Is Apple in crisis?

These articles: Apple fans loyal despite iPod, iPhone 3G woes - CNN.com and How Steve Jobs’ obit got published - Apple 2.0 have me wondering whether or not this is a turning point -- a downward turn, that is -- for Apple. Not that Apple won't continue to design great product. But a combination of lack of leadership at the top and weakness at the bottom will add up to trouble for Apple.

Here's hoping that this is much ado about nothing.

On how to focus

If you're like me, you are easily distracted by all the information that pops up on your computer. I have notifications for email, instant messages, RSS feed updates, twitter...the list could go on and on. Of course they are often things that you have to deal with or perhaps are just very interesting (unlike, say, the true task at hand).

My first attempt to deal with this was something of a failure. I would tell myself: I will block off an hour and focus on something. But of course, people who can't focus will likely not be able to do this. (I couldn't).

What I have done successfully is shrink my focus time down. I have a timer -- I use CoolTimer -- and I set it for five minutes. (People who can focus will laugh.) And I focus for that amount. If I still feel I am doing well, I add on another five minutes. If not, I allow myself to lose focus for a bit.

How long is a bit? For me, I set my non-focused time for five minutes. That way I don't become too interested in something for too long and I can get back to the task at hand.

When I am working on something interesting, focusing is easy. But for many things in life, it can be a challenge. This approach can help.

You can do anything here! Anything!

Kottke.org featured a number of single serving/single page sites. THIS is my favourite, I think.

One very cool clock

I could describe it, but you would be better off going over to see Analogy by Jesson Yip

The "Buy me a drink" button is also one of the better uses of Paypal I have seen. :)

On lost and hidden painting

Over at LiveScience is an article about the Portrait of Woman Revealed Beneath Van Gogh Painting. This does not seem to be uncommon. Other famous paintings appear to have one layered on top of another.

What I didn't realize was how clearly the science can make the underlying painting visible (at least in some cases). The underlying work comes alive as a result. It gives us the opportunity to see more. It also seems sad, in a way, to be the subject of a painting, only to have been painted over.