[MyAppleMenu] Oct 28, 2010

applesurf at myapplemenu.com applesurf at myapplemenu.com
Thu Oct 28 18:59:01 EDT 2010

MyAppleMenu
====================================

**** Apple's Hot Selling 11-Inch MacBook Air Sees Shipping Times Slip <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/10/27/shipping_time_for_999_11_inch_macbook_air_slips_to_1_3_days.html>
AppleInsider

New orders of the $999 11.6-inch MacBook Air are now estimated to ship within 1 to 3 business days, suggesting demand for the entry-level version of Apple's new thin-and-light notebook lineup has been greatest in the first week of sales.

**** The Importance Of Idos, Or, Someone Run With This Idea <http://toucharcade.com/2010/10/27/the-importance-of-idos/>
Eli Hodapp, TouchArcade

If you're an iOS developer out there trying to come up with what your next project will be, consider looking up who currently holds the rights to your favorite retro game. Since most of these games are freely distributed as abandonware, you might find that the owners may be willing to strike an amazingly reasonable deal with you, or just give you their blessing to breathe some new life into their projects of the past for nothing at all.

**** iMovie '11 <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/710254/review/imovie_11.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Jeff Carlson, Macworld

iMovie '11 has a few standout features that show off its capabilities, like Movie Trailers, long-awaited sound editing, and One-Step Effects. But there are also plenty of other enhancements indicating that this release has depth and character, like the return of a traditional timeline in Single-Row View, a fix for rolling shutter artifacts, the People Finder feature, audio effects, and even little things like the Side by Side and Blue Screen edits.

**** How iOS Backups Can Devour Your SSD <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/how-ios-backups-can-devour-your-ssd/8549?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zdnet%2FApple+%28ZDNet+The+Apple+Core%29>
Jason D. O'Grady, ZDNet

The MobileSync/Backup folder is used to store your iOS backups. Every time your iPhone, iPad or iPod makes a backup via iTunes, it’s stored in the MobileSync/Backup folder. If you have a 32GB iPhone and a 32GB iPad, this can add up fast.

**** Tinkering With The Finder's Column View <http://www.macworld.com/article/155221/2010/10/tinker_column_view.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

**** The Real Reason White iPhone 4 Is Delayed (Hint: The Camera) <http://www.cultofmac.com/the-real-reason-white-iphone-4-is-delayed-hint-its-not-discolored-buttons/66224?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cultofmac%2FbFow+%28Cult+of+Mac%29>
Leander Kahney, Cult Of Mac

The white iPhone 4 has been delayed because it can’t take good pictures, a source with connections at Apple tells me. The white case leaks light back in — especially when the flash is used to take pictures.

**** Textexpander 3.2 Offers Backup, Restore <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/10/27/textexpander-3-2-offers-backup-restore/>
TJ Luoma, TUAW

Along with some bug fixes, it also adds the ability to easily backup and restore your shortcuts, including automatic backup and keyboard shortcuts to expand top search results.

**** Security Firms Differ On Severity Of New Mac Malware Threat <http://www.macworld.com/article/155222/2010/10/boonana_trojan.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Moren, Macworld

While SecureMac contends that Boonana is a “Critical” risk, security firm Intego—which says it has been monitoring the malware for some time—deems it only a low-risk threat, due to the fact that the implementation of the malware program is itself flawed and many of the remote servers it seems to rely on are inactive.

**** Boost Your Mac's Speed With A Hybrid Drive <http://www.macworld.com/article/154959/2010/10/momentusxthybrid.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Rob Griffiths, Macworld

Seagate calls the Momentus a “hybrid” hard drive, as it combines a relatively-small 4GB SSD with a standard 500GB hard drive. From a user’s perspective, though, the SSD is hidden—the drive appears as a standard 500GB hard drive, and there’s no user access to the SSD. That’s because the drive’s firmware manages the SSD, identifying the most commonly-used disk sectors—not files, as you might suspect—and then moving those bits to the SSD. You as a user simply work with files as you always do, letting the drive do the management for you.

**** Apple Massively Ramped Up Ad Spending In 2010, But Sales Grew Even Faster <http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/27/apple-ad-spending/>
MG Siegler, TechCrunch

While the spend was $691 million this year, total revenues were over $65 billion, so Apple only spent about 1 percent of their revenue on this. Last year, that percentage was 1.37. In 2001, it was 5 percent.

**** MacBook Air Has The Feel Of An Ipad In A Laptop <http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20101027/macbook-air-has-the-feel-of-an-ipad-in-a-laptop/?mod=ATD_rss>
Walter S. Mossberg, Wall Street Journal

Despite a few drawbacks, they really do offer the different, more iPad-like experience Apple claims they do. Battery life is strong, and the wake up from sleep is almost instant, even after long periods of being unused.

**** Apple Staff Numbers Up One Third, 50 New Stores Planned <http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm?newsid=3246281>
Nick Spence, Macworld UK

Apple has announced it has 46,600 full-time employees as of 25 September 2010, up from 34,300 a year-ago and 32,000 in 2008.

**** Microsoft Slaps Product Activation On Mac Office 2011 <http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9193578/Microsoft_slaps_product_activation_on_Mac_Office_2011?source=rss_operatingsystems>
Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Microsoft has saddled the new Office for Mac 2011 with an activation process that's significantly more draconian than that demanded of customers running the Windows version of the suite.

**** Apple Tightens Its Grip On Developers With Mac App Store <http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/apple-tightens-its-grip-developers-mac-app-store-319>
Neil Mcallister, InfoWorld

I understand the intent of each of these provisions. Apple doesn't want the Mac App Store to become known for distributing buggy, broken, redundant apps. Users who buy from the store should receive only high-quality software from reputable vendors, not shoddy apps knocked out to make a quick buck. But taken together, they seem to be holding desktop app developers to an almost impossible standard: be absolutely unique, don't ship with any bugs, and never, ever fail. Or else.

**** Peruse Your Printing Options In Microsoft Word 2011 <http://www.macworld.com/article/154590/2010/10/wordprint.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Jeffery Battersby, Macworld

If you use Microsoft Word, you're no doubt aware that the program doesn't have a standard Mac OS X print dialog window. That sad fact can sometimes leave you feeling a bit lost. Here are a some pointers for printing with Microsoft Word 2011 and an explanation of its major dialog box contents.

**** My Airy Book <http://scripting.com/stories/2010/10/28/myAiryBook.html>
Dave Winer, Scripting News

Ohhhh they've so got me trained to give them money.

**** Review: Dragon Dictate For Mac <http://it-enquirer.com/2010/10/28/review-dragon-dictate-mac/>
IT.Enquirer

In many ways, I think Dragon Dictate gives a glimpse of how we will deal with computers more than some other interfaces that are rumoured to be in the making. In its current version Dragon Dictate is accurate enough to be useful 90% of the time.

**** The Process Begins: Macbook Air Justification <http://www.applegazette.com/featured-commentary/the-process-begins-macbook-air-justification/>
Kevin Whipps, Apple Gazette

**** White iPhone 4 Vanishes From Apple Online Store <http://www.macworld.com/article/155252/2010/10/white_iphone4_store.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Dan Moren, Macworld

Previously, the site had displayed both the black and white versions of the iPhone 4, along with a notice that the white version was not available either online or for in-store pick-up. Now the white model has completely vanished, plucked from the page as though excised from the very fabric of the universe.

**** A Hidden Genius At The Apple Store <http://duncandavidson.com/blog/2010/10/apple-store>
Duncan Davidson

There’s the obvious real-time point-of-sale and visitor data. But that’s not what catches my attention. Instead, it’s the data that’s generated at the Genius bar that fascinates me. This data, in aggregate, can tell Apple a lot about what machines break, how they break, and after how long in a much more direct way than what would come out of a third party service center. And, when Apple is interested in more information about certain failures, they can start asking customers for more information with very little delay.

**** TSA: 11.6-Inch MacBook Air Is Checkpoint-Safe <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/10/28/tsa-11-6-inch-macbook-air-is-checkpoint-safe/>
Dave Caolo, TUAW

The US Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, has officially stated that travelers passing through US airport security with the 11.6-inch MacBook Air will not have to remove the little laptop from their bags for inspection. Unfortunately, that's not the case with the 13-inch model.

**** Migration Blues With The MacBook Air - Volume II <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/migration-blues-with-the-macbook-air-volume-ii/8562?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zdnet%2FApple+%28ZDNet+The+Apple+Core%29>
Jason D. O'Grady, ZDNet

I retried the WiFi configuration four different times with no success. I tried restarting both machines and even restarted the Airport Extreme just for good measure, and no dice. Same “network connection failed” error every time.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Isn’t It Rich? <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/books/review/Simon-t.html?hp>
Paul Simon, New York Times

The book “Finishing the Hat” becomes a metaphor for that feeling of joy, the little squirt of dopamine hitting the brain when the artist creates a work of art. It’s a feeling so addictive the artist is willing to forgo love in order to experience artistic bliss. It could be a metaphor for Sondheim’s love of songwriting.

**** Bobbing For A Lost Apple <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/bobbing-for-a-lost-apple/?ref=opinion>
Sloane Crosley, New York Times

In order to properly carve into Halloween, to gut its innards and illuminate it, we have to flash forward to the blight on fun that is New Year’s Eve.

**** Ode To The Slimy Hagfish <http://www.laweekly.com/2010-10-28/eat-drink/ode-to-the-slimy-hagfish/>
Jonathan Gold, LA Weekly

Nothing about hagfish may be quite so alarming as watching a mess of them, skinned and gutted, thrown onto a charcoal grill. The long, eel-like filets writhe, they contort, they twist around one another like the serpents on Asclepius' staff, before shrinking into tiny bicycle tires on the grate.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Haze Problem: Change Is Happening, Say Experts <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC101028-0000123/Haze-problem--Change-is-happening,-say-experts>
Neo Chai Chin, Today

People around the region - who experienced unhealthy levels of haze last week - may feel that reforms are not being made fast enough to deal with the problem, but change is happening in the right direction, according to experts at a discussion yesterday. And they believe multi-level cooperation should continue.

**** Law Students Must Toughen Up To Survive <http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC101028-0000072/Law-students-must-toughen-up-to-survive>
Clement Yong Hong Kit, Today

It is unfair for a law student to sit back and expect firms to be dishing out training contracts on a silver platter merely because said law student wants to be called to the Bar.

**** Restauranteurs Share Secrets Of Success In Singapore <http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/eat/step-back-time/family-restaurants-singapore-share-secret-their-success-016628>
Qun Yun, CNNGo

Singapore’s competitive dining scene sees restaurants opening and closing almost every other month. However, some restaurants have lasted decades. What's their secret? Five venerable family-run restaurants spill the beans.

**** Waiting Time Can Be Cut - But At What Cost? <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_596167.html>
Yik Keng Yeong, Straits Times

Hearing out patients' health complaints professionally, practising holistic medicine and attending to the unexpected inevitably take their toll on a doctor's time and make it practically impossible to stick to a strictly timed regime.

**** Government Review May Be A Good Time To Rename Women's Charter: Aware <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC101028-0000091/Govt-review-may-be-a-good-time-to-rename-Womens-Charter--Aware>
Today

In offering its feedback, Aware said the name "Women's Charter" gives the impression that it is a statute that protects women against men.

**** 两政党推出 吉祥物贴近选民 政治观察家：能引起注意但不能赢选票 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp101028_009.shtml>
游润恬, 联合早报

从礼貌大使“新雅”、公用事业局亲善大使“活力水”（Water Wally），到青年奥运会的“乐奥”及“美莉”，政府机构不时会用吉祥物来增强宣传效力。现在连政党也推出吉祥物，各出奇招造势，让本地政治生态更有看头。然而，并不是每个政党都打算采用吉祥物来做宣传。

**** 建屋局：盛港建新屋不影响放风筝 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp101028_025.shtml>
顾功垒, 联合早报

针对居民的担忧，建屋局昨晚答复本报询问时指出，盛港的新组屋只占去目前大片空地中的一小部分，应不会影响居民周末放风筝活动。

**** Gathering Momentum. <http://votingrp.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/gathering-momentum/>
Voting RP

**** 意见栏 石凳不见了 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/yl/yl101028_008.shtml>
吴惠珍, 联合早报

老年人已不敢奢望有电梯上下天桥，那毕竟是遥不可及的事，但原有的一点设施，为老人提供的一点点方便为什么却要剥夺，实在令人不解。

**** $8 Bypass Operation <http://tankinlian.blogspot.com/2010/10/8-bypass-operation.html>
Tan Kin Lian

This type of helpful advice is not available to ordinary citizens who might have been asked to take more expensive tests and treatments (when cheaper options are available), due to the "conflict of interest" of the medical professionals - who earn a share of the medical charges.

**** It's Déjà Vu In Singapore <http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/opinion/comment/12136-its-deja-vu-in-singapore>
Maxwell Coopers, Free Malaysia Today

Caning Charlton, if and when it happens, poses a question: is safety in the streets and its surrounding environnment all about how many people a nation canes or how many lashes it administers?

**** The Fun Game Of Musical Chairs <http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2010/10/fun-game-of-musical-chairs.html>
Singapore Notes

And do we really need another Minister in the already overstaffed cabinet?

**** Yale Spin-Off To Open In Singapore <http://yaleherald.com/news/yale-spin-off-to-open-in-singapore/>
The Yale Herald

The chance to broadly impact the design of the core curriculum at Yale-NUS College is one of the biggest draws of the project for Yale. According to the prospectus, the curriculum would span both Western and Asian cultures and would prepare students for “lifelong learning in an interconnected, interdependent global environment.”

**** Key Australia MPs Oppose Singapore Bourse Merger <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hA80Nu62vFfoof5mmxDIsb2FYx_g?docId=CNG.9c18d2343f3269a07799e2711d4b82d8.511>
Amy Coopes, AFP

Australian independent MPs Thursday vowed to oppose a Sydney stock exchange merger with Singapore's bourse, further clouding the 8.2-billion US dollar plan, which has sparked a fierce political backlash.

**** S'pore May Need To Raise Retirement Age To 68, Says Lim Boon Heng <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1089908/1/.html>
Hetty Musfirah, Channel NewsAsia

Mr Lim, who's in Finland accompanying President S R Nathan on his state visit there said Singaporeans need to work longer as their life span increases. That is because they need to accumulate more for their old age.

**** Answers To O-Level Maths Paper Found Online A Day After Exam <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1089965/1/.html>
Zul Othman, Today

The person behind the website is an 18-year-old National Serviceman, who said students had given him the questions from memory. He said he later worked out the solutions himself. And he is not the only one to have done the same.

**** Merger Talk Shows Our Ugly Side <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/merger-talk-shows-our-ugly-side/story-e6frg6ux-1225944857856>
Rowan Callick, The Australian

We depend increasingly on Asian capital to keep our businesses growing, and Singapore Inc has invited Australians on to its boards. That hasn't been reciprocated.

**** A Loathsome Deal That Should Be Given Bargepole Treatment <http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/a-loathsome-deal-that-should-be-given-bargepole-treatment-20101028-175lw.html>
Richard Ackland, Sydney Morning Herald

When you add up the arms and agencies with holdings and cross-holdings in the exchange, the Singapore government owns more than 30 per cent of the SGX.

Immediately, there are legitimate perceptions of a conflict of interest as one government instrumentality is supposed to be having oversight of the stock exchange which, in turn, is required to deliver a healthy return to investors, including the government. It is into this carefully confected fiefdom that our securities exchange is being foisted.

**** Bocker’s ASX-SGX Dream Turns Into A Nightmare <http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/10/28/385551/bockers-asx-sgx-dream-turns-into-a-nightmare/>
Gwen Robinson, Financial Times

**** Currency Wars Reach Singapore <http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2010-10/currency-wars-reach-singapore.aspx?storyid=42477>
NASDAQ

Because Singapore's exchange rates are already linked to the U.S. dollar, the move may be read as more of a concession to market reality than a desire to simply have a stronger monetary unit.




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