To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Apple shares are at $369.94, down 1.7 percent from yesterday’s closing price of $376.18.

While I was living in the USA I was lucky enough to see Steve Jobs present a keynote at MacWorld 2008.

At 3 AM on Tuesday January 15 2008, I joined fifty other mac geeks at the Pre-keynote meet-up outside the Apple Store on Stockton Street, and we walked together to join the line at the Moscone Center, where there were already around fifty people waiting. Despite the early hour and the bitter cold, the atmosphere was electric with anticipation. We spent the next six hours in conversation over breakfast donuts and coffee, reminiscing over past Apple flops and successes, and speculating on what Steve would unveil during the big event.

Photo by Adam Jackson.

Finally, they unlocked the door, and we streamed into the hall to see Steve Jobs striding on stage in front of an audience filled with MacBooks and iPhones. He talked about the four billion iTunes song downloads, the new apple TV, and unveiled the MacBook Air. To conclude the event, Randy Newman – the composer for Pixar – sang a few songs, including Toy Story’s “You’ve got a friend in me”, saying “I always root against corporations, ’cause that’s how I am, but not this one”.

Photo by Tech Show Network.

This was just the beginning. I spent the next two days visiting all the booths, from Adobe to Microsoft to BusySync to Gelaskins, attending presentations on hardware and software, and even purchasing my first iPhone – one of the vendors saw my new box and gave me a complementary case to celebrate. It was exhilarating to be surrounded by so many members of the Mac community in such a dynamic venue.

Photo by smenzel

By the end of the second day I was completely exhausted, trying to fit a lifetime’s worth of Macworld experiences into 48 hours. There were 191 educational sessions, 479 exhibitors, and 47,908 attendees. Luckily, one of the exhibitors was MetroNaps – a company that provides an essential service and which permitted me to trial one of their pods for much need rejuvenation.

Photo by laughingsquid.

We are pleased to inform you that the PNAS Editorial Board has given final approval of your article for publication.

This is wonderful news. The two years of work that I spent in Seattle have resulted in a solid paper in an excellent journal – the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The review process was quite painless, and now I have my first paper coming out in 2009 on which I am the single first author. I am so grateful to my PI, my lab mates, and colleagues who gave me so much assistance in bringing this all together. And Adrian, of course, who is always by my side.

At 3 AM on Tuesday January 15 2008, I joined fifty other mac geeks at the Pre-keynote meet-up outside the Apple Store on Stockton Steet (I’m the one in the long brown coat and cream pants in the middle), and we walked together to join the line at the Moscone Center, where there were already around fifty people waiting. Despite the early hour and the bitter cold, the atmosphere was electric with anticipation. We spent the next six hours in conversation over breakfast donuts and coffee, reminiscing over past Apple flops and successes, and speculating on what Steve would unveil during the big event.

Photo by Adam Jackson.

Finally, they unlocked the door, and we streamed into the hall to see Steve Jobs striding on stage in front of an audience filled with MacBooks and iPhones. He talked about the four billion iTunes song downloads, the new apple TV, and unveiled the MacBook Air. To conclude the event, Randy Newman – the composer for Pixar – sang a few songs, including Toy Story’s “You’ve got a friend in me”, saying “I always root against corporations, ’cause that’s how I am, but not this one”.

Photo by Tech Show Network.

This was just the beginning. I spent the next two days visiting all the booths, from Adobe to Microsoft to BusySync to Gelaskins, attending presentations on hardware and software, and even purchasing my very own iPhone – receiving a complementary case from one of the vendors. It was exhilarating to be surrounded by so many members of the Mac community in such a dynamic venue.

Photo by smenzel

By the end of the second day I was completely exhausted, trying to fit a lifetime’s worth of Macworld experiences into 48 hours. There were 191 educational sessions, 479 exhibitors, and 47,908 attendees. Luckily, one of the exhibitors was MetroNaps – a company that provides an essential service and which permitted me to trial one of their pods for much need rejuvenation.

Photo by laughingsquid.

I think that’s enough to keep me busy for twelve months or so. It is a bit overwhelming to be faced with so many changes, but I realise how lucky that we are to have this opportunity, so the main emotion I feel is excitement. We had a great time in North America over the past two years, and while I think we are better suited to Europe, I am very thankful for all the happy memories that we have of the United States of America.

The bad part came a couple of hours later after the Novocain wore off. I was in a lot of pain and very irritable. Even two days later I am still counting down the 4-6 hours between Vicodin tablets. Sometimes I make it to six hours, usually only to four hours, but the pain and the swelling are quite severe. All I can eat is pudding and Jell-O. I am glad that I had two and a half days to sleep and rest, but I cannot wait until I am all healed. I am also thankful that it is generally a once-in-a-lifetime procedure.

Still, San Francisco and Hawaii soon, and then off to sunny Australia.

Wednesday, November 5 was my last day as a senior post-doctoral fellow at the University of Washington. We went out to Lydia’s Last Lunch at Serafina with current and past lab members. I had some delcious trout, and they gave me a lovely card:

“thank-you for all your help and for answering all my questions… thank you for teaching me awesome Australian words: arvo! I will miss you! You’ve always had a smile and a kind word to share. You know how to distract me when I’m nervous (i.e. you let me rattle on about my cats)… we’ll miss you.. We are sad to see you go!… I have enjoyed and learned a lot from our many conversations… Thanks for all your support to me, especially when things have not been going the best. Your positive attitude and kindness have been very helpful so many times.”

I may never again walk through the university library, watch the squirrels hide and recover acorns, see the mountain behind the fountain, celebrate a birthday with cake, or a paper with sparkling apple juice. We have made so many wonderful friends here in Seattle. Now I am leaving my career at the bench behind, and looking forward to a rewarding future in clinical trials.

We watched McCain give his concession speech, and then Obama stepped up to address hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Chicago. And he said:

For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

…

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

…

I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

…

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

…

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

We walked from Capital Hill towards downtown. The streets were full of people cheering and laughing, and the cars were honking exuberantly. Obama signs and badges and t-shirts were everywhere, and the mood was so positive and optimistic. A large spontaneous crown had gathered outside Pike Place Markets. Adrian hoisted me onto his shoulders. We raised our hands into the air, and shouted:

Yes we can!

Photos from barackobama.com and elijuicyjones.

It is such a big day here in the USA. After eight years of the Republicans tearing this country apart, invading countries, running up a record debt, and abandoning the health and education of the people, there is a time for change. Adrian prefers graphs and long detailed evidence-based policy documents, but there is something about watching Obama speak that is very inspiring. I get goosebumps when Obama talks about the great hopes that he has for America. We both agree, however, that Obama is the best choice – the only rational choice – for America and the rest of the world.

I hope that US citizens choose to vote. I hope that there are enough voting booths and voting machines for everyone. I hope that the ballots and machines record these votes accurately. I hope that people do not vote out of fear. I hope that people vote for universal health care. I hope that people vote for cheap, accessible, and quality health care. I hope people vote to end the war in Iraq. I hope people vote to rebuild Afghanistan. I hope the Democrats get over 60 seats in the Senate. I hope people vote for Barack Obama.

We ate doughnuts from the Daily Dozen, drank tea at MarketSpice, drank soup at Pike Place Chowder, went behind the counter to sample Chukar Cherries, ate herbed curds at Beecher’s, sampled Piroshky-Piroshky pastries, and finished with Etta’s triple coconut cream pie.

In addition to sampling some delicious Honeycrisp apples at Frank’s Quality Produce, we also learnt that if one wants eggplants with fewer seeds, one should choose the male eggplants with the small round navel, rather than the female eggplants with the long wide navels.

But most exciting of all, as we were savouring the smoked salmon at Pike Place Fish Markets, the fishmongers threw me one of their giant fishes, and I caught it! I smelt like a fishwife for the rest of the day, but it was well worth it for such a quintessential Seattle experience.

1. Technological innovation. I live in the home of Microsoft and Boeing. This is the country that brought me the internet, Roomba, and my iPhone. I was able to go to the Apple keynote and see Steve Jobs in person bring out the MacBook Air.

2. Online shopping. These days, if I go shopping in a mall, it’s for fun. For all the non-fun purchases, I have safeway.com, spud.com, drugstore.com, etsy.com, ebay.com, and of course my beloved neighbour amazon.com with free super saver shipping.

3. Ice-cream. Ben and Jerry’s is available everywhere, so whenever I need a hit of chocolate chip cookie dough ice-cream, a pint is always waiting for me in the freezer section.

4. Natural beauty. On many days of the year, the first thing I see as I step outside is Mt Rainier, towering over the Seattle skyline. The USA has stunning landscapes ranging from sandstone formations to lush forests to immense glaciers.

5. Movies and Television. I must say, I get excited every time I get to watch Gossip Girl and Grey’s Anatomy and Dexter. I loved Bring It On, Clueless, Veronica Mars and of course Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Daily Show over breakfast is a great way to start the day. And there is Disneyland on the west coast, and Disney World on the east coast.

6. The Constitution. The US constitution contains such progressive ideals as the separation of church and state, all individuals (well, men) being equal, the right to a fair trial, freedom of speech, requirement of probable cause before arrest, no cruel or unusual punishment. Of course, the right to bear arms was not such a great idea, and it did take the 19th amendment in 1920 to give women the right to vote.

7. Squirrels and Chipmunks. These creatures are so cute! I get to see a squirrel nearly every day, and they never cease to fascinate me. I love the way that they hold food with two hands, and glide fluidly across the path. Chipmunks come out begging when we hike, and perch up on rocks with their stripes and bright eyes.

8. Philanthropy. When many Americans become billionaires, they pour a lot of that wealth back into the community. From Bill Gates to Warren Buffet to Rockefeller, many of those who have succeeded in America’s capitalist environment have made significant charitable contributions to the world.

9. Halloween. What a fun holiday. Dressing up and eating chocolate. I wish we had this in Australia while I was growing up.

10. NASA. From Teflon to the Moon to Spirit and Opportunity to the Phoenix Lander, NASA has brought us into the space age. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has made space-exploring robots a reality.

We experienced an extreme of this culture on Saturday night, when we attended our first and only American sporting event – the university football game. The 70 000 seat Husky stadium dominates the campus, and it was at around 80% capacity when we arrived. The Huskies are ranked 118 out of the 119 college football teams, and they have yet to win a game all season. Yet, around 55 000 people came out to see them, paying anything from $16 to $127 to join in the event. Even more strangely, as we walked through the parking lot, we saw people sitting under purple and gold marquees, watching the game on television right outside the stadium.

Due to new stricter criteria, football players for the University of Washington now must meet the same admission and grading requirements as the rest of the student body. They must keep a relatively high grade-point average throughout the semester, and are removed from the team if they fail too many courses. Thus, the ranking of the team has plummeted because the players are now spending more time on their subsidised education at one of the best public universities in the USA. Naturally, fans are outraged at these new requirements. Yet somehow, the whole audience was convinced that the Huskies were the best team in the world, and cussed at the referees for every penalty that was given to the home team. We left at half-time in disgust, and caught a bus home with a freshman dressed head-to-toe in Husky purple, who declared that she wished that she had never come to UW, and that she had gone to a place with a better football team so that she could be proud of her university.

At half-time, 3000 students from high school marching bands around Washington gathered to play the Husky theme song “Bow down to Washington”. It was quite a spectacle. 

The time has come to leave “the greatest nation in the world” and to find a home that is more in line with our values and our ideals. Next month, we will be spending three months in Australia, before starting our new home in Leuven, Belgium.

Now, the sand was grey rather than golden, and the water was glacial, but there was a super-cute puppy called Sara that entertained me throughout the evening. She is a delightful miniature beagle, and I took her for lots of walks up and down the board-walk. I was very surprised that this meant that all sorts of people stopped to talk to me, and made me consider that a Belgian puppy might be a great people-meeting tool.

Adrian spent the afternoon chasing the two-year-old around, following him down slides, across beaches, flying him across the water, and burying him in sand. He is so great with children – full of enthusiasm and ready to be silly and energetic and fun. I am much more reserved and self-conscious – afraid that I will break the kid, or at least do something of which that the parents won’t approve.

As the sun set beneath the mountains, we gathered around the fire-pit to warm ourselves and enjoy another beautiful Seattle day. It was a great party, filled with so many of the wonderful friends that we have found here over the past two years. I am glad that we had one more evening all together, where we could relax, watch the ferries go past, the flames flicker on the logs, and hear the laughter of good people on the beach.

All photos by Liannabanana.

We then had a Farmer Joe, Doctor Fly, Super Pumpkin Man, Elvis, and the Pumpkin Fairy. The Pumpkin Fairy took a lot of work carving her pumpkin, spraying me with pumpkin goo as I was sitting in the front row. My hair was covered in seeds, and for the rest of the afternoon I had people asking me if I knew I had something in my hair. 

The winner, judged by the applausometer , was the Pumpkin Fairy, who carved a face inspired by the book Where The Wild Things Are. It was a very enjoyable experience, and is yet another unique Seattle memory.

While Europe is uniting together, dismantling borders and encouraging free movement of its citizens, the USA is becoming even more isolationist. Starting in 2009, everyone travelling to the USA, even those from visa-waiver countries (Such as Australia, UK, France, Sweden, etc) will be required to gain ‘travel authorization’ before they depart for their trip. Initially there will be no charge, however the government bill states “The Secretary of Homeland Security may charge a fee for the use of the System, which shall be (i) set at a level that will ensure recovery of the full costs of providing and administering the System; and (ii) available to pay the costs incurred to administer the System“.

Today, when I went to their website to gather more information, I was greeted with the notice above. ‘OK’ is the only option, if one doesn’t want to Force Quit the application. I am so glad that we are leaving this country, with its fear and hostility towards those from the rest of the world.

Because it was a Wednesday, there were few other hikers and we had the place to ourselves. The three and a half miles up to the lake were tough, with a constant incline that seemed never to waver. Still, we often stopped to admire a creek or watch pikas (rock rabbits) sun themselves on the stones.

There is nothing like this near Canberra. The forest is so tall, dense and lush, and we could still see snow in some corners by the lake, even in the middle of summer. It was so quiet, with only bird calls to break the silence.

I was motivated to finish the climb by the knowledge that I could demolish the tofu tempeh that was waiting in my backpack. We ate our lunch on a log on the edge of Lake Annette, sharing the space with flies that did make the experience feel a bit more Australian.

I am glad that I work in an environment we understand how important it is to spend some days simply surrounded by the beauty of nature, and away from all those silly bothers of the modern world (but close enough so we could all indulge in ice-cream sundays afterwards).

Today we gathered at Solstice Square (near the Adobe headquarters) celebrated a new sculpture – titled “Late for the Interurban”, to complement the existing sculpture “Waiting for the Interurban”. Even the governor of Washington attended the unveiling, however that was not for whom the crowd had gathered. Look very closely at this photo for a clue:

They were waiting for Julius Pierpont Patches and Gertrude, who is to Seattlites what Mr Squiggle is to Australians. The Emmy award winning show entertained both children and adults on Seattle television for thirteen years, from 1958 to 1981. After the show finished, the actors Chris Wedes and Bob Newman dedicated their time to visiting hospitals and raising funds for medical research. And, now both in their eighties, they donned their costumes one last time to witness their likenesses forever commemorated in bronze by sculptor Kevin Pettelle.

Chris Wedes’s sixteen year old grand-daughter spoke at the unveiling, and talked about how she has met hundreds of Patches Pals over the years, who told her how JP Patches was a bright spot in their lives, even when their lives as children were perhaps filled with abuse, ostracisim, or depression. A representative from Seattle Children’s Hospital thanked them for entertaining her children, and giving her a few extra much needed hours every afternoon. There will be a donation box at the base of the statue to raise further funds for the Seattle Children’s Hospital, so the legacy of JP Patches will forever continue.

The crowd was full of tears, smiles, and cheers. I love living in a neighbourhood where people come together to celebrate the power of a smile.

And this is the view from our lab: