[MyAppleMenu] Oct 30, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** The Mac App Store: The Good, The Bad & The Unknown <http://mashable.com/2010/10/29/mac-app-store-op-ed/>
Christina Warren, Mashable

**** Apple Releases Update To Fix Iphoto '11 Bugs <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/10/29/apple-releases-update-to-fix-iphoto-11-bugs/>
Michael Grothaus, TUAW

The update addresses issues that, in extremely rare cases, could result in data loss when upgrading a library from an earlier version of iPhoto.

**** Google Founders Wanted To Hire Steve Jobs As Company's First CEO <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/10/29/google_founders_wanted_to_hire_steve_jobs_as_companys_first_ceo.html>
Josh Ong, AppleInsider

Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin considered hiring Apple CEO Steve Jobs as the company's first CEO, according to a new documentary.

**** Second Thoughts On The 2010 Macbook Air <http://lowendmac.com/ed/hatchett/10jh/mba-second-thoughts.html>
John Hatchett, Low End Mac

I just can't let lustworthy technology overwhelm my practical nature.

**** Steve Jobs: No USB 3 ‘At This Time’ <http://www.9to5mac.com/32948/jobs-no-usb-3-at-this-time>
Mark Gurman, 9 To 5 Mac

"No support from Intel, for example."

**** A Close Look At Apple's Letterpress Cards <http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/29/a-close-look-at-appl.html>
Glenn Fleishman, Boing Boing

The letterpress work is first rate, but the textured paper doesn't hold laser printing well. The type is spaced oddly between characters--in the parlance, poorly kerned--and looks rather blocky. The cards also have rather trite designs, necessary for mass sales, I suppose.

**** Resolved: We Need More Realistic Notebook Battery-Life Claims <http://technologizer.com/2010/10/29/resolved-we-need-more-realistic-notebook-battery-life-claims/>
Harry McCracken, Technologzer

I’ve been using the 11.6″ MacBook Air over the past week and a half, and judging from my experience, Apple’s estimate of five hours is indeed realistic. It’s about what I’m getting–which is a pleasant surprise considering that I’m used to discounting the battery life claims made by laptop manufacturers (including Apple) by anywhere from thirty to sixty percent.

**** Itunes Ping Sidebar Is Dead: Say Hello To The Itunes Sidebar <http://www.mcelhearn.com/2010/10/30/itunes-ping-sidebar-is-dead-say-hello-to-the-itunes-sidebar/>
Kirk McElhearn, Kirkville

It’s good to see that Apple has heard the many users who found the Ping sidebar useless, but who did appreciate the Genius recommendations in the old sidebar. The combination of the two makes more sense, and it’s likely that we’ll be seeing other changes to Ping and its related features over time as well.

**** Apple Countersues Motorola Over Multi-Touch iPhone Patents <http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/10/30/apple_countersues_motorola_over_multi_touch_iphone_patents.html>
AppleInsider



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** Innovation: It Isn’t A Matter Of Left Or Right <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/business/31every.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Steven Johnson, New York Times



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Screwtop Thompson By Magnus Mills – Review <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/oct/30/screwtop-thompson-magnus-mills-review?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Gerard Woodward, The Guardian

Magnus Mills writes with a childlike clarity about very grown up worlds. His typical characters are labourers, working men and artisans who shuffle around on the margins of society. The power of his fiction is often generated by the tension between the disarming transparency of his prose style, and the dark complexity of the worlds it describes.

**** Monte Baldo <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/oct/30/saturday-poem-monte-baldo-freud?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Annie Freud, The Guardian

**** Tough Love <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/books/review/Caputo-t.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Philip Caputo, New York Times

Bruce Machart’s impressive first novel, “The Wake of Forgiveness,” opens with a scene of a pioneer woman dying in childbirth on a homestead on the South Texas plains. Her husband, a Czech farmer named Vaclav Skala, carries her body into a hayloft so his three older boys do not wake to find their mother dead, then burns the gore-spattered mattress upon which his fourth son was born and stares into the flames to avoid looking at his hands, “stained with the blood of the only woman he’d ever been fond of.”



SingaporeSurf
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**** SDP Chairman Gandhi Ambalam Fined $1,000 For Taking Part In Illegal Public Assembly <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/Singaporeinbrief/EDC101030-0000118/SDP-Chairman-Gandhi-Ambalam-fined-$1,000-for-taking-part-in-illegal-public-assembly>
Shaffiq Alkhatib, Today

**** Defamation Trial Highlights Singapore's Rope And Lash Law <http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/10/26/opinion/Defamation-trial-highlights-Singapore&039;s-rope-a-30140831.html>
Rodney King, The Nation

These statistics can only provide an approximate comparison between Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. But they are sufficient to show that Singapore is achieving no better crime control with its draconian criminal punishments than they are.

Further proof of this is provided by a University of California (Berkeley) study comparing the incidence of homicide in Singapore and Hong Kong with and without the death penalty. Hong Kong stopped executions in 1966. The study concluded that there was no correlation between the execution and murder rates for either Hong Kong or Singapore.

This and other research casts significant doubt on the widespread belief that Singapore's harsh criminal penalties explain its low crime rate. Crime-weary Westerners need to think again before assuming that such tough punishments can best combat the drug-driven violence and homicidal craziness of their own societies. 

**** Both Boon And Bane <http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/30/focus/7321186&sec=focus>
Seah Chiang Nee, The Star

A fast economy and cheap money – much of it imported – are erecting a high-cost structure in this over-crowded, global city not unlike Paris, Tokyo or New York.

This is posing problems for all, particularly for the young with a modest salary. For them setting up a family has become a daunting task, and more are giving up hope of raising a family because of rising costs, especially children’s education.

**** Singapore Among World's Most Corrupt Nations <http://taxjustice.blogspot.com/2010/10/singapore-among-worlds-most-corrupt.html>
Tax Justice Network

Singapore is the world's eighth most corrupt nation, according to our rankings. It is a haven for secrecy and one of the biggest, and fastest-rising, sinks for illicit, tax evading and criminal loot from developing and other countries around the world.

**** 裕廊东巴士转换站明年底搬家 <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp101030_016.shtml>
李静仪, 联合早报

本地最老的巴士转换站之一——裕廊东转换站将在明年底走入历史，“搬”到原址斜对面的地段，到时所有往返该转换站的巴士路线将搬到新设施运作，估计有两万多名乘客受影响。

现有转换站的地段将在2012年初交还给土地管理局，由市区重建局重新发展为集合巴士、地铁服务及购物商场的冷气综合公共交通枢纽，为乘客提供一站式服务。

**** Open-Door Immigration & High Cost Of Homes <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=4369>
See Leong Kit, Sgpolitics.net

Clearly, hardly any forethought on the inevitable strain on our housing market, transport system, schools and university enrolment.

**** “与前社阵理念相似” æ–°ç¤¾é˜µå› è€Œæ²¿ç”¨ç›¸åŒåŽæ–‡å <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp101030_026.shtml>
游润恬, 联合早报

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询及有意在大选时角逐多少选区时，秘书长谢智立也表示要待选区范围检讨报告出炉及政府宣布大选日期之后才公布。

**** Singapore Exchange's Bid For Asx Being Prejudged, Australian Minister Says <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-30/singapore-exchange-s-bid-for-asx-being-prejudged-australian-minister-says.html>
Nichola Saminather, Bloomberg

“There’s been an unfortunate prejudgment of this proposal,” Australian trade minister Craig Emerson said yesterday, according to a transcript of his comments e-mailed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today. Those opposed to the offer are “raising all sorts of doubts about it before any assessment has been made,” he said.

**** Raising The Retirement Age In Singapore <http://sgpreparedness.blogspot.com/2010/10/raising-retirement-age-in-singapore.html>
Singapore Preparedness

Since dealing with this issue through the ballot box requires that other Singaporeans to co-operate in terms of voting, and since we cannot be sure of the outcome until after the fact, I thought that it would be more useful for us to plan on how to deal with this potential policy change at the level of our individual lives instead.

**** ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Defending Anymore’ <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/10/30/i-dont-know-what-im-defending-anymore/>
Ewen Boey, Yahoo!

Young Singaporeans are becoming increasingly disillusioned and they’re not afraid to let it show.

**** Singapore's Electoral Boundaries Review Committee Convened <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1090380/1/.html>
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

Speaking to the Singapore media on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi on Saturday, Mr Lee said he has issued the instruction to convene the committee and it is being chaired by the Secretary to the Cabinet, Tan Kee Yong.

The release of the report is seen as one of the clearest signals of a General Election around the corner. For the 2006 General Election, the report was released about seven weeks before Nomination Day.

**** Casino Entry Fee – Pay At AXS Machine <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/10/casino-entry-fee-pay-at-axs-machine/>
The Online Citizen

**** Yearning For “Western-Style Democracy”? <http://geraldgiam.sg/2010/10/yearning-for-western-style-democracy/>
Gerald Giam

I am all for adapting democracy to suit our circumstances. However, the PAP’s interpretation of “adapting democracy” is in fact more about justifying their authoritarian ways, than our cultural uniqueness.

**** Greens Have An Irrational Fear Of Foreign Money <http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/greens-have-an-irrational-fear-of-foreign-money-20101030-17849.html>
Chris Berg, The Age