[MyAppleMenu] Nov 14, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** The Apple Kinect, Or How A Bad Headline Ruins A Good Story <http://www.loopinsight.com/2010/11/13/the-apple-kinect-or-how-a-bad-headline-ruins-a-good-story/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loopinsight%2FKqJb+%28The+Loop%29>
Peter Cohen, The Loop

To wit, at no point did PrimeSense present Apple with a Kinect gaming peripheral. The company shopped around its sensor technology, which powers the Microsoft Kinect. The Kinect is still a Microsoft product, designed for the Xbox 360.

**** DEVONtechnologies Offers Four Free Mac Utility Apps <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/13/devontechnologies-offers-four-free-mac-utility-apps/>
Sam Abuelsamid, TUAW

For anyone that makes a living sitting in front of a computer screen, little tools that help speed your way through various tasks are always welcome, and at least one of these apps might be just what you've been looking for.

**** iPad Gets Ping <http://appadvice.com/appnn/2010/11/ipad-ping/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AppAdvice+%28AppAdvice%29>
Alexander Vaughn, AppAdvice

Good news for all of you Ping addicts (and we know there are many of you), Apple has now made Ping, its social network for music, available on the iPad.

**** Capturing Hearts, One Upgrade At A Time <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/business/14every.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all>
Damon Darlin, New York Times

Product designers have always tried to cram new features into their wares. They may finally be figuring out how to build in some brand loyalty, too.

**** Apple iPad No Fad Gadget <http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn/analysis/2273087/fad-gadget>
Fleur Doidge, CRN

**** Chinese Patent Dispute May Render Apple's Meizu Case Invalid <http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/11/14/firm.wants.apples.chinese.iphone.patents.invalid/>
Electronista

A Chinese dispute with Apple's iPhone patents may negate some of the company's legalaction against Meizu, the Beijing Times said Saturday. Local firm Herron Network Information has sued Apple arguing that a patent for the iPhone's design was invalid as it wasn't attached to the product name.

**** The iPadification Of OS X – Part II <http://www.mondaynote.com/2010/11/14/the-ipadification-of-osx/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+monday-note+%28Monday+Note%29>
Jean-Louis Gassée, Monday Note

The careful application of a common veneer on both Mac and iPads is, in my interpretation, a preparation for a transition to a shared OS, or to variants of the same underlying software engine adapted to the two usage modes: Lean back and lean forward.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Why Modern Books Are All Too Long <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/14/why-books-are-too-long-robert-mccrum?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Robert McCrum, Guardian

One of the most remarkable things about Amanda Foreman's magnificent study of British involvement in the American civil war is both its length – it comes in a few folios shy of 1,000 pages – and also, almost as telling, that virtually no one has commented on this, perhaps out of respect for the fact that Dr Foreman devoted more than 10 years of her life to it. Film, video, TV and radio all accommodate our diminished attention spans, and the fragmentary nature of modern life, but books are definitely getting longer.

**** In Chengdu, China, Remaking Sichuan Food <http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/travel/14chengdu-choice.html?ref=travel>
Anand Giridharadas, New York Times

In a private room in a mysterious little restaurant in Chengdu, my fellow diners goaded me to eat the turtle. It was soft-shelled, they said — as if that made it more enticing. They laughed and joked in Chinese, which I do not speak. Eating turtle grows a man’s bank account, my translator said. I didn’t get the meaning at first. Then it sunk in.

**** I Hate To Tell You <http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/11/14/i_hate_to_tell_you/>
Erin McKean, Boston Globe

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but there’s a whole range of phrases that aren’t doing the jobs you think they’re doing.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Will MM Lee Contest In The Next GE? <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1093317/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia

Minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew has said that whether he stands in the next General Election or not will depend on his health and the prime minister's decision.

**** Opposition SDP Unveils Two New Members <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1093327/1/.html>
Shaffiq Alkhatib, Channel NewsAsia

One of them is 45-year-old Dr James Gomez, who was a Workers' Party candidate in the 2006 General Election. The other new member is Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, executive director of non-governmental organisation, Transient Workers Count Too.

**** SDP Unveil Economic Programme For Singapore <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/11/sdp-unveils-economic-programme-for-singapore/>
The Online Citizen

In its second pre-election rally at Speakers’ Corner on Saturday, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) unveiled its economic strategy for Singapore, one which apparently the party will be campaigning on during the upcoming General Election.  In a 47-page publication titled, “It’s About You”, the party laid out its alternatives to the government’s economic policies.

The party addresses issues such as GDP growth, productivity, income inequality, dependence on GLCs and MNCs, retirement, employment policies, public housing and healthcare, among others.

**** MM: Don't Sell Your Flat <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_603083.html>
Straits Times

HDB flat owners should not sell their flats, as they are assets that will appreciate in value year after year, said minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Saturday night.

'You sell it, you may not get a rental flat for a long time. And you cannot gain from a rental flat... Please remember that.'

**** 56% Of Singapore Immigrants Are Women <http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2010/11/56-of-singapore-immigrants-are-women.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rana+%28Pressrun.net+%28originally+Blowin%27+in+the+Wind%29%29>
Pressrun.net

The World Bank has come out with the Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, which shows immigrants now make up 40.7 per cent of Singapore’s five million population. And 56 per cent of the immigrants are women.

**** Woman Attacked In Pub <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_603123.html>
Jessica Lim, Straits Times

A woman said that she was asked if she was a gang member before a group of five women and a man attacked her in a pub in Yishun late last Wednesday night.

**** Mr. Lee Kuan Yew <http://hardhitting-nobs.blogspot.com/2010/11/mr-lee-kuan-yew.html>
Musings From The Lion City

The PAP will form the next government without or without Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. There is no urgent need for him to stand in the next GE, and even if there is a need, his health should be of paramount importance.

**** Singapore’s Working Poor <http://www.transitioning.org/2010/11/14/singapores-working-poor/>
Transitioning.sg

**** Liat Towers' Flood Barrier Ready <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_603128.html>
Victoria Vaughan, Straits Times

The pop-up anti-flood barrier at Liat Towers is now 'push-button' ready. The shopping mall was one of the worst-hit in the Orchard Road floods earlier this year.

This is the first time that the flood control method is being used in Singapore, said Parafoil Design and Engineering, the company that designed it.

**** Singaporeans Still Buying RON 95 Fuel <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/11/14/nation/7427349&sec=nation>
The Star

Many Singapore-registered cars are still buying RON 95 fuel at petrol stations here despite the ban imposed by the Government since Aug 1. Domestic trade, cooperative and consumerism minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob had in July said that foreign-registered vehicles were only allowed to buy RON 97.

**** Singapore’s Lee Addresses Elephant In The Room <http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2010/11/14/singapore’s-lee-addresses-elephant-in-the-room/>
Chester Dawson, Wall Street Journal

The territorial dispute has loomed large over Mr. Hu’s visit to Japan and has proved to be a nettlesome distraction for APEC’s host country leader, Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Mr. Lee, however, indicated that this is a passing storm which is not likely to damage long-term relations between China and Japan. Business leaders in attendance praised Mr. Lee’s remarks, echoing his call for cooler heads to prevail and the forging of deeper commercial ties.

**** Ex-Workers’ Party Candidate Joins The SDP <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/11/14/ex-workers-party-candidate-joins-the-singapore-democratic-party/>
Ewen Boey, Yahoo!

Mr Gomez said that his decision to join the SDP hinged on the fact that he shares with it “a similar political DNA”, and believes in its economic goals, while Mr Wijeysingha, who joined the party in August, said he the SDP had the “most coherent programme” addressing SIngapore’s economy and society.

**** Detention Without Trial – Abolish Or Improve? <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/detention-without-trial-abolish-or-improve/>
Yawning Bread

What it means is that even if we think there can be a place for preventive detention, we really need a far more transparent and fair process than we currently have.

**** Sound Policies, Impressive Candidates For GE <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4341-sound-policies-impressive-candidates-for-ge>
Singapore Democrat Party

**** Local Funding For Politics A Self-serving PAP Rule <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/local-funding-for-politics-a-self-serving-pap-rule/>
Yawning Bread

The line about not allowing foreigners to interfere in our internal affairs is empty. Foreigners and their money influence us all the time, from the latest consumer fad to the latest political maxim.

Instead, what one deduces from the four associations gazetted is the use of this restriction to bind any civic group that contests the way the People’s Action Party (PAP) tries to frame issues. The PAP is as suspicious of these groups as they are of opposition parties who work to supplant them in power. Both are viewed as threats to its dominance. The restriction therefore is not motivated by wanting to keep Singapore free from foreign influence, which cannot be done, but to hobble any group that contests the hegemony of the PAP and its ideology.

**** S'pore Cannot Expect To Achieve Another 10% Growth Next Year: PM Lee <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1093452/1/.html>
May Wong, Channel NewsAsia

America's financial recovery is not picking up steam, and Singapore will not see another quick economic rebound as it experienced this year.

Mr Lee said: "Even if the external conditions are strong, we are not able to expand so quickly, unless you are prepared to take in more foreign workers and take the risk of overheating."