[MyAppleMenu] Oct 31, 2010

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** The Sexy Details Of How The iPad And MacBook Will Hook Up <http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/30/the-sexy-details-of-how-the-ipad-and-macbook-air-will-hook-up/>
Steve Cheney, TechCrunch

I believe it’s pretty clear: Apple wants to use OS X, running on an incredibly battery efficient MacBook Air-like form factor, as a bottoms-up strategy to attract loyal iOS fans over to the Mac franchise. After all, there are around 150M users of iOS worldwide. Apple knows that iOS is a secret weapon to bring both consumers and corporate users to higher end Mac products.

**** iPad Opens World To A Disabled Boy <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/nyregion/31owen.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Emily B. Hager, New York Times

Owen, 7, does not have the strength to maneuver a computer mouse, but when a nurse propped her boyfriend’s iPad within reach in June, he did something his mother had never seen before.

He aimed his left pointer finger at an icon on the screen, touched it — just barely — and opened the application Gravitarium, which plays music as users create landscapes of stars on the screen. Over the years, Owen’s parents had tried several computerized communications contraptions to give him an escape from his disability, but the iPad was the first that worked on the first try.

**** VLC For iOS May Soon Be Gone From The App Store Due To Videolan’s Complaint <http://www.macstories.net/news/vlc-for-ios-may-soon-be-gone-from-the-app-store-due-to-videolans-complaint/>
Federico Viticci, MacStories

**** Let's Tap Apple's Genius For Public Works <http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16459788?nclick_check=1>
Mike Cassidy, San Jose Mercury News

Now everyone is going to want an Apple store. Yes, please, absolutely in my backyard. Think of the subway rehab as part of Steve Jobs' own Works Progress Administration.

**** Apple’s Next Macintosh OS <http://www.mondaynote.com/2010/10/31/apple’s-next-macintosh-os/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+monday-note+%28Monday+Note%29>
Jean-Louis Gassée, Monday Note

So: A clean, fresh iOS; we’re not abandoning the Mac…What are we to make of these competing messages?



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Why I Loathe Top 10 Film Lists <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303341904575576431449824128.html?mod=WeekendHeader_Right>
Roger Ebert, Wall Street Journal

No, I won't be making out my list of the 10 Best Films for Halloween this year. Nor earlier this year did I make lists of the 10 Best Horror Films, the 10 Scariest Films, or the 10 Most Frightening Slashers in the Cinema. By not making my list of Halloween films, I'll clear my desk and have plenty of time left to not make my list of the Top 10 Thanksgiving Films. It's still a little early to consider not making a list of the 10 Best Christmas Pictures, and don't even ask about the list I won't be compiling of the 10 Greatest Love Stories for Valentine's Day.

**** Blue Diamond Growers <http://www.slate.com/id/2272536/>
Martha C. White, Slate

What a California almond company can teach us about the globalization of American agriculture.

**** Funeral For A Friend <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/magazine/31fob-medium-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine>
Virginia Heffernan, New York Times

I started to distrust telephones the instant they stopped working. I can’t pinpoint when that was — the first time I “dropped” a call, or someone said, “I’m losing you” — and I don’t know why the telephone, the analog landline telephone, was never formally mourned. I do remember clearly what life was like when telephones worked.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Socialist Front’s 1st Press Conference <http://chiatilik.wordpress.com/2010/10/30/socialist-front/>
Chia Ti Lik

**** Gillard Meets Singapore PM Over ASX Bid <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/31/3052971.htm?section=justin>
ABC

Prime minister Julia Gillard says Singapore's prime minister Lee Hsien Loong raised the matter in talks at the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi. "We both very much agreed whilst there is going to be media interest in these matters and community interest in these matters, there is a clear process to be gone through from the Australian point of view with our Foreign Investment Review Board," she said.

**** Justice, Singapore Style <http://www.british-weekly.com/?p=4101>
Alan Shadrake, British Weekly

I exposed this and other prosecutorial scandals in my book Once A Jolly Hangman:  Singapore Justice in the Dock, because I hate injustice.  While this evil drug baron – friend of the rich and privileged in Singapore – is enjoying his life of luxury in his mansion on his family estate in Le Bardo, Tunisia, Singapore is preparing to hang more pitiful drug mules – perhaps some who helped Guiga get rich.

How is it that this evil drug trader managed to escape justice?  I cannot get my passport back and be allowed to leave Singapore.  They are determined to punish me first!

**** Goh Vs Obama – Worlds Apart? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/10/goh-vs-obama-worlds-apart/>
The Online Citizen

**** Relevance Of Universal Periodic Review In Singapore’s Case <http://aussgworldpolitics.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/relevance-of-universal-periodic-review-in-singapore’s-case/>
Readings From A Political Duo-Ble

While the report and its recommendations are commendable, specifically pertaining to enhancing electoral openness, it is however, debatable if the relationship can be easily drawn.

**** Singapore Government Cannot Make It? <http://pamyau.blogspot.com/2010/10/singapore-government-cannot-make-it.html>
Perfect Insanity

We often hear complaints about how the Malaysian government service sector is woefully lagging. It takes aeons for something to be processed, working at a pace slower than a growing fungi. The day when things are done efficiently is the day when hell freezes over.

In Singapore, things are different.  (Or at least we thought so).

**** Human Rights Wishlist <http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_597642.html>
Cassandra Chew, Straits Times

Eight local civil groups have produced a joint report that urged the Government, among other things, to sign two UN treaties on human rights, one for migrant workers and the other for disabled persons.

Three groups have also compiled a report on migrant workers and topping their wishlist is the establishment of an independent human rights commission to investigate, monitor and report on human rights violations in Singapore.

**** When ‘Above Average’ Isn’t Good Enough <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/10/31/when-above-average-isnt-good-enough/>
Faris, Yahoo!

They may not want to strive to be ”exceptional”, many are satisfied with being really good at what they do but does it make their effort any less commendable? After all, who’s to say that being a good bus driver or chicken rice seller or  postman or mechanic is not a worthwhile aim?

Or how about being the best father or mother you can possibly be — can this be measured in the Minister’s terms? I know parents who work longer hours and take a second, or even a third job, just so they can put enough food on the table and  support their children’s lofty dreams. And now they are being told that their efforts are not “exceptional” enough?

**** Singapore's Human Rights Under UN Scrutiny <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1090514/1/.html>
Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia

Civil society groups in Singapore have submitted reports on the country's human rights track record ahead of a United Nations deadline on November 1. The move is part of the Universal Periodic Review of all UN member states.

**** There’s Nothing On The First Floor <http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/10/31/theres_nothing_on_the_first_floor/>
Joshua Rothman, Boston Globe

That void deck might look empty, but there’s a policy hidden in there. It’s another example from architecture of the power of empty space.

**** Minister Khaw Says Ready To Stand In Single-Member Ward <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1090515/1/.html>
Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia

Health minister Khaw Boon Wan said he would be happy standing in a Single-Member Constituency (SMC) in the upcoming General Election (GE) should the electoral boundaries in his Group Representation Constituency (GRC) change.

Sembawang is one of the largest GRCs in terms of voter numbers. In addition, the six-member GRC has two ministers - health minister Khaw and law minister K Shanmugam, who will also take on the home affairs portfolio on November 1.

**** Barriers To ASX Merger Are Futile <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/barriers-to-asx-merger-are-futile/story-e6frg9if-1225945879044>
Andrew Main, The Australian

There's a raft of imponderables out there, but the most likely consequence of countries pulling up the drawbridge on the notion of cross-border sharemarket manager mergers is that the new borderless world of share trading will just devise its own way of working round the holdouts.

**** Give And Take When Dealing With Religious Issues: PM Lee <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1090529/1/.html>
Dylan Loh, Channel NewsAsia

It's this 'live and let live' approach, said Mr Lee, that has allowed Singapore to achieve harmony amidst diversity.

**** Why We Should Have The Green Corridor <http://www.asiaisgreen.com/2010/10/31/why-we-should-have-the-green-corridor/>
AsiaIsGreen.com

Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) has submitted a proposal, The Green Corridor: A Proposal to Keep the Railway Lands as a Continous Green Corridor, to the Singapore government on 21 October 2010. NSS proposes to retain the current KTM Railway Land as a Green Corridor after the train operations cease.

For Singapore to survive and prosper in the long term, it is necessary to have more opportunities in preserving our shared memories and creating our shared vision. And keeping the Railway Lands as a Green Corridor is one opportunity not to be wasted.

**** My Wife Kept The Family Together: Pilot Of Ill-Fated Sq006 <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/11/01/my-wife-kept-the-family-together-pilot-of-ill-fated-sq006/>
Ion Danker, Yahoo!

When it felt like his life was falling apart, his wife kept it all together.

That’s how former Singapore Airlines (SIA) First Officer Cyrano Latiff describes the uphill struggle to rebuild his life and career after surviving Singapore’s worst-ever aircraft disaster.

**** The Value Of Political Competition <http://geraldgiam.sg/2010/11/the-value-of-political-competition/>
Gerald Giam

Competition provides a more sustainable, self-regulating system. With the right incentives and rules in place, and with a free flow of information, political parties will be competing to serve their constituents better. There will be less of a need to depend on a strongman to hold the party or the country together.

**** Adium 1.4 Ships With Support For Twitter, Better Group Chat Features <http://www.tuaw.com/2010/10/31/adium-1-4-ships-with-support-for-twitter-better-group-chat-feat/>
Michael Rose, TUAW

The new version includes support for Twitter messaging, full IRC support, improved group chat services and bookmarks for persistent chats, an update to the underlying libpurple chat library, and many other tweaks and fixes.

**** Lim Zi Rui : I Don't Know What I'm Defending Anymore.... <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2010/10/lim-zi-rui-i-dont-know-what-im.html>
Diary Of A Singaporean Mind

For many ordinary Singaporeans, the PAP govt is taking us to a place we don't want to go with their lopsided unbalanced policies. Singaporeans also understand that nothing is going to change if the PAP is again swept into power with an overwhelming majority - it will just take the people's support for granted and dish out more of the same unbalanced policies.