Train Time Take Two

Puggles, Texas Ranger's Evening Routine

Will You Please Share Your Bacon With Me?

Will You Please Share Your Bacon With Me?
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Yes, Puggles. I won't say no to a face like this. Plus, why am I having bacon at dinner? Oh, that's right. It's delicious.

Double Waiting All The Way

Double Waiting All The Way
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
It seems my App Store downloads weren't functioning normally this
morning, with a lack of app icons & 2 simultaneous app installations.

Tech Tuesday - The App Habit

Recently, many of my coworkers have begun to purchase Android devices.  While several of them expressed initial interest in the iPhone, the prospect of signing a 2 year contract with AT&T was enough of a deterrent to seek out other options.  Most end up choosing the cost-conscious Sprint option, or devices on the widely praised as reliable Verizon network.

Generally speaking, these individuals seem to be satisfied with their phone purchases.  However, I was surprised to find out the reluctance that nearly all of them expressed towards buying apps.  While some had purchased one or two apps at a cost of $1 to $5, most had never paid for an app on their device, despite owning the phone for several months.

As an iPhone owner, this aversion towards purchasing third party software struck me as odd.  Since buying my iPhone 3G back in 2008, I never felt a hesitancy in springing a dollar or two on an app.  In fact, I visit the App Store on a regular basis to see if any useful apps are in the Top 25 charts.

These observations led me to the next logical questions: exactly how many apps have I purchased over the past 2 years, and at what cost?  Well, I spent about half an hour cross-referencing my iTunes library with my Gmail e-mail receipts of App Store purchases, and found out the answers.

From October 2008 to September 2010, I paid for 51 iPhone apps at a cost of $185.  This averages out to just shy of $3.63 per app.  The most I've paid is $14.99 (for the MLB At Bat 2010 app), while most were $0.99.  For as frequently as I use my iPhone, these figures don't give me any buyer's remorse.

While my observations on app buying habits are clearly anecdotal, I think they probably raise a valid question:  why are iPhone owners seemingly so much more willing to pay for third party software on their devices relative to those who own Android devices?

Kevin Fox proposes that it's a deficiency in the Android Marketplace implementation of a store model.  There's probably a lot of truth in that.  If the buying experience isn't pleasurable, what incentive does a software consumer have to go out and actively seek new applications?

I didn't buy a lot of third-party software for my computers over the past 15 years.  The biggest reason was that software was expensive.  Paying $500 for Microsoft Office is a tougher pill to swallow as a college student than paying $3 for a Google Voice application.

The keys in cultivating a successful (and large) marketplace for applications are keeping prices low and making the buying experience pleasurable.  I seriously doubt I would've dropped almost $200 in iPhone apps over the past two years unless both elements were present.

Call The Mario Bros.!

Call The Mario Bros.!
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
This sink in the coffee area of my office clearly needs a super plumber's touch.

Droid Does Display Defects

Droid Does Display Defects
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
My coworker Brandon's new Droid X experiencing screen problems after less than a month in service. Verizon is sending him a replacement device.

Music Monday - Master P - Ghetto D

I first learned about Master P while living in northern Alabama back in 1996.  At the time, his "Ice Cream Man" single was getting a lot of radio play on Birmingham's R&B station.  Later that year, I moved to Louisiana with my family.  This happened to coincide with Master P's rise to fame in the music world from the stage of New Orleans, so as a young high school student, I was captivated.

During the summer of 1997, he released his TRU 2 Da Game compilation with brothers C-Murder & Silkk Da Shocker.  My friends & I played basketball in my driveway that summer almost every day listening to the album.  

Later that fall, he released his Ghetto D album.  I remember going to the record store on release day and just being excited about how a local artist was gaining national recognition.  Within a few weeks, his album had risen to the top of the Billboard charts.

There's a saying that purports the music you listen to while driving your first car, you'll love for the rest of your life.  Well, when I got my Camaro during the summer of 1998, the first album I put in my CD changer was Master P's "Ghetto D".

The summer of 1998 also had the distinction of being the first year I had a job.  For someone who grew up reading Eastbay, I was thrilled to land a job at Champs Sports in the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.  As luck would have it, this mall was only 2 exits up Interstate 10 from the Country Club of Louisiana, where Master P & most of the artists on his No Limit record label resided.

If you're familiar with hip hop artists from the 90s, the only thing they loved more than gold chains was athletic footwear.  As a purveyor of all the Air Jordans money could buy, I was in a very enviable position for the hip hop fans in the greater Baton Rouge area.  During 1998 & 1999, I was able to sell shoes to Master P, Silkk Da Shocker, C-Murder, Mystikal, Snoop Dogg, & Juvenile.  17 year old Juston felt like a rockstar.

The album cover you see above is the autograph I was able to get from Master P while he was shopping in Champs Sports one Saturday afternoon.  It's still my favorite rap record of the late 90s.  Almost 15 years later, it reminds me of the entrepreneurial, rhythmic, and insightful figure this artist represented.

Set Sunday - Deep Dish at Club XIII Moscow 2001

This week's Set Sunday selection is a six hour mix from progressive house legends, Deep Dish.  Recorded in Moscow in June of 2001, this performance was part of the release tour for their Global Underground 021 Moscow album.

The mix is special for me because I caught them later on this tour, in New Orleans for Halloween weekend at the State Palace Theatre.  While certainly not identical, many of the tracks between the two performances are the same, so this recording definitely tickles my nostalgia bone.  Their darker musical style from this era was also my favorite of their career.

Finding such a lengthy set recorded at 320kbps was something of an anomaly back in 2002 when I first ran across this performance.  You can understand why it's been a prized part of my collection for many years.

Deep Dish - Live at Club XIII Moscow 2001-06-01

Part 1 Megaupload Download Link

Part 2 Megaupload Download Link

Part 3 Megaupload Download Link

Part 4 Megaupload Download Link

Part 5 Megaupload Download Link

Part 1

01 16B feat. Morel - Escape [Driving To Heaven] (Original instrumental) 

02 Pole Folder & CP - Apollo Vibes (John Debo) 

03 ID

04 ID

05 Delilah - Be Strong For Me (Unknown Version)

06 ID 

07 Swimming-Poolsound - Sumergible

08 Olive - You're Not Alone (Unknown Version)

09 Goldfrapp - Utopia 

10 ID

11 ID

Part 2

01 Gypsymen - Babarabatiri (Tee's Latin Mix)

02 Goldfrapp - Utopia (Cosmos Acid Mix) 

03 Sharam Jey & Nick K. - Deeper

04 ID 

05 ID 

06 ID 

07 Argonaut - Body Temple

08 ID 

09 Mavi - Precious

10 ID 

11 Kosheen - Hide U (John Creamer & Stephane K Mix)

Part 3

01 Kosheen - Hide U (John Creamer & Stephane K Mix)

02 ID 

03 Lil Luis - Blackout (Hydrogen Rockers Remix) 

04 Tribalism - Reach (Remix) 

05 Danny Tenaglia - Elements [Twisted] {Acapella} 

06 Superchumbo - Revolution (Volta vocal Mix)

07 Paranoid Jack - Slave Driver

08 ID

09 ID 

10 ID 

11 Sono - Keep Control (Hydrogen Rockers mix) 

Part 4 

01 ID 

02 X-Press 2 - Music Express (Bootleg Mix)

03 ID 

04 Dino Lenny - I Feel Stereo

05 ID 

06 The Tatabox Inhibitors - Plasmids (Oscar G Mix) 

07 Iio - Rapture (Deep Dish Space Mix)

08 G-Pal pres. Ghos - I Can See The Lights

09 Behrouz - What We Do in Life... (Echoes In Eternity)

10 Baz - Believers (King Unique Dub) 

Part 5

01 Baz - Believers (King Unique Dub) 

02 Baz - Believers (Original Mix) 

03 Fingerfest Inc. - Autoporno (Original Mix)

04 ID 

05 Derek Conyer - Unknown 

06 Ernest St Laurent - Clumbsy Lobster 

07 ID 

08 PQM feat. Nadya - Nameless

09 Morel - Funny Car

GV Mobile+

GV Mobile+
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Very happy to have a native Google Voice app back on the iPhone after over a year in exile.

Software Saturday - Apps I Use Every Single Day On My iPhone

Inspired by this post Dwight Silverman wrote last week on TechBlog, I thought I'd showcase the iPhone apps I use every single day on my device.

The iPhone 4 ships with several apps already preinstalled.  These first-party apps cover basics like an e-mail client, web browser, calculator, camera, etc.  As I evaluated my daily usage, I find there are 8 first-party apps I use every single day.  They are Mail, Safari, Phone, Messages, Calendar, Camera, App Store, & Photos.

Currently I have 425 third-party apps in my iTunes Library.  Of those 425, I have 219 installed on my iPhone 4.  So what of those other 206 apps?  Well, some are iPad apps, others are iPhone apps I downloaded but decided I no longer needed on my actual device each day.  With 219 third-party apps installed on my phone, you'd think I'd use many of them every day, right?  Well, as I reflected on my actual usage, I found there were only 7 that I used each and every day.

Below I'm going to talk about those 7 apps, but I'm also going to list the apps that I find I use at least once a week, and those I use at least once a month.  The number of weekly use apps includes 11 more on the list, and the monthly use apps add 20 more.  As I did this review process, I was somewhat surprised that in any given month, there are only 38 of my installed 219 apps (17%) that I'll definitely use.  The remaining 181 apps are the "just in case" apps, or ones that I think could be useful if the correct situation comes up.

Daily Use Apps

Foursquare



I caught the Foursquare bug just before I went to South By Southwest Interactive in Austin this past March.  Now I check in everywhere go.  App Store link here.

Gowalla



Like Foursquare, but with a better design.  I especially like Gowalla's Passport feature, where you get a stamp for each venue you visit.  This was the real reason I bought an international data plan when I traveled to Paris earlier this year: I wanted to keep track of all the places I visited in the city on my Gowalla passport.  App Store link here.

Twitter



This is the app that evolved from the earlier Tweetie app.  This is how I post all of my status updates, which also get syndicated to Facebook via Friendfeed.  App Store link here.

Facebook



Perhaps the killer app for the iPhone.  I've been a daily Facebook user since Cinco De Mayo 2004, and still love the service today.  My social graph on Facebook is almost double that of Twitter, too, so I still do most of information sharing & status reading via this app.  App Store link here.

Beejive IM



This instant messaging app has mostly replaced SMS for daily communication with my closest friends.  App Store link here.

Remember The Milk



An essential element in my productivity package, coupled with Gmail, Google Calendar, & Google Docs.  App Store link here.

Weightbot



I now have two years of daily weight entries entered in this app.  App Store link here.


So that shows you which apps truly get used every single day on my iPhone.  They're heavy on the social networking, location based services, and communication, but that kind of aligns with my interests.

Now as for the other apps which get launched on at least a weekly or monthly basis, I have a listing for each category below.


Weekly Apps

USAA
Gas Cubby
SplashID
Groceries
Speed Test
Flickr
Simplenote
Boxcar
Voice Central
Kindle
Sportacular

Monthly Apps

CameraBag
Chase
American Express
Bank of America
ING Direct
Square
Pandora
Shazam
Remote
WWOZ New Orleans Jazz
AT&T myWireless
AppBox Pro
iStat
reQall
LinkedIn
The Weather Channel
DVR Remote
Peggle
Wikiamo
SEC Mobile

Your request could not be completed.

Your request could not be completed.
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
I saw this error message over 100 times today while waiting for the GV Mobile+ Google Voice app to go live in the iTunes App Store.

War Eagle

War Eagle
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
My little brother on ESPN College Game Day in Auburn, holding up his Gene Chizik poster, styled after the Obama HOPE poster.

Child Of The 80s

#FF Twitter Recommendations - Real World New Orleans 2010

This week's Follow Friday entry spotlights the Twitter accounts of the cast of the 24th season of MTV's Real World, set in New Orleans.  The 3 month series wrapped up this week, so I wanted to give a hat tip to the cast.  While I have a soft spot in my heart for the cast of the 2000 season in New Orleans (since it coincided with my freshman year of college), I thought the 2010 season did an excellent job of showcasing the city.

If you missed the season, you can watch all 12 episodes on MTV's website here:

http://www.mtv.com/shows/real_world/neworleans2/series.jhtml

Jemmye Carroll - @JustJem24

Eric Patrick - @Ericisfunny

Ryan Knight - @KnightRW24

Sahar Dika - @SaharDika24

Ryan Leslie - @imRyanLeslie

Preston Charles - @PrestoMagic24

Ashlee Feldman - @AshleeFeldman

McKenzie Coburn - @mckenziecoburn

MTV's Real World - @RealWorldMTV

Thirsty Thursday - Kronenbourg 1664

Kronenbourg 1664 will forever hold the distinction of being the first beer I enjoyed on European soil.  After taking the red eye into Paris earlier this year, I was tired, hungry, and sufficiently jet lagged by the time I found a café just off the Champs-Élysées.  Glancing at the bar, I noticed 1664 was the only beer the café had on tap, so I decided to give it a whirl.  This was an excellent decision.

1664 is a pale lager, so it's similar in taste to a Heineken.  It wasn't a coincidence that 1664 was the beer on tap in that café, since the brew has 40% of the market share in France.  During my week long stay in Paris, this was the beverage I enjoyed everyday.  My family & I even stocked it in our apartment's refrigerator so we could enjoy a beer on the balcony in the evenings.

Once I returned to Texas, I presumed there wouldn't be any 1664 in my near future unless I planned for a return trip to France.  As luck would have it, my old Tulane buddy, Brian, mentioned that he'd seen it in a few stores around Houston once I told him how much I'd enjoyed the beverage.  I was happy to discover that the liquor store closest to my office in The Woodlands actually carried it.

Now when I get nostalgic about my family's Parisian vacation, I can grab a six pack of 1664 and queue up the photos & videos from our trip on the TV.

Photographs of the bottle enjoyed this evening are illustrated below.

Writing Wednesday: Music + Exercise = Spiritual Experience

I've long been a believer in the power of music as a motivator when working out.  In fact, I bought my first MP3 player back in 2000 (a Diamond Rio 500 64MB model...wow) just so I could use it during running as I moved off for my freshman year of college.  Even before this, though, I recall doing basketball warm ups to Warren G's "Regulate" in junior high school as my team got ready for a game.  There's something about music that disconnects your body from its physical self.  It's very empowering.

A few weeks ago I ran across this article on the New York Times that provided some insight as to whether any scientific evidence exists to show that music does in fact make humans push harder while working out.  Anecdotally, most people agree this is true.  It's why the Nike+ iPod system has a Power Song feature built in.  When you need that extra bit of ooomph, a well-timed song can get you over the hump.

For most of the past decade, I've set my running soundtrack to various John Digweed mixes.  These represent very vivid memories for me.  I recall the day after 9/11, running around Audubon Park in New Orleans with John Digweed's Global Underground Sydney.  My first 10K in 2004 was run to John Digweed's Global Underground Hong Kong.  Most of the training for my first half marathon in 2009 was run to this Essential Mix.  And as I'm training for my next half marathon coming up on Halloween weekend, I've been running to John Digweed's Essential Mix from earlier this year.  You can find an excerpt from that mix here.

What strikes me most about working out to music is how it seemingly overrides your brain's normal way of interpreting limits.  It's almost as if you're patching your mind with upgraded firmware for a limited time.  When the mix I'm listening to hits its crescendo, there's something magical about that moment where your stride and breathing rate all sync up to the beats per minute in the music.  I call it "spiritual" in the title of this post because it's literally that powerful to me.  Regardless of how tired my body may physically be, I can transcend that limit for the amount of time I can match my heart rate, stride, and breathing to that unnaturally precise beat of electronic music.  It's kind of like cheating physics.

As the New York Times article describes, much of the science behind why our bodies react this way is still not understood.  I look forward to the day we can fully leverage the phenomenon, and perhaps apply it to many areas of our lives, beyond just exercise.

Ambulance Races By

Too Many Redirects

Too Many Redirects
Originally uploaded by Juston Western
Received this error message after trying to open this link in mobile Safari:

www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_maye...

The site got stuck in an infinite redirect loop between the full site & mobile version.

Tech Tuesday - Who Not To Be On Twitter

Click Here For Larger Image

While this is presented in the context of a comic strip, I think there are some valuable take-aways as you look to establish your personal brand on Twitter.  Although I'm sure I've been guilty of a few of these tendencies over 2,500 tweets during the past 3 years, it's worth thinking about whether what you're saying on Twitter really adds any value to the conversation.

To be sure, not everything you post on Twitter has to have intrinsic news-worthiness.  Part of the beauty of the service is that it adds a human element to users that sometimes may be abstracted.  But as you grow your follower base, keep in mind that you have an audience and think about why these users began to follow you in the first place.

If you're interested in some of the academic underpinnings, check out this study from Rutgers published earlier this year.  It draws a distinction between "meformers" who talk about themselves, and "informers" who share information.  One isn't necessarily better than the other, but informers tend to have a much larger and engaged audience than meformers.