THIS MODERN WORLD

As indicated in the announcements box above, I’ve finally figured out (with the help of kind reader Todd T.) how to set up a browser-based version of the cartoon optimized for mobile devices. I’m keeping it very simple — it’ll just be the most recent cartoon each week, with nothing archived. Bookmark the link if you want to give it a try; I’ll update it every Tuesday for awhile, and maybe make it a permanent feature, depending on the response I get.

… a tip for iPhone users: in Safari, click “Add Bookmark” then click “Add to Home Screen” — this puts a fake “app” button on your phone screen which will lead you straight to TMW. (You can even sort of choose the image — it takes a screen grab of whatever’s showing on your phone at that moment.)

… how to view on Blackberry (via reader Stuart):

1. once the initial link has loaded, push the options button and choose “select mode”.
2. scroll down until the cartoon panel is outlined (selected).
3. again hit the options button and choose “full image”.
4. the entire cartoon will load and is perfectly optimized to view and read on the Blackberry screen.

I’m starting to gather material for my annual Year in Review cartoons, and as always, your suggestions for memorable, and memorably stupid, highlights of the year are eagerly solicited. (Last year’s installments are here and here, to give you a sense of the sort of thing I’m after.) If I use your contribution, I’ll send you a signed print of the cartoon; in the event of multiple submissions of the same item, first one in gets it. Email to tom-dot-tomorrow-at-gmail-dot-com, and use the subject line “Year in Review”.

You can see a larger version here (watermarks not on actual posters, of course).

No promises, but I’ll probably be selling a signed and numbered edition of these sometime early next year, around February or so. They’ll be available as complete sets of four only, and I haven’t figured out the exact price yet. In hopes of keeping this sale a bit more manageable than the last one, I’m going to take names for a waiting list — if you’re interested in a set, send an email to tom-dot-tomorrow-atsymbol-gmail-dot-com, with “Philly waiting list” in the subject line. Please note, you are not placing an actual order, and I’m not taking any money at this time — but when I do the sale, priority will be given to those on the list.

UPDATE: Waiting list is now full, but I’m sure there will be some attrition through cancellations and whatnot, so you can still send your name if you want, and I’ll keep you on the standby list.

Update 2: Okay, at this point, a lot of people would have to cancel out for everybody on the list to get a set of these, so I’m going to stop taking names for now.

Also via Bors:

MAD Magazine artist Tom Richmond has been working on an iPhone app with movie director/entrepreneur Ray Griggs that allows users to search a database for contact information of every congressman. Tom did 540 caricatures – one for every representative in union and territories – for the app. Unfortunately, they have learned that Apple has rejected the app based due to “content that ridicules public figures.”

Full story here. I’ve looked into the possibility of a TMW iPhone app, but this is one stumbling block I didn’t anticipate: that the gatekeepers in Cupertino would be sent to their fainting couches by — heavens! — the very thought of political satire. And this wasn’t exactly hard-hitting content, as the artist himself acknowledges:

These caricatures aren’t mean or very exaggerated. They are simple, fun cartoon likenesses of the politicians and the purpose of the app is a informational database. There is no editorial commentary involved at all.

Doesn’t bode well for the likes of me or Bors or Rall, which is unfortunate, given the iPhone’s market dominance.