What I'm up to - October 2026

Hello from 10 kilometers over somewhere in the Midwest, as I sit in a tiny airplane seat and appreciate the privacy screen on my laptop.

I've been writing a monthly newsletter here about what I am up to for the last four years. Over the dozens of posts, the format has largely stayed the same - some bullet points about what I'm up to and links to things I like on the internet. Well, I've decided to change that up today. I'm in the mood for a meandering, disorganized, prosaic post. Buckle in.

I started the flight by listening to Debbie Millman on the Ezra Klein podcast talking about how the world has been getting more ugly, partly due to an optimization of all things. Their discussion resonated with me, as I have been thinking about homogeneity in the context of AI - everything is becoming normalized to a bland, corporatey sameness. I believe we all need to lean into the idiosyncrasies of our humanity. And, for me - I'm embracing that by de-optimizing this Postcard newsletter.

Two months ago I moved out of San Francisco and began relocating to NYC. However, the process has been slower than I expected - I have yet to actually move into NYC. Fortunately, that day is coming this week as I (hopefully) get the keys to a new home in South Brooklyn. This slow-down has meant that the last month has been unintentionally peripatetic as I've bounced between cities and hotels. It's felt like a throwback to my nomad years (2017-2019) during which I lived in Airbnbs full-time. I don't know how, back then, I managed to fit all of my physical possessions fit inside a backpack (that I'm still using) and a carry-on suitcase. I've recently upgraded to a checked-only bag, which always seems to flirt with the fifty pound weight limit.

These past few weeks have helped me reflect on the benefits of routine. A hard part of nomadism was how everything became a first-principle exploration - from shopping in a grocery store to doing laundry. For a period of time, that immersiveness feels entertaining - every task develops into a quest. But, nowadays I tend to have a clearer idea of my own priorities and values - and my lack of routine this month has made it harder to focus on the things I care about, especially in the realm of high-quality leisure.

One of the things I have enjoyed most about AI is how it has improved tinkering as a leisure activity. I've always enjoyed building things on the internet - as I learned how to code in 2011, the first things I did were make myself a website (this!) and build a food truck finder. AI has lowered the cost of building software so much that your ability to create is mainly constrained by your creativity. I see this causing issues in the field of professional software engineering among people for whom craft meant algorithms and being gatekeepers to technology. For me, coding has always been a means to an end - first, as a big calculator for physics homework, and later as a way to build cool things. So, I find this time of building to be some of the most fun I've had with work. However, the nature of the work has irreversibly changed. Gone are the days of software engineers putting on headphones and working in deep focus without interruption for weeks on end. Coding is suddenly a highly collaborative activity spent in-between designers, coding agents, and code reviewers.

I haven't had much time to work on this website recently. But, I have continued to evolve the Bell AI tool here. A couple months ago I added the ability to subscribe to my posts via SMS (text SUBSCRIBE to +1 212 347 3190). I recently took that project further and added OpenAI's GPT-Live-1 voice model on the phone number. So, you can call Bell at the same number (+1 212 347 3190) and ask about posts on this website. If you find yourself wondering "What was that coffee shop Philip mentioned in Kyoto?", you can call Bell and get a quick answer.

I've been fascinated by the phone system for years - there's something elegant about phone numbers as a universal ID number for humans and businesses. I have been building phone-based tools since college. Today, I think there's some unrealized opportunities in making AI accessible through the legacy telephony system. Perhaps it's the lack of apps and interfaces. So, I intend to continue this experiment of giving this website a phone number, and see where it goes.

Another phone-related experiment recently has been moving my personal email and calendars to iCloud. Many people don't know that their iCloud+ subscription includes support for custom email domains. Many people use Google for email on personal domains, as I did for years. But, my switch to Apple Mail has been surprisingly calming. Part of what Ezra Klein and Debbie Millman discussed on their podcast episode was how the need for efficiency has made everything ranging from homes to subways into investment vehicles that must be optimized. Google's products are incredibly powerful and continuously improving - but, I don't need maximum productivity in my personal life. I love how simple Apple's stack is - it's just email, with a native app, and a calendar that works. It's delightfully boring.

In addition, Siri has gotten pretty good in iOS 27. Transcriptions work consistently. And, I can screenshot a text message and ask Siri to add it to my calendar - and it just works. No model selection or additional subscriptions.

So, that's a dump of what's on my mind. In terms of media - I enjoyed this interview with Noma's lesser-known owner, I'm contemplating the death of hosting in America, and I want to try cooking with Sichuan pepper. Hvalfugl is a band I just discovered in the realm of Bremer/McCoy and Svaneborg Kardyb.

I'll spend most of October in NYC, settling into a new home and routine, and end the month at the Mexico City F1 race rooting for Bottas to win set another speed record cross the finish line.

My best response to the "horde of agents colonizing our brains" is: Be as weird as possible.

• Craig Mod, Roden 118