[MyAppleMenu] Mar 26, 2011

[applesurf at myapplemenu.com]

MyAppleMenu
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**** How To Change The Default Application For A File Type <http://www.macworld.com/article/154861/2011/03/changedefaultapp.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Michael Harvey, Macworld

All your PDF files open in Adobe Reader, but you want them to open in Preview. All your JPEG files open in Preview when you’d rather they open in Photoshop. How do you change what Mac OS X uses as the default application for particular file types? We’ll show you how, in four steps.

**** New York Times 3.0 For iPhone Gets More Content <http://www.macworld.com/article/158840/2011/03/new_york_times_iphone_app.html#lsrc.rss_main>
David Chartier, Macworld

The New York Times has released a major upgrade to its NYTimes iPhone app. The news organization has brought over the expanded content and breaking news alerts that its iPad app gained last December, but notably missing is any mention of the upcoming digital subscription features that will launch next week.

**** iOS 4.3.1 Is Now Available <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/03/25/ios-4-3-1-is-now-available/>
Dave Caolo, TUAW

**** Troubleshooting OS X 10.6.7, iOS 4.3, And More <http://www.macworld.com/article/158845/2011/03/bugs_fixes_trouble_roundup.html#lsrc.rss_main>
Ted Landau, Macworld

**** iPad 2 Video Mirroring To Mac, The Cheap And Dirty Way <http://www.tuaw.com/2011/03/25/ipad-2-video-mirroring-to-mac-the-cheap-and-dirty-way/>
Steven Sande, TUAW

That final piece of the puzzle showed up yesterday afternoon, and I'm now able to grab video from the iPad 2 for about $104.

**** Apple's Mobile Products Do Not Violate Nokia Patents, Says ITC <http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/03/itc-judge-apple-products-do-not-violate-nokia-patents.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss>
Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled in favor of Apple in one of the company's patent disputes with Nokia. ITC Judge E. James Gildea said on Friday that Apple did not violate any of Nokia's five mobile device patents, though the Commission's members must first review the decision before taking any further action.

**** Fixing Firefox 4’s Mac Multi-touch Woes <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/fixing-firefox-4-8217s-mac-multi-touch-woes/864?tag=content;selector-blogs>
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, ZDNet

It turns out that Firefox’s developers, for reasons beyond me, had simply disabled multi-touch functionality.

**** Concerns About Password And Data Safety In OS X <http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20047345-263.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=MacFixIt>
Topher Kessler, CNET



MyAppleMenu Reader
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**** 13, Rue Thérèse <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/4befe6e0-566a-11e0-84e9-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss>
Simon Schama, Financial Times

his is either your thing or it isn’t but Mauli Shapiro won’t be winning the Bad Sex Writing Prize any time soon, for she is much too witty.

**** The London Satyr By Robert Edric – Review <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/26/london-satyr-robert-edric-review?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
DJ Taylor, The Guardian

The curious thing about Robert Edric's historical novels is how un- or even anti-historical they are.

**** Paris, Home Of The Avant-garde <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/26/adam-thirlwell-avant-garde-france?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Adam Thirlwell, The Guardian

I suppose I should worry that the French and military codeword avant-garde still seduces me. This word, after all, can conceal so much snobisme. But then: there's no reason to dismiss something just because it's impure, and this idea of the avant-garde, in its essence, is a noble ideal. The avant-garde is wildness: a wildness of content, and a wildness of form.

And this is one reason why I harbour another complicated attraction. My idea of the avant-garde is so often Parisian.

**** King Of The Badgers By Philip Hensher – Review <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/26/king-badgers-philip-hensher-review?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fbooks%2Frss+%28Books%29>
Helen Dunmore, The Guardian

Privacy is the one thing no novelist allows his or her characters. In exposing fantastic, hidden lives, fiction is more searching than any airport Strip-Jack-Naked or swivelling CCTV camera. Not only the body and mind, but the heart and the soul of each character is opened to the imagination of the reader, who is privileged to go where no census-form compiler or police investigator would dare to venture. Philip Hensher's wonderfully complex, paradoxical subject in King of the Badgers is the nature of privacy, and of its violation. Brazenly, he takes us through doors which would never be opened to us, while anatomising what is lost when his characters can no longer close these doors to one another.

**** Oprah Magazine’s Adventures In Poetry <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/books/review/oprah-magazines-adventures-in-poetry.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss>
David Orr, New York Times

The signs of the coming apocalypse are many, but none are starker than this Web headline in the April issue of O: The Oprah Magazine: “Spring Fashion Modeled by Rising Young Poets.” Yes. Spring fashion. Modeled. By rising young poets. There follows a photomontage of attractive younger women — some of whom are rising poets mostly in the “I get up in the morning” sense, but all of whom certainly look poetic — in outfits costing from $472 to $5,003. 



SingaporeSurf
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**** East Coast: The GRC To Watch? <http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110326-0000060/East-Coast--The-GRC-to-watch?>
Leong Wee Keat, Today

Political analysts and observers pointed to historical opposition sentiment in the ward and the swift move by the PAP to put in place two political veterans after two heavyweights announced their retirement as their reasons why the GRC could be the one to watch.

**** Why President's Pay Seems Jarring Now And Not Before <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_649389.html>
Cheng Shoong Tat, Straits Times

A non-executive chairman, though accorded the highest respect with top perks and protocol in the corporation, is not paid more than his chief executive officer.

It is time to divorce the respect for and prestige of the presidency from its salary. The status of the presidency as the highest office of the land is enshrined in the Constitution and does not depend on it being paid more than the prime minister and ministers.

**** CPF Rate Peg Ensures Sustainable Return <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_649391.html>
Farah Abdul Rahim, Ministry Of Manpower, Straits Times

Such a market-based peg ensures that members receive a fair and sustainable return on their Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies. This was one of the measures introduced as part of the 2007 CPF reforms to enhance retirement adequacy.

I don't understand then, and I still don't understand now. How can less money (from a lowered interest rate) be more adequate for retirement?

**** Singles Caring For Parents Do Get Tax Relief <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_649390.html>
Deanna Choo, Inland Revenue Authority Of Singapore, Straits Times

The government grants a separate tax relief, the Parent Relief, to recognise taxpayers, whether single or married, who take care of their parents. This tax relief is available for all care arrangements for parents, including if the taxpayer engages a helper to care for them.

In addition to the Parent Relief, a taxpayer - whether single or married - who employs a maid to care for his Singaporean parent who is aged 65 years or above, or who is suffering from disabilities, can enjoy a concessionary maid levy of $170 per month, instead of the normal $265 levy.

**** Singapore Has Priced Honesty Correctly <http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_649403.html>
Kanagasabai Haridas, Straits Times

The candidates who enter politics, as is often seen in countries like the United States, may have already made their fortune. Such holders of high office can afford to serve their country out of conviction alone.

Singapore ministers or prime ministers do not have a lucrative lecture circuit that they can embark on at the end of their political careers like some of their counterparts elsewhere.

PAP's argument is that the candidates already enjoy high salaries outside of the government, so these candidates need to be paid high salaries when they form government. They are already making and accumulating large fortune. They can definitely afford to serve out of conviction alone.

No lecture circuits? How about GLC circuit?

**** Orchard Road’s A Mess Again <http://yawningbread.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/orchard-roads-a-mess-again/>
Yawning Bread

I still do not understand how raising the road will help the buildings avoid being flooded. If the road is raised, won’t that mean even more water flowing onto the sidewalk (now lower than the road) and pouring into basements?

**** The Return Of The Generals <http://singaporedesk.blogspot.com/2011/03/return-of-generals.html>
Singapore Notes

**** An Imaginary Climate Of Fear? <http://sonofadud.com/2011/03/25/an-imaginary-climate-of-fear/>
Reinventing the Rice Bowl

However I was referring to a different kind of fear, one with which all Singaporeans are familiar. This is the fear that standing up as a candidate or even joining the Reform Party will lead to the loss of one’s home or livelihood. I brought up the crippling defamation suits which forced my father into bankruptcy and prevented him from standing from 2001 to 2007. Dr. Chee obviously has a similar story to tell. While Mr. Palmer may say that these were necessary to protect the reputations of the individuals involved, they have undoubtedly had a chilling effect on getting good people to come forward as candidates for opposition parties.

**** Targeted Help - PAP's Euphemism For Barriers To Those Getting Help... <http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2011/03/targetted-help-paps-euphemism-for.html>
Diary of A Singaporean Mind

One caller to 93.8 called to say he was "near homeless" and now begging relatives one by one because he was unable to get a rental flat - he had very low income of $1000+ and cannot afford to buy a flat. So why was he denied help? HDB had this rule that a person cannot apply for rental flats within 30 months of the sale of his flat. This caller sold his flat because he was in financial difficulties and he still had financial difficulties after he sold his flat but couldn't get a rental flat simply because he couldn't afford to hang on to his flat.

We often hear, Minister Khaw say we are fully covered for medical care because of the 3Ms (Medisave, Medishield, Medifund). If that is so, why do some Singaporeans have to seek treatment in Malaysia? Why do people have to sell their homes to pay for medical treatment if they have access to Medifund? How come Olympic hero, Tan Howe Liang, who is 77 years old could not get Medifund fo his wife's treatment and end up with medical debts of $100,000?

**** Under-40s Make Up Half Of PAP New Faces <http://trulysingapore.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/under-40s-make-up-half-of-pap-new-faces/>
Yours Truly Singapore

Whether or not Mr Choo gets elected, he must not forget his mantra but should instead push his fellow PAP comrades to make sure that no one, not even those from opposition wards are left behind. In fact, any PAP candidate who puts the PAP above Singaporeans is not fit to lead Singapore.

Dr Janil Puthucheary said he is staying, fighting and fully invested. Talk is cheap. It would be better if he can serve two years of national service before saying that. He said a viable two-party system depends on what else is put up for Singaporeans. That’s not true. It also depends on the tear down of unfair entrenchment practices by the PAP.

**** Battle Of The Elite Looming <http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2011/3/26/columnists/insightdownsouth/8345118&sec=insightdownsouth>
Seah Chiang Nee, The Star

For the first time in years, Singapore’s opposition is seeing a little light in a dark tunnel, at least in recruiting the highly-educated.

An impressive number of top scholars and professionals, including a dozen with Masters and Doctorates (PhD), will likely emerge to challenge the People’s Action Party in the elections expected in May.

**** Simon Fujiwara: Censored At The Singapore Biennale 2011 <http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2011/03/25/10744.simon-fujiwara-censored-at-the-singapore-biennale-2011>
Ng Yi-Sheng, Fridae

But just when we thought Singapore art institutions had become truly gay-friendly, Fujiwara mailed me with this news: his work’s been censored. All the erotica’s been removed, rendering it, in his words, “meaningless, almost a tribute to Franco in the end”.

The curators and managers didn’t even consult him or seek his permission to alter the piece – they simply altered it without his consent. What’s even more disgusting is the fact that they waited two weeks, until all the Biennale’s international guests had left the country, before they leapt into action. This way, they could appear liberal to foreign journalists while ultimately preserving a conservative front for Singaporean audiences.

Mind you, like these organisers, I want Singapore to be a global centre for culture and the arts. Vandalising an award-winning artist’s work through censorship is not the way to make this happen. It sets a horrible precedent – what other international artist is going to be fool enough to show his work here after this?

**** MM Lee’s Views A “Generational Thing”: Michael Palmer <http://ge2011.theonlinecitizen.com/2011/03/mm-lees-views-a-generational-thing-michael-palmer/>
The Online Citizen

**** Parachute Politics In Singapore <http://newnation.sg/2011/03/parachute-politics-in-singapore/>
Terence Lee, New Nation

Ultimately, whether these two candidates will be a boon to the PAP depends on where their parachutes land. I suspect these characters will appeal to wealthier, cosmopolitan types – Singaporeans who spend plenty of time abroad to work or study. Much will also depend on how the opposition candidates attack their credentials, and how they deflect them. Soon we will know whether both candidates truly understand the concerns of Singaporeans.

**** Hapless CNA And Luxury Chairs – A Sorry State Of Affairs. <http://dlzj.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/hapless-cna-and-luxury-chairs-a-sorry-state-of-affairs/>
Ἴκαρος Flew Too High

Treating one’s self to a luxury is something we cannot tolerate – this is a dangerous precedent for other ministries or government departments (if they are not already doing so) to treat taxpayers with contempt by lavishing out on such luxuries and abandoning fiscal prudence in the process.

We need more competent, responsible and responsive government, and it’s quite obvious the PAP and its associates are sorely lacking in all of these areas today. Such is the sorry state of affairs we have today.

**** Chan Chun Sing - Former Chief Of Army (2 Star General) <http://singapore-lighthouse.blogspot.com/2011/03/chan-chun-sing-former-chief-of-army-2.html>
Singapore Social And Political Thoughts

Does any one question a short tour of exactly 1 year for a Chief of Army (26 Mar 2010 to 25 Mar 2011) will be detrimental to the leadership of the Singapore Army? As mentioned previously, was BG Ranvinder bypassed by a President Scholar? What is the morale of the upper leadership of Singapore Army? Is the Army with its scared mission to protect Singapore becoming or had became a playground of President Scholars?

**** Help Us Fight Economic Injustice, Join Us At Yuhua Tomorrow <http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4687-help-us-fight-economic-injustice-join-us-at-yuhua-tomorrow>
Singapore Democratic Party

PAP MP Michael Palmer told the audience during the Singapore Forum on Politics at the NUS that the PAP preferred targeted assistance rather than across the board subsidies. Obviously, the PAP is sorely in need of target practice.

If Mdm Tan, who lives close to the Jurong Town Council office, is living in abject poverty how many more of our poor are going through life without assistance?