Yeah, we know just what you're going through: colors aren't as bright, the birds barely sing, and even your Mac seems a little less lickable these days. There's no doubt about it-- we're all suffering the symptoms of Missing Steve. Not that any of use would begrudge him his month off to recover from his cancer surgery, of course, but this is by far the longest stretch of Steve deprivation we'd had to endure since his 1996 return to the company he cofounded, and frankly, we just don't think we're built for extended use in Steve-free environments. Hang in there, though, folks; we're just a week from the end of the month, so our Steveless August is finally drawing to a close.

In the meantime, while the fresh stuff remains unavailable, how about a bracing hit of 100% Steve from concentrate to tide you over? Look no further than AlwaysOn, who has done us all a much-needed public service by posting the latest installment of a Steve interview conducted by the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg at D: All Things Digital last June. In part 4 of the interview, Steve touches on such subjects as how Mac OS X is "inherently more secure" than Windows (the Update Score since Mac OS X's inception: 43 updates, 2% critical vs. Windows XP's 77 updates, 66% critical), how he juggles two CEOships ("I'm in touch pretty much all the time"), and, perhaps most interestingly, what's up with his political aspirations.

Now, we're not out to dash any hopes, you understand, especially in your current vulnerable Steveless state, but it was widely reported that Steve had signed on to be an economic adviser to presidential candidate John Kerry, and apparently that's not the case, regardless of what Kerry spokeswoman Laura Capps reportedly told the press. In Steve's words: "I called him up and said that I've had a little bit of experience with advertising and I'd be glad to help him on advertising. Then a week later I read that I was an economic advisor." Advertising, economics... those are pretty much the same thing, right? Meanwhile, we can't help noticing that Errol Morris, who churned out Apple's Switch ads (including one of his son), is producing similar ads for MoveON PAC featuring former Bush voters explaining why they're going to vote for Kerry. Coincidence?

So apparently Steve is not Kerry's economic advisor, but if you're heaving a sigh of relief because you're still holding out hope that there'll be an eleventh-hour independent Jobs/Schiller ticket for your ballot in November, we should mention that Steve is pretty clear about his intentions as far as public office is concerned: "I'm going to just stay away from all that political stuff." We know, it's disappointing, but look at it this way: if Steve were president, security at January Macworld Expos would be a total nightmare. Then again, the State of the Union Address would be a Stevenote. Hmmmm...

Whatever; the point is, it's not happening-- and that's probably a good thing, since Apple needs as much Steve as the man can spare. (You think it's a coincidence that RealNetworks's Rob Glaser pulled all this "FreedomofMusicChoice.org" nonsense when Steve was out on sick leave? Please.) Meanwhile, don't go expecting a return to the status quo at midnight on September 1st or anything; remember, Steve only said that he "expected" to return to his day-to-day Apple duties "in September," which is maddeningly unspecific about just when in September he'll be back at the helm-- and there's always the chance that he'll decide to extend his time off for further recovery. Still, the sooner we leave August behind, the sooner we'll get our Fearless Leader back. We're counting the minutes.