[MyAppleMenu] Jan 24, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** Apple’s Bet On Publishing <http://www.mondaynote.com/2011/01/23/apples-bet-on-publishing/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+monday-note+%28Monday+Note%29>
Frédéric Filloux, Monday Note

In a nutshell, Cupertino is betting on “many small” rather than on “few big ones”.

**** The Understudy Takes The Stage At Apple <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/technology/24cook.html?_r=1>
Miguel Helft, New York Times

In Silicon Valley, Mr. Jobs is also known for relentlessness. Yet on many levels, he and Mr. Cook are opposites. While Mr. Jobs is mercurial and prone to outbursts, Mr. Cook, who was raised in a small town in Alabama, is polite and soft-spoken. He is often described as a “Southern gentleman.” While Mr. Jobs obsesses over every last detail of Apple’s products, Mr. Cook obsesses over the less glamorous minutiae of Apple’s operations.

**** David Hockney's Friends In Art: The iPad And iPhone <http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-hockney-ipad-20110123,0,6952648.story?track=rss>
Barbara Isenberg, Los Angeles Times

David Hockney may be pretty isolated here in Yorkshire, some four hours by train from London, but that's the way he likes it. Ensconced near the quiet rural landscape he's immortalized in paintings and watercolors, he has more time not only to draw but to experiment with new ways of making art.

**** Chrome 8 <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/795714/review/chrome_8.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Nathan Alderman, Macworld

Chrome 8 is free, it’s fast, and there’s very little it can’t do that other browsers can. Firefox users in particular may find that Chrome combines all of that browser’s advantages with vastly faster performance. If it keeps improving at this rate, Chrome could soon leave Safari a distant second place in the Mac browser competition.

**** Wireless Printing From An iPad <http://www.macworld.com/article/157343/2011/01/ipad_wireless_printing.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

**** Airfoil Speakers Touch <http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=84549&lsrc=rss_main>
Glenn Fleishman, Macworld

Think of Airfoil Speakers Touch from Rogue Amoeba as turning an iOS device into a portable speaker. The app works with Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil commercial software for Mac OS X and Windows. Airfoil captures and redirects audio that’s playing on a computer to a variety of devices: other computers, AirPort Express, Apple TV, and mobile hardware running this iOS app.

**** Automator Workflow Of The Month: Automate Folder Backup <http://www.macworld.com/article/157339/2011/01/automate_backup.html?lsrc=rss_main>
Christopher Breen, Macworld

You know that you should have a long-range plan for regularly backing up all your important data. But there are times when you want the extra security of backing up an ongoing project at more frequent intervals. The following Automator workflow will do just that by taking items placed in a particular folder and backing them up to another drive.

**** Your iPad Is An Arcade Cabinet: The Journey From Joke To Product <http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/01/your-ipad-is-an-arcade-cabinet-the-journey-from-joke-to-product.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss>
Ben Kuchera, Ars Technica

**** SuperSync 4.0 Makes It Easier To Sync iTunes Libraries <http://www.macworld.com/article/157359/2011/01/supersync.html?lsrc=rss_main>
David Chartier, Macworld

**** Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim <http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/797511/review/majesty_2_the_fantasy_kingdom_sim.html?expand=true&lsrc=rss_main>
Stephanie Kent, Macworld

A few problems with screen navigation aside, Majesty 2 makes for a fun, brain-bending test of planning and defending a fantasy kingdom.



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** Life Is More Meaningful Than Mere Facts Can Convey <http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2011/01/18/132786407/life-is-more-meaningful-than-mere-facts-can-convey?ft=1&f=114424647>
Adam Frank, NPR

But the reasons individuals find their lives transformed by spiritual longing are intimate and deeply personal affairs having little to do with dusty "proofs for the existence of God." As all those "spiritual but not religious" folks popping up in surveys on religion will tell you, the essence of the question is about experience, not facts.

**** How The First Cable Was Laid Across The Atlantic <http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-01/18/transatlantic-cables?page=all>
Duncan Geere, Wired UK

So next time you're reading our US colleagues' website over a transatlantic fibreoptic cable, remember the steadfast work of Frederick Gisborne and Cyrus Field back in 1858, in a pair of boats in the middle of the Atlantic.

**** "Harlem Is Nowhere": Travels In A City Of Dreams <http://www.salon.com/books/laura_miller/2011/01/23/harlem/index.html>
Laura Miller, Salon

A young writer finds the "Mecca of black America" is in danger of slipping away.

**** Rhetorical Devices <http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2011/01/23/rhetorical_devices/>
Erin McKean, Boston Globe

Rhetoric in the original sense — the classic sense — is something else. It’s a toolkit, a set of methods used for generations to make speech more artful and effective. Rhetoric in this sense now tends to be dismissed as an anachronism, the kind of thing that goes with side whiskers or quill pens.

But the truth is, we all use this kind of rhetoric every day without understanding it.



SingaporeSurf
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**** Politics In Singapore: Gauging Present Public Sentiments <http://guanyinmiao.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/politics-in-singapore-gauging-present-public-sentiments/>
Guanyinmiao's Musings

Right now, the question is not about when the PAP will lose power; the more important concern should be how Singapore can prosper without the PAP’s hegemony.

**** Singaporean Autistic --- A Hard Life <http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt149627.html>
Wrongplanet.net

Being a Singaporean and an autistic at the same time, it’s a hard life for us. We have to live through a lifetime of disappointments, pain and discrimination. 

**** Beefing Up Workfare <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110124-0000074/Beefing-up-Workfare>
Siew Kum Hong, Today

While it might be argued that the CPF component can be tapped for current housing loan repayments and hospital bills, only 29 per cent of Workfare goes directly towards mitigating today's difficulties in making ends meet. Self-employed and informal workers - arguably the ones who most need help - do not even get this cash component.

A minimum wage, on the other hand, directly addresses low-wage workers' present-day difficulties. It puts cash directly into their hands, to survive today to see tomorrow at a level deemed acceptable by society.

This is why I think it is incorrect to frame the debate as a choice between Workfare and a minimum wage. They ultimately solve different problems. This also explains the cognitive dissonance experienced by those who remain unconvinced after last week's Parliamentary debate.

**** Make Workfare Work For The Next Generation <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110124-0000073/Make-Workfare-work-for-the-next-generation>
Richard Hartung, Today

Even though Workfare and other programmes are indeed beneficial, low-income families may benefit even more in the longer term if programmes go beyond unconditional cash payments. While these programmes do help with today's necessities, developing CCTs tied to children's education and health as well as parental learning could make an even bigger difference in the long run.

**** The Real Threat To Singapore's Future <http://zoneasia.blogspot.com/2011/01/real-threat-to-singapores-future.html>
Zone Asia

Social Darwinism is what Mr. Lee is espousing; the survival of the fittest will rise to the top of society. It is always difficult to believe that anyone of intelligence and education can have faith in such theories. Children of successful, rich people will be smarter than the children of gardeners is another way to phrase the quote above.

To categorize the intelligence of people by their career is beyond unfair. It is a prejudice that threatens Singapore’s future. How many Einsteins or future statesmen and millionaires will have their futures obliterated by thinking that denies the potential of the child? Science does not yet understand all the genetic factors that determine intelligence. In fact, “potential intelligence” is more apt. How then do social Darwinists like Mr. Lee justify their beliefs? Usually with blinders on their eyes, and nose raised high, looking down on the less fortunate.

**** CCAs And The Government's Edusave Top-Up <http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2011/01/ccas-and-governments-edusave-top-up.html>
Gilbert Koh, Mr Wang Says So

Parents have to fork out more money to pay for their children's increased CCA expenses.

**** All Eyes Now On Lunar New Year Celebrations <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4526-all-eyes-now-on-lunar-new-year-celebrations>
Singapore Democratic Party

Yes, the Hindus have obeyed the ruling not to play musical intruments during Thaipusam. But how will they feel when the see and hear the Chinese gongs and cymbals going full blast just days after theirs were banned? 

Is the PAP not setting up society for friction and conflict? This is the kind of arbitrary policy-making that divides the people.

**** Inflation In S'pore Continued Rise In December <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1106551/1/.html>
Travis Teo, Channel NewsAsia

Data released on Monday by the Department of Statistics (DOS) showed that the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 4.6 per cent on-year. Higher costs in transport, housing and food led to the price hike.

**** Budget Statement To Be Delivered On Feb 18 <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1106549/1/.html>
Channel NewsAsia

The Budget Statement will be delivered by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Parliament on February 18, Friday.

**** Come Out With TOC! <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/01/come-out-with-toc/>
The Online Citizen

We’ve decided to comply so we can carry on with what we do best – telling stories that really matter, covering issues you care about, building a stronger community.

The PMO has assured us that TOC’s new status “will not impede its freedom of expression”. We are happy to take this statement at face value and will have to rely on you, our readers, to hold the prime minister to his word.

**** TOC’s Reply To PMO <http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/01/tocs-reply-to-pmo/>
The Online Citizen

With regards to the request for TOC to name a President, Treasurer and Secretary, we reiterate that TOC is a community platform run by volunteers and not an organization run by committee. We do not have any such positions. We also note that the Political Donations Act does not appear to mandate such positions.

As such, we are unable to name a President, Treasurer or Secretary. Instead, the following four volunteers will be responsible for the preparation and accuracy of TOC’s donation reports.

**** Faster 4G Rollout In Singapore <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1106589/1/.html>
Rachel Kelly, Channel NewsAsia

The IDA will re-allocate the 2.3/2.5 GHz bands for 4G as early as next year.

IDA added, however, that the take-up of the allocation would commence once current contracts expire on 30 June, 2015.

**** Team In Charge Of The Online Citizen Revealed <http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2011/01/24/team-in-charge-of-the-online-citizen-revealed/>
Faris, Yahoo!