Gizmodo: bars

Foursquare Brings Xbox-360-Style Achievements to Barhopping

Adam Frucci — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:16:41 EDT

I like going out to bars and everything, but I think I'd like it more if I could nerdily acquire fake trophies and points while doing so. Finally, my dream has become a reality with Foursquare.

This free iPhone app from the creator of Dodgeball lets you tell your friends where you're hanging out, but the real fun is in its points system. Every time you go somewhere you get points. First time trying a new place? More points. First person to try a place? Even more points.

And what if you go on a bender and go to a half-dozen bars in one night? Well, that'll earn you a trophy, something you can show off to all your friends to prove you're both a nerd and an alcoholic.

Really, this seems like a lot of fun to me, but it's one of those things that's entirely contingent on your friends also using it, so if you're curious, hop on board and get a handful of your friends to follow. [iTunes Link via ReadWriteWeb]

High-tech Bar Comes with 15-inch Flip Screen

Louis Ramirez — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:11:52 EDT

It won't turn your pad into a full-fledged sports bar, but Cal Spas' L205 sure is trying. The L205 marries a full wooden bar with a flip-down, 15-inch LCD that'll let you keep an eye on the game as you pour your whiskey. The canopy bar also has a rotating 8-bottle wine rack for your non-liquor-drinking friends. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page [via Born Rich]

Smart Coaster Alerts Bartender of Empty Drink

Travis Hudson — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 15:30:15 EDT

Another way to be the most efficient alcoholic is ensuring that your glass is never empty, and this invention from students and a professor at the University of Munich can do so. The intelligent coaster includes a gravity and weight sensor. It can be calibrated to an empty glass before any drinking is done. Once an empty glass is placed on the coaster it can then notify the bartender immediately. No idea on how the bartender would be alerted, but I would assume it would be by some kind of computer or pager system. –Travis Hudson

Coaster wary of empty glasses [Ubergizmo]

Mobile Bar for Juicers On the Go

Charlie White — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:41:41 EST

Can't go anywhere without that bar? Drag this sturdy portable bar along, and you can set up your cups anytime and anywhere. It's complete with an ice bucket, room for plenty of juice bottles and there's even a rail that can hold eleven 750mL bottles.

That's a lot of drinks, almost enough for one night with the Gizmodians at CES. Somehow this whole concept reminds me of those fake Rolex dealers plying their wares on the sidewalks of Canal Street. – Charlie White

Product Page [Bar Products, via Born Rich]

bCODE SMS Drink Sending: Good Idea, Poor Execution

Travis Hudson — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 14:06:23 EDT

bCODE is a new SMS service that allows you to buy drinks for a friend via a SMS or text message. It's a pretty awesome idea, but there are some major flaws. First and foremost, the service costs a ton, for the consumer and the bar. Mainly because the bar has to install special scanning equipment. It also sucks for the consumer because you can't easily buy stangers a drink, you have to know the phone number of the person. So if you really want to send a drink to a stranger, you have to go get their cellphone number first, therefore eliminating the entire purpose of this system.

The bar is probably the only place in town that I can forget about all things tech and just drink myself stupid—the way it should be. Lets keep it that way. – Travis Hudson

Scary Tech: bCode SMS Service Lets You Buy A Friend a Beer via Cell Phone [Real Tech News]

Portable Bar

johnb — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 08:40:14 EDT

We here at Gizmodo know the pain of not having an inch of counter space available for the preparation of a libation of consequence at, say, 5am just before heading out the door to our life-guarding job at the nunnery. Therefore we encourage you and yours to consider purchasing this portable bar which folds and unfolds and weighs a mere 59 pounds. Portable, easy to assemble, and able to provide a surface for the purveyance of cool libations at a moment's notice.

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