Parking Lot On New Years Eve
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
A rather slow speed day at the office because of minimal manning.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
JW's Favorite Essential Mixes Of 2009
2009 was my favorite of the decade when it came to excellent music gracing the weekly Essential Mix show. As Pete Tong put it during last weekend's rebroadcast of Sharam's Essential Mix of the Year, 2009 truly was a "vintage year."Below I've compiled my top 10 list of the mixes I thought were best over the past 12 months. For your listening pleasure, I've also included Megaupload download links. If you weren't able to listen in weekly, here's your chance to catch up on the best-in-class electronica from the past year.
1 - Blame - Essential Mix 2009-02-28
Genre: Drum & Bass
Download
One of the most blinding drum & bass mixes ever to grace this Radio 1 time slot. Even people who don't like drum & bass love this one. I listened to the mix 20+ times this year. Great at volume set to 11.
2 - The Twelves - Essential Mix 2009-12-19
Genre: House
Download
Definitely the most fun mix of the year. Very housey, and lots of remixes of classic tracks you'll undoubtedly recognize. It's like having a party in your head.
3 - Eric Prydz - Essential Mix 2009-08-08
Genre: Progressive House
Download
Ironically, this took place at Radio 1's weekend in Ibiza, which also saw 2008's most aggressive set: John Digweed's hour-long monster at Amnesia. Keeping in theme, Prydz drops big room track after big room track. This is what an Ibiza set should be.
4 - Gui Boratto - Essential Mix 2009-03-27
Genre: Electronica
Download
Mr. Boratto makes some absolutely beautiful music. This two hour offering was heavy on his own production work, and thankfully so. Instant classic.
5 - Tiga - Essential Mix 2009-04-04
Genre: Electroclash
Download
A set that was sometimes confusing, sometimes eclectic, but always brilliant. I preferred this mix to his Ciao! album released around the same time.
6 - Laurent Garnier - Essential Mix 2009-05-23
Genre: Techno
Download
This guy is a legend for a reason. Hour 1 is driving techno, hour 2 is a mish mash of 100 different genres…and pulled off masterfully.
7 - Simon Patterson - Essential Mix 2009-11-21
Genre: Trance
Download
This was perhaps my sleeper hit of the year. I'd never heard any of the gentleman's work prior to this mix, but it proved to be my favorite heads-down working music of 2009. If trance starts moving in this direction, count me in.
8 - Erick Morillo - Essential Mix 2009-07-04
Genre: House
Download
Soulful house for 4th of July weekend. Best played in the warm sun with an icy beverage in hand.
9 - Caspa - Essential Mix 2009-07-11
Genre: Dubstep
Download
This mix hit me at just the right time. I'd seen some great dubstep DJs at Future Fest two weeks prior, and Caspa's mix continued the head bobbing. Love listening to this one in the car.
10 - Felix Da Housecat - Essential Mix 2009-08-22
Genre: House
Download
I actually didn't like this mix the first two times I listened to it. But upon replay, I realized it's a fantastic snapshot of many styles of house. As you'll be reminded throughout the mix, he's got house in his DNA with heritage in the Electronica Holy Trinity of Detroit, Chicago, & London.
JW's Favorite iPhone Applications Of 2009
Similar to last year's installment, I thought I'd share the apps which I found most useful, fun, and wowing in 2009. Written in the order in which I saw them on my home screens, my favorites of 2009 are as follows...
Remember The Milk
I tried Things, OmniFocus, & Google Tasks, but Remember The Milk came out on top definitively. The iPhone app is free, although it requires a yearly Pro subscription to the service for $25. It's worth every penny. There's great integration with the web versions of Google Calendar & Gmail, ironically better than Google's own Tasks offering. The iPhone app has Push Notifications, and makes it super-fast to input tasks. As an added bonus, I've setup reQall to handle voice transcriptions, send the text to Gmail, which then filters the task to Remember The Milk, sorted appropriately by due date & time. It's like living in the future. :-)
BeejiveIM
Use this one daily, albeit only with Google Talk. IM on your iPhone…this is kind of the textbook case for Push Notifications.
When Joe Hewitt released version 3 of this app earlier in 2009, it became my primary interface to Facebook, surpassing the web interface. This is what a social networking app should be.
Tweetie 2
The best Twitter client, for any platform (mobile, desktop, or web). The "pull down to refresh" functionality needs to be incorporated into the entire iPhone OS…it just "feels" right.
Qik Live
This app completely fascinates me. Live streaming video from your iPhone. You can become a one-person TV station, bringing live video directly from the scene of something exciting. Amazing.
Evernote
This has become my dumping ground for anything that strikes me as interesting, but that I want to process later. My use of the app sees it getting fed primarily by e-mailing stories out of Google Reader to the custom Evernote e-mail account. I used to just send everything to my Gmail inbox to read later, but that makes the inbox too cluttered. Evernote solved that problem.
DVR Remote
I can control my TiVo HD from my iPhone. This never gets old.
Groceries
I finally did away with sticky notes for my grocery lists this past fall. This app makes collecting your list and then checking off items a pleasurable experience. The Favorites feature makes building out a weekly shopping list lightning fast, too.
iFitness
A recent addition to my daily-app usage, this is how I'm tracking all of my workouts and learning about new exercises. Surprisingly deep & robust for the price.
SplashID
I used to have an early version of this on my old Palm Vx. I keep all of my web passwords, insurance info, routing numbers, VIN numbers, etc. in this app. There's also a free desktop component to make data entry faster.
iStat
This is how I reference my phone uptime & memory usage. It's also great to monitor the live hardware stats of any other Macs you may have running in your house.
Sportacular
Still the best sports app on the iPhone. The Push Notifications from this app kept me up to date of every score from Auburn, Tulane, the Saints, & the Texans this football season.
Air Mouse
This makes your iPhone a wireless touchpad & keyboard for your computer. Great for a computer hooked up to your TV.
Gas Cubby
If you're a data junky, this app is perfect for tracking your car's gas fill-ups & maintenance. Just input data when you're at the pump and then watch your stats grow. There's also now a free sponsored version from Fram, which is identical to the paid version, except for the addition of ads.
90.7 WWOZ
Live streaming audio from the best jazz radio station in the world. And free to boot. This should be on the phone of every New Orleanian past & present.
Monopoly
Having this on my phone has completely changed my strategy in the game now that I play it more often. The graphics are great, too. Best board game ever.
3D Rollercoaster Rush
Bought this on a whim after seeing it in the iPod Touch commercial. Really glad I did. The 3-pack version gets you the original, Haunted House, & Jurassic games all in one. It starts easy, but gets really challenging in later levels.
Peggle
My favorite game on the iPhone so far. Makes excellent use of the iPhone's unique controls, and has limitless replay value.
Monster Pinball
I've picked up several pinball apps for the iPhone, but this one has the best graphics and most life-like physics.
iMario
I don't know how it made it into the App Store given the questionable use of copyrighted material, but I gladly paid $0.99 for a Super Mario Bros sound board.
Boxcar
This app enables Push Notifications for Twitter @-replies & DMs, in addition to alerts from Facebook. Right now I have it setup just for Twitter, and it fits the bill perfectly.
BlogPressLite
Free app to blog directly to your Blogger account. One of the few Blogger solutions currently on the App Store, although this one did have official help from the Blogger team.
iFly
This was indispensable during my travel-laden fall. Check flight statuses, get terminal maps, check gate assignments, see plane progress on a map. Really helpful.
IMDb
It's now so much easier to win a movie-related argument by using this app instead of trying to access the website in a mobile browser.
Convertbot
I use this less frequently than Weightbot (which I use daily), but any time I need to do a unit conversion, I launch this. Makes math fun!
Mark The Spot
Sadly, I hit way too many deadzones with AT&T. At least with this app, I can tell them exactly when & where, in hopes that they'll act upon the info.
On The Grill
Tips, tricks, & tools for getting the most out of your grill. I'm looking forward to the Texas temperatures warming up some, so I can get regular use out of this app again.
QuickMark
This app I've only used a few times so far, but foresee getting more use in 2010. It allows you to scan QR codes, those little swirly barcode-esque designs you frequently see on UPS boxes. Google is sending out stickers to 100,000+ restaurants and bars, which you'll then be able to scan with your iPhone to get menus or special information.
RedLaser
Similar to the last app, this one lets you scan real barcodes with your iPhone's camera and get pricing information back from Amazon.
Air Cam
This allows you to view a live webcam feed on your iPhone. I setup one next to Puggles cage so I can watch him during the days while I'm at work. While I didn't use Air Cam to make it, the webcam setup was inspired by this video project from Spring 2008.
Fandango
Browse movie times & purchase tickets directly from this app. There are lots of apps in the store similar to this, but this has proven to be my favorite.
GV Mobile
Sadly no longer available (or usable for those who purchased it before its App Store removal), this app was an excellent front-end to Google Voice. You could SMS directly from the app without using any of your monthly allocation of SMS messages from AT&T. Further, you could call directly from this app & make it appear as if the call originated from your Google Voice number. A new version has been submitted to Apple, but I'm not optimistic it'll get approved.
Look for my Favorite Apps of 2010 post this time next year.
Fountain In The Fog
Fountain In The Fog
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
A dense fog covers Lake Woodlands on New Years Eve.
Puggles Under The Covers
Puggles Under The Covers
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
The little guy just wasn't ready to get out of the bed at 5AM.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Puggles In The Early Morning
Puggles In The Early Morning
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
He seemed unamused by the earlier-than-usual wakeup call this morning.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Fleur De Lis Wind Ornament
Fleur De Lis Wind Ornament
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
On display hanging from the fence in our backyard.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
New Saints Jersey For Game Day
New Saints Jersey For Game Day
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Ash ordered me one Christmas...awesome gift!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Spaten for Christmas
Spaten for Christmas
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
The Western men opted for some good German beer this Christmas PM.
Yule Log
Yule Log
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
TiVo'd the 3 hour Yule Log recording on WGN this morning.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
A Musical Mystery Solved
A Musical Mystery Solved
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
I heard this song on the Music Choice "Sounds of the Season" channel about 2 weeks ago, but didn't decide until after it played that I liked it. Unfortunately, the song's artist & title information didn't stick to memory, although some of the lyrics did. I figured I could find the song info on Google via searcing by some of the phrases from the lyrics, but I ended up with zero results.
I tried various lyrics databases & even a couple of iPhone apps (like Pandora & Midomi) hoping I could sing or hum the song to find out the title. I even contacted their official @MusicChoice Twitter account in hopes of finding out the song since their website can't provide playlist information. Ultimately it took me leaving on the Music Choice channel for 5 hours today until the song was replayed before I could figure it out. Perhaps fittingly, you can't buy the CD from any major online retailer, nor was the track available for purchase from iTunes/Amazon/Napster.
Thankfully in the end, I was able to find the MP3 as a free download, albeit in 128kbps quality. This has been a glimpse into the Juston musical journey (or quirkiness, as the case may be).
Jurassic 3D Rollercoaster Rush
Jurassic 3D Rollercoaster Rush
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
This game was my Airplane Mode air travel game of choice over the past month.
iPhone Monopoly
iPhone Monopoly
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Victory snapshot after I defeated the CPU when it landed on my Boardwalk Hotel.
The Auburn Graduation Special
The Auburn Graduation Special
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
I went with a variant of Combo 1.
Deep South Cuisine
Deep South Cuisine
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
T-Shirt for sale at the seafood & chicken restaurant, Cock of the Walk, near Auburn where we had a post-grad dinner on Friday.
Auburn Graduation Souvenirs
Auburn Graduation Souvenirs
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Some a bit more meaningful than others, but each with its own utility.
Graduation
Graduation
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Commencement Ceremony wrapping up my time as a graduate student at Auburn University.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
iPhone Homescreen December 2009
iPhone Homescreen December 2009
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Each of these apps has received quite the workout this month.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
My Auburn MBA Team
My Auburn MBA Team
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
As pictured after being announced the winners of our semester project competition.
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario Kart
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Logging laps on the classic this past weekend, courtesy of the Virtual Console.
In Flight WiFi
In Flight WiFi
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
My flight from Dallas to Houston was the first one I've ever gotten to enjoy Internet connectivity on.
Tallahassee Airport Art
Tallahassee Airport Art
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
This was a wall-sized photo of the FSU Stadium.
Breaking Through The Clouds Above Florida
Breaking Through The Clouds Above Florida
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
On our way back to Houston.
Popcorn In A Pan
Popcorn In A Pan
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Getting creative with our dish options in the Tallahassee Marriott.
Ashley's Hooding Ceremony
Ashley's Hooding Ceremony
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
This took place the evening before her graduation ceremony.
Hot Bobby, Hot Bobby!
Hot Bobby, Hot Bobby!
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
The Bobby Bowden statue in front of FSU's football stadium.
Free WiFi From Google
Free WiFi From Google
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
A billboard advertising the service in the Houston airport.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
iMario
iMario
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Not sure how long this Super Mario Bros sound board app will stay on the App Store, but the $0.99 has provided some fun this evening. Now I just need to pop for the new Wii game soon!
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
QR Code
QR Code
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Playing around with QuickMark. Here's one I generated for one of my favorite lunch spots.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Football at BW3
Football at BW3
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Managed to catch the tailend of the Saints game & then some of the Giants game.
Power Hungry Day
Power Hungry Day
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Playing Monopoly & 3D Rollercoaster Rush at the airport & on the plane really zapped the battery.
Post Grad School Celebration
Post Grad School Celebration
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Celebrated with all the other MBAs at Momma Goldberg's starting at 10AM with a few pitchers of Yuenglings.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Abita Bunny
Abita Bunny
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
As seen on the wall at the Mellow Mushroom in Auburn.
Auburn Football Helmet Fathead
Auburn Football Helmet Fathead
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
As seen on the wall in Mamma Goldberg's on Thach.
Abita Christmas Ale
Abita Christmas Ale
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Rather refreshing on a crisp December evening in Auburn.
Momma Goldberg's Deli
Momma Goldberg's Deli
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Made for an excellent lunch of a Momma's Love sandwich, Momma's Nachos, & Momma's Brew.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
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