In a Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs issued early this morning, Mr. Jobs finally speaks about his sudden weight loss saying,

The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

And, in a Statement by Apple’s Board of Directors we read,

It is widely recognized both inside and outside of Apple that Steve Jobs is one of the most talented and effective CEOs in the world.

As we have said before, if there ever comes a day when Steve wants to retire or for other reasons cannot continue to fulfill his duties as Apple’s CEO, you will know it.

Apple is very lucky to have Steve as its leader and CEO, and he deserves our complete and unwavering support during his recuperation. He most certainly has that from Apple and its Board.

So, yes, Steve Jobs has an illness, but he's not dying, at least no more than most of us...and even if he was (or will be) Apple's BoD would be in on it.

Stop worrying, and most of all, stop rumoring. It's getting us nowhere.

Have you made your New Years resolutions for 2009 yet? Is it too late for me to suggest that you add "back up" to the list?

In this edition of MacMerc.TV, I take a look at Shirt Pocket Software's backup utility, SuperDuper!, and show you why you'd want to use it instead of or, better yet, in addition to Mac OS X 10.5's Time Machine.

VERY IMPORTANT: We are always trying to improve MacMerc.TV and that requires us to seek sponsorship in order to pay for some of these improvements. Sponsors like to know who watches the show, so we have set up a simple survey for you to fill out so that we can better represent you. Please help us by filling out this survey. At the end of January 2009, we will be giving away a prize to someone who fills out the survey, so don't be shy about giving us your email address!

Be sure to subscribe to MacMerc.TV in iTunes to get the latest edition as soon as it becomes available. We offer an iPod version and an HD one for AppleTV.

If you have ideas (software you'd like featured or tech concepts you'd like explained) for future episodes of MacMerc.TV, send me an email.

UPDATE (01/03/09 - 20:50 PT): My apologies to anyone who tried to complete the survey but was denied, it is now back up and awaiting your info. Thanks again for your support.

Juice Wireless has announced the release of a new gag iPhone app: Mirror. The USD$0.99 app claims to "transform your iPhone screen into your very own hand-held mirror." Doesn't turning the iPhone off do that already?

Okay, I get it, it's a joke. Juice Wireless says, "The apps use a highly complex proprietary algorithm that instantly turns the screen black (for maximum reflection) while offering a choice of mirror frames so you don't look stupid staring into your iPhone." I don't know too many people concerned about how they look staring at their iPhones; they're much too distracted by the tech of it all.

If you really do want to use your iPhone or iPod touch as a mirror, I recommend RadTech's ClearCal screen protectors. They come in anti-glare, full-glare and mirror versions. The mirror version is my favorite--especially on the shiny silver backed iPod touch. With the mirror ClearCal in place, your iPod touch becomes like a bar of polished silver until you turn it on and the screen appears magically through your reflection.

You don't read to much about the adhesive used on screen protectors, but whatever alien technology RadTech is using is pretty cool. It doesn't trap bubbles or fingerprints very easily and it's actually washable. Weird! RadTech's ClearCals sell in a range from USD$9.95 to $12.95.

Filter Forge today finally released the public beta of the Mac OS X version of Filter Forge, a plugin for Adobe Photoshop allowing computer artists to build their own filters such as seamless textures, visual effects, distortions, patterns, backgrounds, frames and more.

The beta program doesn't require any registration, just a Mac. The minimum system requirement is Mac OS X 10.4, on both Intel and PowerPC processors. As an incentive to help Filter Forge weed out any bugs in the software, users who find and report bugs will be rewarded with free copies of the software when it becomes commercially available.

The final commercial version is planned for release in the first quarter of 2009. You can pre-order at a 45% discount and save up to USD$135 off the hefty USD$299 Professional Edition price tag. Don't flinch too hard at that price, Filter Forge sells in 6 different versions with the entry level starting at USD$9.

After 252 episodes and almost seven years, were putting the wraps on the Freeloader series. The good news is we're going out with a bang.

Join me one more time for a look at the top Freeware of 2008 with all your favorite categories, including Best App Killed by Apple, Best Mac Only and a new category: Rookie of the Year.

Rogue Amoeba has announced its newest app, Radioshift Touch, available exclusively on the iPhone and iPod devices. Radioshift Touch allows you to tune in to thousands of internet radio stations from pretty much anywhere as long as there is available wifi, EDGE, or 3G signals (iPhone only on those last 2 obviously). Rogue Amoeba has made it simple to find the internet stream for local AM/FM stations, check out what's popular, browse by genre, or even just search for a favorite station.

Radioshift Touch sells for USD$9.99.

Radioshift Touch is great if you're interested in a wide range of internet radio programming from all around the globe, but if you only have ears for Leo Laporte, you'll want to check out TWiT.am. It's a FREE iPhone/iPod touch app that puts the live audio stream from Leo Laporte's TWiT.tv netcasts in the palm of you hand. You can browse the content schedule or even make a quick call (iPhone only...but you knew that) to Leo on his weekend Tech Guy radio broadcast to ask him a tech question--TWiT.am puts Leo Laporte on your Speed Dial!

Apple today broke the news that has the Mac web buzzing: this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Yeah, Macworld, the annual conference and expo for Mac, iPod and iPhone stuff will have to get along without an Apple exhibit starting 2010.

Oh, and...one less thing...

This year, Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote...Apple's last keynote at the show...ever. So, no Steve.

I kind of feel bad for Phil the way everyone is so down about this announcement. You've got to know he's writing and rehearsing his speech knowing that, no matter how good it is, people will be comparing it unfairly to a Stevenote. The phrase "Apple Cancels Christmas" is already becoming the tiresome battlecry of the Mac web's overreaction to this news.

The Philnote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco's Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.

Have you updated to Adobe Creative Suite 4 yet? Yeah, me neither. Who has that kind of scratch laying around in this economy?

In the meantime, Adobe has posted a few CS4 demos to get you hooked on these apps while you save up to purchase them.

• Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro
• Adobe Illustrator CS4
• Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
• Adobe After Effects CS4
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS4
• Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
• Adobe InDesign CS4
• Adobe Fireworks CS4
• Adobe InCopy CS4

And if you'd rather your postal carrier deliver your CS4 demos rather than downloading them yourself, Adobe offers trial DVDs of both the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium (USD$10.99) and the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection (USD$15.99).

I had the honor of being interviewed twice last week about the launch of MacMerc.TV. The first interview was with Victor Cajiao of the Typical Mac User Podcast. He allowed me to plug the show and also share a few of my favorite Mail.app add-ons. Typical Mac User is a great audio podcast for any Mac user looking to learn new tricks and tips and expand your "Mac horizon." Victor also does a lot of great interviews with cool people in the Mac community. Such a great show and a great host.

The second interview was with a good friend from back in the Wizards of Technology days, Ken Ray. Ken has his regular 5 day a week free podcast, Mac OS Ken, where he covers all the Mac news that matters in a way that makes it accessible and fun. My interview appears as part of Ken's Day 6 which is the pay side of his podcast. A subscription costs $10 per month and it helps support all of Ken's podcasting efforts. Day 6 gets you a recap of the week's news, as well as conversations around Apple's past, present, and future. It also gets you interviews with people like me or, better yet, super-awesome-cool people like Greg Grunberg from NBC's Heroes. (As much as I want you to check out Ken's interview with me, his interview with Greg Grunberg about Band from TV is one you simply must hear...seriously...pay the $10).

Thanks to both Victor and Ken for welcoming me on their shows. I had an awesome time and I'm really proud of the way the interviews turned out.

MacUpdate recently posted their latest bundle of Mac software. Included among the $450 worth of software in the MacUpdate Holiday Bundle are must-haves like Drive Genius 2, DefaultFolder X 4, LittleSnitch 2 and WhatSize 4. If it included only those four items, it would still be a savings of $126.90...but it also includes 6 other apps. Here's the full list:

• Drive Genius 2 ($99): Currently the highest-rated disk utility on the market and used by Mac Geniuses at Apple Stores, Drive Genius diagnoses and repairs problems with your hard drive, optimizes your system, and much more. Buyers will receive a link to download a bootable DVD image of the software to burn, which can be used to boot and fix any Mac that can run Mac OS X 10.5, including Apple's newest laptops.
• DefaultFolder X 4 ($34.95): Fly through Open & Save dialog boxes at lightning speed.
• VirusBarrier X 10.5 ($69.95): Fast, simple, and non-intrusive anti-virus software for your Mac and iPhone
• RapidWeaver 4 ($79): Create powerful, professional-looking Web sites quickly and easily.
• MacGourmet Deluxe ($44.95): Like iTunes for food, track recipes, plan meals, manage wines, and more.
• LittleSnitch 2 ($29.95): Monitors your network connection to make sure your Mac only sends out what you want it to.
• KeyCue 4 ($27): Displays full keyboard shortcuts for all your applications; learn them and work faster.
• MacPilot 3 ($19.95): Access hundreds of hidden features to customize and improve your Mac OS X experience.
• WhatSize 4 ($12.99): Effortlessly identify files that are hogging disk space and that you don't need anymore.e
• iVolume 3 ($29.95): Ensures all your iTunes tracks play back at the same level, so you never have to adjust the volume individually.

My only reluctance in buying these bundles lately has been that I already have licenses for so many of the applications already. I'm sure you have the same problem if you've bought a few MacUpdate bundles or MacHeist bundles in the past.