Tera Patricks’ Health Problems: Down But Not Out.

For those of you who have asked, yes, Tera Patricks is taking a leave of absence from Mac360 due to a serious health problem which requires additional care. We wish her all the best.

Tera has a health problem that is sufficiently serious to warrant an absence from Mac360.

At this point, we do not know how long she will be gone. We will miss her articles, her barbs, her wit, her generosity, and contributions to both the Internet and the Mac community.

Mac360 just celebrated a one year anniversary and, thanks to Tera’s hard work, launched Bambi and Tera’s Mac360 Forums. As both Moderator and member of the forums, Tera has been a frequent contributor with posts that cover nearly every Mac or Mac news topic.

Time flies quickly on the Internet. It seems more recent, but not quite a year ago, Tera and Alexis launched the first of a number of Point-Counterpoint articles (Jack moderated); the first, entitled Apple Should Open The iPod, iTunes Music.

Alexis was a Nubee back then and much has changed in the past year. There’s now 20-million more iPods and I think Tera alone accounted for a good number as she always bought the latest and gave away the most recent purchase to friends or family.

It wasn’t long after that when Microsoft announced their own music store. Alexis, and others, including me, figured the writing was on the wall, and Microsoft would soon dominate the online music scene.

Tera had a different, though prophetic view, in another Point-Counterpoint with Alexis, this one called, Microsoft’s New Music Store Ready To Crush iPod, iTunes? Guess who won? Guess who was right?

As you’ve probably gathered, Tera is not one to back down from a challenge. We expect her battle with a serious health issue to be no different than her frequent battles with Jack.

Remember the iMac G5? It’s hard to imagine a more elegant and attractive design and yet it’s only been available about a year. Jack D. Miller took issue with the iMac G5 (now selling at record numbers) and blasted Tera in this Point-Counterpoint called, iMac G5: Bargain Power or Crippled, Weak Computer Toy?

Trust me. Jack is a glutton for punishment. iPod photo with the color screen? Yes, Tera bought one right after the announcement. A 60 gig model at that. Jack said it was Apple’s first iPod mistake. Tera didn’t agree and said all iPods would go color screen and photo.

Uh oh. Yet another Point-Counterpoint with Jack and Tera, this one entitled, Pro Or Con? iPod Photo—Apple’s First iPod Mistake.

Tera was also instrumental in setting up the Mac360 Forums. While forums applications are easy to come by, powerful, stable, and mature, Tera held out until pMachine’s Expression Engine completed development and testing of an integrated forum. Our sys admin, RonnieMac was sure it would take a week to integrate, Tera had it ready to go within days, including graphics, email list, and contest rules.

So, Tera will be gone from Mac360 for awhile. In the meantime, we’ll carry on. As her health improves (and she sees that we’re doing too many things too wrong), I’m sure she’ll drop us a note, perhaps an article, or a comment on the forums.

We miss you, Tera.

If you’d like to drop her a note, use the Feedback link below as she gets a copy of all messages.