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Two letters from Apple– Steve Jobs not dying, but still mortal…all is well

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.

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So that’s it, huh? That’s the Microsoft Seinfeld ad that is gonna put ”Get a Mac” to shame?

If this is what all those rumors were about, not only does Apple have nothing to worry about, but I no longer think Jerry Seinfeld is a traitor to the Mac cause: he totally scammed Microsoft out of their money and gave them nothing in return.

Jerry Seinfeld, you’re my hero.

Note:The second ad is a bit better…not much, but a bit.
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Skitch Beta 4 released. Invites available.

Skitch 20070911 191141 Skitch Beta 4 released. Invites available.Plasq announced today that the first major update to Skitch since June has been released to its private, invite-only, beta audience. The new version, Beta 4, includes a long list of updates and bug fixes (all noted below the fold), most notably the addition of TIFF export support.

Skitch is an awesome screen capture, image annotation and sharing tool that has too be seen to be fully understood. Not to oversell this product, but it is something that I have been evangelizing for months now and each person I show it to seems to have a different interpretation of how this simple little utility is going to make their life simpler and more fun.

As I said, the program is currently only available as part of a private, invite-only, beta release. Well, we have a considerable number of invitations to that beta program and we’d like to offer them to MacMerc.com readers who are willing to join our forums and ask for an invite. So come on in and get an invite while we still have some to give out.

New to Skitch in Beta 4

  • Skitch now has TIFF file support
  • JPEG file format now has quality compression settings (accessed via file format drop down menu, next to ‘drag me’)
  • The Eraser tool is now round
  • When providing Feedback, ‘flipping’ no longer loses what was previously typed
  • Skitch now launches, and opens an image correctly, when an image is dragged to its non-running icon in the Dock
  • Images imported from ‘Open…’ are now showing as 1:1 pixel (same as dropped images)
  • Cam Snap now flips images automatically, to compensate for mirroring
  • Snap crosshair icon has been enhanced for visibility on dark backgrounds
  • Additional file-naming rule for server compatibility: ‘/’ characters in filenames are automatically replaced with ‘_’
  • Arrow heads now have a Preference; Arrow head at End or Start when drawing
  • Several tweaks to the Help document
  • Several improvements to the Preferences window
  • Text is now retained correctly after choosing ‘Mail this Image…’ while in Edit mode
  • ‘Mail this Image…’ now makes the image go above the signature
  • External iSight with shutter closed no longer freezes Skitch in Snap mode
  • Fixed issue where exporting/dragging-out images occasionally produced images larger than stated dimensions
  • Resizing problem fixed: a border is no longer added to particular shaped images instead of modifying the dimensions
  • Improved image handling when cropping larger images
  • Improved handling of initial login registration when using a proxy server
  • The launch screen has been improved (applicable to new accounts or fresh .plist)
  • Using ‘Snap’ while viewing the Delete options sheet found in History no longer disables deleting of that item
  • Utilizing ‘webpost’ and changing the frame color no longer causes a crash
  • Certain filenames no longer cause ‘webpost’ to fail with an error
  • Email addresses containing a ‘+’ no longer cause username verification issues
  • Help overlays no longer appear on first launch
  • The ‘Desktop Picture’ is now the default option for Window Snap backgrounds for new installs
  • Stability improvements when accessing Skitch from menu icon
  • Skitch no longer creates invisible files with files starting with a period
  • Feedback tab now has an activity indicator

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