[MyAppleMenu] Nov 6, 2010

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Sat Nov 6 18:59:00 EDT 2010

MyAppleMenu
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**** Leaked Apple Dead Pixel Policy Allows Two For iPad, None For iPhone <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/11/05/leaked_apple_dead_pixel_policy_allows_two_for_ipad_none_fir_iphone.html>
Slash Lane, AppleInsider

Apple's official internal policy on replacing devices with dead LCD pixels leaked this week, revealing that the company will replace an iPhone if it has just one dead pixel, while an iPad must have at least three to qualify.

**** Xserve End Of Life: Some Opinions And Ideas About Apple's Server Strategy <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/05/xserve-end-of-life-some-opinions-and-ideas-about-apples-server/>
Steven Sande, TUAW

**** Nancy Drew- Shadow At The Water's Edge <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/715064/review/nancy_drew_shadow_at_the_waters_edge.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Stephanie Kent, Macworld

Above all, the visual appeal of Shadow at the Water’s Edge is its strongest asset, but the game combines an interesting plot, distinctive characters and challenging mini games to create a strong, well-rounded game.

**** IT Conference Attendees React To Xserve's Demise <http://www.macworld.com/article/155495/2010/11/mactech.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Rob Griffiths, Macworld

Sure, there were a fair number of people who were upset, but there was also a sense that Apple realized they hadn’t really won a spot in the server rooms of the world, and hence, the Xserve’s departure was somewhat expected.

**** A Lions Prey (See Ya Finder) <http://brooksreview.net/2010/11/lions-prey/>
Ben Brooks, The Brooks Review

Many people, myself included, hope and pray that Apple will update Finder to make it more useable. I think that Apple may be forgoing Finder, instead choosing to focus on UI features that simplify the file system, not ones that further add a level of complexity to the file system.

**** Word 2011 Brings Ribbons, Clouds, And Full-Screen Mode <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/05/word-2011-brings-ribbons-clouds-and-full-screen-mode/>
TJ Luoma, TUAW

**** Review: 2010 MacBook Air 11.6-Inch (Verdict: Stellar) <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/review-2010-macbook-air-116-inch-verdict-stellar/8618?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zdnet%2FApple+%28ZDNet+The+Apple+Core%29>
Jason D. O'Grady, ZDNet

All-in-all the new MacBook Air is the best second Mac that you can buy, and deficiencies aside, it’s the perfect companion for a larger notebook or desktop Mac. If you really need the screen real estate, go for the 13.3-incher, but the smaller 11.6-inch model is the sleekest thing to come out of Cupertino since the iPhone.

**** Apple Offers New Mac Pro Server Configuration To Replace Xserve <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/11/05/apple_offers_new_mac_pro_server_configuration_to_replace_xserve.html>
AppleInsider

Apple on Friday added a new server option to its Mac Pro lineup Friday, with a $2,999 system that is designed to replace the Xserve hardware which will be discontinued in early 2011.

**** How Apple Almost Got Microsoft’s Kinect Game Controller <http://www.cultofmac.com/how-apple-almost-got-microsofts-kinect-game-controller/67951>
Leander Kahney, Cult Of Mac

“Apple is a pain in the ass."

**** New MacBook Air Thin, Fast, Delightful <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2013340093_ptmacc06.html>
Jeff Carlson, Seattle Times

The MacBook Air is the future of Mac laptops: I can't wait until every model is thin and fast in the coming years.

**** Apple's 11-Inch Upgraded MacBook Air: Do 1.6GHz And 4GB Make A Difference? <http://www.anandtech.com/show/4000/apples-11inch-upgraded-macbook-air-review-do-16ghz-and-4gb-make-a-difference>
Anand Lal Shimpi, Anand Tech

There’s a tangible difference in regular use between the base and upgraded models. While I wouldn’t consider either fast, I’d say that extra 10 - 20% performance increase you get from the upgraded CPU and memory makes a very big difference. If all you’re doing is writing and web browsing I’m not sure it’s necessary, but anything beyond that could probably make use of the upgraded specs.

**** Xserve Is Dead... So Now What? <http://www.macworld.com/article/155501/2010/11/xserve.html?lsrc=rss_main>
John C. Welch, Macworld

Apple's proposed alternatives won’t work, but its communication is the bigger problem.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** We Ten Million <http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/arts/alix-christie/we-ten-million>
Alix Christie, More Intelligent Life

Somewhere in the world right now, ten million souls are hunched over their keyboards writing novels. Ten million hopeful scribblers in their holes. Good Lord, I’m one of them.

**** Interactive Books (‘E’ Not Included) <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/books/review/Grobart-t.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Sam Grobart, New York Times

A new genre of books for children tries to tweak narrative norms in a similar fashion. While not exactly creating an original form of user-generated content the way the Choose Your Own Adventure books did, they are using the Internet to expand beyond print.

**** All The President’s Memories <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/books/review/Fehrman-t.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Craig Fehrman, New York Times

We seem to be witnessing a renaissance in protests — if that’s the word for it — against political books. When Sarah Palin went on a bus tour last fall to promote “Going Rogue,” a man at the Mall of America threw tomatoes at her. When Tony Blair appeared in Dublin to promote his memoir, “A Journey,” people threw eggs and shoes. During Karl Rove’s recent tour in support of “Courage and Consequence,” a handcuff-carrying activist tried to arrest him for war crimes — twice. Thank goodness George W. Bush, whose “Decision Points” hits stores on Nov. 9, already comes with a Secret Service detail.

But none of today’s protesters have anything on the Committee to Boycott Nixon’s Memoirs, a group that was every bit as real as the notorious Committee for the Re-election of the President, though much less remembered.

**** Beyond Tourism <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/books/review/Dalrymple-t.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
William Dalrymple, New York Times

The conviction that traveling in general, and walking in particular, can bring inspiration and even enlightenment is a very ancient one, and it exists in many cultures across the globe. As the old adage, taken up by the wandering scholars of medieval Europe, had it, “Solvitur ambulando” (“It is solved by walking”). In the sixth century B.C., the Indian saint Mahavira is said to have received enlightenment while walking, and the idea is still current. I recently met an itinerant Jain nun who told me: “This wandering life, with no material possessions, unlocks our souls. There is a wonderful sense of lightness, living each day as it comes.” For her, journey and destination became one, thought and action became one.

**** Numbers Are Hard To Come By <http://www.slate.com/id/2273505/>
Jack Shafer, Slate

What journalists write when they encounter a known unknown.

**** Shining Light On The Cost Of Solar Energy <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2010/11/101105-cost-of-solar-energy/>
Maggie Koerth-Baker, National Geographic

The sun packs some serious power. Even taking into account the all the energy that’s lost in space, enough still reaches Earth in an hour to power the entire planet, theoretically, for a year. So why doesn’t the world harness all this energy?

The truth: Capturing that power, and putting it to work in the form of electricity, is relatively expensive.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Works For U.S., But Not For Us <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC101106-0000090/Works-for-US,-but-not-for-us>
Today

Mr Shanmugam noted that while liberal theory holds that a fair and independent media checks the Government, keeping it honest - in reality, journalists are biased, media companies are profit-driven, ethics can be compromised by advertising dollars, and the media itself is not subject to any checks and balances.

**** Rosecutors File Successful Appeal Against Ionescu's Release <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/Singaporeinbrief/EDC101106-0000102/Prosecutors-file-successful-appeal-against-Ionescus-release>
Claudia Craiu, Today

Romanian prosecutors have successfully appealed against a court decision to release former diplomat Silviu Ionescu from detention under judicial supervision.

**** Freedom Of Speech In Singapore.... <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2010/11/freedom-of-speech-in-singapore.html>
Diary Of A Singaporean Mind

**** 延长退休年龄急不来 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl101106_014.shtml>
傅来兴, 联合早报

芬兰所实施的是养老金制度，让年满63岁仍继续工作的工人可以领到更多养老金，而新加坡所实施的是强制储蓄的公积金制度，缴纳额随劳动成本、经济情况而变。两国的社会保障制度不同，但也在经受一定的挑战，要延长退休年龄还必须有其他条件配合，而最大的先决条件是雇主的态度。这方面芬兰比我们走得更前。

**** I Finally Get To Say It: Has The World Gone Mad? <http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/nov/03/contempt-court-prisoner-voting>
Joshua Rozenberg, The Guardian

Either Shadrake's claims are true, in which case the court should have commended rather than condemned him or they are false, in which case the courts should have ignored them. Judges in Britain would rise above such things.

**** 申请绿色标签费用将调高 从300元至1000元一律升至1500元 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp101106_019.shtml>
联合早报

申请绿色标签的费用下个月起将由现有的300元至1000元不等，一口气提升至一律1500元。小型商家可能因此考虑放弃绿色标签。

**** Young Voices Speak Out <http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2010/11/6/columnists/insightdownsouth/7373380&sec=insightdownsouth>
Seah Chiang Nee, The Star

This latest exchange has revealed a chasm in thoughts and understanding between aging leaders and a segment of young citizens unhappy with the way the country is governed.

Compared with the hard-hitting Lee Kuan Yew past, recent university dialogues with current ministers had been more challenging, less compliant affairs.

**** Shanmugam To The Press: Report Fully And Fairly, But Remember This Ain't America <http://journalism.sg/2010/11/06/shanmugam-on-the-press/>
Journalism.sg

His speech in New York was the government's most detailed and robust defence in years of its position on the role of the press, recalling Lee Kuan Yew's classic 1971 speech in Helsinki.

**** 医院用错精子事件 许文远：当务之急 弥补疏漏 <http://realtime.zaobao.com.sg/2010/11/101106_26.shtml>
联合早报

联合晚报报道，针对康生医院用错精子事件，卫生部长许文远表示，我国公共医院没有程序上的疏漏，但还是会提醒各生育中心不得在同一时间处理超过一个卵子和精子样本。他说，眼下不是追究谁犯错的时候，当务之急是找出并弥补工作系统的疏漏，避免事件重演。

**** 25 New Faces In PAP Election Line-up <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/11/06/25-new-faces-in-pap-election-line-up/>
Alicia Wong, Yahoo!

The People’s Action Party (PAP) second assistant secretary-general Teo Chee Hean says its election line-up will include about 25 new faces. These new candidates will come from a range of occupations, some with grassroots experience and some from the public and private sector.

**** Singapore’s Confused Stance On Media Freedom <http://asiancorrespondent.com/the-asia-file/singapore’s-confused-stance-on-media-freedom>
Ben Bland, Asian Correspondent

He attacks the so-called western concept of the media as a fourth estate, holding the government to account. News organisations are fallible, unaccountable and open to influence from their owners and commercial partners, he says.

He’s right about that, of course. But when he poses the following question – “Do parts of the media act as campaign arms of politicians, peddle half-truths and present very biased perspectives?” – this concern surely applies more to Singapore’s homogeneous government-controlled press then to plural Western media environments.

**** In Sum, Singapore, The Chinese, And The Opposition. A Personal Journey. <http://www.according2ed.com/2010/11/in-sum-singapore-chinese-and-opposition.html>
The Egalitarian Alternative

**** Qantas And IVF <http://mohsingapore.blogspot.com/2010/11/qantas-and-ivf.html>
Ministry Of Health, Singapore Government

We will get to the bottom of the problem. We will make a clear distinction between once-off human error and systemic flaws in the IVF operating system, with different follow up actions. If systemic flaws were identified, we would share with the industry and use the opportunity to get the industry to learn collectively from this incident. This way, we hope that a similar problem will not recur.

**** PAP Team In Jalan Besar Ready For Opposition Challenge <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1091768/1/.html>
Hetty Musfirah, Channel NewsAsia

Dr Yaacob said his team is drawing up a new five year plan to take the GRC forward and has as part of the process, been collating feedback from residents and grassroots leaders.

**** Singapore-Jakarta Flights Cancelled Due To Volcano <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE6A502920101106>
Kevin Lim, Reuters

Several airlines have halted flights between Singapore and the Indonesian capital of Jakarta due to the risk posed by ashes from an active volcano, Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport said on Saturday.




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