[MyAppleMenu] Feb 10, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Finder Icons All Appearing The Same <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20031171-263.html>
Topher Kessler, CNET

**** Apple Retail Stores Halt Reservations On Some MacBook Pros <http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/02/09/new.models.may.be.imminent/>
Electronista

The most commonly inaccessible model is the 2.53GHz 15-inch Pro, even if its 17-inch equivalent may also sometimes be unavailable. 2.66GHz 13-inch systems are similarly being kept off of reservation lists, although this said to be less common than with the affected 15- and 17-inch notebooks.

**** iPad Makes Space In Japan's Tiny Homes By Removing Bookshelves <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-03/ipad-makes-space-in-japan-s-tiny-homes-by-removing-bookshelves.html>
Pavel Alpeyev And Yoshinori Eki, Bloomberg

Yusuke Ohki’s 2,000 books were crowding out his Tokyo apartment, so he scanned them all into an Apple Inc. iPad. Six months later the 28-year-old is running a 120-person start-up doing the same thing for customers.

**** Dragon Dictate 2.0.2 'A New High Water Mark In Mac Speech Recognition' <http://lowendmac.com/misc/11mr/dictate-2.0.2-review.html>
Charles Moore, Low End Mac

At this stage of the game it's your best (actually only) Mac OS dictation solution and a tool well worth having in your software suite.

**** Picture-in-picture iChat Presentations <http://www.macworld.com/article/157766/2011/02/ichat_presentation.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

**** Vintage Mac Workhorse: Mac Plus With System 6.0.8 <http://lowendmac.com/ed/rosen/11ar/vintage-mac-plus.html>
Adam Rosen, Low End Mac

**** 4 Ways To Teach Your Mac Mouse To Be Smarter <http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/4-ways-to-teach-your-mac-mouse-or-trackpad-to-be-smarter>
Jeffrey Mincey, Mac 360

**** FTC Asked To Investigate Kids And In-app Purchases <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/02/ftc-asked-to-investigate-kids-making-in-app-purchases-on-ios-android.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss>
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica

Do in-app purchases take advantage of children and inadvertently cost parents way more money than they intended to spend? US Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) is worried that they do, and he has asked the Federal Trade Commission to look at the in-app purchase process offered by Apple and Google to see whether games that offer in-app purchases are unfairly marketed towards kids.

**** App Tells Your Friends What You're Watching <http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/32304/?ref=rss&a=f>
Duncan Graham-rowe, Technology Review

Sitting at home in front of the TV could soon become an altogether more sociable experience. A new iPhone app can identify the show you're watching just by analyzing a few seconds of audio, making it possible to automatically share your TV viewing choices with friends through Facebook and Twitter. It only does this when the app the user presses a button to activate it.

**** iPhone Attack Reveals Passwords In Six Minutes <http://www.pcworld.com/article/219245/>
Martyn Williams, IDG News

The attack, which requires possession of the phone, targets keychain, Apple's password management system. Passwords for networks and corporate information systems can be revealed if an iPhone or iPad is lost or stolen, said the researchers at the state-sponsored Fraunhofer Institute Secure Information Technology (Fraunhofer SIT).

It is based on existing exploits that provide access to large parts of the iOS file system even if a device is locked.

**** CheckBook Pro 2.1 <http://www.macworld.com/article/156931/2011/02/checkbookpro2.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Jeffery Battersby, Macworld

While it doesn't provide the depth of features that programs such as Moneywell or iBank do, CheckBook Pro is sufficient to meet your basic personal finance needs. Smart folders and basic reporting options offer you enough detail to get a good idea of what your financial situation is, although, even with just a little effort, you can probably use your favorite spreadsheet application to get the same or better information.

**** Suitcase Fusion 3 <http://www.macworld.com/article/157600/2011/02/fusion3.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Jay J. Nelson, Macworld

QuickMatch lets you explore your font collection to find fonts that look similar to a selected font—a tremendously helpful feature for people who are new to choosing fonts, as well as for deadline-driven designers who have more fonts than they can remember.

**** Skyfire Web Browser For iPhone And iPad <http://www.macworld.com/appguide/article.html?article=157782&lsrc=rss_main>
Jeff Merron, Macworld

Browser works around Flash restrictions with mixed success.

**** TimePreserver 1.0 <http://www.macworld.com/article/157798/2011/02/timepreserver_gems_review.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Scott McNulty, Macworld

TimePreserver does exactly what it promises, creating a fully restorable copy of each Time Machine backup stored on a Time Capsule. I do wish the program allowed you to selectively archive backups in cases where you have multiple Macs backing up to the same Time Capsule. Support for other NAS-based Time Machine backup solutions would also be welcome. Putting aside these minor quibbles, however, TimePreserver is a fantastic addition to any Time Capsule owner’s backup strategy.

**** Iconfactory Releases Twitterrific 4.0 For Mac <http://www.macworld.com/article/157799/2011/02/twitterrific.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Danny Gallagher, Macworld

**** Mac IT Guy: Replacing An Xserve <http://www.macworld.com/article/157783/2011/02/askmacitguy06.html?lsrc=rss_main>
John C. Welch, Macworld



The Tomorrow Weblog
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**** The Smallest Computing Systems Yet <http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/32302/?ref=rss&a=f>
Kate Greene, Technology Review

Nanowire transistors could run inside microscopic biosensors or environmental sensors.

**** Getting More Value From Cell-Phone Data <http://www.technologyreview.com/business/32261/?ref=rss&a=f>
Lauren Cox, Technology Review

Technologies for analyzing mundane smart-phone data trails could prove a boon to business, researchers say.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Gay Marriage With Chinese Characteristics <http://www.slate.com/id/2279907/?from=rss>
Nicola Davison, Slate

A visit to a Shanghai fake-marriage market, where lesbians and gay men meet to find a husband or wife.

**** Fighting The New Yorker Over Extra Commas And Steaming Cowflops <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/books/09book.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Dwight Garner, New York Times

One of the pleasures of “Elizabeth Bishop and The New Yorker,” a new collection of her correspondence with that magazine’s poetry editors, is snooping around in the excellent footnotes and front matter for the wicked comments she made behind the magazine’s back.

**** Why Are The Muhammad Cartoons Still Inciting Violence? <http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/feb/09/why-are-muhammad-cartoons-still-inciting-violence/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nybooks+%28The+New+York+Review+of+Books%29>
Malise Ruthven, New York Review Of Books

Traditional Islamic doctrine offers little explanation for this violent response. There is no explicit ban on figurative art in the Quran, and representations of Muhammad, though absent from public spaces, appear in illuminated manuscripts up until the seventeenth century; they still feature in the popular iconography of Shiism, where antipathy to pictures of the Prophet is much less prevalent. 

**** Poems Of Pain, The Raw And The Remembered <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/books/10book.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>
Dana Jennings, New York Times

Cancer and racism, immigration and terrorism: each topic is a predictable way station on the circuit of the 24-hour news cycle. In the following books, though, poets wrestle with these staples of newspaper and TV headlines (and much more) and alchemize them from eye-glazing abstractions into well-wrought literary gold.

**** The Weinstein Way <http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2004/02/weinstein-miramax-200402?>
Peter Biskind, Vanity Fair

Harvey Weinstein lost not only his beloved Miramax studio, and millions of dollars, but also his passion for filmmaking.

**** Coffee’s Slow Dance <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/magazine/13Food-t-000.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
Oliver Strand, New York Times

I understand that some of you are put off by proselytizing — you want coffee, not a sermon — but where others perceive smugness and superiority, I see enthusiasm and curiosity, which is what we ask of our chefs: cooking isn’t stuck in 1990, or we would still be sitting down to menus with honey-mustard glaze and sun-dried tomatoes. Why should coffee be any different?



SingaporeSurf
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**** Singapore Expands Its Coastline With Illegally Dredged Sand From Neighboring States? <http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2011/02/08/singapore-expands-its-coastline-with-illegally-dredged-sand-from-neighboring-states/>
Dredging Today

**** Fix Confusing Meter System To Improve Cab Service <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_633059.html>
Paul Chan, Straits Times

When other countries can operate with a single meter-fare system why should Singapore operate with such complicated systems?

**** SDP’s Donation Drive For Dr Chee Is A Mini Victory <http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=5894>
Ng E-Jay, SgPolitics.net

Although $20,000 is not a very large amount of money, neither is it a trivial quantity. The donation drive has convinced me that SDP’s supporters have grown in number over the years. It is extremely encouraging. It shows that SDP’s strategy of delivering the right message to the electorate, based on the core values of democracy and social justice have been right.

The task ahead for the SDP as well as for the rest of the opposition is to capitalize on the groundswell since the 2006 elections and translate it into opposition votes.

**** Who Wants A Revolution? <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/who-wants-a-revolution/>
Yawning Bread

**** Singapore's 2010 Tourism Receipts Hit 10-year High <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1109805/1/.html>
Joanne Chan, Channel NewsAsia

STB said the high growth in tourism dollars is due to higher spending per person, and more international visitors due to positive economic sentiment and the opening of the two Integrated Resorts.

**** Contribute More To Borrow From Own CPF? <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/02/contribute-more-to-borrow-from-own-cpf/>
Leong Sze Hian, The Online Citizen

This may be the shortest and lowest unemployment benefit, with the most stringent criteria (over 65 and lower-income) of any country in the world. But then again, does borrowing your own money for three months even qualify as an “unemployment benefit”?

**** Expected List Of New PAP Candidates For Coming Elections... <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/expected-list-of-new-pap-candidates-for.html>
Diary Of A Singaporean Mind

It is likely that all of them will serve as part-time MPs given their current high paying jobs which they will probably keep. I believe Singaporeans' problems now require full time attention not part-timers.

**** The Case For Nationalism In Singapore (Part 2 - Citizenship) <http://burnrallytogether.blogspot.com/2011/02/case-for-nationalism-in-singapore-part.html>
The People's Friend

**** Brown-nosing All The Way To Parliament <http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2011/02/brown-nosing-all-way-to-parliament.html>
Singapore Notes

One would think potential candidates looking forward to be of service to the electorate would proudly and forthrightly declare their credentials to the people, so as to win their confidence and votes. Not hide behind innuendos and the protection of the established clique in power. But if this sample of the 240 potential candidates invited for "tea" sessions is anything to go by, they look like another batch of colourless apple polishers, specialising in puckering up to bless somebody's derrière.

**** Time To Raise IR Casino Levy? <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2011/02/10/time-to-raise-ir-casino-levy/>
Angela Lim, Yahoo!

Members of Parliament (MPs) and industry watchers are concerned that the levies imposed on local visitors to the integrated resort (IR) casinos are not achieving its desired effect.

**** 为缓解民众通胀压力 é™ˆæƒ åŽï¼šè‹¥æœ‰å¿…è¦å°†è®©æ–°å…ƒè¿›ä¸€æ­¥å‡å€¼ <http://www.zaobao.com.sg/sp/sp110210_005.shtml>
周殊钦, 联合早报

**** Dr M: ‘No Chance’ Of Invading Singapore <http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/no-chance-of-invading-singapore-says-dr-m/>
Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider

Lee Kuan Yew’s fear of Singapore being invaded by Malaysia is “completely unfounded”, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed said in a book published last week.

“His fear is completely unfounded. Malaysians have never had any aggressive intentions,” he was quoted as saying in “Doctor M: Operation Malaysia — Conversations with Mahathir Mohamed”, written by US journalist Tom Plate based on interviews with Dr Mahathir over the last two years.

**** MP's Visit: No Thanks <http://blogging4myself.blogspot.com/2011/02/mps-visit-no-thanks.html>
Blogging for Myself

They sent an advance party to make you stand at your door to await the VIP arrival. I think these MPs haven't earned their spurs to be treated this way. Only Lee Kuan Yew deserved to be treated such.

**** SDP's Chee Soon Juan Escapes Jail Term <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1109907/1/.html>
S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

The opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) says it has raised S$20,000 through an online appeal to pay a fine for Secretary-General Chee Soon Juan.

**** Tote Board To Double Funding Commitments <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1109890/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

The Tote Board will almost double its funding commitment to worthy causes this year, thanks to casino entry levies estimated at about S$140m from April to December 2010. The Tote Board says it will help meet the greater demand for social services arising from Singapore's ageing population, more complicated family issues and people with disabilities.

**** GDP Growth Projections To Trigger Property Demand <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1109868/1/.html>
Jonathan Peeris, Channel NewsAsia

**** Whistle-blowing Policy For Statutory Boards Recommended <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1109836/1/.html>
Mustafa Shafawi/S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

The Public Accounts Committee has recommended that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) spell out a whistle-blowing policy for adoption by government statutory boards. This is in light of fraud cases involving IT procurement at the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and two other public sector bodies.

**** Dr M Slams Iron-fist ‘Dirty’ Harry <http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/02/10/dr-m-slams-iron-fist-dirty-harry/>
Free Malaysia Today

Short of calling him a despot, a charge often levelled against the 85-year-old Mahathir himself, the former premier had slammed the 91-year-old minister mentor for stifling democracy in Singapore.

“Lee claims all these opposition people are duds and must not be allowed to rule Singapore or even to be in the opposition. This is a frank admission that he determines who should represent the people of Singapore, not the people themselves as in a democracy."