One Man & His iPhone - Is this the coolest use of an iPhone?! I think so!

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High-Res Apple iPad Wallpaper in Two Sizes, including iPhone size

Image © 2010 Richard Misrach

   

Click here to download:

High-Res_Apple_iPad_Wallpaper_.zip (1208 KB)

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Apple Uses Unlicensed Photo by Richard Misrach for iPad Wallpaper. Download it here

An impressive landscape photograph called "Pyramid Lake (at Night)" was featured at Apple’s January 27 event in San Francisco, when the Mac maker unveiled the highly anticipated iPad to the world. Apple hadn’t gotten around to licensing the image when the people attending Steve Jobs’ keynote gazed at it behind the 9.7-inch glass panel, yet its author is extremely pleased with the move. He is certain he and Apple will reach a fruitful agreement.

Generally, artists go ballistic when someone uses their works of art and don’t credit them properly, and for good reason too. Not Richard Misrach. He admits Apple had contacted him ahead of the January 27 event to license the photo, but the two parties never got around to signing the papers, for one reason or another.

Artinfo reveals that Misrach was first contacted by Apple a while ago in regards to ten images from his different series. Misrach rejected them. Then, two weeks ago (days before the iPad announcement), Misrach was contacted again from Cupertino, this time for a licensing of Pyramid Lake (at Night), a photo he had taken at a Native American reservation in Nevada, back in 2004. According to Artinfo, the two parties talked about a five-year, exclusive deal, with Apple saying it would use the image for screen-savers and stuff like that.

"I was in bed watching Inglorious Bastards when I got a call from Jeffrey FraenkeL, my dealer in San Francisco, and he said, 'Do you know what's going on live here?'" Misrach told Artinfo. "I was totally shocked. Naturally my other galleries started calling and my family was all atwitter, because it's a whole different world."

However, no papers have yet been signed.

"The funny thing is that I don't even have a contract with them yet, so they must have decided on it at the eleventh hour," Misrach revealed. "I'm sure they'll send me one quickly now. But I'm very happy, I'm sure it's fine, and the terms are good."

Misrach also explained that, "[Pyramid Lake (at Night) is] a long night exposure where the moon is lighting up the mountains in the distance. I shot it on an 8x10 camera, so the quality is really beautiful and you can see star trails going through the sky."

That's a Richard Misrach Photo on the iPad

Have you seen all the photos of the new Apple iPad? That landscape photo shown on the screen is an image fine-art photographer Richard Misrach licensed to Apple in a five-year exclusive deal.  Misrach told ArtInfo.comthat it's the first time he's ever licensed an image for commercial use. 

Misrach, who is represented byPace/MacGill in New York, Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco and other galleries, says Apple had reviewed several of his photos. Then two weeks before the launch of the much-hyped new tablet, Apple specified they wanted to use "Pyramid Lake (at Night)."   Apple said only that it wanted to use the 2004 image"Pyramid Lake (at Night),"  as a screen saver and for other features -- no mention of the iPad, which was still under wraps. 

'What's funny is that for years I actually used the photo as my own screensaver," Misrach says. "So I guess they know what they're doing."

(Note: Richard Misrach's "On the Beach" was chosen one of the last decade's most influential photo books of the decade. Check out yesterday's PDN Photo of the Day. )

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15 Suave iPhone Theme Icons

                             

Click here to download:

15_suave_theme_icons_by_ryan.zip (281 KB)

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BBC News - Apple unveils iPad tablet device

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Random iPhoneography

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Reeder RSS Reader - App Store Review

THE GOLD STANDARD

Reeder is without doubt the best RSS reader for use with Google Reader. In fact, Reeder is simply the Gold Standard in apps of this genre. I've tried many premium readers, and as another reviewer commented, other apps either tend to be top-heavy on features or top-heavy on aesthetics. Until now, no app developer has managed to combine the two effectively. Reeder is fast, sleek, beautifully designed, unclutteted and does what you need well. Twitter integration coming in the next update (I'm a beta tester) works seamlessly as do the other share options. Even sharing an article by email creates a simple but elegant email with clickable headings. In short, it's just a beautful, simple app to use, and takes pride of place on my iPhone homescreen springboard.

I would argue that Tweetie 2 is the gold-standard of Twitter apps. By this virtue, Reeder is well on the way to being THE best reader app; the gold-standard of apps in it's class. I would like to see more features available, such as the ability to add feeds from within the app, and to be able to manage existing subscriptions, again within the app. But for now, I'm one happy Reeder!

Here's the link to the Reeder Site:

http://reederapp.com/

Or just get it from the app store. You could also follow @reederapp on twitter for advance preview betas

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I've been away from blogger for quite some time...

Let me tell you what's been happening...

At the start of last year my much loved grandmother died. She had lung-cancer and despite smoking, I like to think she died of an age-related disease, not really the cancer itself. I'm sure I have written about her in previous entries. As I took compassionate leave from my then place of work, my employer wasn't too happy with me taking time off for a non-immediate relation. I explained that the best years of my childhood were spent with her and my grandfather, and that between them and my mum, I was brought up and raised to be a fairly secure, well-rounded individual. In short, not long after she died, I lost my job.

I was working in the prison service at a young offenders institution in Glen Parva, Leicestershire. I was a Primary Care Nurse working with young men, and generally speaking, I thoroughly enjoyed it. As with many enjoyable jobs, it's usually other staff that make work hard, not your patients. In this case, my less than supportive manager - a woman who could not even spell her own first name properly (I'm really not joking) - showed even less compassion. So, my contract was not renewed.

Then, shortly after this, Michael, my partner of almost 7 years also decided he'd had enough and left for good. I guess his reason for leaving me was good enough; "I just don't love you anymore" but what he would have said if he'd been honest was "you have no job, no money, you're depressed - what can you possibly offer me?!" That's what I though the money grabbing child wanted at that moment anyway. So, off he skipped, new beau in hand (a BBC Travel writer - nice) and moved to the bright lights of London.

That was over a year ago and in the meantime, we've tried to stay civil with one another but when he started sending me pictures of his manhood by mobile phone, enough was enough. I bloody text-war ensued; I was an "unhinged bastard who needed help" and he was a "money-grabbing whore with emotional deficits." Very immature but totally called for. We don't speak anymore...

So, the pheonix rose from the ashes and got a new job, a new housemate and a new man. I say I got a job; that wasn't without the indignity of signing-on at the job centre for three months. A horrific experience I never want to repeat. I took a job as a community rehab nurse for the city, and so far, so good. Good pay, conditions and on the whole a great team. By October, I'll have been there a year.

Not long after Michael ran off, my housemate, Dee, moved in. We worked at the prison together and it seemed a good idea. She's left that job too, but at about the same time as she moved in, I met Andrew. He's a teacher and after meeting through a mutual friend (the Internet) we have been together for a year. He moved in with me and Dee 2 months ago, and so far so good.

The two cats stayed with me. Molly is fatter, Flo is still highly-strung. So, in our little house on our little street in ugly Leicester, we've built a little family.

Dee just turned 50, I'm hitting the dreaded 30 in October and Andrew is still sickeningly younger and fitter than me. He's on his summer break at the moment, and I'm on leave. So far, it's rained. And we've done bugger all execpt walk the dogs and Andrew went to church - once.

My mother back in Wales still puts up with my psychotic father, and my youngest brother still lives at home, fuelling the lunacy. My middle-once-delinquent brother seems to be settling down a bit and shares a home with his fiancé and their two lively but lovely huskies. And my childhood dog, Lucy is still alive and incontinent, with teeth falling out on a weekly basis. I think she's 18. The cat is still the boss. She's 15.

Anyway, that's the last 12 months in a nutshell. I wasn't expecting to write so much or so miserably but catharsis is good for the soul. Next time, we'll see what happens.

I'll leave you for now with some links. I'm off to read 'the gift' by Lewis Hyde. Perhaps not. I'll read 'Ladies of Letters' instead... It's raining outside. I'm on the bed, Flo the cat is next to me, Les Dawson is on the piano downstairs. Andrew, I mean.... Bye for now.

A few links to find me elsewhere on the web:

www.fotoflickr.co.uk (still playing at photography and design)
www.twitter.com/uselessdesires
www.facebook.com/ryanjaprice

~ Blogging from my iPhone

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