally, after several near misses, convinced Apple to do the right thing and send him what he paid for. On hindsight, once the Apple manager figured out Apple is at fault but compensating the customer correctly is beyond her personal limits, she should have immediately escalated the matter upwards. **** If PC Sales Are Down, Can Macs Go Up? by Joe Wilcox, eWeek During this global economic earthquake, PC companies will have to better manage production and distribution. Apple's in a strong position to manage costs and anticipate sales declines. Of course, that's not enough. Apple must also sell products, and that's going to be tougher with spending down but Mac prices still way up there above PCs. **** Apple Forbidden Fruit In Gates Household by Asher Moses, The Sydney Morning Herald Microsoft founder Bill Gates has banned iPods and iPhones from his household, the software billionaire's wife, Melinda, has revealed. **** Mac Management For Windows IT Folks by Ryan Faas, Computerworld Tools and techniques for adding Macs to your network safely and effectively. **** Hooking Up While On The Go by Michael J. Miller, PC Magazine The Monday afternoon sessions at Demo 09 started with a session called "iLove My iPhone," which focused on mobile applications, including applications for sending voice messages over SMS, for connecting your address book with your social network, and for flirting over a mobile phone. **** New Mac Mini Gains Nvidia Graphics by Peter Cohen, Macworld Apple on Tuesday introduced a new version of its low-priced Mac mini desktop computer, featuring faster graphics, faster memory and other enhancements, but still priced starting at $600. **** Apple Releases New iMacs by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld Apple on Tuesday refreshed its consumer iMac computer, with new 20-inch and 24-inch models. **** Apple Releases First Mac Pro Update In More Than A Year by Philip Michaels, Macworld In addition to updating its consumer line of desktops with new Mac mini and iMac models, Apple on Tuesday also gave its high-end desktop an overhaul. The revamped Mac Pro sports Nehalem versions of Intel???s Xeon processors and a new system architecture, along with a starting price tag that???s $300 cheaper than before. **** Apple's New AirPort, Time Capsule Add Dual-Band Networking by AppleInsider Apple on Tuesday refreshed its AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule wireless products by adding a new Guest Network feature and support for simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band networking. **** MacBook Pro Gets Small Speed Boost by Macworld **** New WIred Keyboard - Sans Numeric Keypad - Ships With iMac by Aayush Arya, Macworld It may not be as exciting as the new Mac Pros, Mac minis, or iMacs, but Apple also quietly added a new version of its wired USB keyboard on Tuesday, this one without the numeric keypad. Apple is so sure that this one is better, in fact, that it???s now the default keyboard that ships with the latest iMac models. **** FireWire 400 Reaches The End Of The Line by Rob Griffiths, Macworld So clearly, this is evolution at work???but it???s still an evolutionary step that may cause some hiccups for upgraders. **** Hey, Buddy, Where's The FireWire? by Dan Moren, Macworld Knowing the way Apple thinks, I bet there???s an engineer or two in the company who???s just bugged by the fact that the MacBook doesn???t have a FireWire port???it???s the kind of thing that irks the sort of people that the company hires. **** Peggle Nights Released For Mac by Peter Cohen, Macworld Peggle plays as a cross between pinball and pachinko ??? your goal is to make pegs disappear by hitting them with steel ball shot from a cannon at the top of the screen. **** Djay 2.3.1 by Peter Kirn, Macworld For beginners and music lovers, Djay is simply the friendliest way I???ve seen to have some fun with your music and start to explore DJing. **** Use Smart Albums To Help Set iPhoto '09 Faces And Places by Rob Griffiths, Macworld **** Apple Updates AirPort Client, AirPort Utility by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld **** Analysis: Inside Apple's AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule Updates by Glenn Fleishman, Macworld The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Always Innovating's Touch Book Sounds Amazing. Can It Deliver? by Mg Siegler, Venture Beat MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Japan's Crisis Of The Mind by Masaru Tamamoto, New York Times What most people don???t recognize is that our crisis is not political, but psychological. After our aggression ??? and subsequent defeat ??? in World War II, safety and predictability became society???s goals. Bureaucrats rose to control the details of everyday life. We became a nation with lifetime employment, a corporate system based on stable cross-holdings of shares, and a large middle-class population in which people are equal and alike. **** In A Lonely Cosmos, A Hunt For Worlds Like Ours by Dennis Overbye, New York Times Presently perched on a Delta 2 rocket at Cape Canaveral is a one-ton spacecraft called Kepler. If all goes well, the rocket will lift off about 10:50 Friday evening on a journey that will eventually propel Kepler into orbit around the Sun. There the spacecraft???s mission will be to discover Earth-like planets in Earth-like places ??? that is to say, in the not-too-cold, not-too-hot, Goldilocks zones around stars where liquid water can exist. The job, in short, is to find places where life as we know it is possible. **** Not The Usual Suspects by Ron Rosenbaum, Slate Three dective novels that restore pleausre to reading. **** Seeking Eric Chinski, Or How To Swim With Your Editor by Barbara J. King, Bookslut It???s a welcome freedom, this new sense of when to say ???no thanks??? to an editor whose style swamps me. I have the sense, too, to want to thank the editors who teach me so much. So to them, and to the unmet but imprinted-upon Eric Chinski too, I send gratitude and a wish: May you fall in love this month, many times over. **** The Death Throes Of My Newspaper by Nancy Mitchell, Salon Three simple rules, not produced by a focus group: Get the news. Tell the truth. Don't be dull. I'd like to believe we did all three. **** The Superior Civilization by Tim Flannery, The New York Review Of Books Parallels between the ants and ourselves are striking for the light they shed on the nature of everyday human experiences. **** In Thailand, Vegetarians Find A Place At The Table by Gregory Dicum, New York Times A growing contingent of restaurants are serving vegetarian food, a welcome addition to one of the greatest eating countries on Earth. **** Newspaper Wars by Jay Winik, Wall Street Journal How the press — brash, irreverent, partisan — served early America. **** Addicts by Carol Muske-Dukes, Slate SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Thanks For The Train, But Where's The Bus? by Sarah Chong, Straits Times I am surprised SBS Transit did not work with SMRT to launch new bus services in the area to cater to residents' needs when the new MRT extension went operational. The bus services, it seems, are in a limbo right now, as the bus companies gave up their roles in proposing and amending bus routes, while LTA has not fully taken up the role of planning and tendering new bus routes. **** House Had 89 MPs, Not 93, On Feb 5 by Lim Swee Say, Government Whip, Straits Times Parliament has advised that there is an error in the number for Feb 5. It should be 89 and not 93. My apologies for the error which was due to a miscomunication between the Whip and Parliament. **** Singapore NOL Container Vol Plunges In 6 Weeks To Feb 6 by Kevin Lim, Reuters **** An Accepted Right by Chong Wan Yieng, Press Secretary To The Minister For Law, Today Mr Lee???s concern that a future government may seek to illegally restrict the right to vote is not going to be addressed by expressly setting out the right to vote in the Constitution, given that it is already accepted that the right to vote is a Constitutional right. Nor is it practicable to set out in great detail, in the Constitution, how the right to vote should be exercised. That should be and is set out in other legislation. **** ???????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? 2009?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Increased Frequency Of Protests By Foreign Workers Puts Government In A Quandrary by Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club The glaring double standard in the government???s handling of protests by Singaporeans and foreigners is becoming too embarrassing even for the local media to publish. **** Co-Ops Can Be Big Business by Jennifer Gomez, New Straits Times Singapore's NTUC FairPrice, a cooperative retail chain that serves over a million customers daily, is a runaway success in the republic. **** ?????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ??????????????????????????????3.8????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ?????????????????? ????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Pseudonyms And Anonymous Blogging - Are Nom De Guerre Still Needed In Singapore? by Huang Shoou Chyuan, NoFearSingapore I still am convinced that one must have the testicular fortitude (balls) to stand up for what one believes in. We cannot help what our friends and relatives think about our political stands, but to live our lives cowering behind false camouflages is just plain ???sad???. And bloggers who only make anonymous comments which are nothing more than unconstructive barbs and diatribes are childish ( and should be ignored just as we ignore children???s antics). **** Speakers Call For Transparency And More Help For Poor by Singapore Democrats The need for transparency and accountability in PAP government's economic policy was highlighted at the Reform Party's (RP) forum, Singapore Budget 2009: Alternative Policies, to address the recent budget unveiled by the Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam. **** Singapore Can Do Better by Lee Weijia, The Online Citizen This extended time away from home has given me a greater appreciation of what Singapore has ??? and does not have. It???s a case of not knowing what you have until you???ve lost it, and not knowing what you lack until you have seen it. This trip has been all that I expected, and so much more. **** Layoffs Begin In Singapore by Asiya Bakht, Media The global economic crisis is beginning to make its presence felt in the creative agency world in Singapore, with reports of staff layoffs and pay cuts for senior management. **** Thoughts On The Tragedy At NTU by Lam Chun See, Good Morning Yesterday I think the SAF should learn a lesson from this tragedy at NTU and step up their vigilance. **** 10,000 To Lose Jobs In Q1 by Goh Chin Lian, Straits Times More than 10,000 workers are likely to be laid off in the first three months of this year, said labour chief Lim Swee Say who gave an early estimate of retrenchment numbers on Tuesday. It is an increase from 7,000 layoffs in the previous quarter, but analysts believe the final figures for January to March could be higher. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Wed Mar 4 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 4 Mar 2009 23:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 4, 2009 Message-ID: <20090304235900.38680.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Apple Jump-Starts Nehalem Launch For Intel by Agam Shah, IDG News Service Intel hasn???t officially announced the launch of its Xeon quad-core chips featuring the Nehalem microarchitecture, but Apple has started taking orders for new Mac Pro workstations that are powered by Xeon 3500 and 5500 processors. **** Apple Updates iLife '09 Support, iPhoto '09 by Jonathan Seff, Macworld Apple says the update improves oversall stability and addresses minor issues with internet connectivity, keyword import, and slideshow export. **** Apple's Desktop Refresh 'Underwhelming,' Says Analyst by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld Updates complete line, but Apple holds firm on entry prices for iMac, Mac mini. **** Add-On Software Apps Make iPhone A Great Travel Partner by Roger Yu, USA Today Tech-savvy road warriors are enjoying a new era of handheld computing as more sophisticated smartphone software floods the market. **** With A Straight Face, Apple Charges $200 For 1GB Of RAM, 200GB Of HD Space In New Mac Minis by Adam Frucci, Gizmodo Now I hate to sound like a broken record here, but am I the only one mystified by the new Mac Mini pricing? Who's dropping $200 more for the higher end model? **** Ridiculous To Allow More Unsecured Personal Loans When Credit Card Debts And Delinquencies Are Ballooning by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net Given this alarming rise in indebtedness and delinquency, I seriously question the wisdom of MAS and the Law Ministry in allowing banks to offer more unsecured credit facilities to all and sundry in such uncertain times. **** Apple's Safari Will Fall First At Hacker Contest, Past Winner Predicts by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld "It's an easy target," said Charlie Miller, the vulnerability researcher who last year walked off with a $10,000 cash prize for breaking into an Apple laptop just a few minutes into the contest. **** Of Course The Mac Mini Is Relevant! by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet While I???m ready to admit that the Mac mini is an odd nichcy bit of kit that looks a lot like a biscuit tin, I???ve had one in the lab for about 16 months now and the ownership experience has been a flawless one. The Mac mini is a nice, quiet system that just works. **** Who Buys A Mac Mini? by David Morgenstern, ZDNet >From what I???ve seen in the past couple of years is that the growth segments are Mac and Linux geeks who are using these inexpensive Macs as servers, virtualization machines and colocation boxes. **** AAC: Apple's Preferred Audio Codec by Kirk McElhearn, Kirville It???s worth noting that AAC is here to stay; it???s not Apple???s audio format, and more and more devices and software are supporting it. So if you haven???t understood this whole point, and still think that AAC is ???owned by Apple???, think again. **** Apple Mac Vs. Windows: The Apple Premium Is Gone by David LaGesse, U.S. News The Mac premium has disappeared for now, at least among well-equipped consumer PCs, as Apple today revamped its desktop PC offerings. **** Apple's iMac Price Cut: Is It Enough? by Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek Apple can slash prices, or crank up the innovation. Unless there???s more to come from Apple, it doesn???t feel like it has achieved either with its desktop line. **** The Neverending Battle Of Apple Vs. Georgetown Continues by Unbeige After four rejections over the past two years, Apple is apparently hoping the fifth time is the charm, as they've already turned in the latest proposal for their retail store in the Georgetown area of Washington D.C., after their aforementioned fourth rejection by one of the neighborhood standards boards back in mid-January. **** Six Things You Need To Know About Apple's New Desktops by Nick Mediati, PC World There are a few things to be aware of before you go out and plunk down money on a new Mac. **** Three Nightmares When Managing Macs by Tom Kaneshige, CIO Even as Apple readies new computers, companies continue to face daunting challenges supporting popular MacBooks, iMacs and Mac Pros. **** Apple's $1000 RAM Upgrade For iMacs Better Come With Free Diamonds by Devin Coldewey, CrunchGear The problem is just that the iMac???s board only has room for 2 DIMMs. 4GB DDR3 1066MHz costs at least a couple hundy a stick. If Apple had allowed iMacs the space to have 4 DIMMs, they could sell 4??2GB DIMMs instead of 2??4GB, saving probably around $700. **** As Mobile Future Looms, Apple Milks iMac Margins by Tom Krazit, CNET The reality is that regardless of price, desktop computers have fallen out of favor with the public, and Apple's pitch for the new iMacs—with a heavy emphasis on old-fashioned speeds and feeds—suggests that it no longer views the iMac as a product that is driving its growth, said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD. **** Mac Mini Margins, Not So Mini by Stephen Wildstrom, BusinessWeek **** The Fastest-Growing Category In The iTunes App Store: Book by Ben Lorica, O'Reilly Radar **** Apple Gets Greener - And It's Not About Money! by Gene Steinberg, MacNightOwl **** Amazon Unveils Kindle Application For iPhone by Rachel Metz, Associated Press In a bid to increase its slice of the e-book market, the Seattle-based online retailer plans to roll out a free program Wednesday that brings several of the Kindle's functions to the iPod and iPhone's smaller screen. The application does not connect to the Kindle store, however, so users must access the Web browser on their iPhone, iPod or computer to buy the content. **** iPhone Apps That Foretell The Future by Michael DeAgonia, Computerworld With an eye on what's out there now in the App Store — and what that inventory indicates about what could be coming next — I've sorted through thousands of programs to pick a few apps that indicate the direction we could see the iPhone and other future mobile devices take. **** Benchmarks: 17-Inch Unibody MacBook Pro 2.66GHz by James Galbraith, Macworld **** Adobe Updates Lightroom, Camera Raw by Jim Darlymple, Macworld **** Are The New Apple iMacs A Better Deal Than Dell And HP Can Offer? by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet If Apple had done this a year or so ago, it might have been big news, but doing it now, in a market where desktops are tanking I really don???t think it???s that much of a big deal. **** Tap Tap Revenge 2 For iPhone Out With New Features, Music by Justin Berka, Ars Technica The game includes a new look, new music, and a number of new features. Best of all, the application is still free. **** Avoiding Mac Buyer's Remorse by Scott McNulty, Macworld Here???s a dirty little secret about computer buying, Mac or PC: as soon as you unbox your brand new computer, it's out of date. **** Login Items Are Exactly That by Christopher Breen, Macworld If you???d like particular documents to open at startup, click the Login Items tab and drag those documents into the list. **** Observations, Complaints, Quibbles, And Suggestions Regarding The Safari 4 Public Beta Released One Week Ago, Roughly In Order Of Importance by John Gruber, Daring Fireball Safari started life in 2003 as a fast browser, at least by the then-low standards of Mac OS X web browsing, and it has gotten nothing but faster since. **** iDracula - Undead Awakening 1.0 For iPhone by Chris Barylick, Macworld iDracula is one of the most fun games I???ve had a chance to play on the iPhone and almost can???t be put down. The title stands on par with anything offered for the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, has incredible room to grow into something even better with a few updates and the inclusion of Wi-Fi-based co-op multiplayer gameplay and I can???t wait to see what happens in the future. **** The Mac Mini: Apple's Red-Headed Stepchild by Brian X. Chen, Wired Apple's shabby treatment of the device still leaves plenty of questions unanswered. **** Apple: Sales Layoffs Story Not True by Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider An Apple (AAPL) spokesman says Gawker's report that 50 salespeople were laid off yesterday is not true. **** China Unicom Confirms iPhone Talks With Apple by Sam Oliver, AppleInsider Bolstering reports from last month, the chairman of China Unicom has confirmed negotiations with Apple to bring the iPhone 3G to China, but so far there's no indication that a deal is close to fruition. **** Hero Of Sparta For iPhone by Chris Holt, Macworld While the plot is clich??d, the soundtrack is thin, and the combat can???t compare to higher-end console games, Hero of Sparta is one of the most entertaining and well-developed games I???ve seen for the iPhone. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Asus Launches Eee PC 1008HA Ultra-Thin Netbook by Liliputing **** Socialtext Adds Twitter-Like "Signals" And A Desktop AIR App by Erick Schonfeld, TechCrunch In yet another sign that this will be the year of the activity stream, Socialtext is adding a Twitter-like message stream to its enterprise wiki/workspace service. **** ZillionTV, The Next Generation Of Video On Demand by Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** The Unfinished by D. T. Max, The New Yorker David Foster Wallace???s struggle to surpass ???Infinite Jest.??? **** Read Me A Story, Mr. Roboto by Farhad Manjoo, Slate Why computer voices still don't sound human. **** Turning To Cube Steak, And Back To Childhood by Kim Severson, New York Times I am in love with the cube steak. There. It???s out. My madeleine is a piece of round steak mechanically mashed into submission. **** Too Many Kiddie Cooks Spoil The Broth by Regina Schrambling, Slate Why the child foodie movement has got to go. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Government Wiretapping Opposition? MHA Must Respond To State Department by Gerald Giam Imagine if Internal Security Department (ISD) officers ??? who are civil servants ??? are monitoring opposition party conversations and emails, and are reporting all their election strategies to the Prime Minister! I sure hope this is not happening, because I think the ISD and the PAP will lose every remaining shred of credibility if they do revolting things like that. If they don???t, then the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) should come out and strongly rebut this accusation by the US and state clearly that nothing of this sort happens in Singapore. **** No Passport For You In 10 Years by Arul John, New Paper Lawyer A P Thirumurthy said Judge Liew's order was in accordance with the sentencing guidelines for Tan's offences, but the Controller of Immigration has the authority to impose more restrictions because of his passport offence. I'm a bit surprised to learn that, according to ICA, "issuance of passports to Singaporeans is a privilege" and not a right. Something doesn't seem right. **** Open Letter To Dr Teo Ho Pin About Northwest CDC Staff Getting 8 Months Bonus In 2008 by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club I am writing to you express my concern over rumors circulating in cyberspace lately about Northwest CDC staff getting 8 months bonus including AWS in 2008. May I know what justify their 7 month bonuses (if the allegations were true) during such tough times when Singapore???s economy is mired in recession and is poised to contract between 5% and 8% this year ? **** ?????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ????????????CTE??????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ??????????????????20?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????premium?????????????????? **** Asian Budget Airlines Launch Price War by AFP Asian low-cost airlines are offering dirt-cheap tickets to perk up travel during the summer holidays amid the global economic downturn. **** Sands Singapore Resort On Track For December Open by The Associated Press Las Vegas Sands Corp., which suspended construction last year at two sites in Macau, said Wednesday it's on schedule to open a $5.4 billion Singapore casino resort in December. The casino operator said most of the 2,500-room Marina Bay Sands will be ready by the end of the year. It will be Singapore's first casino. **** Parliament Sits On Mar 23 by Straits Times **** GIC Assets Off 25 Pct, "Too Early" Buying Into Banks by Kevin Lim and Neil Chatterjee, Reuters The portfolio of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has fallen about 25 percent from its peak, partly because it was too hasty buying into toxic asset-hit global banks, the city-state's most influential minister said. Lee Kuan Yew said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that the asset managers of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) had pared equity holdings before the crisis from about 60 percent of the portfolio to 45-50 percent. **** ??????????????????2???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ???????????? ??????2????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** No Purpose In Having Early Elections, Says MM Lee by Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia Minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew said on Wednesday he does not see any purpose in having elections before 2011. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Thu Mar 5 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 5 Mar 2009 23:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 5, 2009 Message-ID: <20090305235900.7112.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** An iPhone Remote For A Media-Center Mac by Jason Brightman, Macworld Between Air Mouse Pro and the Apple Remote, I???ve managed to banish that keyboard and mouse from my living room forever. Now I can watch movies on iTunes, web videos via a browser, and just about any other kind of content I can think of, all while sitting on my couch with my iPhone. **** Analysts: Mac Buyers Still Pay More Than PC Buyers For Same Hardware 'Guts' by Eric Lai, Computerworld With most PC makers slashing prices or embracing cheaper models such as netbooks, Apple could be dangerously out of step. **** Five Fun Ways To Waste Time With Google Earth 5.0 by Diann Daniel, CIO **** New Safari Browser Succeeds At Speed, Flops On Features by Walter S. Mossberg, Wall Street Journal My verdict is that Safari 4 really is significantly faster than its rivals, but that its user-interface changes are a big disappointment. They either add relatively minor eye candy, are catch-ups to features introduced by rivals, or actually make the browser harder to use. **** Perhaps If They Think Of Their Win Mobile Devices As Broken iPhones... by John Paczkowski, Wall Street Journal We???re doing our best? Not the answer the questioner was looking for, I???m sure. For years, the iPod is the best-selling MP3 player on the Windows platform, and Microsoft -- as a platform owner -- failed to embrace (let alone extend) the device. Now, we are seeing the same mistake with iPhone, just because Microsoft happens to have a competing product. **** 'Diaper Dash' Game Latest In Task Management Craze by Peter Cohen, Macworld PlayFirst, publishers of the hugely successful casual game Diner Dash, have announced the latest game to round out the franchise: Diaper Dash, a game set in a daycare. **** Password Generator 2.0 For iPhone by George Sun, Macworld Thinking up a strong password when you need one right away is not always easy. Password Generator 2.0 for the iPhone and iPod touch simplifies the task of creating difficult-to-crack passwords for you by randomly spawning strings of passcodes based on variables of your choosing. **** Streamline E-Mail With Gmail by Joe Kissell, Macworld If you have lots of e-mail accounts, you can often streamline things by routing them through one account. Even though Mail and Entourage can check numerous accounts, having just one can simplify checking mail and filing messages (particularly if you use IMAP). It also makes checking your e-mail while you???re on the road easier (because you log in to one account instead of several). And if you use an iPhone, having one e-mail account means less tapping???unlike Mail in OS X, the iPhone???s Mail program doesn???t consolidate your inboxes in a single view. **** Analysis: Green Data Now Front And Center For Apple Products by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld Environmental impact now included on product information pages. **** Review: Shivering Kittens For iPhone Ideal For Puzzle Freaks by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica If you have ever found yourself addicted to Tetris, Bejeweled, Lumines, or anything of the puzzle game ilk, Shivering Kittens for iPhone and iPod touch is for you. Rescuing kittens has never been so addictive. **** AirPort Utility Update May Be Problematic by Joe Kissell, TidBITS So the evidence suggests there's a bug in AirPort Utility 5.4.1 that prevents it from reading the configuration of existing AirPort base stations and Time Capsules, even when directly connected via Ethernet. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Yahoo! Launches Major Challenge To Facebook Connect by Marshall Kirkpatrick, ReadWriteWeb Yahoo! Updates, the company's answer to Facebook Connect, became available on more than 600,000 websites today with the launch of a new partnership with commenting infrastructure company JS-Kit. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** In France, A War Of Memories Over Memories Of War by Michael Kimmelman, New York Times Even 46 years later, for the French the Algerian legacy is roughly akin to what the Civil War is for Spaniards. Everything to do with France???s colonial reign remains a flashpoint and open wound, above all the long and brutal war that ended it, but not least the legacy of the pieds noirs as occupiers or victims, depending on one???s perspective. Though often reluctantly, France is now confronting a history that it has frequently seemed as anxious to forget as, for many years, it was to forget the Vichy era. **** When Grandma Can't Be Bothered by Joanne Kaufman, New York Times For every Marian Robinson, who retired from her job to take full-time care of her grandchildren, Malia and Sasha Obama, while their parents were busy with other things last year, there is a Judy Connors, who loves her two grandchildren but has no interest in Candy Land, peekaboo or bedtime stories. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Rethink JTC Hive-Off Plan by Cheng Shoong Tat, Straits Times **** Political Blogs More Sophisticated But Obstacles Remain by Koh Yina and Teng Jing Wei ???People with opinions have always expressed their thoughts, but now, with the new media, they can bring it to a bigger audience,??? said ambassador Ong Keng Yong, chair of the seminar on the political blogosphere in Singapore, held at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). **** East Asia's Small Edens Of Trade Wilt As Need For Exports Dries Up by Keith Bradsher, New York Times As trade withers around the world and freighters sit empty at anchor, some of the most vulnerable economies are proving to be small, extremely globalized trading centers like Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan ??? and that is prompting a rethinking of their economic development strategies. **** Why Ho Ching Quit by Fiona Chan, Straits Times "It's got nothing to do with bad investments," said Lee Kuan Yew, "because when you go in aggressively into the market you must take the knocks when the knocs come." **** Judge Disallows Questions On CASE Protest by Singapore Democrats District judge Chia Wee Kiat disllowed the defence to submit video evidence showing a protest and march by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE). **** Online Civil Disobedience In Singapore by James Gomez Online civil disobedience is an important concept to mull over because in Singapore???s short internet history, it possible to make the claim that online civil disobedience is a precursor to the current offline civil disobedience which is organised with the help of online mobilization tools. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Fri Mar 6 18:59:01 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 6 Mar 2009 23:59:01 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 6, 2009 Message-ID: <20090306235901.44058.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Connect Flow Offers Updated FlickrExport 3.0 For iPhoto by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica Developer Fraser Speirs has released a new version of his FlickrExport plug-in for iPhoto '09, which offers several features over the built-in Flickr integration. A version for Aperture is also available. **** Test Driving The Kindle For iPhone by Carolyn Kellog, Los Angeles Times **** Review: Apple's New 17-In. MacBook Pro Rocks by Ken Mingis, Computerworld For most would-be owners, even the stock configuration will exceed their needs by orders of magnitude. Apple's newest laptop should handle anything thrown at it. If you've managed to avoid the belt-tightening that comes with a recession -- in other words, you've got the money and need to shave a few seconds off routine tasks -- go with the SSD, order the faster processor and double the RAM. **** Local Programmers Bite Into Apple's App Store by Lee Na-ri, Kim Chang-woo, JoongAng Daily Lee Chan-jin, head of the local Internet search engine DreamWiz, couldn???t believe his eyes when he recently visited Apple Inc.???s online App Store. There, Lee found that the fifth-most downloaded game, ???Heavy Mach,??? was created by someone named Byun Hae-joon. **** Apple So Far Immune To PC Price "Collapse" by Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune Apple is the exception to what one analyst describes as a ???permanent and structural??? collapse of PC pricing and revenue triggered by the onset of the recession and the rise of low-cost netbooks. **** Apple Store's Windows Get Georgetown Board's Okay by Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post After ordering the computer company to revise its plans four previous times, an architectural review board embraced Apple's new design yesterday for a store it plans to open on Wisconsin Avenue. Apple's glass storefront is to be broken into panels, echoing the bay windows and entrances that dominate Georgetown. "This is beautifully executed," Stephen J. Vanze, chairman of the Old Georgetown Board, told Karl Backus, Apple's architect. "We're very pleased." **** Apple Issues Key Software Update For Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme by Slash Lane, AppleInsider Apple on Thursday evening released a firmware update that resolves issues with the firmware shipping on its brand new Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme. It also adds Back to My Mac drive sharing support to the prior generation of the wireless products. **** EazyDraw 3.0 by David Karlins, Macworld Accessible, affordable drawing package appeals to all levels. **** Want All 25,000 iPhone Apps? That Will Be $71,442.69 by Mg Siegler, VentureBeat The most popular price? While you might assume it would be free, it???s actually $0.99 ??? by a long shot. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Obama's Timid Liberalism by Michael Lind, Salon Once, even Republican presidents like Eisenhower and Nixon believed in the public sector. Now, during a national crisis, a Democrat opts for inadequate, neoliberal, private-sector remedies. What happened? **** Going Negative by Jason Guriel, Poetry Magazine A ???necessary skeptic??? says what he really thinks about new books by Jane Mead, D.A. Powell and John Poch. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Why We Do What We Do by Singapore Democrats Because the PAP has absolutely no intention of allowing the opposition to win power through elections. **** What's Happening To Internet Radio Streaming Service In Singapore? by The Fire In My Life New legislature forming to stop the streaming of 'live' Internet radio in Singapore? **** Firefly Confident Of Getting Singapore Route by Bernama Community airline, Firefly remains upbeat about securing the Singapore route despite the fact that it has yet to secure the green light from the Ministry of Transport. **** Recession Puts Brakes On Globalization by UPI **** GIC Weighing Its Options On Citigroup Investment by Costas Paris, Wall Street Journal Government of Singapore Investment Corp. is considering a number of long-term options following its decision to convert its multibillion-dollar investment in Citigroup Inc. preferred shares into common stock, including a gradual reduction of its stake, according to people familiar with the matter. **** Electricity Tariff For Next Quarter Down To 18.03 Cents Per kWh by Hasnita A Majid, Channel NewsAsia This is the lowest rate in four years since April 2005. **** Lost For Words by Today In Singapore Maybe he???s mellowing. Maybe it???s China, and not any other Asian country. Maybe he remembered that, once, when he commented on the China-Taiwan tension, Deng Xiao Peng put him in his place with: ???This is between family, you are not family.??? **** Factual Errors In MM Lee's And Straits Times Figures On Performance Of Harvard And Yale Endowment Funds by Eugene Yeo and THomas Lew, The Wayang Party Club **** Trouble For The Switzerland Of The Orient by Asia Sentinel UBS's problems come home to roost in the island republic. **** Spice Girl by Jeanette Scott, The Australian A hot chilli shoved up my nostril seems an interesting way to start a morning that's shaping up to be equally full of heat. I am ambling about the lush confines of Fort Canning Park overlooking Orchard Road in the heart of Singapore. **** Lift Upgrading Programme To Be Completed As Scheduled In 2014 by Teoh Song Keng, Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia The Housing Development Board (HDB) said it's on track to complete its Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) by 2014. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sat Mar 7 18:59:01 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 7 Mar 2009 23:59:01 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 7, 2009 Message-ID: <20090307235901.31536.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** High App Spending Points To iPhone Lock-In by Adam C. Engst and Doug McLean, TidBITS With the iPhone, Apple is changing the game, because carrier lock-in helps AT&T, not Apple, and Apple isn't content to be just another mobile phone maker subject to the whims of the carriers. Instead, Apple is applying lessons learned from the Macintosh world to the mobile phone industry, and using the App Store and its applications as a way of generating platform lock-in on top of AT&T's contractual carrier lock-in. **** Public Radio Apps For iPhone by Jeffrey Hatton, Macworld The eclectic mix of news, talk, and music available over the airwaves courtesy of public radio stations throughout the U.S. would seem a perfect fit for the iPhone and iPod touch. **** iPhone Beats Windows Mobil To 25,000 Applications by Aayush Arya, Macworld **** May Or June? WWDC '09 Speculation Is Off And Running by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica Speculation about the 2009 Worldwide Developers Conference has already gotten off to a good start, with two possible dates being thrown around. Will Apple schedule WWDC '09 in May or June? Only the Magic 8 Ball knows. **** Apple Has No Cluse What's Going On With Dev Contracts by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica Apple seems to be caught flat-footed and unprepared for the upcoming deluge of developer renewals for its iPhone program, Ars has learned. Here's what we found regarding the status of both ADC and iTunes Connect renewals. **** TextTwist Turbo For iPhone by Lex Friedman, Macworld There???s room for a good version of TextTwist on the iPhone. TextTwist Turbo isn???t it. **** Nanny Mania 2 Game Released by Peter Cohen, Macworld Gogii Games, Macgamestore.com and Mac Games Arcade have announced the release of Nanny Mania 2, a new casual task management game for the Mac. **** Kindle For iPhone by Ben Boychuk, Macworld The Kindle app is certainly impressive. But as e-book apps go for the iPhone and iPod Touch, it???s not the best. I wouldn???t ???just say no,??? but I wouldn???t fret getting hooked, either. **** Cydia Opens Unauthorized iPhone App Store by Cyrus Farivar, Macworld **** Benchmarks: New Mac Minis by James Galbraith, Macworld Apple???s entry-level desktop benefit from new graphics chips. **** Apple Mac Mini (Nvidia GeForce 9400M) by Joel Santo Domingo, PC Magazine Green and compact, the Apple Mac mini makes a good second PC in the house, or a great home base PC for someone with an iPod or iPhone. **** New Visions In Health. New Vision Family Health Team. by Apple **** Loss Leader Not In Apple's Vocabulary by John Paczkowski, Wall Street Journal **** Finally Made The Switch To The Other Side... (AKA: A Former Windows User That Moved To Mac OS X) by Shannon McPherson's Web Log It???s official. Apple???s Mac OS X is my favorite opperating system. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Wall Street On The Tundra by Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair Iceland???s de facto bankruptcy???its currency (the krona) is kaput, its debt is 850 percent of G.D.P., its people are hoarding food and cash and blowing up their new Range Rovers for the insurance???resulted from a stunning collective madness. What led a tiny fishing nation, population 300,000, to decide, around 2003, to re-invent itself as a global financial power? In Reykjav??k, where men are men, and the women seem to have completely given up on them, the author follows the peculiarly Icelandic logic behind the meltdown. **** Beating Eggs by Pete Wells, New York Times I confess that I looked askance at the food allergies that seem to plague every classroom these days ??? where did they all come from? ??? until doctors told us that my son Dexter had a whole raft of them. He was a year old when we learned he would have to avoid tuna, clams and shrimp. And onions. And garlic. Peanuts, almonds, walnuts and cashews. Sesame and poppy seeds. Egg whites, chickpeas and lentils. Soybeans and anything containing soy, which by itself put about half the supermarket off limits. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Cunning Linguist by Groundnotes The truth is, the PAP government has never seen universities as sites of enquiry for enquiry???s sake or knowledge for knowledge???s sake. Perhaps the tumultuous student politics on campus during the 1950s and 1960s had something to do with this. Instead, the government sees universities as a place to produce people with the right skills for the market. **** Subscription TV Code Has Key Differences by Ginny Goh, Media Development Authority, Straits Times Subscription TV is a medium of choice and so more leeway is given. Subscription TV can carry content which is rated 16 or 18. However, there are also similarities. As Singapore is a multiracial society, there are key social values that are upheld in all our content codes. They include the need to be sensitive to content that is against the national interest, or which undermines social values, race and religion. **** An Old Way Of Thinking by Christopher Tan, Straits Times To the commuter, there is nothing "premium" about the NEL or CCL if they discount the million-dollar art installations gracing their stations. Fully underground MRT lines free up land, a scarce commodity in Singapore. The Government makes billions when it sells land above these lines. Often, the land sales pay for the cost of the entire line. **** Singapore To Endorse OECD Anti Tax-Evasion Rules by Reuters Singapore has agreed to endorse the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standard for the exchange of information through Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs), the finance ministry said. The ministry planned to amend laws in the middle of this year before seeking a parliamentary approval, it said in a statement released late on Friday. **** ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ??????????????? **** Civil Servant Called His Parents And Grandparents And His Great-Grandparents Stupid by Everyday's Life In A Snapshot - For Lesser Mortals Only Since when did he become an authority to speak on how dialects affect the use of languages? I personally learnt to speak dialects when I was young by just listening long enough to my parents??? conversations and I don???t think my Chinese and English was ever affected by it. **** Temasek To Keep Bank Of China Stake In H1 - Report by Andrew Torchia, Reuters Singapore state investor Temasek has promised not to sell its shares in Bank of China through at least the first half of this year, the bank's chairman was quoted as saying. **** A Response To MM Lee's Private Secretary On Dialects by Deng Chao, The Online Citizen Ignorance and bigotry are foolishness. Recognition of the heritage of our forefathers, and respect for diversity of our nation are not. **** Hey Stupid, Who Do You Call Stupid? by Civic Advocator If you show people respect, I show you respect. If you don???t show people respect, then I say **** off! Please Chee, don???t anyhow call people stupid. I know some very smart people who do not even know how to speak English. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sun Mar 8 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 8 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 8, 2009 Message-ID: <20090308225900.49099.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Dancing With The Woz by Daniel Lyons, Newsweek Jobs, his onetime partner, has spent the past 30 years battling with Microsoft over market share, flying around the world, haggling with business partners, screaming at engineers, introducing new products???basically living and breathing the daily battle of the business world. Woz has been out having fun. Which one would you rather be? **** Did Apple OK Price Cut On Latest MacBook Air? by Brooke Crothers, CNET At major resellers, the latest version of the high-end MacBook Air is now selling for--hold your breath--$2,399 instead of the listed $2,499 on the Apple web site. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Where To Pass The Torch? by Michael Winerip, New York Times In 1976, when a counseling job opened at the abortion clinic here, a 30-minute drive across the Mississippi River from her home in St. Louis, Ms. Baker grabbed it and never left, becoming the head of counseling at the Hope Clinic for Women. But here is the question: As Ms. Baker???s generation approaches retirement ??? women whose commitment to abortion was forged in the pre-Roe v. Wade days ??? will younger women take their places at the clinics? **** Riding The Rails by Andy Isaacson, New York Times I had ridden long-distance trains in India and China but never across my own country. I suppose that after two years of receiving images saturated in red, white and blue from all corners of the nation, I wanted to make my own. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Where's My Link To Pioneer MRT Station? by Singapore Bus Page This was one early opportunity for the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to showcase its role as the better planner of integrated travel, which it could have done by altering the bus routes (such as feeder services 242 and 243) in tandem with the opening of the two new train stations. At most, if it wants to reduce confusion amid all the hype, effect the changes by this weekend. If major nationwide changes could be carried out during the rationalisation phases in the 1990s, surely this would seem like child???s play for the planners up there? **** Who's Stupid? Dialect Or Principal Private Secretary? by Feed Me To The Fish **** Stabbing Incident In NTU - Is It Really An "Attack"? by Terence Lee, The Online Citizen Things may not be what they seem. **** Where's The Diplomacy? by Ian Tan, Empty Vessel Why do you think people leave Singapore and never want to come back? You teach them languages that are global, but you don???t let them hear and absorb languages that will keep them rooted. **** MM Lee: What Will They Say of Me After My Coffin Is Closed? by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club After he is long gone, he will be put into the rightful place together with other dictators like Suharto and Mahathir who curbed the civil rights of the people and democratic institutions of the land to serve to preserve and perpetuate their political hegemony. **** Elections Are Imminent Part 2 by Diary Of A Singaproean Mind Yes, ERP is beneficial to those who don't drive and don't pay ERP like myself. But I wonder what people who have no choice but to drive through it every morning think about it. It's a mistake to think that there are people with *no* choice. There's always a choice. It's whether you want to take the compromise. **** ?????????????????????????????? by ?????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Stupid, Indeed. by Life And Its M&Ms If this is the true stance of the government, then today, a little part of me, and a little part of my heritage, died. **** Request For Daily Singapore-Langkawi Flight by Sira Habibu, The Star The Chinese associations here have called on the Transport Ministry to allow AirAsia to fly direct between Singapore and Langkawi to boost tourist arrivals. **** Manifesto Checklist by Au Waipang, Yawning Bread A political manifesto should address the areas which need work in the coming term of office. Of course, if one had the time, it could be an infinitely long list, but here I will just keep it to the top ten priorities. These ten are, in my view, the key areas where the present situation falls far short of ideal, from the point of view of a liberal. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Mon Mar 9 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 9 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 9, 2009 Message-ID: <20090309225900.26517.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** My Trip To The Omaha Apple Store by Jeremy Schoemaker, ShoeMoney I left the Apple Store feeling more proud then ever to be an Apple user. **** Ars Reviews iLife '09: Publishing Online With iWeb by David Chartier, Ars Technica iWeb may not have received the majority of Apple's attention for iLife '09, but despite its drawbacks, it is finally the dead-simple Web design tool worthy of Apple's name. While iWeb still contains a number of irksome drawbacks and strange template design choices, the addition of choice via FTP publishing and fleshed-out widget support should turn a whole new set of heads toward giving iWeb a try. **** A Gamer's Take On The New Mac Mini by Peter Cohen, Macworld I???m delighted to see Apple finally bring the Mac mini in line with the rest of the Mac product line, and make it, for the first time, something that users with gaming interests beyond basic casual titles will be able to enjoy. **** Keep Working When You're Not Online by Joe Kissell, Macworld How to read e-mail, browse the web without net access. **** iStudio Publisher 1.0.4 by Jay Nelson, Macworld When iStudio Publisher 1.0.4 is updated to include a few more essential features, it will be perfect for people who want more power and freedom than Apple???s Pages ???09 offers. In the meantime, feel free to jump in and start using it now; the program is easy and fun, and the upgrade will be free. **** A Personal Assistant Premium For iPhone by Kate Dohe, Macworld A Personal Assistant Premium is a helpful app, though not nearly as powerful as it could be. **** Apple Shows Off Safari's HTML 5 Support by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld Apple posted a page on its Web site showing how HTML 5 will change what we can do on the Web and how it will look in Safari. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Webcam Brings 3-D To Topps Sports Cards by Eric A. Taub, New York Times Since the 1950s, Topps has sold baseball trading cards filled with photos and stats, bringing the game to life. Now the company is bringing its cards to life. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Grater by Ales Steger, The New Yorker **** Down And Out In Paris by Jeanette Winterson, The Guardian For half a century, a crowded bookshop on the Left Bank has offered food and a bed to penniless authors - the only rule is that they read a book a day. **** What's A Melody For? by Suzanne Vega, New York Times A melody is for expressing emotions: delight, passion, sadness. It reminds us of what we have felt and experienced before, in our own personal code of emotion and history. Priceless! **** Moderation And The Modern Mom by Anna Fricke, New York Times So it???s not the alcohol I miss. It???s the immaturity. The selfishness. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** I Did My Best, But Got A 'Black Mark' As Thanks by Lediati Tan, New Paper Nine years ago, I participated in a flag day for my secondary school's community involvement programme. For my efforts, I received a certificate of appreciation. But guess what? Next to my name on the certificate was a handwritten remark: 'could collect more next time out'. **** Let The Merlion Remain Scarred By Nature's Strike by Tan Mae Lynn, New Paper **** Don't Pass On High Costs Of Circle Line by Jason Chua, Straits Times **** Dialects Are Part Of Our Culture by Rhea Tan, Straits Times I appreciate that the Government has emphasised the use of good English and Mandarin to engage China and other countries. However, I completely disagree that encouraging the learning of dialects is 'stupid'. **** Allow Judges More Leeway In Sentencing by Carene Poh, Straits Times An increase in the variation of sentences would give judges more discretion and so better ensure that justice and fairness prevail in sentencing. **** Dialects Make Business Sense by Ang Kian Chuan, Straits Times **** Debunking The Erroneous Reporting In The Mainstream Media: THe David Hartonto Widjaja's Story by Darren Boon, The Online Citizen When news of a stabbing incident on the Nanyang Technological University campus broke on Monday morning, the mainstream media descended like a pack of wolves onto the story. However, the likes of OMY, Today, Channel News Asia, Asia One, and to a certain extent The Straits Times, had misrepresented information in their stories. **** Debunking The Erroneous Reporting In The Mainstream Media: The David Hartonto Widjaja's Story by Darren Boon, The Online Citizen When news of a stabbing incident on the Nanyang Technological University campus broke on Monday morning, the mainstream media descended like a pack of wolves onto the story. However, the likes of OMY, Today, Channel News Asia, Asia One, and to a certain extent The Straits Times, had misrepresented information in their stories. **** How Did We Allow Our Sovereign Wealth Funds To Lose So Much Money? by Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club It is a national shame for taxpaying citizens to depend on the ruling party perpetually for handouts and for our vote to be held ransom by it. **** Little Else Asia Can Do Than Spend More by AFP Asian governments need to roll out fresh stimulus measures to stop their economies from sinking further as the region reels from collapsing exports, regional analysts said. **** Lightning-Struck Merlion Expected To Re-Open In 2 Weeks by Channel NewsAsia Designed and built as a sculpture, the Merlion did not include a lightning conductor. However, STB is now studying the possible lightning protection measures for the Merlion Park to prevent similar incidents from recurring. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Tue Mar 10 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 10 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 10, 2009 Message-ID: <20090310225900.70854.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** App Store In Crisis As Apple Buckles Under The Weight Of New Apps And Developers by Milo Yiannopoulos, Telegraph Apple simply cannot handle the volume of developers and apps flooding to the iPhone. **** Why I Think Apple's Touchscreen Netbook Is Real by Om Malik, GigaOM Just as it redefined the MP3 player experience and reinvented the iPhone, Apple is going to pursue the netbook opportunity. But it won???t be with anything like the cheap, anorexic laptops being sold as netbooks today. **** Sources Confirm Apple Laid Off Salespeople Last Week by Tom Krazit, CNET Despite public statements to the contrary, Apple did lay off around 50 enterprise salespeople last week, CNET News has learned. Sources who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal confirmed reports by Valleywag and 9to5Mac.com that roughly 50 salespeople were let go by the company for "business and economic reasons," according to one source. An entire sales group based in Austin, Texas, was let go as well as workers in Cupertino, Calif., where Apple is headquartered. **** Reminder: Why I Switched To Mac In 2005 by Dave Winer, Scripting News I switched because I was Mired In Malware. **** What Should Apple Do - Scale Down Mac OS X Or Scale Up iPhone OS? by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet **** Apple Retail Keeps It Green During Fire Sale by Prince McLean, AppleInsider In its latest effort to positively impact the environment, Apple's retail stores have initiated a new "no plastic bags" policy to cut back on the amount of unnecessary packaging it dumps in the hands of shoppers. **** Jay Freeman Takes On Apple by David Needle, Internet News Jay Freeman stays plenty busy with his graduate studies in computer science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In his spare time he???s worked on applications for the iPhone, but now he???s competing against Apple itself. **** The Case For—And Against—An Apple Netbook by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica The rumor mill is churning once again after a Chinese newspaper says two companies are currently working on supplies for Apple's netbook. This seems to go against the Apple party line on netbooks, but we can think of two reasons for (and against) such a venture. **** Apple Denies OS X Monopoly Claims In Clone Case by Ryan Singel, Wired Apple denies claims from a clone Mac maker that it is abusing copyright law in order to prevent other companies from making computers that can run its Mac OS X operating system. **** Kindle For iPhone Not The Only E-Book Reader by Suzanne Choney, MSNBC Kindle for iPhone is not necessarily the program to have, but it???s a welcome addition to an already strong group of e-readers. **** Tips For Making The Switch To Apple by David Epstein, PC Magazine Though it's become much easier to switch, old Windows hands can avoid feeling like rank Mac newbies with these useful tips. **** Pano For iPhone by Tom Hesser, Macworld Pano is an amazing app for creating on-the-spot panoramic photos without the need of desktop software to stitch the photos together. Developed by Debacle Software, Pano does a very simple thing in principle, but the results are incredible given that this is something created by a mobile application. **** Sid Meier's Pirates! by David Allen, Inside Mac Games Firaxis/Feral have done a very good job with taking modest-budget graphics and investing them with class and humor, adding that to a collection of rather simple but still engaging mini-games, and placing the whole thing in a large and vital world that you will want to keep exploring for many many hours. This game is very much more than the sum of its parts, and I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone looking for a great value in an immersive game, and who isn't too hung up on bleeding-edge graphics. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Start-Up Caustic Targets Ray Tracing For Graphics by Jonathan Skillings, CNET A start-up called Caustic Graphics aims to etch a place for itself in PC graphics, using a technique more common in Hollywood than in Silicon Valley. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Distractions May Shift, But Sleep Needs Don't by Perri Klass, New York Times The bedtime routine may remain every bit as important as the bedtime. **** A Eulogy For My Father's Words by Andrew Leonard, Salon Critic and novelist John Leonard built grand cathedrals out of language. His son pays tribute to his lexicon and his passion. **** Experimental Nonfiction by Jennifer Fisher Wilson, The Smart Set Science can't solve the mystery of life, but it can make it a lot more fascinating. **** The Vanishing Sidekick by Alessandra Stanley, New York Times Former Vice President Dick Cheney may share some blame. He stretched the job description so far to fit his own agenda that the definition of ???vice??? lost its secondary meaning. **** Workers Without Borders by Jennifer Gordon, New York Times The solution lies in greater mobility for migrants and a new emphasis on workers??? rights. **** They Tried To Outsmart Wall Street by Dennis Overbye, New York Times Dr. Derman, who spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs and became managing director, was a forerunner of the many physicists and other scientists who have flooded Wall Street in recent years, moving from a world in which a discrepancy of a few percentage points in a measurement can mean a Nobel Prize or unending mockery to a world in which a few percent one way can land you in jail and a few percent the other way can win you your own private Caribbean island. **** Bad Infinity by T.R. Hummer, Slate **** On Campus, Vampires Are Besting The Beats by Ron Charles, Washington Post Here we have a generation of young adults away from home for the first time, free to enjoy the most experimental period of their lives, yet they're choosing books like 13-year-old girls -- or their parents. The only specter haunting the groves of American academe seems to be suburban contentment. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** ???????????????SARS????????????????????????????????? by ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ?????????????????????????????????????????????? by ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Survey Shows Bleak Job Prospects Across Seven Industry Sectors In Q2 by Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia Prospects look bleak for some job-seekers if a recent survey by HR firm Manpower Staffing Services is anything to go by. **** Fundamental, Systemic Flaws In The HDB Resale Process by Ed Tan, Today I see the fundamental problem is the existence of loan sharks and their tactics; the root of this problem lies with MHA, not HDB. **** A Constitutional Right: MinLaw by Chong Wan Yieng, Press Secretary To Minister For Law, Today As was mentioned in our earlier letter, our legal heritage is a broadly worded Constitution. We can either maintain this approach, or we can adopt an elaborate one, seeking to make all implicit rights express. Some governments have done so. But having express voter rights in a Constitution is not necessarily an effective safeguard against an unknowable and possibly unjust future. **** ??????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? The problem with ideas such as these is that the process break down horribly during exceptional cases, punishing honest users hard. **** A Desperate Need For Change by Ceritalah, The Star Past achievements and former glories amount to very little in the face of mounting expectations from increasingly well-educated and demanding voters, especially during periods of economic uncertainty. **** Jobs For Singaporeans Or Foreigners? by Jeremy Koh, The Wayang Party Club While we should not shut our doors completely to foreigners, the interests of Singaporeans must come first during this difficult period. Save for jobs requiring special skills and rejected by Singaporeans, hiring companies should be mandated to fill up all vacancies with locals first before turning to foreigners. **** Singapore Library - Sengkang Library Is Probably The Second Worst Library In Singapore by For Everything There Is A Season Sengkang Library is probably the only library (and I frequent libraries all over Singapore) that has no proper chairs and not a single table. **** The Media's Agenda Against The Singapore Democrats by Singapore Democrats Melodramatic? Alarmist? No, we call it like it is. **** Why Singaporeans Must Leave Singapore by Ian On The Red Dot Singaporeans need to leave Singapore to grow. Away from the eyes of well-intentioned and kaypoh friends, we have a chance to change. **** GIC: Forced Selling Seen By Investors In Next 12-18 Months by Kevin Lim and Saeed Azhar, Reuters A Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) official said on Tuesday he expects more forced selling of assets by investors in the next 12-18 months as the "de-leveraging" in financial markets continues. **** Singapore More Expensive City by Straits Times Singapore has become a more expensive city to live in, according to a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit . It moved up five notches - from 15th spot six months ago - to become the 10th costliest city to live in the world, said the EIU in a survey on the worldwide cost of living released on Monday. **** Why Arrested Persons Shouldn't Have Lawyers by Au Waipang, Yawning Bread That police work and the practice of law is never perfect and has continuously to be improved, is hardly news. In Singapore however, it should be, because the improvements that are needed are so fundamental. Why are things so backward here? **** Singapore's Broadband Penetration Past 100 Per Cent by Alfred Siew, Techgoondu I???d say this watershed, now that we???ve reached it, should mark the start of even more efforts to bring broadband to those who don???t have it. **** Job Losses This Year Expected To Exceed 29,000, Says SNEF by Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia This year's retrenchment figures are likely to bust the record of 29,000 jobs lost in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, according to Singapore National Employers Federation???s (SNEF???s) president, Stephen Lee. **** Temasek Clarifies To MM Lee About CEO Succession List by Lau Joon-Nie, Channel NewsAsia Temasek Holdings has informed Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew that internally, it has several candidates ??? mostly in their late-30s and 40s ??? with CEO potential. **** ???????????????????????????????????????????????? by Crazy Life ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Amazing U-Turn By MM Lee Yet Again! by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club With statements so short of details and full of inconsistencies, it appears that the press release issued today is nothing more than a damage control exercise to minimize the fallout from his earlier indiscretion. That MM Lee finds it fit to issue a press release to clarify his remarks made last week while many of his words in previous are still yet to be held accountable for is a reflection of the rising public tension and resentment on the ground. **** Teo Ho Pin Replies To Reader's Email On CDCs Bonus: This Is Confidential by The Wayang Party Club "I asked if staff got 7-8 months bonus. It is a general and justified question to ask as funds come from tax payers. It is therefore not out of order to ask this simple question and receive a direct reply esp in the face of many people losing their jobs and having their salaries cut." From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Wed Mar 11 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 11 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 11, 2009 Message-ID: <20090311225900.74223.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Adobe Fixes Security Vulnerability With Acrobat 9, Reader 9 by Jonathan Seff, Macworld Adobe on Tuesday fixed a critical security vulnerability in its Acrobat 9 and Reader 9 applications, which the company said "would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system." **** Apple's Wozniak Using Twitter, Facebook To Survive Dancing by Sharon Gaudin, Computerworld Technology has long paid off for Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak and he's expecting nothing less now that he's on Dancing with the Stars. **** Is Apple Turning Its Back On The Enterprise by Erik Sherman, BNET My guess is that Apple sees the writing on the wall and is deemphasizing even more the business market because it knows that is not the company???s strong suit. **** iTunes 8 Users Grapple With Missing Dolby Surround Sound by Aidian Malley, AppleInsider Viewers hoping to hear 5.1-channel Dolby audio from movies and TV shows on Apple's iTunes Store are being frustrated by a known bug that disables the surround feature in software. **** Apple Rejects Twitter App Because There's Swearing On The Internet by Dan Moren, Macworld Here???s the catch: the obscenity was in Tweetie???s Trends feature, shown at left, which scans the social networking to find the most popular keywords that people are talking about (and no, the obscenity in question was not "Kindle," smartypants). If there???s a naughty word in that section, it???s not because Tweetie???s developers put it there, but because people on Twitter were talking about it. It???s akin to rejecting the app because somebody was posting swears to their Twitter feed. **** Hands On With Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid by Charlie Sorrel, Wired The EyeTV has a ridiculous amount of functionality which I haven't even touched yet. As a straight up TV replacemant, though, it is outstanding —good quality and easy to use. **** Is Apple Lying About Layoffs? by Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider Big picture, this means nothing to Apple's business. But it doesn't help us trust that Apple is telling us — or the public, or its investors — the truth. **** App Store Lessons: Navigating Apple Reviewer Pitfalls by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica When Apple's staff of application reviewers makes a blunder, what should you do? Sometimes, you should just roll over and take it. Agreeing to changes, no matter how inappropriate, is often the quickest path to getting your program into App Store. **** iTunes Store Gift Codes Fall Prey To Hackers by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica The secure algorithm that generates iTunes Store gift codes has apparently been duplicated by hackers. $200 iTunes gift cards are being sold in China for just a few dollars each, and the problem seems to be getting worse. **** Blocked For iPhone by James Savage, Macworld It is the perfect puzzle game for those quick moments during the day when you???ve got some time to kill and a puzzle to solve. **** TextSoap Adds New Actions, Automator Options by Peter Cohen, Macworld TextSoap helps you ???clean??? text while maintaining formatting. You can clean text based on its format or format based on text contents. More than 100 built-in cleaners are included, and custom cleaners are also available and can be created. **** Create Application-Specific Smart Folders In Leopard by Rob Griffiths, Macworld **** Is The Mac Mini Overpriced? by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld I understand everyone wants the lowest cost computer they can get???so do I. But I think there is a point when the lower price starts to affect the quality of the machine you are getting. I would rather see Apple stay on the quality side of that line. **** iPhone Developer Takes Measures To Combat Piracy by Aayush Arya, Macworld **** On The Renaming Of Xcode Projects by Arustisha What constitutes ???renaming??? or ???cloning??? may mean very different things to very different people, and depending on how thoroughly you???ve embedded the old name in source, filenames, build settings, string constants, etc. you may have a lot of manual work to do in order to achieve the results you want. **** Apple Backs Down: Tweetie With Swear Words For All! by Mg Siegler, Venture Beat At the end of the day, we have what we wanted: A new version of Tweetie in the App Store (it should be live tonight). **** iPhone, iPod Prototypes On eBay Bug Apple by Jennifer Bosavage, ChannelWeb Apple iPod and iPhone prototypes were on the loose on eBay recently — but they were yanked off before they could be sold, at least through the popular auction site. **** Apple: Was February The Bottom For Mac Sales? by Eric Savitz, Barrons **** Apple Erases Prototype iPhones From History by Charlie Sorrel, Wired Could this be one of those handsets "loaded with fake software"? **** Feeds For iPhone by Kate Dohe, Macworld App???s options, Google Reader integration make it a powerful RSS tool. **** Apple Unveils New iPod Shuffle by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld The shuffle has always been Apple???s smallest iPod, but now it is nearly half the size of the previous model. All of the controls for the Shuffle are located on the earphone chord, allow you to play, pause, adjust volume, switch playlists and hear the name of the song and artist. Me thinks that Apple has really gone too far with the no-buttons idea. You can't use an ordinary piece of headphones with this new shuffle! **** Jobs For iPhone by Dale Gardner, Macworld Time-tracker offers simple, though functional way to log billable hours. **** The New iPod Shuffle: Button, Button, Who's Got The Button? by Dan Moren, Macworld If you ask me, the war on buttons has gone too far. The new iPod shuffle takes a step back in both the usability and compatibility departments. **** iTunes 8.1 Coming Soon With Speed Improvments, Says Apple by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica Apple's iTunes page lists out a few things that users can expect from the upcoming update (scroll to the bottom). Speed improvements when loading large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, and syncing devices will be coming with iTunes 8.1, as well as Genius sidebar updates that will include recommendations for TV shows and movies (right now, Genius sidebar only recommends music). **** iPhone's Zen Bound Offers Beautiful UI, Great Puzzles by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica Zen Bound offers an extremely playable, beautifully designed gaming experience for the iPhone. Between its compelling gameplay and interactive delights, it offers very good value for its five dollar price. It's fun, it's stable, it's beautiful, and it offers something unique and iPhone-like in its current App Store incarnation. **** 15-Inch MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo/2.66GHz by James Galbraith, Macworld Subtle update returns subtle performance improvements. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** How Simple Features Become Complicated by Rafe Colburn, rc3.org This is why I generally forbid the use of the word ???just??? when people are making feature requests. **** Making Robots Give The Right Glances by Kristina Grifantini, MIT Technology Review By mimicking nonverbal actions, robots could become better assistants. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Rising To The Occasion by Barbara Ehrenreich & Bill Fletcher Jr., The Nation But we do understand—and this is one of the things that make us "socialists"—that the absence of a plan, or at least some sort of deliberative process for figuring out what to do, is no longer an option. **** In A Charmed Life, A Road Less Traveled by Laying Martine Jr., New York Times We knew we had a lot to learn, but we had no idea how much. **** Virginia, Jean, And Flannery: A Good Role Model Is Easy To Find by Carlin Romano, The Chronicle Of Higher Education Woolf, Rhys, and O'Connor sounds like a law firm, and indeed it could be ??? a firm sure to lay down clear laws and illuminating precedents for women writers. **** The Lost Art Of The Irish Pub by Steven Kurutz, New York Times For a half-Norwegian guy from Long Island, Bill Barich knows a thing or two about Irish pubs. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ??????, ???????????? **** Singapore Airlines Is Seeking Greater Aussie Access by The Australian In a submission to the National Aviation Policy lodged last week, the Singaporeans ramped up their rhetoric as they renewed their call for increased liberalisation of international air routes into and out of Australia. **** Indonesia, Singapore Sign Border Deal by Jakarta Globe The agreement, which ends five years and eight rounds of negotiations, defined a 12.1 kilometer-stretch along the western segment of the two countries??? joint maritime border. **** Geylang Adventure by Chad In Singapore Until my weekend excursion I mistakenly believed I was exploring the ???real??? Singapore by adventuring past the malls and instead slipping through alleyway markets far from the financial district. **** Reckless Cyclists Remain A Menace To Pedestrians by Linda Ho, Straits Times I am frustrated and helpless as a pedestrian against reckless cyclists riding along pedestrian walkways. **** Shaw Centre Risks Losing Tenants To Upcoming Malls by Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia It seems clear that older developments like Shaw Centre need to redevelop soon or risk losing tenants to newer malls. **** Singapore Needs A Support Ecosystem For Its Startups by Young Upstarts It???s not about the lack of money. There are good schemes out there for startups to tap on. I am referring to the lack of a support system - the media, for example, and legal, financial, public relations and other kinds of consultancy services that cater to the unique needs of a startup. **** US Move Puts Kink In Talent Flow Here? by Loh Chee Kong, Today As the United States on Monday lifted barriers on embryonic stem cell research, and with South Korea set to also review its ban, Singapore could see its influx of international scientists slow. But while the latest developments could dim Singapore???s allure a little, any impediment to its research efforts would ???not be significant???, said scientists here ??? especially when set against the boost the new US policy is expected to bring to international stem cell research. **** Why You Should Finish NS Before Poly by Denis Edward, Today A lengthy pause from this type of study can hinder their knowledge of the trade and may affect their examination results in universities. **** Is It RIP For Singapore Internet Radio? by Mayo Martin, Today After an amendment to the Copyright Act in December, broadcasters here have been locked in talks with the Recording Industry Performance Singapore (RIPS). A MediaCorp spokesperson explained to Today that, previously, radio stations were exempted from paying record companies when the songs played over the Internet were part of a radio simulcast, but now this exception only applies to broadcasts over the airwaves. Please note the inherent conflict of interest while reading this article: Today is published by MediaCorp, which also operates a number of internet radio streams. Similarly, if you are reading the Straits Times, remember, too, that SPH operates a number of internet radio streams in its partnership with NTUC. **** Singapore Airlines Asks Staff To Take Unpaid Leave by Kevin Lim, Reuters Singapore Airlines, the world's biggest airline by market value, has asked staff to take unpaid leave for up to two years in a bid to reduce costs. **** The Myth Of The PAP Singapore's Miracle Part II by Everyday's Life In A Snapshot - For Lesser Mortals Only It is time Singaporeans truly question PAP???s real role in Singapore???s development, and step up the ante to push for change that Singapore clearly need, and not clearly accept what the PAP government has to tell us about what they have done in the past. **** Is It RIP For Singapore Internet Radio? Probably. by Rubenerd I???m going to be blunt, it???s for the same reason why internet radio has been stifled so many times in the US: arrogant old media authorities who pretend to be working in the interests of artists and the public when in fact they???re trying to milk their dying cash cows for all they???re worth and crush new technologies that could be percieved as a threat. **** No Singaporean Fit To Manage Our Country's Reserves? by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net I refuse to take this episode at face value, especially coming from a politician not exactly known for his graciousness in admitting his errors. MM Lee???s initial remarks clearly reveal that he had knowledge of Temasek???s internal succession planning and that no Singaporean within Temasek was up to the job of CEO in his honest opinion. His backtracking is evidently made to ameliorate the backlash that would arise from inadvertently admitting that the PAP system has failed to produce talents capable to running the show. **** Singapore, Sydney Top For Chinese Workers by AFP Singapore's much better air quality, low crime rates and good services give it the edge over other Asian capitals like Hong Kong, where pollution is a big drawback, human resources consultancy ECA International said today. **** Switzerland, Austria Added To Tax Blacklist - Paper by Anna Willard, Reuters Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, Singapore and Hong Kong will be added to the OECD's list of non-cooperative tax centres, French newspaper La Tribune said on Wednesday, without giving details of its source. The newspaper said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development would include around 30 countries out of 84 that were examined. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Thu Mar 12 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 12 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 12, 2009 Message-ID: <20090312225900.9552.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Apple's New iPod Shuffle Mistake by Kirk McElhearn, Kirville While this new shuffle may be right for some, I???m sure that many users are going to complain about it. **** Apple iPod Shuffle Tag Line: Stretching The Truth A Little? by Thomas Fitzgerald Well, if the whole speaking tracks thing sounds familiar, it???s because Apple???s own iPod nano has a similar feature called ???spoken menus???. **** New iPod Shuffle Requires Extra Adapter For Third-Party Headphones by Nilay Patel, Engadget Yes, Apple's cheapest iPod is now the most needlessly complex, and far from cost-effective if you want to use your own cans. **** Is Apple About To Shuffle The Headphone Industry Again? by Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider Is Apple in the process of reinventing the way mainstream headphones are designed for the second time this decade? **** iSynth Brings Microsoft's Powerful 3D Photo Viewer Photosynth To The iPhone by Jason Kincaid, TechCrunch Photosynth stitches together user-submitted photos of the same subject, allowing users to ???fly-through??? the area by clicking on each successive photo. The technology works best in places and events with many user-submitted photos (popular Synths include the Taj Mahal and President Obama???s inauguration). **** Another Take On Apple's New iPod Shuffle by Christopher Breen, Macworld I???m trying to apply old iPod rules???one where the iPod is as flexible as Apple can make it???to a device that is clearly directed at a specific user???one who accepts it for what it is and nothing more. **** Welcome To The 1980s—App Store Game Compilation Appears by Craig Grannell, Cult Of Mac Compilations were the other thing that broke 1980s gaming in the UK, since almost every half-decent game ended up on a compilation eventually. **** Ten Surprises - Good + Bad - In Apple's Third-Gen iPod Shuffle by Jeremy Horwitz, iLounge Though the prior-generation model was capable of playing individually synchronized podcasts, the new iPod shuffle supports sequential audio podcast synchronization???it can automatically synchronize a series of podcasts, rather than just specific episodes. **** Apple Now Rejects iPhone Apps Because They 'Ridicule Public Figures' by Jason Chen, Gizmodo **** iTunes 8.1 Now Available For Download by Eric Silvka, MacRumors.com "iTunes 8.1 is now faster and more responsive. You will enjoy noticeable improvements when working with large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, preparing to sync with iPod or iPhone, and optimizing photos for syncing." **** Apple's War On Buttons by The Killfile The multi-function button on the new Shuffle is different. Playlists aren't a bonus feature (unless you're coming from an older Shuffle), but an essential part of the product for which there is no obvious path to discovery. **** Apple Updates Front Row, Remote For iTunes 8.1 by Jim Dalymple, Macworld **** New Apple iPod Shuffle: Don't Leave Work Early To Get It by Ginny Mies, PC World I am baffled as to why Apple would announce immediate in-store availability, but not actually deliver. **** Apple Cuts Down "A Real Tree," Shuns Charity Apps by Darrell Etherington, The Apple Blog In the email, Mokugift???s representative describes how Apple called them a week ago to inform them that A Real Tree would need to be altered or would be removed from the App Store. The reason given was that a new policy was in place prohibiting apps from claiming to do anything beyond themselves, and that any and all applications related to charity were also no longer permitted. **** Apple's Silence Feeds Talk Of New Gadget by Yukari Iwatani Kane, Wall Street Journal With chief executive Steve Jobs out on medical leave, Apple Inc. hasn't announced a major new product this year. That has freed the rumor mill to churn about what new gadgets the company may be preparing to launch. **** Review: Things For Mac And iPhone by Jonathan Steele, Neowin.net **** Playing To Win Big On The iTunes App Store by Marie Boran, Silicon Republic At just 20 years of age, Steven Troughton-Smith is a student of digital-media engineering at Dublin City University, and also a successful developer of iPhone applications for Apple???s iTunes App Store. **** Hackintoshing Can Be Fun, But You Better Be Ready For It by Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times Boy, how things have changed. Installing Mac OS X on this Dell Mini 9 wasn???t as simple as installing it on a Mac, but it was far easier than many of my experiences installing Windows. The Hackintosh community has three years of experience under its belt. Specific machines (like the Mini 9) that can run Mac OS X graciously have been identified and the techniques and software to make it happen have become increasingly simple and sophisticated. **** Mac Mini 2009 Edition by Dan Frakes, Macworld The new Mac mini models provide the most significant upgrades to the line yet, offering slightly better CPU performance, considerably improved video capabilities, increased expandability, and better wireless technology. The result is that for the first time, the Mac mini is a computer that???s truly capable of handling the iLife suite. **** Pixie by Franklin Pride, Inside Mac Games Pixie is a clone that definitely does not measure up to its 1996 counterpart. It takes a few steps back on difficulty and has almost nothing tactical about it. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** GrandCentral To (Finally) Launch As Google Voice. It's Very, Very Good. by Leena Rao, TechCrunch MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Voyage Of A Girl Moored In Brooklyn by Felicia R. Lee, New York Times Paule Marshall???s coming-of-age novel, ???Brown Girl, Brownstones,??? put her on the map 50 years ago with a new kind of coming-of-age story, that of a second-generation West Indian girl in Brooklyn. Now, at 79, she is on tour for her latest book, ???Triangular Road??? (Basic Civitas Books), a slim memoir recounting her beginnings as a writer, listening to the casually poetic language of women like her mother, and how the search for her own voice took her to far-flung places. **** Missouri Chinese: Two Cultures Claim This Chicken by John T. Edge, New York Times Cashew chicken, in the form first cooked by Mr. Leong nearly a half-century ago, is not the stir-fry served by many Chinese-American restaurants. Around Springfield, cashew chicken ??? deep-fried chicken chunks in a brown slurry of soy sauce, oyster sauce and stock, scattered with green onions and halved cashews ??? is the culinary common denominator. It???s a weeknight dinner, bought from a drive-through. It???s a weekday plate lunch, accompanied by fried rice and an egg roll. **** When Men Lose Their Jobs by Emily Bazelon, Slate Could they be doing more around the house? SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** STOMP: Now You Can Show Your Ignorance To The Whole World by mrbrown I don't know which is worse. The ignorance of Singapore history or the ignorance of the various meanings of the word "Gay". **** Tax Havens Likely To Be Target Of G-20 Nations by Matthew Saltmarsh, New York Times **** Panel To Examine Child's Fall by Kimberly Spykerman, Straits Times The Tanjong Pagar Town Council announced on Wednesday plans to appoint an independent panel to investigate the fall of Siti Nur Aini, 7, who plunged four storeys through a gap in a metal railing at her home on Sunday afternoon. **** It Is Efficient, Say Principals by Veena Bharwani, New Paper An education ministry spokesman said that schools need to keep track of staff members to ensure that student activities are looked after and classes are attended to. But schools have the liberty to decide how they want to keep track of their teachers. **** Here's The Principle: Lead By Example by S Murali, New Paper If you believe in something, shouldn't you lead by example? **** 'Leave Election To Another Time' by Lediati Tan, New Paper Focus on the economy. Now is not the time for politics. These are the views of an overwhelming number of Singaporeans polled by The New Paper. **** Another Day, Another Death. by Most Of The Time The intercom blasted to life, ordering us out of the MRT through the driver's cabin. Through it, we heard the distinct siren of an ambulance. We knew what had happened. **** ???????????????????????????????????? by ??????, ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????DNA??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Dr Allan Ooi's Farewell Letter And Last Words Before Hs Death: Questions For SAF To Answer by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club We need to know what exactly happen so that we will not see a repeat of such tragedies again. **** ?????????????????????????????????????????? ???22??????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Animal Welfare Groups Oppose Whale Sharks At Singapore Casino by AFP Seven local and international animal welfare groups have launched an online campaign opposing plans by a Singapore casino developer to import whale sharks for its planned oceanarium. **** CPF Interest Rate For Special, Medisave An Retirement Accounts (SMRA) From 1 April 2009 To 30 Jne 2009 by CPF Board, Singapore Government **** 2 Singaporean Members Of JI Released, Says Home Affairs Ministry by Channel NewsAsia The Ministry of Home Affairs said Mohamed Ellias Mohamed Khan and Ja'afar Mistooki were released on January 5 this year. Both men were arrested in December 2001 and detained under the ISA in January 2002 for their involvement in the JI's plans to mount terrorist attacks against several targets in Singapore. **** Shameless SPH Forced To Publish Dr Allan Ooi's Farewell Letter With A Different Spin To Mislead The Public And To Save Its Own Ass!! by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club Sin Ming chose to leave out the most critical sentence of Dr Ooi???s letter - ???That (work) was certainly the main cause of the severing of ties???. At that time of his departure, Dr Ooi was very angry at SAF purportedly for not allowing him to break his bond, not because he was heart-broken. Shame on Sin Ming to attempting to pull a wool over our eyes again to smear the poor doctor who is unable to defend himself! **** SPH Cuts Staff Pay By Between 2% And 10% by Channel NewsAsia Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) is cutting the pay of its 3,000 staff by between 2% and 10% from next month. SPH said in a statement that the actual pay cut will depend on each staff's current pay package. Channel NewsAsia is published by MediaCorp, who has joint operations with SPH in television and newspaper operations. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Fri Mar 13 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 13 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 13, 2009 Message-ID: <20090313225900.53576.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** iPhone Sales Grew 245% In 2008 - Gartner by Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune Apple???s iPhone was the fastest-growing smartphone of 2008, despite end-of-year sales that failed to maintain the blistering pace set in July with the launch of the iPhone 3G, Gartner researchers reported Wednesday. **** CBS To Stream March Madness Games Live To The iPhone by Zach Spear, AppleInsider CBS Sports announced Thursday plans to stream NCAA March Madness basketball games live to Apple's iPhone and iPod touch through a new application, but with a WiFi-only requirement and price tag of $4.99, many fans may choose to watch tournament for free on their Mac, PC, or big TV. **** Remember That Great Hike? My iPhone Does by David F. Gallagher, New York Times **** Review: Oregon Trail For IPhone Is Tween Crack by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica Oregon Trail the iPhone game delivered the educational connection it promised: it's bringing that part of history to life for my kids, captivating their imagination, and helping them apply their critical thinking skills to solving problems along the way. **** HP iPrint Photo For iPhone by James Savage, Macworld I tested iPrint Photo with several HP printers on my local network with excellent results. **** iPhone book readers: eReader, Bookshelf, iFlow by Ben Boychuk, Macworld Trio of apps have their pluses, but also flaws that keep them from out of the head of the class. **** Apple Plans iPhone Software 3.0 Event by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld Apple on Thursday sent out invitations to select media about an event the company will hold at its Cupertino, Calif. headquarters on March 17, 2009. The event will focus on iPhone software 3.0, the next generation operating system for the device. **** Making Sense Of OS X's Folder Structure by Christopher Breen, Macworld "I???ve never understood about OS X is the multiple Library folders." **** Create Clickable Links To Mail Messages In Stickies by Rob Griffiths, Macworld Here???s a simple tip for those of you who rely on Stickies as a catch-all for reminders, to-dos, and other bits of trivia (text or graphics) that you like to keep handy. **** Third-Generation iPod Shuffle: What You Need To Know by Jason Snell, Macworld When you turn on the shuffle with anything plugged into the headphone jack, it will begin automatically playing. So a workaround, especially for car-stereo types, is to pick your playlist and volume on the stock Apple set of headphones, then unplug those headphones and plug in your own cord. **** Mystery Of Missing iTunes Genius Feature Solved by Dan Moren, Macworld "The feature isn't live yet, but it will be in the coming days." **** Apple Revamps iTunes Review System: Now Version Specific by TouchArcade Apple added a new feature to the App Store customer reviews that separates user reviews based on version number. **** Apple Logo Modded As Secondary LCD by Thomas Ricker, Engadget **** VirtualBox 2.1.4 by Rob Griffiths, Macworld With the addition of hardware virtualization, support for 64-bit guest operating systems, and OpenGL support, VirtualBox has become an even-better free solution. **** Tricky Choices Face Apple Engineers Working On Netbook/Touch Device by David Zeiler, Baltimore Sun **** John Kramer Shows Us Why You Can Never Trust An Apple Rumor by Apple Gazette Kramer actually tells the host of this video program how important it is to spread a rumor about Apple to help manipulate the stock. **** Benchmarks: New iMacs by Roman Loyola, Macworld The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Design Your Dream House, Lamps And All by Ashlee Vance, New York Times Budding home designers and decorators can now create realistic homes and stock them with virtual furniture, appliances and decorative products using a free online tool from Autodesk, which makes a wide range of powerful design software. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Global Motherf*ckers by Nina Shen Rastogi, Slate Does every culture use the suggestion of maternal incest as an insult? **** Parks That Can Migrate With Animals by Moises Velasquez-Manoff, ABC News As climate change pushes animals out of their protected areas, governments must migrate with them. **** Today's Lesson: Cutting Up by Jane Black, Washington Post At a time when consumers are cutting back on just about everything, entrepreneurs are betting that cooking classes are the way food lovers will feed their passion. **** How Science Fiction Found Religion by Benjamin A. Plotinsky, City Journal Once overtly political, the genre increasingly employs Christian allegory. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Unncecessary Use Of Lights In Underpasses During The Day by Ong Lay Teap, Straits Times The fluorescent lights are switched on even during sunny days. The lights serve no purpose as the underpasses are very bright. **** Why It Can't Be More Of The Same by Susan Long, Straits Times Now that Singapore is stalled by the world's deepest slump yet, it is time to start a national conversation on its identity and values as a nation. **** Room For Another Transport Operator by Samuel Ee, Business Times There is room for another public transport operator here, a local economist said. **** Tax Havens Make Concessions As Pressure Mounts by Lisa Jucca, Reuters The OECD praised recent moves by Singapore, Hong Kong, Andorra, Isle of Man, Liechtenstein and the Cayman Islands. "Moves by a number of financial centres over recent weeks have given a welcome boost to efforts to promote transparency and exchange of information on tax matters," OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said in a statement. **** Singapore's GIC RE Unfazed By $360m Hit by Florence Chong, The Australian In less than a year, one of the world's top 10 property investors, the Singapore-based GIC Real Estate (GIC RE), has lost more than $360 million in just two investments in Australia. **** Friends Of Dr Allan Ooi Speak Out In Defence Of Him by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club "Whatever he wrote in the letter about having his bond extended against his will etc is true. It has happened to many saf docs??? there are many of us stuck in this system now." "His calling was to heal and help others. He had the means to but not the chance to." **** 2 In 5 Sexually Harassed by My Paper Two in five young women here had been sexually harassed on public transport like buses and trains. To make matters worse, more than 95 per cent of them kept mum and did nothing about it. **** A House Divided by The Online Citizen Admittedly, it is still early in the recession, but the initial public reaction to a recent litany of letdowns is nevertheless instructive: frustration and disbelief at revelations of losses at the country???s sovereign wealth funds, compounded by unease that the government might still be withholding the full story; disquiet over the incessant stream of retrenchments and the seeming impotence of labour unions; incredulity that a government minister renewed his suggestion that Singaporeans should retire in cheaper overseas homes. **** Chinese Blow To Singapore's Hub Ambitions by John Burton, Financial Times Plans by the Singapore Exchange to become a regional trading centre for Chinese stocks suffered a setback on Thursday as one of the last two Chinese shares included in the main Straits Times index was dropped. In addition, new allegations surfaced about possible accounting irregularities involving one of several Singapore-listed Chinese companies, or S-chips. **** Why We Have To Speak Up For Dr Allan Ooi by Eugene Yeo and Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club We need to have different voices in our society to balance and counter one another in the court of public opinion. Let the people be the judge. It is both dangerous and foolhardy to depend on only one single source of information without listening to all sides of the story and with the ruling party forcing its own yardstick of credibility right down into our throats. **** Nod To Use Of Past Reserves by Jeremy Au Yong, Straits Times President S R Nathan has given his formal consent for the Government to draw on past reserves to finance part of the $20.5 billion economic package unveiled in January. **** A Very Long Wait In A Multi-Racial Country by Jacob's Weblog **** ??????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Does 'Not Unhappy' = Happy? by My Thoughts... **** Retail Sales Index, Catering Trade Index, January 2009 by Singapore Department Of Statistics, Singapore Government Retail sales in January 2009 declined by 8.3% over December 2008. Excluding motor vehicles, the sales fell by 5.7%. On a year-on-year basis, retail sales in January 2009 declined by 12.2% over a year ago. Excluding motor vehicles, the sales declined by 3.3%. (Note: Link goes to a PDF document.) **** Malaysia Vies For Air Hub Status With New Terminal by The Associated Press A new 2 billion ringgit low-cost air terminal to be built by 2011 will make Malaysia a major regional travel hub rivaling Singapore and Thailand, and be a boon for homegrown budget carrier AirAsia, the country's airport operator promised Friday. **** Singapore's Retail Sales Fall Most In Decade Amid Recession by Shamim Adam, Bloomberg Singapore???s retail sales fell the most in a decade in January as consumers purchased fewer cars, household and luxury goods amid a deepening economic slump. **** Man Who Allegedly Set MP On Fire Remanded At IMH by Channel NewsAsia The man who allegedly set Yio Chu Kang Member of Parliament Seng Han Thong on fire will continue to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). **** Singapore Remains Short Of Babies, Government Says by AFP Singapore remains well short of the 60,000 births it needs each year to enable the population to replace itself naturally, figures showed. **** Dying To Make A Point by Sam's Thoughts Suicide sends a message, and sometimes it might be a message independent of the "author"'s intention. **** What Will You Defend? by Foxy Thoughts We've got the bit about the economy right. We've got an arguable clean, habitable???even enjoyable???city to live in. Now let's get the next bits right. **** Not Important Post: An Accident + A Message by Daniel Ling, Information Read By Me Today, I saw the aftermath of a accident. The accident involves a bike. I only got a glance but I believe that it was a white RXZ. Location is Ang Mo Kio ave 10 area, near the estates with Blocks beginning with 4. **** SPH Finally Waking Up by Investment Marathoner SPH finally decides to cut salaries after seeing advertising plunges. They should have done it long ago. This shows the inertia and lethargy in a bureaucratic company. **** WSJ Editor Faces Contempt by Zakir Hussain, Straits Times The government is taking a senior editor of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to court, accusing her of being in contempt of court in three articles published last year. In the High Court on Friday, justice Tay Yong Kwang granted an application by the attorney-general to start proceedings against Ms Melanie Kirkpatrick, deputy editor of the New York-based financial daily's editorial page. **** No University Fee Hike by Jane Ng, Straits Times The National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University on Friday said they are holding back their fee increase by one year. They have earlier planned to raise fees by between 4 and 10 per cent when the new term starts in August. **** SRA Fears Job Losses May Surge After Great Singapore Sale by Timothy Ouyang, Channel NewsAsia The Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) said that industry layoffs could surge as early as June, once the Great Singapore Sale is over. **** "Lesser Mortal" Told "No Point To Report Atack" While Man Alleged To Threaten "Greater Mortal" Is Hauled Up To Court by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club **** For Laid-Off Singapore Expats, Home Is Where They're Hiring by Neel Chowdhury, Time Due to the global recession, expat bankers, traders and corporate managers have lost their high-paying jobs with multinational corporations. But instead of returning to their home countries, they've decided to stay in Asia, even though it means moving to cheaper housing and giving up privileges that once set them apart from ordinary Singaporeans. **** Singapore's New Look by Kathleen Kingsbury, Time Faced with challenging long-term economic prospects and a flagging birth rate, Singapore's leaders have determined that the future of its 4.4 million citizens depends upon attracting multinational corporations along with hundreds of thousands of ambitious, educated (and preferably wealthy) foreigners to work and live there. **** Hello To The 9 NUS Students! Wake Up Your Ideas, This Is Not Massachusetts. You Can't Run Naked! by Haro Genki **** Eurasian by Siena Beanie From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sat Mar 14 18:59:01 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 14 Mar 2009 22:59:01 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 14, 2009 Message-ID: <20090314225901.59592.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Nopali Medical Office Software Adds Media File Management by Peter Cohen, Macworld Nopali features scheduling, electronic medical record tracking, insurance billing, photo archiving, patient tracking, quote management, patient billing, office ledger support, patient documents and reporting and statistics. **** The Headphone Shuffle by Dan Frakes, Macworld Apple's latest iPod is so special it makes most headphones obsolete. **** Apple Extends Beta-Developer Memberships by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica After disappearing from view while developer memberships started to expire, Apple has now e-mailed iPhone developers to extend their memberships until July 11, 2009. A short-term solution to the problem is good, but it shows that Apple is still working out the longer-term details. **** Here I Am For iPhone by Jeffrey Hatton, Macworld In essence, this app is really nothing than a macro that automates location finding in Google Maps and drafts an e-mail with the link???and it doesn???t pretend to anything more than that. But it does that one task consistently well. **** iTunes Autofill Opens Up by Dan Frakes, Macworld Well, as of iTunes 8.1, Apple has finally???finally???made Autofill available to any iPod. Unfortunately, the company hasn???t made the feature easy to find if you don???t have a shuffle. **** 20- And 24-Inch Aluminum iMacs (2009 Edition) by Roman Loyola, Macworld The iMac continues to be a desktop Mac that???s powerful enough to please both general consumers and professionals. **** iPod Shuffle Control Scheme by Lukas Mathis, Ignore The Code It???s important to remember that not everyone will use every feature of the Shuffle. **** 3G Phons Exposing Networks' Last-Gen Technology by Matt Richtel, New York Times **** Apple Adds Still More DRM To iPod Shuffle by Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation According to the careful reviewers at iLounge, third-party headphone makers will have to use yet-another Apple "authentication chip" if they want to interoperate with the new Shuffle. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** In Hard Times, Freelancers Turn To The Web by Dan Fost, New York Times Several online companies are easing the transition to a freelance economy for workers and employers. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** China's Way Forward by James Fallows, The Atlantic Idle factories, moored container ships, widespread bankruptcies, massive migration back to the hinterlands, strangely clean air???the signs of depression are everywhere in China. Because it makes so many of the goods the world isn???t buying now, China stands to be worse hit than the rest of the world ???just as America was during the Depression, when it was the world???s sweatshop. But like America then, China will use tough times to design innovative products that will get it the high profits and the high-value jobs Americans kept to themselves for decades. And that is very bad news for the United States, unless it uses tough times to reinvent itself, too. **** Unwed Language by Ammon Shea, New York Times ???Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue??? is by no means a complete chronicle of our language. McWhorter is more interested in, as the subtitle puts it, ???the untold history of English.??? **** Newspapers And Thinking The Unthinkable by Clay Shirky We don???t know who the Aldus Manutius of the current age is. It could be Craig Newmark, or Caterina Fake. It could be Martin Nisenholtz, or Emily Bell. It could be some 19 year old kid few of us have heard of, working on something we won???t recognize as vital until a decade hence. Any experiment, though, designed to provide new models for journalism is going to be an improvement over hiding from the real, especially in a year when, for many papers, the unthinkable future is already in the past. **** Domestic Disturbances by Dean Bakopoulos, New York Times In this short but complex first novel, a couple???s search for a missing cradle becomes a life-rattling trip. **** Banishing The Ghosts In Cambodia by Henry Alford, New York Times To many Americans, Cambodia means only two things ??? the majestic temples of Angkor Wat and the Killing Fields of Phnom Penh. But there???s another Cambodia ??? the southern coast ??? that is beginning to emerge as a popular alternative to the heavily trafficked beaches of Thailand. Here, in towns like Sihanoukville ??? which, in its heyday in the 1960s, used to draw visitors like Jackie Kennedy and Catherine Deneuve ??? travelers are exploring the unusual pleasures that occur at the intersection of the luxurious present and the ravaged past. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Protection From Harm: One Set Of Rules For Political Elites And Another Set Of Rules For Common Folk by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net When the chief justice, Law Minister and AG collectively proclaim at the opening of the legal year in the Supreme Court in January that the law ???won???t tolerate attacks??? on the judiciary, yet the authorities continually allow attacks on the citizenry to go unpunished or even uninvestigated, you know there is one set of rules for the powers-that-be and another for those who are in fact their rightful masters. **** Hostel Residents: Others Have Run Naked Before by New Paper While an NUS spokesman said it was the 'first time that an incident of this nature has taken place', some residents of Eusoff Hall told The New Paper that streaking was not a new thing. **** Expensive City by Think For Me, Singapore **** Opposition Chance Of Winning A GRC Limited Unless They Overcome Their Achilles Heel by Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club While I applaud the opposition parties for starting their ground work now, it is unlikely they are able to win a GRC if there is no paradigm shift in their collective electoral strategy. **** Weakest Link In Aljunied GRC? Just Move It Out, Says PAP Activist by The Online Citizen **** Malaysia's YTL To Revive Bullet Train Project - Report by Reuters Malaysia's power-to-property conglomerate YTL Corp is planning to revive a project to build a bullet train link between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, a Malaysian newspaper reported on Saturday, citing unidentified sources. **** Unnerved By A Deathly Vibe by Seah Chiang Nee, The Star Despite the republic???s relatively moderate global standing, the levels of stress and suicides, especially among youths, are rising. **** PAP Member's Telling 'Insight' by A Blog Day's Work If this was not a misquote, it shows even PAP members are of the opinion that their party has control over the electoral boundaries and indirectly implies that the electoral boundaries commission, convened before every general election, is not independent. **** Singapore Takes Journal Editor To Court - Report by Reuters The move comes almost four months after a Singapore court found the Wall Street Journal in contempt of court for publishing the same three articles, and fined it S$25,000 ($16,580). **** Singapore High Court Take On WSJ In Legal Battle - A Political Miscalculation? by Gimme Some Truth! Our courts give the impression of one insecure about their credibility. Furthermore, to the people who always held doubts about our courts independence, rather than convincing them otherwise, this move will likely fortify their perceptions that there???s some wrong and biased about our courts. **** ???????????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????28???????????????????????????????????????20??????????????????????????????12????????????????????????55??????????????????????????????????????? **** ???????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Taking It Easy by Yaw Shin Leong The present WP is no longer overly concerned whether a particular GRC is to be broken up etc. From Anson SMC to Eunos GRC to Cheng San GRC, we have seen it all. Even if all of our previously contested GRCs are to be broken up, so be it. **** More Trains At Pioneer MRT Station Please by Oh Chee Siong, Straits Times **** Northwest CDC Mayor Says PA, WDA Decide On Staff Pay, Bonuses by Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia An online outcry has broken out over rumours that two staff from the Northwest Community Development Council (CDC) received bonuses of eight months last year, including the 13th month bonus. When asked about the matter at an event for needy families on Saturday, Northwest CDC's mayor, Dr Teo Ho Pin, said bonuses and salaries of CDC staff are decided by the People's Association (PA) and, in the case of officers, the Workforce Development Agency (WDA). I think Teo Ho Pin has more or less admitted that there are staff in Northwest CDC that did receive eight months' bonus. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sun Mar 15 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 15 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 15, 2009 Message-ID: <20090315225900.3410.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** The Curious Design Departures Of The New iPod Shuffle by Thomas Fitzgerald Perhaps even more surprising is the lack of the word iPod anywhere on the device. **** Playfish Brings Social Gaming To Apple Mobile Users by Lonnie Lazar, Cult Of Mac **** Apple Sued Over Exploding iPod Touch, iMac Display Issues by Aidan Malley, AppleInsider Apple's build quality has been called into question as fresh lawsuits blame the company for an iPod touch that caught on fire as well as the widely-known vertical line defect on iMac displays. **** Hit iPhone Developer: Not Making Any More Mac Games by Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider Pangea Software has been making software for Apple's computer platforms since 1987. No more. Why not? Because the iPhone app store has been such a huge success, the company is only going to focus its efforts on Apple's portable gadgets from now on, founder Brian Greenstone said during a panel today at the South by Southwest conference in Austin. **** iPhone Apps Can Now Plug Into Facebook by Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider Apple iPhone app developers will be able to plug into Facebook the same way Web sites have been able to for months. **** iPod Shuffle For Those On The Go by Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times The new Shuffle is out there doing its own thing, filling its own role, solving its users??? peculiar set of peculiar problems. **** Maine Expanding School Laptop Program With Apple by David Sharp, Associated Press Despite the economic turmoil, Maine is expanding its program to provide laptop computers to students. **** The iPhone Needs A Native Gmail Application by Jason Clarke, The Unofficial Apple Weblog The iPhone needs a native Gmail application. There, I've said it. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Myanmar PM To Visit Indonesia And Singapore by Reuters Thein Sein's itinerary has not been made public, but Singapore's Botanic Gardens said it would host an "Orchid Naming Ceremony" for Thein Sein on Wednesday, as part of his official visit to Singapore and Indonesia, a spokeswoman told Reuters. Singapore, a strong U.S. ally and a growing centre for wealth management, has opposed sanctions on Myanmar and is believed to be home to the generals' offshore bank accounts. **** Another WSJ Opinion, Another Court Case, Another Farce by Chemical Generation Singapore Sure do whatever is Machievallian to ???punish??? the foreign media for their biased support of only Chee Soon Juan and not the other opposition giants in Singapore, however spiteful that so-called punishment is. Nevertheless, singling out individuals in WSJ for further raps on the hand is overkill, and therefore rather counter-productive in terms of Singapore???s political image. **** Dr Teo Ho Pin's Curt Reply To Reader Draws Flak From Netizens by Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club Dr Teo???s curt and condescending response drew sharp criticisms from netizens posting comments on Wayangparty blog lambasting Dr Teo for his bluntness and insensitivity. **** Brown Urges End Of 'Tax Havens' by BBC News Prime minister Gordon Brown and German chancellor Angela Merkel have said the world has "no place" for tax havens. **** ST Writer Makes Controversial Remarks On Domestic Violence by The Online Citizen **** ???????????????????????? by ????????? **** Singapore Backs Healthcare To Heal Financial Trauma by Porimoi Palma, The Daily Star As the global recession hits Singapore's manufacturing and shipping business, the government of the city-state now focuses on attracting more international patients to its world-class hospitals with competitive price offer to help maintain its economy. **** Rude Immigration Officer Shouted At Visitor by Md Asri Bin Haji Jamahri, New Paper Please do not treat visitors like criminals. **** Dead 'Unable To Rest In Peace' In Singapore by AFP "Ghosts are the same as human beings. They have feelings and emotions as well. How would you feel if you had to shift after living in the same place for 50 years?" **** Rumoured 8-Month Bonus For CDC Staff Is 'In Line With NWC Guidelines': People's Association by The Wayang Party Club PA???s explanation that it is free to implement any pay structure as it likes because it does not fall under the purview of the Public Service Division is disingenuous. Where does it obtain its funds from? As long the salaries of its staff are paid for by taxpayers??? monies, they are duty-bound to reveal their entire pay structure and bonus scheme. **** Perhaps The Two CDC Staff Might Indeed Have Received Bonuses Of 8 Months?! by Anonymous X Sometimes, many of us just want to hear a straight answer without too elaborate an explanation. I know I do. **** Dr Teo, Don't Worry, We Have A Solution by Civic Advocator As your job is to help people, I suppose you could have also taken the step beyond appearing on TV answering questions, to find out if it was true that your staff had received 7 months bonuses. If it is yes, then say yes. If it is no, then say no. Saying ???I don???t know??? kind of get me worried whether if you are on top of things at Northwest CDC. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Mon Mar 16 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 16 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 16, 2009 Message-ID: <20090316225900.4221.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Review: Sponge For Mac OS X by Steven Sande, The Unofficial Apple Weblog **** Hardware DRM: Has Apple Joined The Dark Side? by Lonnie Lazar, Cult Of Mac Consumers have the last vote and to the extent it may seem Apple products are stifling competition, raising prices and limiting choice, Apple???s tiny devices will go unsold. **** eBay Mobile For iPhone by James Savage, Macworld Whether you???re a Power Seller or just an occasional eBay buyer or seller, eBay Mobile is an excellent way to keep track of auctions on your iPhone or iPod touch. **** A Bunch Of Comments On Apple Adds Still More DRM To iPod Shuffle - The Value Chain Again by David Farber "There is zero confirmation of an authentication chip, only speculation." **** SXSW To AT&T: Free Our iPhones by Dan Fost, Los Angeles Times With so many iPhone users descending on Austin, the convention center has become an almost impossible place to make a call or get a data connection — on AT&T, the only U.S. network providing service to iPhones. People with Sprint and Verizon Wireless won't stop gloating. **** Boxee Remote App For iPhone And iPod Touch Available On App Store by Aron Trimble, The Unofficial Apple Weblog **** Ars Reviews iLife '09: Laying Tracks With GarageBand by Jeff Smykil, Ars Technica **** Get The Most Out Of Finder Views by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld You spend a lot of time in the Finder, so learning about its many possibilities can save you time and give you more power over your files and folders. Mastering Finder views is one of the first steps to becoming a real Mac power user. **** Official New York Times Crossword Puzzle Game Released by Blake Patterson, Touch Arcade The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Computer Makers Prepare To Stake Bigger Claim In Phones by Ashlee Vance, New York Times The computer industry has hit upon its Next Big Thing. It is called a phone. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Finding New Species: The Golden Age Of Discovery by Bruce Stutz, Environment 360 Aided by new access to remote regions, researchers have been discovering new species at a record pace ??? 16,969 in 2006 alone. The challenge now is to preserve threatened ecosystems before these species, and others yet unknown, are lost. **** How I Ended Up Living With My In-Laws by Rosecrans Baldwin, Salon In a rotten economy, more adults are showing up on their parents' doorstep. I just never thought my wife and I would be among them. **** She's The One by Tessa Hadley, The New Yorker The winter after her brother killed himself, Ally got a job at a writers??? center near her parents??? house, helping out with admin in the office. It wasn???t a satisfactory job, only part time and not well paid. She was twenty-two. She had just finished her degree in English literature and should have been building toward some sort of career; she had planned to move to Manchester, where she had been at university. But everything like that had had to be put on hold, while at home her family melted down into a kind of madness. It was a relief just to leave the madness behind and drive across the moors four mornings a week to the center, several miles away. She had the use of a car, because for the moment her mum wasn???t going to work. **** Mom As Fly by Terese Svoboda, The New Yorker **** Civilization by Carl Philips, The New Yorker **** The Foundation by C. K. Williams, The New Yorker SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Satyam Syndrome In Singapore by C.S. Tan, The Star Squeaky-clean Singapore seems an unlikely place for serial financial scandals to occur. **** Banning Of The Gum by Zante's World It should be the peoples choice about whether to chew gum or not, people have the right to do what they want as long as they aren't hurting anybody. **** The PAP's Fascination With Communists by Ravi Philemon, The Online Citizen The ruling party believes that one-party rule represents stability. But whatever the reasons, the question remains: ???Will the fascination of the governing party with the Chinese communists pay dividends for them now as it did more than 50 years ago???? **** Shuttered In At CityLink by Leong Wee Keat, Today Huge crowds leaving the IT Fair at the Suntec City Convention Centre and a heavy afternoon downpour had driven a mass of human bodies into the underground CityLink Mall. **** Time For A Rethink Of Singapore's Scholarship System by The Wayang Party Club I???m not trying to undermine or condemn the scholarship system, but I am just hoping that there will be more flexibility given in the future, in terms of the switching of course subjects to study, the breaking of bonds and the bond term itself. **** Open Letter To Mr Tan Boon Huat, Chief Executive Director Of People's Association Re: Salaries And Bonuses Of CDC Staff by The Wayang Party Club This is a good opportunity for the People???s Association to fulfil its mission statement by responding to our feedback proactively and consulting us on salary matters pertaining to its staff. **** Singapore Feb Container Traffic Down 19.8 Pct Y/Y by Saeed Azhar, Reuters Singapore port terminals handled 19.8 percent less containers in February from a year earlier and containers' throughput dropped 6.3 percent from January, according to data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. **** HDB Must Stop Ticking Checklists And Start Reviewing Cases by Deborah Choo, The Online Citizen **** ???????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** A Need To Combat Fraud by Leong Wee Keat, Today Rising motor insurance claims have made the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) "very concerned" and it now plans to lobby the government to look into fraudulent and inflated insurance claims in the motor industry. **** 16,880 Lost Jobs Last Year by Straits Times Redundancies nearly tripled from 3,180 in the third quarter of last year to a record quarterly high of 9,410 workers in the fourth quarter as the global economic downturn worsened. **** Mapletree: No 15% Rent Cut by Joyce Teo, Straits Times Many tenants have petitioned Mapletree, a Temasek Holdings unit, for hefty rent cuts to help them cope with tough market conditions. They are also upset to have missed out on a 15per cent rental rebate granted by JTC Corp as part of the government's Resilience Package. **** Singapore Economy To Contract More Than Forecast, Survey Shows by Shamim Adam, Bloomberg Singapore???s economy this year will probably contract more than economists predicted earlier as companies cut production and fire workers amid declining demand, a central bank survey showed. **** Better To Help Needy Than Give Handouts To Fresh Grads by The Online Citizen I understand that investments in talent is important. But in times like this, I think it is better to help the needy who are struggling to even make ends meet. Why can't we do both? **** More Singapore Grads Jobless by Straits Times The number of degree holders who lost their jobs rose sharply to 14,800, or 21 per cent in December, up from 6,200, or 14 per cent a year ago, according to the Ministry of Manpower labour market report released on Monday. **** Singapore Braces For Sharp Recession - C.bank Survey by Reuters Singapore's economy could shrink by 8.5 percent in the first three months of 2009, hit by a downturn in trade, and its currency could lose about 8 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, a central bank survey showed. **** Singapore Bars, Bistros Bustle With Recession Deals by Nopporn Wong-Anan, Reuters >From pizza delivery chains to fancy restaurants, "recession" is now a buzz word on menus of many restaurants and bars in Singapore, a nation in the middle of its worst-ever economic downturn. **** PMETs Form 37% Of 16,880 Workers Laid Off in 2008 by Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia In the final quarter of last year, Singapore saw a record of 9,410 workers laid off, a 195.9 per cent increase on-quarter, with professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) among the hardest hit. **** Singapore To Charge A WSJ Editor With Contempt by Wall Street Journal Singapore's attorney general has applied to the country's courts to begin contempt proceedings against a senior editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page. **** GIC Losses - Foreign Media More Important Than Parliament? by Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen Why is transparency being released in drips and draps? **** Lee Kuan Yew And Rupert Murdoch by Looking For Words **** Northwest CDC's Remuneration System Is Fair, Says Lim Boon Heng by Timothy Ouyang, Channel NewsAsia People's Association deputy chairman, Lim Boon Heng, said the Northwest Community Development Council's current reward system is fair and is in line with the civil service's remuneration system. "In good times and in bad, there are good performers. And I think that particularly in bad times, we need people who give of their best and show example to the rest about what they can do to help the organisation. So, I think we should not begrudge the few people who get very high bonuses," he said. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Tue Mar 17 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 17 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 17, 2009 Message-ID: <20090317225900.28585.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Is Apple Losing The Plot? by Nick Farrell, The Inquirer Things keep exploding. **** An Explorer Drawn To, And Eventually Swallowed By, The Amazon by Michiko Kakutani, New York Times ???The Lost City of Z??? is at once a biography, a detective story and a wonderfully vivid piece of travel writing that combines Bruce Chatwinesque powers of observation with a Waugh-like sense of the absurd. **** Up And Downs Of The New Mac Mini, Long Live The New Mac Pro by David Morgenstern, ZDNet The Mac Pro will hold its value and offer useful performance for many many years. A keeper. **** Darwine: Mac Wine In New Bottles by Alan Zisman, Low End Mac Darwine is a free and open source project to allow the use of Wine on Mac OS X installations. **** Mac Sales Fell 16% In February Ahead Of Desktop Refresh by Sam Oliver, AppleInsider Apple saw double-digit declines in Mac unit sales last month but is nonetheless seen in good shape to pull off a March quarter that's fairly in-line with current Street estimates thanks to accelerated shipments of new desktop models this month. **** Apple Time Capsule Review by Brian Lam, Gizmodo **** Backing Up And Restoring Mail Archives by Christopher Breen, Macworld **** Mariner Calc For iPhone by Rob Griffiths, Macworld Mariner Calc is a potentially very good iPhone spreadsheet application that???s presently hobbled by a few issues. It doesn???t support functions you may find in intermediate or advanced Excel worksheets, you can???t organize your saved files, it was somewhat unstable in my use, and you can???t transfer a file via e-mail. **** Third-Generation iPod Shuffle by Christopher Breen, Macworld If you???re happy with Apple???s headphones and don???t care a lot about navigating your iPod, this could be the iPod for you. I, however, cherish my third-party headphones, find a controller that requires memorizing a series of button sequences an unwelcome burden, and don???t need an even smaller iPod shuffle. Like the MacBook Air and Mac mini, the 3G iPod shuffle is a product designed for a particular kind of user. You may be that user. Regrettably, I'm not. **** Apple, Vendors Confirm iPod Headphone-Chip Rumors by Dan Frakes, Macworld iPod-accessory vendors V-moda and Scosche, as well as other vendors speaking to Macworld anonymously, have confirmed these reports, though calling the circuitry a ???control chip??? rather than an authentication chip. As with Apple???s dock connector and???more recently???proprietary circuitry necessary for iPods to output video signals to third-party accessories, Apple will charge vendors a fee, via the Made for iPod program, to include this new control chip in headphones and other accessories. **** Pocket God For iPhone by Lex Friedman, Macworld There are no points in Pocket God, and there's no real goal either. There's plenty to discover, and everything looks great???but once you've "done" it all, the game???s replay value suffers. The good news: Bolt Creative has been rolling out near-weekly upgrades, adding new features (read: godly powers) with each new iteration. **** Ten Surprising Uses Of BBEdit by Matt Neuburg, TidBITS Although BBEdit, from Bare Bones Software, is not my primary text editor, I've recently observed myself using it a great deal anyway for various tasks, some which don't have all that much to do with editing text. Here, in no particular order, are the ten primary things that I do with BBEdit. **** iPhone Cooking Mama: She's Heeeeeeeeere by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica **** Will Ads Be Key To Free iPhone Apps? by David Needle, Internet News Vdopia thinks its ad network can help keep the cost of iPhone apps low or free even as rumors of a 'Premium App Store' from Apple spread. **** Apple And The Expectations Game by Philip Michaels, Macworld Assess Apple on what it does, not on what someone says it should do. **** Adjust The Volume Of iTunes And iPod Tracks by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld iTunes and the iPod can work together to help you balance these differences in volume using a feature called Sound Check. **** Google Earth 5 by Nathan Alderman, Macworld Google Earth 5 offers a wealth of educational information in a fun package. Its nonexistent price also makes its minor inconveniences far more forgivable. If you don???t object to the updater, it???s well worth a download. **** Apple Issues Mini DisplayPort To VGA Adapter Firmware Update by Katie Marsal, AppleInsider Apple appears to be distributing a new firmware update that will attempt to address flickering and blank video issues on the latest generation of MiniDisplay Port-equipped Macs connected to external displays using the company's Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter. **** Singapore Exports Tumble, Shipments To China Rebound by Nopporn Wong-Anan, Reuters Singapore's key exports fell for the 10th straight month in February due to the global slowdown, but shipments to China rebounded, offering signs that the world's third biggest economy may be headed for a recovery. **** Summary: iPhone 3.0 Update To Offer 100 New Features by Jonathan Seff, Macworld Topping the list is the ability for users to copy and paste information. iPhone 3.0 will also bring Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) support. **** Apple Touts iPhone And App Store Stats by Aayush Arya, Macworld Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPod and iPhone product marketing, announced that the iPhone is now available in 80 countries around the globe, and that Apple has sold a total of 17 million iPhones???that includes sales of both the original iPhone and iPhone 3G???thus far. **** Push Notifications Lead Changes For Third-Party Apps by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld The long-promised push notification feature will lead an assortment of changes to third-party apps in the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software, Apple revealed at a special event at the company???s Cupertino, Calif. campus on Tuesday. **** Interact With Background Applications by Rob Griffiths, Macworld **** iPhone SDK Focus: Buying Content From Within Apps by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica Among Apple's announcements at today's SDK 3.0 event, Apple introduced several new business models, including subscription support and end-user purchases for expansion materials. If you own a game that ships for 10 levels, for example, users will be able to purchase additional levels directly from their game using their iTunes credentials. **** iPhone SDK Focus: Application-Based E-Mail Sheets by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica Having built-in e-mail support means developers can let users mail items directly from within their applications. **** iPhone SDK Focus: Maps For Your Apps by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica Devs can now embed maps in applications and access many of the same GUI features found in the Google Maps application. **** iPhone SDK Focus: Bluetooth Enhancements by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica The new iPhone 3.0 SDK will offer ad-hoc connectivity built on Bonjour-powered data sharing. This means that developers can build games and utilities that communicate with nearby phones without having to be on the same network. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Foursquare Is The Breakout Mobile App At SXSW by Jennifer Van Grove, Mashable **** Handoop, A Free Software Program, Finds Uses Beyond Search by Ashlee Vance, New York Times MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** In Italy, A Vending Machine Even Makes The Pizza by John Tagliabue, New York Times Is Europe bringing back the automat? Claudio Torghele hopes so. **** Australia's Dry Run by Robert Draper, Photography By Amy Toensing, National Geographic What will happen when the climate starts to change and the rivers dry up and a whole way of life comes to an end? The people of the Murray-Darling Basin are finding out right now. **** A Slow Boat To Anywhere by Roger Ebert, Chicaco Sun-Times The point is: Get going. Spring is right around the corner. Dip your toe in the world. There's more to see in Amsterdam than at Six Flags. **** The Commercial Republic by David Brooks, New York Times In short, the United States will never be Europe. It was born as a commercial republic. It???s addicted to the pace of commercial enterprise. After periodic pauses, the country inevitably returns to its elemental nature. **** Is Britain Becoming A One-Child Nation? by Damon Syson, The Guardian Apart from the morbid rationale of equipping yourself with "an heir and a spare", what are the genuine benefits of having more than one child? **** Persephone by Michael Longley, The Guardian SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Man Behind PIE Pile-Up by Sujin Thomas, Straits Times This is the man who tried walking across the Pan-Island Expressway on Sunday, causing a five vehicle pile-up that left a motorcyclist dead. **** $239 For 8 Tiger Prawns by Judith Tan, Straits Times Six Americans who sat down to a seafood dinner at Newton hawker centre on Saturday just about fell off their chairs when they were presented a bill for $491, including $239 for eight tiger prawns. **** Will Democracy Bring The Demise Of The Hangman? by David Johnson and Franklin Zimring, New Scientist Why are some Asian countries clinging to capital punishment while the rest of the world turns away from it? **** Singapore History: Availability Of Declassified Documents And A Possible Revision Of Our History Syllabus? by Kelvin Teo, Kent Ridge Common **** There Is No Singapore, Just A Person Walking Through It by ????????? **** Victim Not Dissuaded by Paul Tay, Singapore Police Force, Bernadette Low, SMRT Corporation Ltd, Straits Times Accordingly, the police officer who attended to Mr Poh had explained the situation to him and the procedures involved in lodging a Magistrate's Complaint. In the conversation, the officer had also explained that it would be more difficult for the authorities to pursue investigations if the identity of the assailant was not known. **** Not Old Enough To Vote But Old Enough To Trade? by Reggie J, New Paper Most 18 to 21 years old vote more towards liberal than conservative. That should be a simple enough reason to explain why the current government will not lower the voting age from 21. And why Lee Kuan Yew once proposed votes from older folks (who tend to vote more conservative than liberal) carries more weight than younger citizens. **** Foreigners Got 7 In 10 New Jobs by Jeremy Au Yong, Straits Times Foreigners got the lion's share of jobs created last year, but nearly all of these were in the construction and service sectors. The construction sector has not been a viable industry for local jobs for a long time. Will the service industry be next? **** Exposed: Two Northwest CDC Staff Who Receive 8 Months Bonuse Are Managers by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club The two names given to me hold mid to senior level positions in Northwest CDC. One of them is a senior manager in charge of a committee while the other is a deputy general manager. Are they low salary staff? Certainly not. The only way to end all speculations on the ground is to be completely transparent and allow the public to scrutinize its records. If what the authorities had done is open and above board, there is no reason for them to hide anything from us at all. They should communicate openly and honestly the reason behind their decisions to us. **** ST Spinning Headlines And Figures To Hide The Truth About Foreigners Stealing Jobs From Singaporeans by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club The government???s foreign talent policy is myopic and does not serve to address long-term structural problems in our economy and society. Foreigners have no sense of belonging to Singapore. Neither do PRs many of whom just want to enjoy the best of both worlds. In the end, it is the local-born Singaporeans who are short-changed. **** Are We Paying Performance Bonuses For Northwest CDC Staff To Shout At Needy Customers? by The Wayang Party Club Is it reasonable for us to pay heft bonuses to CDC staff who shout at needy customers? Did the customer service officer depicted below receive months of ???performance bonuses??? too? **** Should Singapore Legalise Pornography? by Random Thoughts Of A Free Thinker **** Sell Singapore Dollar, Buy India Rupee, Standard Chartered Says by Patricia Lui, Bloomberg Investors should sell Singapore???s dollar against the Indian rupee as the city-state???s exports collapse, while domestic consumers bolster demand in the world???s second most-populous nation, Standard Chartered Plc said. **** Same Old Discussion by Think For Me, Singapore Being in the government is now more about making good money. Some moons ago, someone created this monster because they wanted to attract the best talent from the private sector to govern. The intentions may have been pure back then. But once you sit on a pot of gold, you are unlikely to give it up and that's where we are today. **** Look How Disconnected They Are by Dee Kay Dot As Gee So can someone please justify why some of the staff at North West CDC received 8 months bonus? Did someone managed to find to cure to Singapore???s unemployment rate or something? **** Are We Turning Into Robbers? by My Singapore News Is this what we have become? These robbers are not only robbing the tourists and foreigners, they are destroying the Singapore brand and livelihoods of the decent people in the same businesses. **** Domestic Violence, Whether Mild Or Severe, Is Not Acceptable by Rachel Chung, The Online Citizen Ms Lee seemed to have missed the point that there is no excuse or justification for violence in any relationship, provoked or not. **** Singapore February Exports Fall 24 Percent by Associated Press Singapore's non-oil exports plunged in February as global demand collapsed, a sign the country's worst recession in decades has deepened in the first quarter. **** SingAir Sees Drop In Passengers, Cargo by AFP Singapore Airlines (SIA) has reported a large drop in passenger numbers and cargo shipments as the worldwide economic slump further hits global aviation. **** High Court Dismisses Motion To Question Police On Abuse Of Power by Singapore Democrats The Singapore High Court dismissed another attempt by the defence to show that the police had acted in bad faith and abused its powers when they arrested Tak Boleh Tahan protesters while allowing a similar event held by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) to take place. **** Contradictions Between Lim Boon Heng, Teo Ho Pin And People's Association: Who Is Speaking The Truth? by The Wayang Party Club The government should not be so defensive. I am sure Singaporeans will understand and accept its decision if it is able to communicate with us in an open, direct and coherent manner. **** 43,600 Singaporens Check Registers Of Electors by Channel NewsAsia The Elections Department said 27 have requested for their names to be included, while 35 objected to the names of people appearing in their constituencies' list of voters. **** Singapore Courts Show Thin Skin - Again by Mitch Kowalski, National Post That's certainly one way to stifle any discussion of change. **** Straits Times And CNA Deleted Online Articles On CDC Bonus Fiasco by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club Less than a day later, both articles were taken down. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Wed Mar 18 18:59:01 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 18 Mar 2009 22:59:01 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 18, 2009 Message-ID: <20090318225901.35328.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** New iPhone Software Has Something For Businesses by Nancy Gohring, Macworld The new iPhone software announced Tuesday has some features that should make enterprise users happy, but it lacks others that could have made the iPhone far more enticing to businesses. **** Push Notifications On The iPhone: Once Bitten, Twice Shy? by Dan Moren, Macworld The real question is: are push notifications good enough to keep iPhone users happy until a more capable solution is possible? We???ll have to wait until this summer to find out???well, assuming it actually ships this time. **** Latest Beta iPhone OS Includes References To Unknown Device by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica According to a reader with access to the latest iPhone OS 3.0 developer beta, there is a plist file for a new, unknown device. **** iPhone Dev 3.0 SDK Ships With New Ducking NDA by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica This agreement is likely to remain in place until 3.0 is released to the public. And, like the previous NDA, it makes about as little sense. Yes, the agreement prevents most public discussion of the new iPhone features but it does nothing to protect Apple's intellectual property rights from being discovered by competitors. Anyone can walk off the street, download a copy, and take a look. **** WeatherCal Adds Weather Forecasting To iCal by Peter Cohen, Macworld WeatherCal creates calendar objects which contain that day???s weather along with four days of forecasts. The information is presented in iCal as an all-day event which you can read at a glance. Calendars and events synch to other computers or the iPhone or iPod touch along with other iCal sync data, using MobileMe or local iTunes syncing. **** Apple Asks Company To Stop Using 'Podium' Name by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld Lawyers representing Apple???s intellectual property interests sent a cease and desist letter to Procreate over its use of the names Flypod and Podium for its products. **** Analysts: iPhone Software 3.0 'Impressive' by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Waiting Tables Is An Art: 4 Veteran L.A. Servers Who Know by Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times Seasoned pros take a craftsmanlike approach to their jobs at landmark L.A. restaurants. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Taiwan, Singapore To Be Worst Hit Asian Economies In 2009 by Susan Fenton, Reuters Singapore and Taiwan will be emerging Asia's most battered economies this year as the global downturn spreads across the continent, while China will just miss its targeted 8 percent growth rate, a Reuters poll shows. **** Probe Into Overcharging by Straits Times The diners were also peeved that when they approached STB, they were directed to the National Environment Agency (NEA). **** Singaporean Activists Protest Against Naming Of Orchid After Burmese General by Seelan Palay's Blog As Singaporeans we want to register our disapproval over the naming of Singapore's national flower, the Orchid, after a leader of the despotic military junta of Burma. **** Courage, Gall, Guts And Balls - In Celebration Of All Things Daringly Singaporean by Chia Ti Lik's Blog **** Independent Inquiry Committee To Investigate Fall Of Girl At Telok Blangah by Channel NewsAsia **** Merlion, Singapore Flyer Among Participants In Earth Hour Singapore by Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia More Singapore icons, landmarks and commercial buildings will be taking part in Earth Hour. **** NEA Suspends Newton Hawker Stall's Licence For Overcharging Tourist by Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia Stall No. 43 (Tanglin's Best BBQ Seafood Stall) at Singapore's Newton Hawker Centre has had its licence suspended for three months for overcharging. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Thu Mar 19 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 19 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 19, 2009 Message-ID: <20090319225900.88351.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Music Apps Don't Get Much Help From iPhone 3.0 by Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider >From what we've seen publicly, third-party music apps still can't play while you're using the phone for anything else, such as browsing the Web or reading e-mail. **** The Steve Jobs Economy by Duff McDonald and Julia Dennis, Portfolio A back-of-the-envelope assessment of how much the ailing CEO has been worth to Apple and to the tech industry overall. **** All Is Not Peachy At Apple Store by Christina Tynan-Wood, InfoWorld An Apple store quotes a woman twice what they quote her husband — to fix the same computer. **** Five Ways Apple's iPhone OS 3.0 Upgrade Will Improve Your Mobile Life by Jennifer Bosavage, ChannelWeb While preventing you from doing things that will more liekly run down the battery before the end of the day. **** Apple Intentionally Crippled Bluetooth In iPod Touch 2G, Wants $10 To Unlock It! by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, ZDNet The issue isn???t that Bluetooth wasn???t on the spec sheet in the first place, it???s that everyone???s who has bought an iPod touch has already paid for the hardware, and is now having to pay again to unlock hardware that they???ve already paid for. **** Developer Shows Working iPhone 3.0 Tethering Over USB by Aidan Malley, AppleInsider Confirming what Apple had hinted at in its iPhone 3.0 presentation, a developer has successfully, if unintentionally, enabled data tethering on the new iPhone firmware. **** Developers Enthused About iPhone 3.0 SDK by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica The mood of iPhone developers is enthusiastic about the upcoming changes announced by Apple. Though there are still areas developers would like to see improved, the "over 1,000 new APIs" already have them champing at the bit to integrate new functionality into current and future projects. **** Kung Fu Panda Game Now On Mac by Peter Cohen, Macworld **** Sticky News For iPhone by Ben Boychuk, Macworld Unconventional news ticker a little too unconventional. **** Skype Offers Mac Users Free Wi-Fi by Cyrus Farivar, Macworld **** More On AppleWorks File Conversions by Christopher Breen, Macworld **** Psystar Rolls Out New, Compact Mac Clone by Dan Moren, Macworld Even in the midst of a lengthy legal disagreement with Apple, Psystar still manages to find the time and the guts to release new models of its Open Computer line. **** What iPhone 3.0 Means For Mobile Games by Peter Cohen, Macworld One of the most sought-after features game developers have requested is what Apple calls In App Purchase. This lets developers create additional content for apps that users can buy after they???ve made their initial purchase. **** Pwn2Own 2009: Mac Falls In Seconds by Jack Schofield, The Guardian Last year, at least the Mac lasted a couple of minutes before it was hacked. This year, it lasted seconds??? **** Can You Trust iTunes App Store Reviews? by Jeff Bertolucci, PC World Despite Apple's efforts, the iTunes App Store isn't immune from the problems that plague other user-review sites. But it doesn't appear to be overrun with fakes, either. **** iPhone 3.0 Update Is About Much More Than Just Software by Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times Hardware accessories will move way, way beyond car chargers and headphones. **** Work Begins On iPhone OS 3.0 Jailbreak by Jennifer Guevin, CNET **** The War On Buttons by Dan Fletcher, Time There's a war on buttons. No, not the clothing kind; bulging American waistlines are the biggest threat they face. This war is against buttons of the electronic variety, those tireless servants that dot elevators, cell phones, car dashboards and control panels the world around. They're the perfect antidote to baffling binary of a switch. One button, one function, press here to power/submit/self-destruct. Simple? Yes. Elegant? Apparently not. **** Review Delays Doom Promising iPhone App by Lonnie Lazar, Cult Of Mac Newber, the FreedomVoice Systems app that sought to bring innovative calling functionality to the iPhone, has thrown in the towel after having had its app submission ignored by Apple for five months, according to an open letter (pdf) published Wednesday by FreedomVoice CEO, Eric Thomas. **** Analysis: Apple's iPhone Shows How Upgades Should Be Done by Sascha Segan, PC Magazine Why can't any other smart phone vendors do this? Apple's upgrade strategy helps their users and the company in a bunch of different ways. It lets users buy iPhones with some confidence, knowing that they're not going to get left behind next year. It lets developers aim at the latest platform, without having to worry about supporting the older versions of the iPhone OS. And it keeps users with Apple because they don't enter a new buying cycle, thinking of new choices and potentially churning off to the latest new thing. **** The Great Chocolate Chase by Richard Hallas, Inside Mac Games The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** A More Local, Social Citysearch by Claire Cain Miller, New York Times Citysearch is unveiling a new Web site on Thursday that will make the site more social and more local ??? and, the site hopes, staunch its loss of readers. **** Sony Reaches Deal To Share In Google's E-Book Library by Brad Stone, New York Times Aiming to outdo Amazon.com and recapture the crown for the most digital titles in an e-book library, Sony is announcing Thursday a deal with Google to make a half million copyright-free books available for its Reader device, a rival to the Amazon Kindle. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Obama's Critical Early Test: Corporate Arrogance by Dan Gillmor, Boing Boing This is Obama's air-traffic controllers opportunity. **** Relax, It's Just Foie Gras by Alex Koppelman, Salon Animal activists have denounced the delicacy as torture. But as a new book explains, the truth is not as simple — or as sensational — as they'd like you to believe. **** The Daily Me by Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times The effect of The Daily Me would be to insulate us further in our own hermetically sealed political chambers. **** Whoopie! Cookie, Pie Or Cake, It's Having Its Moment by Micheline Maynard, New York Times Whoopie pies are migrating across the country, often appearing in the same specialty shops and grocery aisles that recently made room for cupcakes. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Singapore Urges Myanmar To Reconcile With Opponents by Nopporn Wong-Anan, Reuters Singapore urged Myanmar's military rulers to reconcile with the opposition and engage with West, even as the junta renewed a crackdown on pro-democracy activists. **** What A Strange Place FOr A Bus Stop by Bill Johnston, Straits Times Why is it necessary? Surely buses should have priority? **** New Charges By Singapore Against The Wall Street Journal by Asia Sentinel **** Another Day In The Lion City, Almost by John Berthelsen, Asia Sentinel You can say one thing for Singaporeans. They have long memories. And if you think the place is loosening up, think again. **** The Internet And Opposition Politics by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net The next logical step for Opposition parties and other political activists to take is to find a way of bringing the ideas that they are currently conveying to the online community to the offline world, through groundwork, activism, and the use of print publications. **** Man Apologises To MP Phua For Referring To Austic Son by Leong Wee Keat, Today The man accused of threatening member of parliament (MP) Denise Phua broke down in court on Wednesday as he publicly apologised to her. **** Tambayan, Singapore Style by Village Idiot Savant Being a very busy city, only senior citizens only have time to loaf around, and that's what this area in Chinatown is for. **** Government Increasingly Forced To Respond To Anonymous Bloggers by Fang Zhi Yuan, Singapore Enquirer There was a paradigm change in the government???s mindset last week when it was compelled to respond to rumors circulating around on the internet about the bonuses received by CDC staff. **** ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????80% by ???????????? **** ???30????????????????????? by ???????????? ??????????????????1980?????????????????????????????????????????????30??????????????? **** Yes, That We May Dream Again by Chee Siok Chin, Singapore Democrats I have drawn encouragement from the authors of this book. What each of them had gone through gives me strength to continue with my work and struggle for freedom, transparency, dignity and rights for my fellow Singaporeans. **** Open Letter To Dr Teo Ho Pin Re: Creative Shares Purchased By Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council And Staff Bonuses by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club **** Phone Threats A Non-Seizable Offence: Case Of Double Standards? by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club The speed at which the police arrested Ng almost immediately and their apparent unwillingness to investigate the claims of Madam Tan reflects an incongruity in the handling of cases involving PAP leaders and ordinary citizens. **** Goldman Sees 2009 Singapore GDP Down 8 Pct by Nopporn Wong-Anan, Forbes Golman Sachs said on Thursday it has lowered its forecast for Singapore gross domestic product for 2009 to -8.0 percent from -4.0 percent previously as the U.S. economy is expected to contract further in the year, curbing already weak demand for Asian goods. **** Why Limit Learning? by Tang Li, Desparatebeep Let's be honest here, Mr Lee's obsession with dialects and the Mandarin versus dialect issue has nothing to do with losing out in the modern world and the great China market. It has everything to do with Mr Lee's paranoia of "real" Chinese culture. **** Copyright Issues Hit 10-Year Series by Santokh Singh and Pearly Tan, My Paper Looking for the latest Ten-Year Series but can't find it? There is a reason it is missing. The series, popularly known as TYS among students, has run into copyright problems. **** Singaporean Adventure by Kostya Fadeev, ArrivedOK It is better to learn about visa terms from the original source (for instance from the web site of the immigration service of Singapore). **** Wall Street Journal Editor FIned For Contempt In Singapore by AFP A senior editor of the Wall Street Journal newspaper was fined S$10,000 ($6,590) Thursday for allowing the publication of articles ruled to have attacked the city-state's judiciary. The Singapore High Court said Melanie Kirkpatrick, a deputy editor of The Wall Street Journal's editorial page, was in contempt of court, on top of an earlier judgment against publisher Dow Jones Publishing Company (Asia) Inc. **** Disadvantgeous Mandarin by The Online Citizen **** Less Than 3 In 10 Jobs Went To Citizens: No Real Figures On Citizens Given By MOM by Jeremy Koh, The Wayang Party Club **** Cracks Appear In Lee's Mantle by Shawn W Crispin, Asia Times While a populist backlash against perceived corrupt bankers and financiers mounts in the United States, all is comparatively calm in financial hub Singapore, where the state and finance sector are virtually one and the same. Yet some analysts wonder whether the deepening downturn could eventually spark popular calls for political change to the People's Action Party (PAP)-led government, similar to the mass mobilizations that ousted Indonesia's and nearly toppled Malaysia's entrenched authoritarian regimes amid the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. **** ??230 Dinner At A Hawker Centre? Smells Fishy To Me by Ben Bland, Telegraph Singaporeans are obsessed with the idea that their little nation is a safe and law-abiding place but, once you get outside the manicured centre of town, this city is in many ways as chaotic as any other. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Fri Mar 20 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 20 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 20, 2009 Message-ID: <20090320225900.70889.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** PlayFirst Announces Casual Role Playing Game by Peter Cohen, Macworld In Wandering Willows, you have been marooned on a strange land after your hot air balloon malfunctions, and you have to go on a series of adventures to get home. **** Syncopation Syncs Multiple iTunes Libraries by Christopher Breen, Macworld As the name hints, Syncopation tracks what???s in the iTunes libraries of the Macs on a local network it???s installed on and when you make a change to one library, Syncopation copies the new files to the other Macs??? libraries. This includes not only music files, but also videos and podcasts. **** InternetWorld Sprint 1997 by Brent Simmons, INessential.com I remember thinking: how weird it must be for him, to be interrupted by fans at random times at these things. And I remember thinking it???s not something I would ever have to worry about in the future. On the other hand, I still don't have to worry about this for my future. :-) **** AT&T To Sell iPhone Without Contract For $599 by Associated Press Spokesman Michael Coe said Dallas-based AT&T will sell the phones starting next Thursday for $599 or $699, depending on the storage capacity. The new phones will still be "locked" to AT&T and won't work with any other cellular carrier unless they're modified. **** How To: Fake The iPhone 3.0 OS On Your iPhone Today by John mahoney, Gizmodo So start with jailbreaking, then get yourself downloading these apps to get that fresh 3.0 experience before the software even drops. **** More Evidence Arises For Future iPhone Models In Latest Beta by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica As developers begin downloading and installing the beta of the next-gen iPhone SDK, clues continue to surface about future iPhone and iPod touch models. Why do I get this feeling that Apple is messing with our minds, and some or all of these references are 'easter eggs'-style fakes? **** Set Your Own Backup Schedule With TimeMachineEditor by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica This free download lets you set the backup frequency using a simple GUI. You can choose from calendar intervals or set the backup interval to a certain number of hours, such as every two or six hours. This might be useful for those of us who don't have their time-machine external hard disk plugged in all the time. **** iPhone 3.0 To Offer MobileMe Users "Find My iPhone" Feature by Prince McLean, AppleInsider A new feature in the iPhone 3.0 firmware appears to let users remotely pinpoint a lost or stolen phone by securely requesting the device's location via Apple's MobileMe service. I hope I can also use it even when my phone is not lost or stolen, but just as a location service. **** Apple Adds HD Movie Sales To iTunes Store by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld You can play the HD movies on a Mac, a PC, or on widescreen TV with an Apple TV, as well as in standard definition on the iPhone or iPod with video (previously Apple only offered HD movie rentals to Apple TV owners). Another small step towards the death of Blu-Ray? **** Review: Apple's Newest 24-In. iMac 'A Sight To Behold' by Michael DeAgonia, Computerworld With its sleek lines, thoughtful and minimalist design, large and beautiful screen, robust operating system, polished iLife suite of apps, and updated hardware, the new iMac is a great value for anyone looking for a desktop computer. **** Apple Redraws World Map Again by Stewart Meagher, The INquirer Apple has decided that two Western European countries don't deserve to appear on the world map as they don't have access to the iPhone. **** Apple, AT&T Sued For Slow 3G Speeds by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld Apple and AT&T are being sued again for over-promising and under-delivering on their claims of fast Internet access of the iPhone 3G. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** A Roll Of Whose Dice? by Roger Ebert, Chicaco Sun-Times Is the universe deterministic, or random? Not the first question you'd expect to hear in a thriller, even a great one. But to hear this question posed soon after the opening sequence of "Knowing" gave me a particular thrill. **** Reconsideration: Lolita by Francine Prose, Lapham's Quarterly What's been lost in the process is the broader meaning of the Greek word eros, and erotic, which have always included the sexual but have also suggested the mysterious, even metaphysical, connection between sex and life, sex and pleasure, the origin of life and the celebration of life. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Schools Should Be More Flexible About Students Calling In Sick by William Tay, Straits Times Only a medical certificate from a doctor is recognixsed. Without one, my daughter will have to serve a 'corrective order'. Our over reliance on medical certificates in Singapore is a shame; a simple flu will simply require a (much chepaer) over-the-counter medicine plus plenty of rest. **** Review GRC System, So More Can Vote by Tan Chak Lim, Straits Times I feel that the GRC system obstructs my right and duty to vote, and appears discordant with the Government's stated policy 'to ensure the maximum possible participation by our citizens in the electoral process' Given that the GRC has helped PAP tremendously win seats, I seriously doubt PAP government will do away with the system. And that will mean that we have to find other means and ways to get our voices heard and our opinions accounted for in Parliament. **** Mosaic by The Skeptical Optimist I have to admit that I have a real soft spot for the Esplanade???s Mosaic Music Festival. Into its 5th year now, the festival programmers love charging ahead and challenging the Singaporean prediliction towards safe, boring, MOR (middle of the road) music. **** Drop In Annual Pay Ahead For Civil Servants by Loh Chee Kong and Cheow Xin Yi, Today TODAY has learnt that civil servants ??? who are awaiting news on their annual performance bonuses and pay increments as the financial year draws to a close ??? received a circular via email from the Public Service Division (PSD) in the Prime Minister???s Office, priming them to ???expect to see a drop in annual salaries??? this year. Like many indicators in our country, the civil servant's salary is a lagging indicator of our economy. **** How Much Money Did Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council Make Or Lose From The Sale Of Creative Shares? by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club All we know from Creative???s annual report that Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council was a major shareholder till 2007. We do not know when the shares were bought or sold. **** ??????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ?????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????(??????)???????????????????????????????????????????????? **** CDC Bonus Fiasco Part 2: The Missing Forum Threads by mrbrown So SPH, why ah? Dowan people to discuss the CDC 8-months bonus topic ah? Or read anything about it ah? **** Chatty Singaporean Cab Drivers by Norlos You can go months without talking to a New York cabbie, and most Hong Kong taxi jockey don???t speak English. But just about everybody in Singapore speaks English and likes to talk. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sat Mar 21 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 21 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 21, 2009 Message-ID: <20090321225900.33121.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** $500 More For A Logo, Huh? by Arik Hesseldahl, BusinessWeek You don???t think it???s okay to pay more for a computer because of its logo, Mr. Ballmer? Fine. Then how about paying more for one that works? **** Context Menus And Sub-Menus by Lukas Mathis, Ignore The Code MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** The Surprising Dark Side Of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Ramin Setoodeh, Newsweek Once upon a time, Eric Carle wrote a children's book that was so comfy, it came with its own cocoon. Turns out that cute little bug went through a very big metamorphosis. **** Just Another Word by Gary Hart, New York Times Alan Wolfe???s rescue of liberalism from the jaws of latter-day know-nothings and Jedediah Purdy???s reconciliation of radical individualism with community obligation have a common theme: freedom is self-realization. **** Neo-Neo Realism by A.O. Scott, New York Times What kind of movies do we need now? It???s a question that seems to arise almost automatically in times of crisis. **** The Truth About Forgiveness by Karen Houppert, Washington Post After his son was murdered, Bernard Williams became consumed by anger and depression. There was, he came to realize, only one way to save himself. **** A State Of Embarrassment by Gene Weingarten, Washington Post Perhaps you have heard that the state legislature in Maryland is considering changing the state's official song. Or perhaps you haven't. The issue has been handled without huge fanfare because there's a certain embarrassment behind it. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Defense, Extradition Pacts With Singapore Frozen: Juwono by Abdul Khalik and Lilian Budlanto, Jakarta Post Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono accused Singapore on Thursday of not signing an extradition pact with Indonesia out of fear it would be obliged to return money stashed away by corrupt fugitives who fled to the city state during the 1998-2001 financial crisis. The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), also negotiated along with the extradition agreement, seems to have collapsed as well. **** Dismayed At NLB's Focus On 'Bean-Counting' by Yew-Kong Tham, Straits Times It gives me the impression that NLB is focused on 'bean-counting' instead of its broader vision of giving access to books and media to the masses. I have always admired our libraries, but this new policy is difficult to understand. **** Re: Congress' Reaction To AIG Bonuses - Am I The Only One Concerned? by Rich Kulawiec There is a larger and more long-term issue here. Is anybody actually worth a million dollars (to pick an arbitrary and round number) a year -- to society-at-large? **** If Only Teo Ho Pin Had Learnt The Art Of "Wayang" by Jeremy Koh, The Wayang Party Club It???s time MM Lee send his ???A team??? of ministers and MPs including his son to learn some basic communication skills so that they will stop stepping on the toes of the people. I think the problem is deeper than "communication skills." There is a serious lack of leadership skills among our ministers and MPs and senior civil servants. It seems they can only lead by dangling money (and priorities in primary school admissions) in front of their followers. **** South East Asia: A Feast For The Senses by Samantha Lewis, The Times **** ????????????????????????????????????????????? by ???????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Home Affairs Minister To Table Public Order Bill In Parliament by The Online Citizen The law could give the police powers to prevent protesters from gathering at places like Parliament House and the Istana, and to compel them to ???move on???. **** MM Lee's "Mandarinate" System Is The Real Scourge Of Multi-Party Politics In Singapore by Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club The selfish ambitions of one man has stymized the emergence of a real, vibrant and rigorous parliamentary democracy in Singapore for decades because he doesn???t like dissenting voices to challenge him. He wants to rule as he pleases without any questioning or resistance. All his colleagues and subordinates are merely musicians in an orchestra to play the tune according to his wishes. **** JB Or Singapore? Amazing Flip-Flop By Khaw Boon Wan!!! by The Wayang Party Club No, Mr Khaw - ???doing your best??? is not enough. You should be bold enough to proclaim that no Singaporean will be allowed to retire in JB due to cost reasons to reassure every Singapore citizen that they will not be discarded like a used piece of cardboard when their productive shelf-life has expired! From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sun Mar 22 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 22 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 22, 2009 Message-ID: <20090322225900.178.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** How The iPhone 3.0 Will Create A New Mobile Economy by Ben Parr, Mashable If the iPhone application store revolutionized the mobile as a platform, then the iPhone 3.0 OS may very well be the spark that revolutionizes the mobile as its own economy. iPhone apps no longer have to be one-hit wonders, but can make sustainable income from a smaller base of committed customers. **** What Google Should Learn From Apple by Chris Matyszczyk, CNET Apple recognized this from the beginning. The company understood that technology had to recognize humanity's irrationality and emotionality, with all the risk and subjectivity that entailed. **** Streaming Video On The iPhone? It's Madness by Philip Michaels, Macworld I have seen the future, and, man, is it jumpy. **** It's Crap Like This THat Makes People Pirate by Thomas Fitzgerald People want to pay for content. I know the execs at NBC and every other major studio don???t believe that, but a lot of people are willing to pay for good high quality access to their favorite TV shows. But they don???t like being taken advantage of either. As many commenters on iTunes have pointed out, it???s crap like this that pushes people back to bit-torrent. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Steve Ballmer Maps Microsoft's Cloud-y Future by Saul Hansell, New York Times MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** The Roar Of The Crowd by David P. Barash, The Chronicle Of Higher Education Marx was wrong: The opiate of the masses isn't religion, but spectator sports. What else explains the astounding fact that millions of seemingly intelligent human beings feel that the athletic exertions of total strangers are somehow consequential for themselves? The real question we should be asking during the madness surrounding this month's collegiate basketball championship season is not who will win, but why anyone cares. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Orchids For Aung San Suu Kyi But It's Not From PAP by John Moe, Singapore Democrats The Burmese are overwhelmed with gratitude to the Singaporean activists who stood up for righteousness when they displayed a banner reading ???Long Live Aung San Suu Kyi" and placed at the gate of the Burma Embassy in Singapore the bouquet of orchids. Sadly, it???s not from the PAP. **** More Independent Players Entering Singapore's Publishing Scene by Cheryl Lim, Channel NewsAsia More Singaporean authors are looking to publish their work. Independent publishers have said more authors are approaching them. **** Straits Times Articles On Opposition And PAP by Gerald Giam **** Are Childcare Centres Exploiting Government Schemes? by Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen The first question one would ask is: Why did the minister defend the PCF???s raising fees while urging private operators to ???refrain from increasing their fees???? **** CNA Forumer Johnlaw Who Leaked About CDC Bonuses Still Missing After 3 Weeks by The Wayang Party Club The netizen going by the moniker ???Johnlaw??? who posted about 2 staff of Northwest CDC receiving 8 months of bonuses in 2008 on CNA forum had been missing since his sensational allegations stirred a furore in cyberspace in the beginning of March. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Mon Mar 23 18:59:01 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 23 Mar 2009 22:59:01 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 23, 2009 Message-ID: <20090323225901.17730.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Ars Reviews iWork '09: Fourth Time's A Charm? by Iljitsch van Beijnum, Ars Technica Microsoft Office may have more advanced features, and OpenOffice may be free, but neither of them is as polished, easy-to-use, or well-integrated with Mac OS X as iWork. **** No iPhone? No Problem by Andrew Vanacore, Associated Press **** Interview: Meebo CEO On iPhone Chat App, Push Notifications by David Chartier, Ars Technica When asked why Meebo has waited until now to offer a native iPhone app (besides a Web-optimized iPhone app and Android app), Sternberg offered the obvious answer: Push Notifications. **** New Yorker Cartoon App For iPhone by Nicole Martinelli, Cult Of Mac **** iPod Shuffle Review: Where We're Going, We Don't Need Clicks by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica The shuffle is a pretty good little device if you have a specific use for it. For me, that's running. I already have a 2G iPod shuffle that has, you know, buttons and no proprietary headphone requirements, but the 4GB of space is what's selling me on the new version. **** Apple Features 'Your Business On A Mac' Seminars by Peter Cohen, Macworld **** Apple Discontinues iPhone Bluetooth Headset by Slash Lane, AppleInsider Apple this weekend appears to have discontinued its iPhone Bluetooth Headset, a possible sign that the company could be planning to introduce an updated model alongside new iPhones a bit later this year or cede the market segment to third parties. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** So, So It Begins Means It Begins by Mary Jo Bang, The New Yorker **** Julia And Byron by Craig Raine, The New Yorker When Julia was twenty-nine, her hair was already bar-coded. Now, at sixty-two, it was a solid helmet of bright pewter, level with her lean, brown jawbone. As she looked at her wedding ring, she could observe the bold play of tendons on the back of her tanned thin hands. The student doctor was telling her that she had cancer. Of the bone marrow. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Don't Break CPF Piggy Bank, But... by Tun Ah Heng, Straits Times What they ask for is not to break the piggy bank. But for members who already have funds above the Minimum Sum, why can't the CPF Board release the excess funds to those who are now struggling to live? **** SAF Offered Doctor Alternative Posting by Darius Lim, Ministry Of Defence, Straits Times SAF officers who take up sponsorship have a responsibility to serve the full period of their bonds as substantial resources and time have been devoted to training them. Otherwise they will leave gaps in key positions in the SAF. Nevertheless, if an officer wishes to leave the service early, he can submit an application through a proper process. Approval to leave the service will be granted only in strong and extenuating circumstances. **** Things Not To Like About Dubai by Nasu Dengaku Singapore and Dubai make for an interesting contrast. They are both small, rich, highly developed one-party city states with strict laws and low crime. However, Singapore spends a lot of money investing in education and public infrastructure and encourages expatriates to become citizens. In contrast, Dubai seems to treat its noncitizens, which make up 90% of the population, as disposable employees. **** Exclusive Interview With Blogger "PothePanda" Who Claimed He Was Arrested & Interrogated By Police For A Post He Made On STOMP by The Wayang Party Club On 13th March 2009, a blogger with the moniker ???PothePanda??? who was also a regular forumer of STOMP and Hardwarezone posted a statement on his blog at Xanga alleging that he was arrested by the police on 2 March 2009 for an article about molotov cocktails posted on STOMP late last year. **** A Paper Fit For Peasants by The Lady Melissa Journalists in Singapore, having for years having to bear the stigma of writing for a village witless newspaper, have become one of the most denigrated, laughed-at and even despised profession. As such, no self-respecting intellectual will ever aspire to join SPH. Thus, only third-rate minds join SPH, and continue to churn out third-rate dribble. Even SPH scholars are third-rate, often having been rejected by other scholarship boards, and the good ones break their (breakable) bonds way before they are up. And so, the vicious cycle continues. **** Singapore's 2008 Inflation Rate Up 6.5% by Channel NewsAsia Singapore???s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for general households was up 6.5 per cent in 2008 mainly due to higher costs of food, accommodation, electricity tariffs, petrol, holiday travel and taxi fares. **** If Singapore Is Feeling The Pinch, We're In Trouble by Jeremy Thomas, The Times Make no mistake, Singapore is a buzz to visit, and the relative wealth and standard of living of its citizens shames most cities in the world. Real life has come to bite it, however. And if Singapore, of all places, starts hurting, then the rest of us might as well get used to a lot more pain. **** More Than Meets The Eye Behind MINDEF's Explanatio Of Dr Allan Oooi's Bond by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club SAF needs to account to the public why approval to leave the service will only be granted under certain circumstances. Did it include this archaic clause in the contracts offered to SAF scholars? **** Body Conscious Singapore by Hip Young Things **** ??????????????? by ??????, ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Women With AIDS: Lessons From Indonesia And Singapore by Tai Wei Lim, The Asia-Pacific Jounral: Japan Focus Singapore has achieved some success in combating the scourge of AIDS amongst women. Such progress came against a general backdrop of advancement for women in Singapore society - politically, economically and socially. **** ???????????????????????????????????? by ??????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? by ??????????????? **** Singaproe's Best Burger - Here Are THe 5 Best Places (With Pics) by Angry Angmo **** Who's Afraid Of Cathering Lim? by Catherine Lim Very briefly, Dr Tan portrays the PAP government as an unremittingly patriarchal leadership with zero tolerance for strident female critics who dare make them lose face publicly. And he portrays me as a survivor in such a climate precisely because I have deliberately???or subconsciously???disguised my ???masculine??? qualities of aggression and confrontation by an outwardly gentle, deferential ???feminine??? demeanour! **** BBC Asks PM Lee: "Are You Worth All That Money?" by mrbrown **** Government Announces Relaxation To Internet Election Advertising Rules by S. Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia Parliament on Monday debated changes to the Films Act, allowing certain types of films which would otherwise be termed party political films. **** GIC Expects Lower Return by Straits Times The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) expects to get a lower rate of return for its reserves over the next 20 years than in the past two decades, amid a tougher investment environment, said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Parliament on Monday. **** UBS Lays Off Singapore Team Serving Rich Turks: Sources by Reuters UBS, the world's biggest wealth manager, has axed a team of six private bankers in Singapore, who were managing wealth for Turkish clients, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Monday. **** Asia Pacific Airlines At A Loss Over Fuel Hedges by Felicia Loo, Reuters Airlines in Asia Pacific are slashing fuel hedges, some to almost nil, after losing billions when oil dived last year, and as risk management costs rise due to volatile markets and credit-wary bankers. **** New Restrictions To Films Act Introduced In The Guise Of Liberalisation by Only "Objective" And "Factual" Political Films Please, We're Singaporeans While I leave the analyses to the bloggers and commentators, I will just spell out here in layman's terms what the amendments really mean to you. Whether it is about broadcast television, local press, or political films, take it with a grain of salt whenever the government uses the word liberalization'. **** Four-Year-Old Boy Injured By Rusty Metal Bar At Playground by Ting Kheng Shiong/Cheryl Lim, Channel NewsAsia Are town councils maintaining playground equipment regularly? That is the question the parents of a four-year-old boy are asking after he was injured by a rusty metal bar on Sunday night. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Tue Mar 24 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 24 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 24, 2009 Message-ID: <20090324225900.78706.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Apple Aggressively Pursues 'Pod' Trademarks by Brian X. Chen, Wired What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but if its name ended in "pod," it might attract the ire of Apple's shark-like legal team. Apple's obsession with the blockbuster success of its iPod has driven the corporation to chase down many companies attempting to use the media player's three-letter suffix in their product or business names. **** Pocket God For iPhone: Sadistic Glee, Updated Weekly by Erica Sadun, Ars Technica If that were all there was to Pocket God, we would sum up the application by saying: "cute for five minutes, possibly worth the one-dollar price, no good long-term gameplay." However, there's far more to the whole Pocket God experience, and that's due to the designers behind the product. **** The Five Most Underused Finder Tools by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld Looking for some quick time-savers? Chances are you don???t need to hunt down a new utility, you just need to take advantage of the tools OS X already offers. **** AT&T Execs Said Touting New, Faster iPhone For Mid-June by Aidan Malley, AppleInsider One or more of AT&T's more senior officials have reportedly slipped important details about the next iPhone, including a June unveiling and a continued emphasis on speed. **** 17-Inch iMac Still Available To Education Institutions by Dan Moren, Macworld Reports over the weekend suggested that the 17-inch model still remains available, for some???specifically, the education market. **** Quad-Core And Eight-Core Mac Pros (2009 Editions) by James Galbraith, Macworld The new Mac Pros, with their cutting-edge Nehalem processor technology, are able to execute more tasks at a faster clip, despite lower processor speeds. And their new internal design makes adding hard drives, memory cards, and PCI Express 2.0 cards easier than ever. Apple???s most expandable Mac is the pro platform for power users. **** Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Ships For Mac by Peter Cohen, Macworld **** Why Even IT Pros Are Demanding Macs by Mel Beckman, InfoWorld **** Apple Says Sorry For Mac Perl Breakage by Cade Metz, The Register Apple has apologized for breaking Perl with its latest Mac OS X security update, saying it will distribute a solution to the problem with a future update. **** Paging Dr. iPhone: Tapping A Physician's Digital Reference by Arik Hesseldahl, BusinessWeek This family doctor is using Apple's smartphone and numerous medical mobile apps to save time, see more patients, and provide better care. **** Topple 2 For iPhone by Lex Friedman, Macworld With great art, new modes, multiplayer options, and genuinely fun gameplay, Topple 2 is a worthy sequel to the first version and an easy game to recommend. **** When Apple Marches On by Christopher Breen, Macworld **** Espresso Streamlines Web Development Workflows by Peter Cohen, Macworld Espresso streamlines the development of Web projects by combining coding, project management, publishing and synchronization features in one application. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** A Color E-Reader by Kate Greene, MIT Technology Review The new Fujitsu color e-reader uses LCD technology but has some of the advantages of e-paper. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Land Of Promise, Home Of The Bedeviled And Bewildered by Michiko Kaktuani, New York Times In Wells Tower???s sad-funny-disturbing stories, the world is a precarious place, where the innocent have bad dreams, and even the not-so-innocent worry about ???the things the world will do to them??? and their loved ones. **** The Age by Gail Mazur, Slate SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** No Boundaries Panel Yet by Jeremy Au Yong, Straits Times The prime minister has not appointed the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee, nor has he decided when to do so. Deputy prime minister Wong Kan Seng yesterday gave this categorical answer to non-constituency MP Sylvia Lim, who wanted to know if the committee - seen as a precursor to a general election - had been appointed. **** The New Public Order Act - More Arbitrary Powers, More Tyranny by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net Today, over 5 decades later, those values of democracy and freedom have been distorted and perverted by the ruling party beyond recognition in the name of security and public order. Let us all strongly condemn this tyranny. **** PAP Cha Cha - One Step Forward Three Steps Back by Goh Meng Seng Don't be fooled by such sweet sugar coating of words like "Openness", "Loosening of rules" etc etc. The real poisoned beef lies in the details. **** Why Singapore Is Another Model For Teaching Excellence by Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, Christian Science Monitor It's an honored and very selective profession ??? and teachers are highly paid. **** ION Orchard Mall To Open In July 2009 by Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia ION Orchard, one of Singapore's largest shopping malls, is set to open this July amid the dismal economic outlook and falling consumer confidence. **** ??????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ????????? ???????????????23???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Temasek Offers Hedge Funds Hope by Philip Aldrick, Telegraph Temasek, Singapore???s state-backed investment fund, has offered the beleaguered hedge fund industry a rare show of support by pledging to commit more money to the sector this year. **** Singapore Inflation Rate Highest In 28 Years by AFP **** Films Amendment Bill by Sylvia Lim, The Workers' Party In my view, the ability to take criticism and laugh at one self is a sign of society???s maturity, humility and magnanimity. I urge this Government to cultivate such qualities and accept political films as nothing more than an expression of diverse opinion in a healthy democracy. Singapore has a high literacy rate and high Internet connectivity. Singaporeans have many channels to obtain official and unofficial information. There are also many other laws in place such as the defamation laws, Penal Code and Sedition Act to catch content which is objectionable. Our society should be ready for and work towards a removal of the ban on political films altogether i.e. repealing S 33 of the Act. **** Singapore Eases Law On Political Films by Nopporn Wong-Anan, Reuters Singapore passed an amended law on Monday to ease an 11-year-old ban on films that promote a politician or political party, but the amendments also introduce restrictions on dramatized political videos. **** A Bad Law Just Got Worse by Choo Zheng Xi, The Online Citizen The final nail in the coffin of liberalizing the legal regime on online political films was driven in today, as amendments to the Films Act were passed by Parliament. Although TOC disagreed with the extent of the amendments AIMS recommended, the final amendment that passed in Parliament was a complete repudiation of the process of consultation that bloggers, academics, and members of the public had been engaged in for more than a year and a half. **** Singapore Air's Empty Business Class Seats Cost It Top Ranking by Chan Sue Ling, Bloomberg **** CNA Spinning Positive Stories About PAP To Placate Public Outrage Over CDC Bonuses by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club Singaporeans do not have to be thankful to the PAP for giving us what is rightfully ours. And don???t forget that they always have the means to take back much more from us later on after they are done with the dispensation of the leftover ???crumbs???. **** A Government In A Forbidden City by My Singapore News How and when have we reached this state of being when ministers and MPs are afraid of the people? **** Global Trade 'Will Shrink By 9%' by BBC News Global trade flows are set to shrink by 9% during 2009, according to a forecast by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO blames the deepening recession for the downturn, but says trade could be "a potent tool" for recovery. **** Woman Killed After Being Hit By Train At Clementi by 938 Live A woman was killed after being hit by a train at Clementi MRT station early Tuesday morning. **** Hawkers Leave Orchard by Melissa Sim & Lim Wei Chean, Straits Times Hawkers who do not hold the correct licence have been warned to take their business away from Orchard Road. **** ????????????????????????6???7???????????? by ???????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????6???7????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????2???????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????(??????)??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ???????????????????????? ??????????????????????????? by ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** KL Still Waiting Singapore Report On West Ponggol Incident by Bernama Wisma Putra is still waiting for Singapore's official statement on the West Ponggol incident which reportedly killed a Malaysian and the arrest of his former brother-in-law nine days ago. "Usually, when an incident such as this happens, our High Commissioner there will be informed but so far, the republic's authority has not done so," said foreign minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim. **** Postcard From Singapore by Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy I found myself wondering today whether Singapore might be something of a canary in the coal mine on the issues of energy security and adaptation to climate change. **** To Cane Or Not To Cane? by Rachel S Kraut, Today The adage ???Spare the rod and spoil the child??? may have some validity, but as an educational philosophy, it certainly doesn???t contribute to creating a self-confident, free-thinking, creative populace. **** A Call For Setting Up Of A Commission Of Inquiry To Investigate The Circumstances Leading To Dr Allan Ooi's Suicide by Fang Zhi Yuan, The Wayang Party Club MINDEF???s official statement is grossly inadequate, given that it fails to address the crux of the entire matter: why wasn???t Dr Allan Ooi allowed to break his bond? **** Hey, Straits Times, Where's The Gaming Addiction Now? by Everyday's Life In A Snapshot - For Lesser Mortals Only I???m still waiting for the admission that you defamed a dead person by baseless speculations and gross untruths. Whoever the reporter was, and the editor too, Shame on you. Sorry for the wrong language, but fuck you people for trying to lie to the masses and defaming a dead person. **** Who Do You Trust? by Singaporean Skeptic **** Written Answer To Parliamentary Question On Singapore's Position On The ASEAN Human Rights Body by Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Singapore Government **** ???????????????????????? by Chen Peng ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????..... **** An Affront To Singapore's History by Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen When a government legislates not against the person conducting an illegal activity but against the one witnessing it, and does so for clearly political purposes, one should know that the government has stepped beyond its moral responsibilities of safeguarding society and has abused its conferred privilege to enact laws. Indeed, the Films Act amendments show that the government has overstepped the OB markers which society has prescribed for it and is an affront to the preservation of Singapore???s recorded history. **** Singapore To Launch Tougher Public Order Law by Reuters Singapore, which already has tough restrictions on freedom of assembly, plans to tighten them further ahead of a major Asia-Pacific summit in the city-state. Under the proposed law, police could prevent activists from leaving home if they knew they were going to a political rally. It would also allow police to order a person to leave an area if they determine he is about to break the law. **** Charles Goodyear Identified As Potential Temasek CEO In 2007 by Irene Chan, Channel NewsAsia Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, senior minister of state for finance and transport said a subcommittee of the Temasek board had been working since 2005 with incumbent CEO Ho Ching to review successor candidates. Mrs Lim said: "It was a dynamic list. Each year new names might be added while other names might be taken out. The list included candidates from within the company as well as those from outside Temasek, both Singapore and abroad. They included Singaporeans, permanent residents and foreigners." **** Singapore Cash-For-Organs Plan Raises Concern by AFP Plans by Singapore to allow payments to living organ donors have run into opposition from some lawmakers who fear they may draw indebted foreign workers, according to press reports Tuesday. One deputy, Halimah Yacob, said the large pool of unskilled foreign workers affected by the financial crisis may turn to donating organs to pay off debts they incurred to get jobs in this affluent city-state. **** Perils Of Globalisation by Kalings Seneviratne, IPS This tiny island republic sits on trillions of dollars in foreign reserves. Yet, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a BBC interview this month that his country cannot spend its way out of the economic downturn, until the global economy heals. **** Films Act: Let Us Embrace Ambiguity by Sam's Thoughts **** Singapore Cannot Accept Rohingya Refugees by Channel NewsAsia Singapore cannot accept Rohingya refugees should they attempt to land but would help them depart for another country, a senior government official said Tuesday. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Wed Mar 25 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 25 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 25, 2009 Message-ID: <20090325225900.25162.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Apple's Portable Game by Brian Crecente, Kotaku.com After years of being a punchline among hardcore gamers, Apple has gotten serious about gaming. They just happened to use a cell phone and not a computer to do it. **** Id Announces 'Wolfenstein 3D Classic' For iPhone by TouchArcade Id Software published a lengthy letter from John Carmack who describes the development of the iPhone version of Wolfenstein 3D Classic. This classic first person shooter has been submitted to the App Store with the source code released to the public. **** Microsoft's Apple Deja Vu All Over Again by David Morgenstern, ZDNet Am I the only one who see???s Redmond???s continued rehashing of the PC vs. Mac wars as a sign of weakness? **** iPhone Needs Clock And Calendar APIs by Neven Mrgan For a simple app, this is mad. In addition to the app itself, the developer of my pill reminder would now have to maintain 1. a very busy server, 2. user accounts on the server, hopefully in a very safe way, and 3. some sort of (simple) server process to send notifications. I???m no expert, but this complicates the development tenfold, and it???s pretty ridiculous for a feature of such tiny scope. **** Eight Years And COunting by Rob Griffiths, Macworld In case you???ve lost track of time, Tuesday marks the eighth anniversary of the release of Mac OS X (version 10.0.0). In that time, there have been 52 different releases of OS X, counting the public beta as well as major and minor updates. So in honor of this eighth birthday, here are eight great things about OS X. **** Apple Sued For Promoting iPhone As eBook Reader by Katie Marsal, AppleInsider An overseas communications firm is suing Apple for promoting its iPhone handset as a touchscreen digital book reader, a concept it claims to have patented over seven years ago. **** iPhone Information Appears On China Unicom Website by Sam Oliver, AppleInsider Photos and specifications for the iPhone have been posted on the website of wireless carrier China Unicom, a sign that Apple may finally be ready to enter the world's largest cell phone market. **** InstallerApp Is Like iTunes For Jailbreakers by Dan Moren, Macworld RipDev???s InstallerApp is an application for your Mac (soon to be available for Windows PCs as well) that allows you to download iPhone apps on your computer and transfer them to your device over a USB connection. If that sounds a bit like iTunes for jailbreak apps, well, that???s because it is. **** Director 11.5 Sports New Audio Engine, Leopard Support by Peter Cohen, Macworld The new 11.5 release features a new 5.1 channel surround sound audio engine that has real-time mixing capabilities. It now supports the H.264 (Advanced Video Codec) video encoding format and RTMP-based streaming, for delivering High Definition (HD) video content. **** Freeverse Releases Commander: Napoleon At War For Mac by Peter Cohen, Macworld **** Loving The iPod Shuffle by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld For me, the iPod shuffle is perfect in every way. The controls are easy; it???s very small and tucks away nicely; and features like VoiceOver means that I can listen to what I want, when I want. **** Apple Opens Some International Online Store To US Buyers by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica A new online Apple Store option allows US customers to purchase and send gifts to friends and family in M??xico, much of Europe, and select countries in Southeast Asia. Getting a real gift still trumps receiving a gift card, that's for sure. **** Apple Flips The Switch On Genius Sidebar For Movies/TV by Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica iTunes' Genius sidebar feature now works with TV shows and movies in addition to music. The feature will be able to provide you with video recommendations based on what other customers have bought, assuming it has enough data to work from. **** What I Learned From Having My Laptop Stolen by David Blatner, TidBITS Three things are lost with a computer???s theft: hardware, data, and privacy. I???ll let others deal with the emotional aspects of loss, and instead focus on the practical ones. **** It's An iPod World by Lance Ulanoff, PC Magazine The transition is complete. My formerly heterogeneous home MP3 environment has transformed into a one-company, one-brand house. Everyone is using Apple iPods. If my home is a microcosm of the market, the MP3 industry has a major problem. **** I Dropped My iPhone On My Eye by Sheylara "You kena eye-phone!!!" **** Copycats Causing Problems For iPhone App Developers by Chris Foresman, Ars Technica iPhone app developers are beginning to complain about other, less ethical individuals copying apps and selling them via the App Store. The affected developers believe Apple should help combat this problem, but so far, the company has reportedly been unresponsive. **** TextExpander Update Adds New Expansion Options by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld **** Syncing iPhoto Libraries by Christopher Breen, Macworld **** Apple Releases 17-Inch MacBook Pro Graphics Update by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld MacBook Pro Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 addresses the appearance of vertical lines or distorted graphics on the notebook display, according to notes provided by Apple with the update. It appears that is the only issue fixed in the firmware update. **** The Omni Group Unveils OmniGraphSketcher 1.0 by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld According to the company, OmniGraphSketcher 1.0 is a tool that combines the data plotting power of charting applications with the ease of a basic drawing program. The application is designed for reports, presentations and problem sets where graphs need to be produced on the fly. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Moving Video Games To The Clouds by Kate Greene, MIT Technology Review A startup wants to do away with consoles, games resellers, and expensive graphics chips. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Hellhole by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker The United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture? **** New York-Style Pizza: What It Means by Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times When I moved from Los Angeles to Manhattan, one of the first things I learned was that I had a lot to learn about pizza. One doesn't stand in line but on line; it's not "for here or to go" but "to stay or take away"; and don't order "a piece of pizza" — it's "a slice." But those were mere details: True pizza enlightenment didn't come until I was kicked out of my semi-illegal Lower East Side sublet and ended up living in Brooklyn. A friend wise in the ways of pizza led me on a pilgrimage to Di Fara, where you could get a slice of owner Domenico DeMarco's perfection, which included fresh mozzarella di bufala and a sprinkling of Grana Padano cheese at the end of baking. And I stood on line at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge for Patsy Grimaldi's pies, the tops of the bubbles at the edge of the crust crisp-charred in the coal-fired brick oven. **** Old World With New Twists by Julia Moskin, New York Times Take this! French and Italian classics, combined with some twists on American tradition. **** The Art Of The Con—Learning From Bernard Madoff by Michael Shermer, Scientific American The evolutionary arms race between deception and deception detection has left us with a legacy of looking for signals to trust or distrust others. The system works reasonably well in simple social situations with many opportunities for interaction, such as those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. But in the modern world of distance, anonymity and especially complicated investment tools (such as hedge funds) that not one in a thousand really understands, detecting deceptive signals is no easy feat. **** Dispatches From The Streets: The Grim Particulars Of Homelessness by Dwight Garnier, New York Times Sixteen years ago, with ???Travels With Lizbeth,??? Lars Eighner set the bar high for American memoirs of homelessness. Probably too high. ???Land of the Lost Souls,??? a new memoir about being homeless on New York City???s streets, from a writer known as Cadillac Man, is a different kind of book. It finds its center of gravity in the grim particulars of loss and brute survival. Its language is a platter of cabbages instead of roses. **** Shall We Get Rid Of The Lawyers? by Anthony Lewis, New York Review Of Books Justice Hugo L. Black once told me that he thought all government departments and agencies should be abolished every five or ten years. Black was a senator from Alabama for ten years and a Supreme Court justice for thirty-four, and he knew just about everything there was to know about how government works. His startling idea???and I think he was serious???was his way of dealing with the encrustations of bureaucracy. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Is Proposed Public Order Law A Duplication? by Lionel De Souza, Straits Times **** Confusing Signals Over Smoking Rules by Jason Goh, Straits Times **** Rohingya Refugees Have Not Entered Singapore by Zakaria Abdul Wahab, Bernama Singapore authorities have so far not encountered any Rohingya refugee seeking to enter the island republic's waters, its Parliament was told today. **** Singapore Says Deceased Involved In Human Smuggling by Bernama The Singapore High Commission today refuted claims that P. Ramlee Salam, 28, and his former brother-in-law Khamis Muhammad, 50, were fisherman who unintentionally strayed into the republic's territorial waters when confronted by the Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG). In a statement today, the High Commission said there was no basis to the report, dated March 23, as both were involved in human smuggling and not fishing as claimed. **** Judgment In Singapore by Wall Street Journal "Neither Ms. Kirkpatrick nor Dow Jones agrees with the substance of the charges or the contempt judgment. Dow Jones is committed to defending the right of The Wall Street Journal Asia to report and comment on matters of international importance, including matters concerning Singapore." **** $491 Bill? How About $10,000 For 10 Diners by K F Seetoh, New Paper Nothing much that can be done about the bad eggs as long as the vicious cycle is not broken. Many still want a slice of the action and live to tell the story. **** No-Pay Leave For SIA Staff by Karamjit Kaur, Straits Times The compulsory leave scheme, which for now excludes cockpit and cabin crew, could take effect from May, The Straits Times understands. **** PAP: Not Even One by Singapore Democrats Taken together these laws and the way they are exercised are designed to ensure that public assembly is completely stopped. This signals one thing: That the PAP is determined to keep itself in power regardless what happens to the country and how unhappy the people get. **** Singapore To Allow Reimbursement For Altruistic Living Organ Donations by Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia The proposal to allow reimbursement for altruistic living organ donations was accepted by Parliament on Tuesday - but after a heated debate. **** ???????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? **** Crisis Blurs Singapore's Boomtown Vision by Tom Wright, Wall Street Journal On almost any major street of this affluent Southeast Asian city-state, cranes tower overhead — a reminder of an incredible three-year building boom that now is turning into a bust. "In 35 years of my career, I've never seen anything like this," says Jerry Tan, a Singaporean broker who sold $1.5 billion of property to high-end clients in 2007 but now has time to sip wine and brood at his office. **** Don't Spare The Rod by Peck Bee Choon, Today I use the cane on my daughter but only at home. I believe that public punishment humiliates the kids concerned and may cause emotional scars that can take a long time to heal. **** Comments By MHA In Response To Straits Times' Queries On Commentary By John Berthelsen by Ministry Of Home Affairs, Singapore Government Mr John Berthelsen wrote as if he was surprised over being denied entry into Singapore on 17 Mar 2009. He should not be. He is well aware that he is not welcomed in Singapore when his application for renewal of his employment permit was rejected in 1988. **** Recession-Hit Singapore Takes Hard Line On Protests by AFP Singapore is tightening its rules on outdoor protests as the city state prepares to host its largest international summit amid its worst recession yet, analysts say. Analysts said that, beyond the APEC summit, the government can use the law to deal with any outbreaks of public frustration as the recession leads to more job cuts and shrinking pay cheques. **** ?????????????????????????????? ????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????30??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????28????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????30???????????????????????????????????????1200??????????????????????????????????????????2009????????????????????????????????? **** Singapore Aims To Be Big Player In Sports Industry by AFP Singapore might be small but it always thinks big and that goes for the growth of its sports industry, which is booming despite dark economic times. **** Pursuing An Education In Singapore by Aulia Rachmat, The Jakarta Post As an education destination, Singapore is becoming increasingly popular among Indonesian students due to its proximity and reasonable living costs. **** Comments: Pacts With Singapore Frozen: Juwono by David K., The Jakarta Post Singapore's requests are unreasonable, especially considering they wish to open a military base on Indonesian soil. **** Singapore's Internet Radio Streaming Dries Up by Today After talks over new licence fees with the Recording Industry Performance Singapore (Rips) fell through, SPH UnionWorks has joined other radio stations in the country and stopped its Internet streaming services. **** Was Minister Lui Tuck Yew Confused By AIMs' Recommendations? by Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen One wonders if Minister Lui was confused by one aspect of the change ??? that of a ???blackout period??? during electioneering. When The Online Citizen (TOC) reported in December 2008 that AIMs had indeed recommended such a limitation, AIMs wrote to TOC to clarify that it was, in fact, not recommending a ???blackout period???. **** Confidential Information Are For The Eyes Of Foreigners, Not Singaporeans by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club Mrs Lim pointed out that Temasek was not part of the civil service, but a commercial company wholly owned by the Government. Is a purely commercial company entitled to funding from the Ministry of Finance if that is the correct term to use? Don???t tell me that the Ministry of Finance is not part of the civil service too? Temasek is not unique in this sense. There are a lot of commercial companies that are wholly owned by the government. For example, EZ-Link Pte Ltd [http://www.ezlink.com.sg/theCompany.htm] is a subsidiary of the Land Transport Authority, while Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd [http://www.ida.gov.sg/About%20us/20060406115508.aspx] is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). **** ??????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ???????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Thu Mar 26 18:59:01 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 26 Mar 2009 22:59:01 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 26, 2009 Message-ID: <20090326225901.95281.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** MacHeist 3 Bundle Revealed: $900+ For $39 by Jeff Smykil, Ars Technica The collection of software can be purchased now via the MacHeist website and currently offers 10 pieces of Mac software with the possibility of three additional apps being unlocked if certain sales marks are met. Further, a free copy of Eventbox, the social everything app, is being given away to each visitor of the bundle site for an undisclosed period of time. **** EA Mobile Bringing Madden, Wolfenstein To iPhone by Tom Krazit, CNET EA Mobile is making a big bet on the iPhone and iPod Touch, announcing plans this week to port more than a dozen of its most popular games to Apple's gadgets. **** Evernote Has Been Busy! by Sarah Perez, Read Write Web Evernote, the popular note-taking, cataloging, and bookmarking service has been busy over the past month, cranking out a number of updates **** Apple Sued Over iPhone's Access To iTunes, Camera Chips by Aidan Malley, AppleInsider Apple has been targeted twice in lawsuits this week by companies that claim patent infringement in the iPhone, the App Store, and even the chips that power its camera. **** Some Favorite Apps That Make iPhone Worth The Price by Walter S. Mossberg, Wall Street Journal I am not saying these are the best apps on the iPhone, only that they do their jobs and make the device much more useful for me. **** Apple Australia's $300m iPhone Boom by Liam Tung, ZDNet Australia Apple's 2008 financial statements, submitted to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in March, details the company's rapid growth in a year that saw it open its flagship George Street store in Sydney, as well as in Chatswood and also Melbourne. **** Dear Apple: How Will You Handle Death-By-Push-Notification? by Rene Ritchie, The iPhone Blog Suddenly Push Notification is trying to pop up 30 text boxes all at once ??? while you???re in the middle of an urgent phone call. How will you handle this, Apple? **** MacHeist by Lukas Mathis, Ignore The Code Does MacHeist hurt the amount of money people are willing to pay for great Mac software? Does it hurt the market for indie software? **** Apple's iPhone App Refund Policies Could Bankrupt Developers by Leena Rao, TechCrunch The developer not only has to return the money for the sale, but also has to reimburse Apple for its commission. **** The iPhone Excuse by Sam Grobart, New York Times For all its abilities and powers, the iPhone is a tremendous pocket computer, but a lousy phone. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** An Orderly Office? That's Personal by Sara Rimer, New York Times Now, as unemployment is on the rise and freelance work and part-time jobs are replacing many full-time ones, more of us are spending more time in home offices (or in the tiny nooks that often pass for them). We may be spending less on furnishing them, but the demand for ways to make these spaces make sense has probably never been higher. **** The Monster Inside My Son by AnnBauer, Salon For years I thought of his autism as beautiful and mysterious. But when he turned unspeakably violent, I had to question everything I knew. **** Why Books Won't Change Your Life by Alastair Harper, The Guardian Publishers love to say a novel is unputdownable, or life-changing. I can't imagine anything worse. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** 5-Year Passport Means Greater Security by Chia Hui Keng, Immigratoin & Checkpoints Authority, Straits Times In a move to enhance passport integrity and security, the validity period of Singapore passports was reduced to five years from April 1, 2005. Passports with shorter validity allow new technologies to be incorporated more rapidly, thus deterring passport forgery and abuse. **** Is CPF My Social Security Or Social Bondage? by Civil Advocator **** Change In Library Policy Explained by Tay Ai Cheng, National Library Board, Straits Times These changes will not affect library users who return their materials on time or pay their fines and fees promptly. We are heartened by those who paid their fines and fees. Settling one's fines and fees is the gracious and responsible thing to do. **** Hawking At Orchard Road: The More The Merrier by Craig Monteiro, Straits Times Taking street carts away from Orchard Road is like killing all the pigeons at St Mark's Square in Venice. It would still be attractive, but without some of its character and novelty. **** Chance To Be A Healthcare Pioneer by Roger Dobson, The Times It may have a population of fewer than five million, but Singapore has a health system that ranks among the finest in the world. Its doctors, healthcare workers and researchers are at the forefront of medicine, from basic screening, cosmetic surgery and hip replacements, to pioneering work on stem cells, gene therapy, organ transplants and brain surgery. **** Two Airlines Get Approvals To Fly To Singapore From More Malaysian Cities by Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia Despite these approvals, Malaysia will have to negotiate its bilateral air services agreement with Singapore before the carriers can be granted access to the routes. **** Singapore, An Urban Model For The French Suburbs? by France 24 I live in Bishan, a relatively small HDB zone (67,400 residents). Letterboxes are intact, there's no graffiti on the walls, no burnt-out cars, no security guards in the supermarkets. This peace and quiet is a big part of the local landscape. **** Little Singapore? by Barun Roy, Business Standard Jakarta has chosen Singapore to play the role of a mentor and guide BBK???s development. For foreign investors, there can???t be a better reassurance. **** ?????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** PAP MPs Expressed Concern For Foreign Students, But Forgot About Local Undergraduates by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club Treating our local students so shabbily will not impress the foreign talents Singapore so desperately needs. On the contrary, it will only convince them more than ever that Singapore is not a place for them to set up their homes. **** Walking Four Bridges On The Singapore River by Leo Laksi's Bangkok And Back One of my favorite walks in Singapore is down the Singapore River from Read Bridge near Clarke Quay to the Cavanagh Bridge near the Fullerton Hotel. Along the way is also Boat Quay and its boisterous pub and restaurant Row. **** Cosmopolitan Micro-State Is A Magnet For Global Professionals by Simon Midgley, The Times With a top-class infrastructure and an international reputation for efficiency and friendliness, Singapore is an ever-popular destination for overseas professionals seeking new opportunities in what is, per capita, one of the world???s wealthiest countries. **** Campers To Get Permits To Camp From April 15 by Leong Wee Keat, Today Camping has become so popular that permits now have to be applied for on weekends as well, with a quota imposed on the number being given out. **** What To Do With The Rohingyas? by Still Me As a member of ASEAN, it is ironic that Singapore rejects potential labour, right at its doorstep, and chooses to hire Chinese workers instead. **** Time To Review Executive Rewards For CEOs And Political Leaders In Government-Owned Companies by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club **** Myanmar National Alleges Singapore Prison Beating by DPA Singapore police is investigating a report by a Myanmar national that he was beaten up in a local prison, the Straits Times reported Thursday. Hong Guo, who served one year in Changi Prison and received cane strokes for slashing a taxi driver, was hospitalized with a head injury that required surgery to remove part of his skull last November. **** Tourist Arrivals See Worst On-Year Drop In 6 Years, Down 15.2% In February by Channel NewsAsia Singapore has seen its worst monthly drop in tourist arrival numbers in six years. **** Singapore's Production Falls For Fifth Month Amid Global Slump by Shamim Adam, Bloomberg Singapore???s industrial production fell for a fifth straight month in February, the longest slump in eight years, as shrinking global demand for electronics and pharmaceuticals forced manufacturers to cut output. **** Teo Chee Hean To Be Appointed DPM From April, Dr Lee Boon Yang Retires by Channel NewsAsia Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong will make several changes to the Cabinet and other appointments, as part of continuing leadership renewal and testing out of younger office holders for broader responsibilities. **** Holy Shit, He Really Said That? by Feed Me To The Fish The day they paid themselves millions, they made a mockery of national service and nation building. The damage is done! Whatever spin that they can come out with to justify their greed will sound hollow. **** Malaysia Promotes Outsourcing In Singapore by Zakaria Abdul Wahab, Bernama **** Why Do Tiny Singapore Needs 2 Senior Ministers, 2 Deputy Prime Ministers, 1 Minister Mentor And 3 Ministers In The Prime Minister's Office? by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club In this era where countries all over the world from the United States to China are trying to reduce the size of their governments, our cabinet continues to grow and expand at an alarming rate. **** Singapore PM Gets His First Younger Deputy by Reuters From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Fri Mar 27 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 27 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 27, 2009 Message-ID: <20090327225900.34627.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Apple iPhone 3G Review by Kenny Sia When???s the last time you see a telco company hiring out an entire convention centre just to sell one phone? **** App Store Refunds: Much Ado About Nothing by Tom Krazit, CNET The section in the SDK agreement that mentions 90-day refunds seem to apply only if a purchaser brings a "notice or claim" against Apple in the process of trying to return the application. That's a legal term, not a request for a refund because you thought the fart application, for example, delivered six sounds when it has only five. **** FishCo by Jack Shiels, Inside Mac Games FishCo has plenty to do, but unfortunately it doesn???t attempt to break the mould. **** The iPhone 3.0 OS Is Not Ready for Everyday Use; Here's How To Downgrade by John mahoney, Gizmodo Here's how to downgrade back to 2.2.1. **** Pwn2Own Contest Winner: Macs Are Safer Than Windows by Prince McLean, AppleInsider Charlie Miller, the security expert who won both this and last year's CanSecWest Pwn2Own security contests by exploiting Macs running Safari, repeated in an interview that he'd recommend Macs to typical users as a safer alternative to Windows PCs. **** Tips For Importing Existing Photos Into iPhoto by Rob Griffiths, Macworld If you do a lot of importing into iPhoto using photos that are already on your Mac???perhaps you???re migrating from another photo management tool, or you just downloaded all 1,500 pictures taken by relatives at the last family reunion???here are a couple of tricks that you can use to control and ease the import process. **** Apple Announces WWDC 2009 Dates by Dan Moren, Macworld This year???s program is likely to be a double threat for many programmers, as sessions will include information about both the forthcoming iPhone OS 3.0 update as well as the forthcoming Snow Leopard revision of Mac OS X. **** Apple Updates iLife '09, iWork '09 by Jonathan Seff, Macworld **** MarsEdit 2.3 Ties The Knot With Tumblr Support by David Chartier, Ars Technica Mac blogging client MarsEdit has emerged from beta with official support for Tumblr, a streamlined blogging service with ample style. Nearly all of Tumblr's features are available in the new version of MarsEdit, making it a solid option for those who cannot blog by bookmarklet alone. **** Apple Stores Now Selling iPhone 3G Without A Contract by Prince McLean, AppleInsider Apple retail stores are now selling unrestricted quantities of the iPhone 3G at the full, non-subsidized price of $599 for the 8GB version and $699 for the 16GB models. **** Ten iPhone Apps To Manage Your Job Search On The Go by Dan Schawbel, Mashable Here are ten apps that will help you own your online identity, build a strong database of professional contacts, and locate a job in your area in a flash. **** AccountEdge 2009 by Jefery Battersby, Macworld AccountEdge has long been the best and most versatile business accounting package available for the Mac. While I???d still like to see better form customization tools, AccountEdge 2009 offers excellent new features for current users who are looking to upgrade, and a solid foundation for anyone who needs a business accounting app. **** How Science Fiction Found Religion by Benjamin A. Plotinsky, City Journal Once overtly political, the genre increasingly employs Christian allegory. **** Has Apple Begun Clearing iPhone 3G Inventory? by Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Monsters Vs. Aliens by Jessica Winter, Slate Not to let any unnecessary ideology creep into a review of a fun animated movie, but let's get this out of the way up front: Monsters vs. Aliens (DreamWorks Animation) is a film for children with a female lead. She is not the love interest, or the helpmate, or the mom. Nor is she a princess, or princesslike. **** The Quiet Coup by Simon Johnson, The Atlantic The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government???a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF???s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we???re running out of time. **** Eat Your Saints, Purge Your Demons by Laura Miller, Salon Why do people worship religious relics, and why is the number of trainee exorcists rising? Two new books suggest that our desire to believe in magical forces remains irresistible. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Who Wants A Densely Packed Singapore? by Robin Chee, Straits Times I am both shocked and dismayed by Professor Edward Glaeser's short-sighted and highly flawed opinion that a population of 6.5 million would be essentially beneficial for Singapore. His notion that there is nothing unhealthy about living in skyscrapers does not take into consideration the many Singaporeans who wish Singapore would lose its tag as a concrete jungle and focus on creating a city with more 'green spaces'. **** Broken Promise, And An Imperfect 10 Now by Nurliyana Abdul Malek, Straits Times **** No Duplication In Proposed Public Order Law by Toh Yong Chuan, Ministry Of Home Affairs, Straits Times The existing Public Order (Preservation) Act was enacted in the years of our independence to provide for the possibility of curfews and other measures necessary to preserve public order in emergency situations. The proposed Public Order Act is intended to apply to non-emergency situations. **** Public Opinion Should Not Lead by K C Vijayan, Straits Times While courts here have to heed public opinion, they cannot be led by it, says Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong. He wants judges, given their experience and understanding of the core values of society, to guide public opinion where there is none or when public opinion is divided over sentences meted out. **** Survey Shows 90% Of Start-Ups Are Seeing Slower Sales This Year by Yasmine Yahya, Channel NewsAsia Ninety per cent of start-ups are seeing slower sales this year and 10 per cent have experienced order cancellations as the economic downturn bites into their business. These were the key findings of the latest start-up enterprise survey conducted by the DP Information Group. **** Kids Can Easily Get Hold Of Sexy Magazine by New Paper Adult-lifestyle magazine Show East, which was sold at some neighbourhood convenience stores, has now been ordered off the shelves by the Media Development Authority (MDA). **** NParks Offers 15% Rental Rebate by Jessica Lim, Straits Times **** SM Goh's Misdirected Attack On The Press by Choo Zheng Xi, The Online Citizen SM Goh???s ire would be more constructively directed at the backbiting occurring in his grassroots organizations. The mischief he is imputing to the comment is no fault of the reporter: it was a quote sourced from a party cadre in his grassroots organization. **** PAP Or SDP? The Future According To LKY by Singapore Democrats While minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew acknowledges that such leaders can come from his own party or from the Singapore Democrats, he continues to ensure that only those in the PAP are presented to the Singaporean public. **** The Unimpeachable Court by The Online Citizen By initiating cases in which the bench has little room for manoeuvre, and whose outcomes would also certainly bolster the critics??? claims about a politicised judiciary, the Chambers could inadvertently be bringing about the very outcome it had sought to prevent. **** SM Goh Says Newspaper Report On MP Fatimah Lateef Inaccurate by Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia Mr Goh said: "I do not like the inaccuracy because it suggested that a minority community MP, a Malay MP, could not reach out to the Chinese temple people, (and) the hint that maybe, she, as a Muslim, did not want to reach out to these people. That is the implication." Goh Chok Tong did not, at least from this report, justify his assertion that the report was inaccurate. **** Organ-Trading Through The Back Door by Huang Shoou Chyuan, NoFearSingapore It irks me that even when the details about the "hows" and "how much" of the compensation mechanisms are so sorely missing, an overshelming majority still voted for the law to be passed. **** Secrets Of Success by John Burton, Financial Times How far Singapore is willing to go to disclose information under the OECD rules will be important for the future of its private banking industry, which is a pillar of the financial services sector. An aggressive enforcement of the rules would probably drive away some private banks. However, if the city-state is able to maintain some degree of bank secrecy, the crisis could prove beneficial in the years ahead. ???Singapore is likely to see a bigger inflow of money as western countries raise taxes to finance the bail-out of their local banking systems,??? says a Singapore-based private banker. **** Singapore Among Nations On Tax Havens "Blacklist"? No Such List, Says OECD by Darren Boon, The Online Citizen Mr Nicolas Bray, Head of Media and Public Affairs & Communications of the OECD, told The Online Citizen: ???There is no new ???OECD list??? of tax havens and we are not quoting any specific number of tax havens.??? **** IR Hotels To Charge More by Lim Wei Chean, Straits Times Yesterday, the casino-resort's chief executive officer Tan Hee Teck said that hotels in theme parks overseas typically charge a higher rate than similar properties in the city. **** ????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** So, What Did Change? by Singapore Social Activist Senior minister of state for finance Lim Hwee Hua in addressing this recently in parliament, remarked, "Temasek today is completely different from the Temasek at the time of Mr Dhanabalan's". What she failed to address was, "So, what did change?" **** PSA International Sees 2008 Profits Down 46.2% On-Year by AFP / Channel NewsAsia Port operator PSA International said Friday its 2008 net profit sank an annual 46 per cent as the worldwide economic slump sent trade volumes plunging in the last five months of the year. **** Lone Dissenter Speaks To An Almost Empty ouse by Only "Objective" And "Factual" Political Films Please, We're Singaporeans The first five seconds of the clip speaks volume about the state of parliamentary debates in Singapore. **** An Unnatural Order by The Online Citizen It is instructive to note that the last time Singapore had a major demonstration was in 1988 when the country???s main trade union (which is practically run by the ruling party) organised one against alleged American interference in our domestic affairs; on the other hand, opposition parties have always been denied permission for similar acts. Given this precedent, it is not surprising that many Singaporeans are understandably wary of the government???s actual motivations behind the new Public Order Act. **** Cabinet Changes - What Does It Mean For Next General Elections? by Melvin Tan, The Online Citizen **** Singapore Says Must Keep Financial Markets Open by Huw Jones, Reuters Asia is still opening up its financial markets to foreign players and countries should not seek to insulate themselves, Singapore's finance minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Friday. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sat Mar 28 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 28 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 28, 2009 Message-ID: <20090328225900.24839.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** eWorld by Steven Frank Next Tuesday is the 13th anniversary of the shuttering of eWorld, Apple???s answer to the AOL-style gated internet community. It didn???t survive to the end of its second year. **** Going Deep Inside Xserve Apple Drive Modules by Adam C. Engst, TidBITS To sum up, there are multiple good reasons why ADMs cost more than bare retail drives of the same size, it's possible but not recommended to replace the drive in one, and Apple is in no way charging an unusual premium for ADMs. **** iSubtitle Makes Your Videos Readable by Dan Moren, Macworld This $19 program from Bitfield can add soft subtitles???i.e. captions you can turn on or off???to your video files that you can then watch via iTunes or QuickTime Player, or on your iPhone, iPod touch, or Apple TV. **** AirPort Extreme Base Station by Scott McNulty, Macworld The 2009 version of the AirPort Extreme Base Station packs in a ton of features, as well as speed, into a small, reasonably priced package. **** Tethering And The iPhone: The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship? by Aayush Arya, Macworld **** Air Sharing For iPhone by Brendan Wilhide, Macworld Air Sharing lets you easily copy files between your iPhone and a wirelessly-connected Mac. By doing so, Avatron Software???s app addresses one of the most frequently lamented shortcomings of Apple???s mobile devices???their lack of storage space for documents and similar files. That makes Air Sharing a dream come true for mobile workers and productivity gurus. **** Apple's New No-Contract iPhone No Gift To Foreigners, Tourists by Dan Frommer, Silicon Alley Insider An Apple retail store rep tells us that, like the 2-year-contract iPhone 3G, you'll need a U.S. government-issued ID to get one. According to the Apple retail rep, foreign government IDs will not qualify. **** Apple Mac Pro (8-Core) by Joel Santo Domingo, PC Magazine Pricey? Yah. Impressive? Definitely. Is it for you? If you're part of a select group, maybe. **** Smule CEO: iPhone Is The Only Game In Town by Jessica Dolcourt, CNET The folks at Smule, Pandora, Nokia, and BlueRun Ventures may not agree on everything, but during a Thursday night panel discussion on the business of mobile applications, their attention centered on a single device time and time again: the iPhone. **** iMovie '09 8.0.1 Update Brings More Than Just Bug Fixes by Jeff Carlson, TidBITS MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Democracy's Cheat Sheet? by Jack Shafer, Slate It's time to kill the idea that newspapers are essential for democracy. **** Odd Prize: Judging A Book By Its Title by Sarah Lyall, New York Times To those outside dairy (or container) circles, a book called ???The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-Milligram Containers of Fromage Frais??? tends to provoke more questions than it resolves. Such as: Why fromage frais? And: ???60-Milligram??? ??? is that a misprint? **** Sons Of Atom by Peter Galison, New York Times A history of quantum mechanics that goes beyond the point in the 1920s where most popular science books leave off. **** Bible Study by Rich Cohen, New York Times David Plotz???s chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse riffs on the Hebrew Bible are by turns entertaining, serious, shallow, profound, literal-minded, cute, ingratiating, hilarious. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Say No To Senior Minister/Minister Mentor - Gerontocracy In Disguise by Lee Chong Meng, The Wayang Party Club **** MP Fatimah Lateef Speaks Up by Derrick A Paulo, Today Dr Fatimah, a Muslim MP, expressed concerns similar to Mr Goh's, that the article might stir emotions along racial lines. Dr Fatimah stoutly attested to her active involvement in various temple activities, such as the birthday of deities and Seventh Month celebrations. **** Baby Gloom Haunts Lee by Seah Chiang Nee, The Star In talking about lifestyle choice, Lee may have left out other factors that is contributing to fewer Singaporeans marrying and producing babies. **** Trains Run Just As Frequently From Pioneer by Bernadette Low, SMRT Corporation, Straits Times We wish to clarify that the frequency of trains at Pioneer MRT station remains unchanged, at two to six minutes during peak hours and five to seven minutes during off-peak hours. This is the same frequency as at Boon Lay MRT station before Pioneer and Joo Koon MRT stations were opened. **** Road To Renewal by Alex Altman, Time Detroit has become an icon of the failed American city, but vast swaths of it don't look like city at all. **** ??????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Singapore Heats Up With High-Def Biz by Patricia Lee, Variety Singapore, a small island nation of 4.8 million people and very limited resources, has built a formidable reputation as a can-do society. A prime recent example: the city-state's adoption of high-definition television within a short span of three years. **** Singapore Lightens Up by Tom Wright, Wall Street Journal Theaters here increasingly are allowed to take on risqu?? social and political themes, a sign this tightly controlled Southeast Asian city-state is starting to loosen up. **** Iconic Bunny Finally In Singapore by Tan Kee Yun, New Paper It has taken 55 long years for the iconic bunny to finally land on Singapore's shores. And the duo behind the local edition are confident that they will carve out a niche for themselves in the publishing industry. We are, of course, talking about Playboy. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Sun Mar 29 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 29 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 29, 2009 Message-ID: <20090329225900.75838.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Polished Apple: Buying Used Macs by DPA Those looking to buy a computer from Apple, but unable to spare the extra couple of hundred dollars should consider a used model. **** iPhone Dominates The World, Study Shows by Sindya Bhanoo, The Industry Standard Apple's iPhone and several Nokia and RIM devices dominate global smartphone traffic in many countries, according to a recent report by mobile ad serving company AdMob. **** Apple's Mac Mini Upgrade Widens Its Entertainment Options by Glenn Fleishman, Seattle Times Before this month, the Mac mini was stuck in 2007; now it's a reasonable part of the iMac and Mac Pro family, while being a viable option as a home entertainment hub. **** Helping Parents Snoop On Kids' iPhone Habits by Jenna Wortham, New York Times Mobichp provides a free, kid-safe browser for iPhones and iPod Touches. The company's browser works exactly like Safari, but bars access to Web sites containing sexually explicit material, graphic violence, Web-based chat clients, e-commerce, social networks and games. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Google Tries To Break IPv6 Logjam By Own Example by Stephen Shankland, CNET Although it's been hard for companies to financially justify the expense of embracing the next-generation standard for wiring together the Internet, the incentives are now arriving--and Google itself stands to benefit from the resulting democratization of networking. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Stardust Memories by Lauren Wilcox, Washington Post Woody Allen has spent a lifetime making movies that play like love letters to Manhattan. But does his New York exist only on the big screen? **** Reinventing America's Cities: The Time Is Now by Nicolai Ouroussoff, New York Times The country has fallen on hard times, but those of us who love cities know we have been living in the dark ages for a while now. We know that turning things around will take more than just pouring money into shovel-ready projects, regardless of how they might boost the economy. Windmills won???t do it either. We long for a bold urban vision. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** ??????????????????????????????????????????40????????? by ???????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????40???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** ????????????????????????????????? by ????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????3?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** No Comment. But You Didn't Hear It From Me. by Clark Hoyt, New York Times Junior press assistants, political operatives, Congressional staffers, midlevel bureaucrats, military and intelligence officers, cabinet secretaries, and sometimes even presidents refuse to be identified for many reasons: all glory is supposed to go to the boss; they disagree with the boss and are afraid of getting fired; they are talking about classified information and could be prosecuted; they want to promote a policy, or kill it, by getting it out before it is officially announced; they believe the public has a right to know about something that is being suppressed. **** Nod For Airline To Fly Ipoh-Singapore Route by The Star **** PAP Playing The Race Card Agin To Justify Its Witch-Hunt Against Embattled ST Journalist by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club The PAP should not belittle one of its few achievements by blowing a small issue out of proportion in order to justify its tirades at the ST journalist for doing her job. To say that what Li Xueying wrote is completely inaccurate without hearing her side of the story is grossly unfair. Journalists are duty-bound to protect their sources, many of whom wish to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisals from the authorities. **** They Ask: 'Why Do Only Some Shops Have To Move?' by Elysa Chen, New Paper The decision to move only the stalls from one half of the street has upset some stall owners. **** The Man Who Would Be King by The Online Citizen If RAdm Lui turns in a decent performance, the odds are that he will be rotated quickly to head more heavyweight ministries, and there have been rumours that the trade and industry minister is also slated to retire. At this point, the prize seems very much his to lose. **** The Mainstream Media's Clear Bias For The Political Elite by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net The political elite is given very comprehensive coverage in the mainstream press, which allows them ample opportunity to paint as good a picture of themselves as possible, but at the same time denies others the same privilege. In contrast, Opposition politicians like Dr Chee and other members of the SDP in particular are frequently slimed by the mainstream media with no opportunity to respond or engage the public. This media bias and abhorrent lack of professionalism points to an urgent need for media reform. Unfortunately, as long as the PAP is in control of the mainstream media and exerts a repressive influence on free expression via the Newspapers and Printing Presses Act, the alternative side of Singapore politics will have to find expression on the internet instead. **** 1 Lakh E-Mails To Singapore PM, Say Travel Agent Associations by Noor Khan, SamayLive Travel agents will send one lakh emails to the Singapore Prime Minister on April 1 as part of a campaign to protest against Singapore Airlines' failure in reinstating the agency commission. **** Banned Film Hits 40,000 Views On Internet by Singapore Democrats The film, One Nation Under Lee, has been widely disseminated on the Internet as viewers forward it to their friends. **** Employers Still Discriminating Against Older Workers by Gilbert Goh, The Online Citizen Our labour hiring laws do seem to allow such discriminatory employment practices to prevail. Amazingly, employers seem to get away with such archaic third-world hiring practices in a first world, developed country. **** Oh Crab! Yio Chu Kang Is 'The New East Coast' by Hedy Khoo, New Paper Sudden crab craze hits area with 3 seafood joints vying for diners. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Mon Mar 30 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 30 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 30, 2009 Message-ID: <20090330225900.42563.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** When Memes Collide - Apple Is Expensive Vs. Windows Is Vulnerable by Contemplating Code And Life **** MonsterQuest Puzzle Game Debuts For Mac by MacNN **** Skype Announces Service For iPhone, BlackBerry by Sinead Carew, Reuters Skype, the Internet telephone unit of eBay Inc, is planning to launch its service for iPhone users on Tuesday and for BlackBerry in May as part of its effort to expand beyond desktop computers. **** Review: Pace For iPhone by Jeff Merron, Macworld Pace, a running journal app for the iPhone, may get me into the habit of keeping notes on my daily runs again. **** Cook Book? Frying Eggs On A MacBook Pro by Nicole Martinelli, Cult of Mac **** GraphicDesignerToolbox 1.0 Released by Peter Cohen, Macworld GraphicDesignerToolbox is a graphics editor that helps you generate textures, compose logos, manipulate photos, produce text effects or graphics for use on the Web and more. **** Review: iPhone Apps For Kids - Shapebuilder And More by Daniel Donahoo, Wired **** Time Capsule by Scott McNulty, Macworld Apple???s latest Time Capsules are what any good networking and backup devices should be: easy to set up, manage, and forget about. **** Macworld Expo Moving To February In 2010 by Philip Michaels, Macworld Macworld Expo will shift its dates to February in 2010 and open its show floor to attendees on Saturday, as part of the first steps to remake the long-time Mac trade show after Apple???s decision to end its involvement. The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Do-It-Yourself Magazines, Cheaply Slick by Ashlee Vance, New York Times With a new Web service called MagCloud, Hewlett-Packard hopes to make it easier and cheaper to crank out a magazine than running photocopies at the local copy shop. MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** Newspapers Aren't Dying, Democracy Is by Dan Kennedy, The Guardian A new survey about public attitudes toward newspapers gets it precisely backwards. Supposedly most people don't think civic life would suffer all that much if their local newspaper shut down. But it's not that they don't care about their newspaper ??? they don't care about civic life. **** You've Read The Headlines. Now, Quick, Read The Book. by Motoko Rich, New York Times As the metabolism of the culture has sped up in the digital age, pockets of the publishing industry are prodding themselves out of their Paleolithic ways and joining the rush, with more books on current events coming out faster than ever before. **** Confessions Of An Alien Hunter by Michael Schirber, Astrobiology Magazine After five decades, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has failed to find any alien signals. SETI researchers are still optimistic that we will one day find evidence for intelligent life somewhere in our galaxy. A new book by SETI scientist Seth Shostak reviews the history, the controversies and the reasons for continuing the search. **** Does Nature Have Economic Value? by Ronald Bailey, Reason Ecological economists know the price of everything—and the value of nothing. **** Trench Names by A. S. Byatt, The New Yorker **** The Poem That Can't Be Written by Lawrence Raab, The New Yorker **** TS Eliot's Snort Of Rejection For Animal Farm by Richard Brooks, The Times It must rate as the literary snub of the 20th century. T S Eliot, one of Britain???s greatest poets, rejected George Orwell???s Animal Farm for publication on the grounds of its unconvincing Trotskyite politics. SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Guerilla Filmmakking by Leedeeya Filmmaking in Singapore narcisissitic in nature. Maybe now, filmmaking can go somewhere because we are making it about everyone and not just one person. **** Doc Shortage: Why Didn't We See It Early? by Joey Yeo, Straits Times Why wasn't this anticipated early enough? Since when did centralized planning of supply and demand proved to be accurate? **** Don't Chop Trees To Build Estate by Harris Ho, Straits Times There is plenty of vacant ground to build new flats in Singapore, including one beside these trees. HDB need not chop down these trees. The space is more than enough for the new estate. **** Alternative Media In Singapore Is Just Another 154th by Haro Genki Singapore media tends to portray everything as if it is flawless, alternative media loves to dig at it and only has the bad points to it. Then who's right or wrong then. I just want one person to tell me what is right and what is wrong. Stop confusing me with these different wrong opinions. Don't make me think. **** Higher Subsidy For More by Salma Khalik, Straits Times Health minister Khaw Boon Wan announced on Sunday a move to iron out the discrepancy by introducing more income tiers to be used to determine the size of subsidy for patients in community hospitals. Please don't make people think twice about receiving a pay increment at work against a possible real loss of subsidies. **** Let's Cook Up Some Tall Tales About Food - Singapore Style by Sylvia Toh Paik Choo, New Paper For a young 'un Singapore, especially with no history of literature, who's to prevent us from concocting our own terrible tall tales surrounding our own icons and foods? **** We Need To Change The Way The Government Manages Our Economy by Ng E-Jay, Sgpolitics.net We need to encourage the resident population to spend and invest more in our local economy, in all manners of goods and services, especially those produced by small and medium enterprises who have their roots and stakes firmly anchored within our shores. This would create a virtuous cycle that makes for sustainable economic growth and development. **** Shark Fin Out Of Vogue Among Young Asians by Ralph Jennings and Cheong Kah Shin, Reuters Wildlife conservationists, who have long railed against the popularity of shark fin soup, are finally seeing signs that consumption is dropping as young Asians become aware of the environmental impact of this much prized dish. Added to that is the global financial crisis, which is causing Asians to tighten their belts and either cut down on visits to restaurants or order more frugally from menus. **** ????????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? ???1978??????1992????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** With New Media, Trust All The More Imperative by Today As new media increasingly dominates the landscape and as Singaporeans embrace more diverse beliefs, there is a rising danger that hurtful or insensitive remarks may cause unrest between communities, minister for community development, youth and sports Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday. Mr Balakrishnan also urged Singaporeans to reach out to new immigrants and permanent residents and help them integrate into society. See Also: Speech By Dr Vivian Balakrishnan [http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/mcys/speech/S-20090329-1.html], Singapore Government. **** ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? by ?????????, ???????????? **** New Faces Watching New Media by PN Baliji, The Online Citizen MICA needs help and with the Cabinet changes already in place, the next best thing is to look at a high-level committee drawing people, even bloggers, to come together for a serious re-look of a policy that is in danger of being swept away by the currents of change. **** Singapore May Devalue Currency In April, Survey Shows by Patricia Lui, Bloomberg The Monetary Authority of Singapore may devalue the city???s currency and allow it to drop 4 percent against the U.S. dollar by June 30 to aid exporters and lift the economy out of the worst recession since independence in 1965. The central bank will shift the mid-point of the Singapore dollar trading band at a twice-yearly review in April, according to 15 of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The currency is ???extremely and ridiculously overvalued,??? Patrick Bennett, Asia foreign-exchange strategist at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong, said last week. **** Third WP Candidate From GE 2006 Resigns From Party by The Online Citizen Mr Abdul Salim, 27, a member of the Workers??? Party???s team which contested Ang Mo Kio GRC in the last elections, has tendered his resignation from the party. **** PM Lee Says Cabinet Reshuffle Another Step In Self-Renewal Process by Channel NewsAsia Although Mr Lee said the next general election, which has to take place by February 2012, is not near, Singaporeans and investors want to see the next team of political leaders. **** Singapore Urges Obese Workers To Trim The Fat by Ben Bland, Telegraph The relationship between state and society in Singapore is governed by micromanagement, with many people looking to government for advice on how to live their lives and ministers regularly telling people what to do. In that very spirit, the health minister, Khaw Boon Wan, has urged overweight Singaporeans to get fit if they want to improve their job prospects in these tough times. **** Solar Panels Wait For Sunny Outlook In Singapore by Laurence Tan, Reuters For a country that's right on the equator, relying on solar energy in Singapore seems like a bright idea. Try and get off the grid, however, and it quickly loses its shine. **** New Terminal's Delay Worries Cruise Operators by Straits Times Cruise operators have expressed concern over the one-year delay in the construction of the new International Cruise Terminal at Marina South. They say that pushing the project back means the industry will - literally - miss the boat in a tourism sector that remains afloat despite the economic turmoil. **** Man Guilty, Jailed 6 Months by Elena Chong, Straits Times Rag-and-bone man Ng Kim Ngweng was sentenced to six months' jail on Monday after he was convicted of threatening to cause hurt to a member of parliament. In this case, the threat that Ng uttered had ramifications to the victim's work as an MP. District Judge Liew Thiam Leng said threats to cause injury must be taken seriously and the victim concerned in this case was certainly affected in the discharge of her personal and work commitments. **** Singapore Church Pays Princely Sum To Leader by AFP The New Creation Church, which raised 19 million Singapore dollars in just one day in February for the construction of its new premises, paid one employee between 500,001 and 550,000 dollars in the financial year ended March 31, 2008, the Straits Times said. **** Reaching The Needy? More Publicity Needed by Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen **** Singapore Airlines Will Not Be Swayed by Danny John, Sydney Morning Herald Singapore Airlines is determined to push ahead with its campaign to fly between Australia and the United States despite the latest snub by the Federal Government in blocking its hopes to fly on the route. **** Mourning 25 Years Of The Demise Of A Free And Independent Press by Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club While SPH and the PAP celebrates 25 years of overwhelming success in state-sponsored thought control, let us, as one of the few who have managed to escape relatively unscathed from its omnipresent influence, mourn the demise of a free and independent press. **** Administrative Service Aims To Place 20% Of Officers Outside Ministries by Channel NewAsia Administrative service officers have been urged to make the best use of programmes designed to give them exposure to ground sentiments. **** Ideas To Help Sentosa's Marine Life Park Team Circumvent The Whale Shark Exhibit Winning Bid Submissions Please... by Perry Tong, A Singaporean **** A Quiter's Glory! by Feed Me To The Fish Break the bank for the glory-maker and let the unproductive (used to be nation builders) rot and die (preferably in JB). **** Workers??? Party Hit By Latest Spate Of Resignations by Andrew Loh, The Online Citizen Four party cadres, including two candidates from GE 2006, resigned in the past one week but renewal process is on track, says organizing secretary. From applesurf at myapplemenu.com Tue Mar 31 18:59:00 2009 From: applesurf at myapplemenu.com (applesurf at myapplemenu.com) Date: 31 Mar 2009 22:59:00 -0000 Subject: [MyAppleMenu] Mar 31, 2009 Message-ID: <20090331225900.92304.qmail@voot.pair.com> MyAppleMenu ==================================== **** Library Of Congress Joins iTunes by Jeff Gamet, The Mac Observer The U.S. Library of Congress audio archives are becoming even more accessible now that the recordings are being added to Apple's iTunes Store. The move is part of an effort to bring some 15.3 million digital recordings to the public in an easy to access manner. **** Skype On The iPhone by Arik Hesseldahl, BusinessWeek Last week, I got a few minutes to try out Skype???s new application for the iPhone, which my colleague Olga Kharif has written about today. I tried it out sitting in a Starbucks in Rockefeller Center, and made a short call to someone over the AT&T Wi-Fi network, and I have to say the sound quality was great. The bad news? You???re limited to making Skype calls via Wi-Fi only, and not over the 3G network. The good news? It will work with the iPod touch provided you have the iPhone headphones with the microphone in them. **** Toon Boom Animate Pro, Manager Debut by Peter Cohen, Macworld Priced at $1800, Animate Pro incorporates content creation, animation and compositing tools in one package. The software lets you animate digitally or import content from paper, and combine the two with tweening and cleaning tools. **** MobileMe Evolves Into Integral Service by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld Apple???s MobileMe certainly had its growing pains when it launched last summer, but the online collection of syncing services has matured since then. MobileMe has definitely become an integral part of my computing experience. **** Auto-Enabling Safari's Private Browsing by Christopher Breen, Macworld If you're running Leopard you can automate the process of enabling the Private Browsing option with AppleScript. Like so. **** Spinning Songs With iTunes DJ by Kirk McElhearn, Macworld **** PhotoUpLink For iPhone Adds Wi-Fi Export For iPhone by Peter Cohen, Macworld PhotoUpLink enables iPhoto to work with FTP and SFTP sites, ODBC and Office exports, and in this latest update, lets iPhoto export photos over Wi-Fi to any iPhone or iPod touch also running PhotoUpLink. **** Dangerous High School Girls In Trouble by Joseph Cadotte, Inside Mac Games The Tomorrow Weblog ==================================== **** Lunch.com Brings Yet Another Reviews Site To The Table by Caroline McCarthy, CNET **** LogMeIn's Remote Access Plan For Netboks by Jessica Dolcourt, CNET MyAppleMenu Reader ==================================== **** The Biggest Of Puzzles Brought Down To Size by Natalie Angier, New York Times Grim though the economic spur may be, some scientists see a slim silver lining in the sudden newsiness of laughably large numbers. As long as the public is chatting openly about quantities normally expressed in scientific notation, they say, why not talk about what those numbers really mean? **** They F*** You Up, Your Mum And Dad by Andrew O'Hehir, Salon So you thought your parents were weird. Two remarkable memoirs about partner swapping, revolutionary politics and other unorthodox family tales. **** Time And The Bottle by Tim Kreider, New York Times My years of heavy drinking were roughly coterminous with my youth, and looking back now, it???s hard to figure out which one of them I really miss. **** Poem For Hannah by Matthew Zapruder, Slate SingaporeSurf ==================================== **** Revisiting Seletar Memories by Ang Yiying, Straits Times A little corner of Singapore that once featured prominently in its history has been earmarked for redevelopment but one group, from thousands of miles away, are holding onto their memories of Seletar Airbase dearly. **** 'Why Not Give First Bag Free?' by New Paper Since November last year, the pharmacy at Alexandra Hospital has been charging patients 10 cents for a small plastic bag and 20cents for a big one. While some patients and visitors are supportive of the move, others ask if a hospital should be doing this. **** Protect Employees' Rights To Inventorship by Kim-Gau Ng, Straits Times Within a company, it is possible for those in authority to file a patent application on an employee's invention, naming itself as the sole inventor - without the knowledge of the employee and regardless of whether it is qualified to do so or not. **** Pack Them In? It Will Spoil An Enviable Lifestyle by Cheah Swee Keat, Straits Times Any expert who thinks it is a great idea to keep on increasing the population of Singapore should spend a week or so living like the average Singaporean and not just stay in prime, low-density neighbourhoods which are 10 minutes from the centre of the city. **** Empathy Is Even More Vital by Leong Wee Keat, Today With Singapore in its worst recession yet, Deputy Prime MinisterS Jayakumar last night reminded public servants to serve people ???with humility, integrity and empathy???. **** Government Uses Many Channels To Reach Out by Chin Sau Ho, Ministry of Finance, Farah Abdul Rahim, Ministry Of Manpower, Choo Lee See, Ministry Of Community Development Youth & Sports, Straits Times **** Financial Crisis Has Become Full-Blown Economic Crisis, Says George Yeo by Donaldson Tan, The Online Citizen **** PM: My Health Is Ok by Sue-Ann Chia, Straits Times The Straits Times asked him about his health on Monday during a press conference on the Cabinet changes announced last week. His reply: 'My health is okay. I've lost weight because my doctor ordered me to lose weight.' **** Challenge Of Attracting Talent by Straits Times Attracting private-sector talent into the political leadership is a top priority, but it has not been easy when compared to drawing people from the public sector, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday. **** Cabinet "Reshuffle": Is It For Self-Renewal Or Self-Preservation? by Fang Zhi Yuan and Eugene Yeo, The Wayang Party Club Given the dismal performance of Mr Lee, he ought to offer to step down by the next election if not now and hand over the reins of government to another leader who has the capability and vision to bring the nation forward. We are in urgent need of a change in direction and a rethink of the usual tried and tested methods of governance. **** Abolish SM, MM And Miniser In PMO Positions by The Wayang Party Club **** ?????????????????? ?????????????????? ??????????????????????????? by ???????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? **** Rantings: Remembering Raffles by The Lycan Times It annoys me that when Oei expressed his gratitude to the Minister Mentor, he forgot the rest of the people who also made their mark in Singapore???s history. **** Father Of Singapore Stab Student Asks National Police For Help by Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta Globe The father of a student who reportedly jumped to his death after stabbing his lecturer at the Nanyang Technological University, or NTU, in Singapore has lodged a complaint with the National Police, claiming the circumstances surrounding the death were ???peculiar.??? **** Singapore Authorities Warn Of April 1 Computer Worm by Chua Hian Hou, Straits Times **** Growth For The People Desired by Dennis Chua Soon Chai, Sgpolitics.net Ultimately, what the average Singaporeans yearn for is growth for the people. This means that the majority share of the fruits of the growth must go to the average Singaporean not to corporate profits, dividends and interests of the rich and powerful corporations whether foreign or local. **** Revised Electricity Tariff Formula To Kick In From July by Hasnita A Majid, Channel NewsAsia The new approach will calculate the electricity tariff for the third quarter of 2009, from July to September 2009, based on the average of fuel oil prices in the preceding three months ??? from April to the middle of June 2009. **** Singapore Wants A Kinder, Gentler Nation by AFP Singapore has launched campaigns to promote everything from more romance to better English. Now, the city-state wants its citizens to just be... nicer. **** Minority Report by Chemical Generation Singapore Two apparently unrelated events happened these few days. Underneath the events, however, was the crucial issue of Malay representation and engagement by Singapore political parties. **** AirAsia To Increase Daily Flights To And From Singapore In 2 Years by Mok Fei Fei & Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia Despite the turbulence that has hit the global aviation industry, low-cost carrier AirAsia is still spreading its wings aggressively into Singapore.