There have been lots of Steve Jobs sightings at Apple last week, but it’s finally official that he’s back at work. “Steve Jobs is back to work. He is at Apple a few days a week and working from home the other days,” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said. “We’re glad to have him back.” It’s good that he’s well enough to actually make it into the office. If I had any kind of transplant, I’d milk that for at LEAST six months of recovery time. [ CNN ] Image probably isn’t accurate, seeing as he had a LIVER transplant.

Here’s an idea: How about we stop focusing on livers for a second and look at the best, worst and as he might put it, “insanely great” parts of Steve Jobs life so far? Foreword (It’s long. You can skip this if you want.) The timeline itself is made from a half dozen books, which I’ve listed below, and several websites. I’m sure there are some errors and missing parts, because the books often contradict each other. Also, I consider this timeline/biography to be in Alpha, so let me know if there’s a mistake and send me a good piece of source material and I’ll make corrections. Also, images are very welcome.

With Steve Jobs ’s consent, the Memphis hospital that conducted his liver transplant two months ago issued a statement denying he received any special treatment, classifying him as “the sickest person on the waiting list.” Presumably in response to the New York Times ‘ speculation that Jobs’ wealth and influence helped him secure a liver sooner than he might otherwise have, the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee issued a statement with Jobs’s consent that denied any such thing happened. “He received a liver transplant because he was the patient with the highest MELD score (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available,” the hospital said. In addition, Tennessee has a much smaller waiting list than a larger state, like California, which also expedited the process. The statement does not go into any more detail on the subject, citing a respect for Jobs’s privacy, but does note that Jobs is “recovering well and has an excellent prognosis.” So that should put any ugly speculation to rest.

It first started with the press release from yesterday . Then some talk from Apple employees. Now, it’s official : Apple has dropped the space between 3G and S. (Yes, we know it’s inconsequential, but follow us here.) Apple’s official product page listed the device as “iPhone 3G S” since the launch. Hell, the URL even had a space in it (http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3g-s/). But now?

Additional Apple-related shenanigans from CNBC as they report on Apple stock “tanking” in January following Steve Jobs ‘ poor health: Apple’s stock had tanked in January, falling as low as $78.20, when Jobs said he had a hormone imbalance and the company announced that its founder would be taking a six-month medical leave. It has since made a choppy comeback as concerns about his health persist. Thing is, as John Gruber accurately notes with a simple Google Finance chart, that isn’t entirely true. To say this kind of odd Apple reporting from CNBC is “something new” would also be, of course, not entirely true. [ CNBC via Daring Fireball via BBG ]

The WSJ reports that Steve Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago in Tennessee. He is expected to still return to work later this month, even if only at a part time schedule. From there, the article goes on to speculate loosely, ever so loosely, that Jobs’ cancer had spread to his liver. William Hawkins, a doctor specializing in pancreatic and gastrointestinal surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., said that the type of slow-growing pancreatic tumor Mr.

We all love rumors, but this one, well, let’s just say it’s not the most trustworthy rumor we’ve ever seen. Let’s consider the source. It’s from a scummy site called Palluxo Media that, when investigated by Fortune, seems to have its sights set on lowering Apple’s stock prices: “You fell for Palluxo?,” wrote “cynyc” - one of my regular readers - when I cited that quote as an attempt to spread FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) about Apple. “That site only exists to promote the agenda of Apple shorts [speculators betting that the stock will go down].” I thought my reader was being overly cynical, but the recent history of Palluxo’s Steve Jobs coverage suggests he may be onto something. Consider this sequence of Palluxo headines: * December 31, 2008: “CEO Steve Jobs on Deathbed, Prognosis Poor” * May 23, 2009: “Apple Rumor: Steve Jobs Could Die Any Day” and Thursday’s prizewinner: * June 11, 2009: “Apple Rumor: Steve Jobs Seen Kissing Unidentified Man” But hey, the unidentified source claims to have evidence captured on a security camera! And he only wants $75,000 for it! We’ll like, totally set up a PayPal account so everyone can chip in, OK guys? [ Fortune ]

He said he’d be back, he’s allegedly been spotted at Apple’s Cupertino campus, and Woz thinks he sounds fine. Now the WSJ is saying Steve Jobs —after nearly “starving to death”— might make it back in time for WWDC . Yes, this is a Wall Street Journal report, but no, it’s not at all official; in fact, it’s classic Apple rumor: Two people who do business with Apple said senior Apple managers have told them the company is now trying to coordinate Mr. Jobs’s return with a product launch or public event. The statements of these “people who do business” with Apple are then supplemented with some info about the new iPhone, which Jobs may unveil, from “people who’ve seen the device”: The new phone will look similar to last year’s model but has more processing power and some new features like video editing

If true, this is great news: According to setteB.IT , a good-looking Steve Jobs was spotted yesterday at Apple’s Cupertino campus by “more than one source.” There are no details, but I want to believe. [ setteB.IT ]

Steve Wozniak recently talked to his ole buddy and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs , apparently on the phone. Woz told reporters that though he didn’t ask specifically about Jobs’ condition, Jobs sounded “healthy, energetic”—not sick. That’s good news, as Jobs’ scheduled return to Apple is imminent. [ WSJ ]