Juston Western

I'm not going full doomsday prepper mode based upon the midterms next week & the current state of AI, but I did pull out some extra cash, grab a bit more shelf-stable food, & buy a Starlink Mini today to go with my Jackery battery + solar panel. And Vermont remains the ultimate bug out destination.

There is a timeline in 2000 where I am impossibly enamored with trance music & believe it is not only the present but the future. I truly loved this future.

Definitely haven't had as much fun with an Apple device since the iPhone 3G back in 2008 as I have with the iPhone Duo. There are just so many delightful app moments, and I don't think another device has ever pulled off better portrait AND landscape usage.

Trying something wild: Spent 2 hours Thursday with ChatGPT analyzing my app habits to optimize my iPhone Duo. It built a 15-page strategy. Fed that to Claude Cowork, which is now executing it ON my iPhone via MacBook Pro's iPhone Mirroring. And it's working! AI planning → AI execution. Crazy times.

The package has been secured. 📱 #Duo

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is a ton of fun. Played the 100 pin bowling, archery, & boxing with my 5 year old son tonight, & we both loved it. Feels like it's recaptured the Wii Sports energy of 20 years ago, and yes, I played every other installment between then & now. Highly recommended!

Gruber's iPhone Duo review nails the paradox: a lousy iPhone hiding a brilliant tablet. But that's precisely the appeal for me. As a frequent traveler, tech enthusiast & multitasker, I want a pocketable workspace, not just another phone. His dealbreakers might be my tradeoffs.

The Verge makes a fair case: the iPhone Duo is expensive, imperfect & unapologetically first-gen. But as a tech enthusiast, frequent traveler & someone who lives across apps, screens & workflows, I see possibility where others see compromise. I'm exactly who this is for.

Got on the Testflight build tonight, so looking forward to putting it through its paces this week.

This hits hard. I've been a longtime believer in the app, still check in daily after 17 years, & enjoyed all the SXSWi parties & talks pre 2012. Dennis shaped my worldview on location-based software that informed my own startup & everything I've brought to Amazon & Arize since.

First byline on the Arize AI blog! 🚀 AI agents shouldn't be black boxes, or require an engineer to explain them. With Alyx now on Google Cloud Marketplace, we're bringing AI observability to everyone, right inside Gemini Enterprise.

Austin had to invent a slogan. Providence has pro soccer AND football, a Japanese-style jazz listening lounge, rivers we set on fire, and goth rock concerts in cemeteries on Sunday nights. We don't need to keep Providence weird. That's just a regular weekend here. I like my island of misfit toys.

WAR DAMN EAGLE 🎉

My son danced in his seat for most of the Street Fighter movie tonight, & then insisted on taping the commemorative poster to his bedroom door when we got home. Proud dad moment. 🙂

Soooooo excited for this! #StreetFighter

A good excuse for me to get back down to Houston early in 2027! #Sasha #JohnDigweed

Phew, stock was seriously limited on the iPhone Duo. No option to pickup in Providence on 10/23, & shipping didn't have a delivery option until mid-November. Had to go for a lunchtime pickup option on 10/23 at the Apple Store in Braintree, MA to get it on launch day.

Thoughts on today's Apple announcements. HomeView looks solid & competitively priced. Will absolutely add the wall mount one in my kitchen. New Apple TV was pretty disappointing from a feature upgrade perspective, but it's still the best post-TiVo set top box game in town.

Really excited to play Star Wars: Galactic Racer this weekend. It's been an incredible 18 months for fans of racing games!

Wishing all my former colleagues on the Amazon Devices & Services team the best of luck with these new Alexa Tablets. I've been an iPad guy primarily since 2010, but it's great to see competition in this space!

Quick trip down to D.C. to see Sasha & John Digweed at BERHTA. This will mark the 30th time I've seen Digweed in the last 25 years. Giddy up! 🪩

I'm watching the Harvard vs Brown football game outdoors in an actual Nor'Easter. I think I can finally claim being a New Englander after living here for 8 years. 🦞

I have discovered a problem with my "AI now is like the internet in 1997" analogy which is that half you fuckers weren't even born in 1997 and so have no idea what I'm talking about.

Excellent write-up on today's 30th anniversary release of Sasha & John Digweed's "Northern Exposure." Have it loaded up for my ORD-PVD flight this morning, then jetting down to DC tomorrow morning to see the lads play BERHTA. 🪩 djmag.com/features/how-sasha-...

Nicholas Cage as John Madden is fantastic. 🏈 youtu.be/xzh7HzLXXpk?is=RUG1m...

In-flight Starlink Wi-Fi is very fast. 😲

Into Chicago for the day for an event at Google's Fulton Market offices. ✈️

Pretty disappointed that this has become Xbox's fate. I really enjoyed the Series S over the last 5 years for tinkering purposes, but it's become clear Nintendo & Sony have better gaming product/market fits at this point. www.theverge.com/games/998758...

This guy was responsible for the majority of my favorite album covers in high school. It's fascinating hearing his creative process and how he was pushing the boundaries of software while creating some of the most iconic hip hop album covers of all time. youtu.be/tVz2IAAxttE?is=zKgAy...

John Digweed's "Live in Tokyo" album is my favorite cross country / trans-Atlantic airplane mix of all time. ✈️

Nothing in life irritates me more than a poor internet connection.

I remember hearing this for the first time back in 2000 & just being stopped in my tracks. 26 years later it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. youtu.be/ugsQypXvJQw?is=66wok...

You never know which chapter of your life is going to have an outsized impact. You rarely choose it yourself. Staying "in the arena" feels like the best play.

New Arize billboards around the Bay Area in advance of Burning Man. 🤘🏻

Started playing Wild Blue Skies on PS5 tonight. As someone who has played every Star Fox game ever released, this is actually a pretty solid "inspired by" homage. Easy recommendation if you're a fan of the on-rails flying genre. youtu.be/vzr6AdktQMM?is=d8kLR...

It's a bit surreal giving guidance & coaching to my high school freshman teenage daughters on how to navigate teacher interactions & social dynamics. It's much more like conversing with colleagues in the language choices. They grow up so fast. 😢

Acknowledging, triangulating, & simplifying replacement of the dying 9V battery in a ceiling-mounted smoke detector is when most of Western society will embrace AI. That is its Mario Kart moment for the global population. 🔋

This Star Wars: Galactic Racer game looks like it will be a ton of fun! youtu.be/Je9SLyqRtc0?is=IsCC7...

On my first business trip at my new gig down to NYC, I find out Arize has been acquired by Dynatrace for ~$1B, and their global HQ is what I've been walking by for the last year between South Station & Amazon's Seaport office in Boston. It seems the universe has a sense of humor. 🙃

The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm lived up to the hype. Absolutely incredible. My 4 year old son even watched with us, and at the end said, "Did you know Spider-Man was in this movie too?!" 😂

Finally got time to watch the Drew Brees Hall of Fame induction speech. Truly genuine, emotional, & inspiring. I feel so lucky he came to New Orleans when he did. Circumstances were complicated, but he met the moment & truly helped reinvigorate the city post-Katrina. youtu.be/xvh_3rOHZr4?is=2Qky2...

The John Digweed at Twilo drop is like an elder millennial's Pokémon infatuation: gotta catch 'em all! 🎧

And so it begins! 🎶

I was on the boat in Miami to witness this John Digweed performance in 2015, & even a decade + later I'm still blown away by how fresh it sounds. www.mixcloud.com/johndigweed/...

Epic anniversary evening on deck: cocktails at the James Beard winning Loma, French-themed dinner at Mémère's, then a vinyl listening session at Murmur HiFi Lounge which is inspired by Japanese jazz kissas. 🍸 🥖🎶

Relistening to the entire ~64 hours of John Digweed's "Live In" series this week in preparation for the Live at Twilo release this Friday. Quite the musical journey!

The World Cup has been incredibly fun. I loved 2018 when I was living in England & going to those watch parties in Camden, but watching here in Providence at the Fan Zone & around the house with my kids has been so special. Go Team USA! ⚽️

That was the best basketball I've seen since the Jordan era in the 90s. Just insane comeback & ending! 🏀

Ran the crawfish trifecta in Houston today: 3 pounds at The Boot, 3 pounds at Cedar Creek, & 3 pounds at Boil House. 🦞

I am * ridiculously* excited about this. 😃 bedrockshop.com