beer

Your own private kegger for St. Paddy's Day

So much for our trend-spotting skills. We thought for sure that, where beer dispensing is concerned, the next big thing would be built-in taps, whether they be for the fridge or the game console. Instead, what seems to be taking hold is the portable version, we assume for reasons of practicality.

Case in point (so to speak): The Heineken "BeerTender," which Gizmodo says it wrote about nearly four years ago, at long last is arriving on U.S. shores. The attractive dispenser accommodates a 5-liter mini-keg, though the long delay means it'll face some stiff competition. Even … Read more

Today in beer tech: The energy-sucking Canadian "beer fridge"

You know that extra refrigerator you keep in the garage, the one that's full of soft drinks, extra holiday turkeys, five cartons of your favorite ice cream, and, yes, surplus cases of beer for poker night? Every third Canadian household has one, and it's costing the already-chilled nation in extra power.

The "beer fridge" is usually an older machine that's been replaced in the kitchen by a newer model, and their owners don't really consider that the dinosaur iceboxes emit a lot of greenhouse gases and eat tons of electricity.

Popular Mechanics makes a … Read more

Have a desktop kegger all to yourself

To show we're not snobs when it comes to libations, the martini aficionados at Crave wanted to give equal time to the beer drinkers among us.

So even though we've already highlighted such hops-friendly items as the HomePub, Gamerator, and MyFridge keg cooler recently, we'll also mention Avanti's "Mini Pub Mini Beer Keg Dispenser." It's an appliance that's suitable for the everyday consumer and connoisseur alike--not only does it accommodate a generous 5-liter mini-keg for entertaining (or just solo enjoyment), but Techie Diva says temperature can be regulated by its digital control.… Read more

Give Reddit some credit: They know how to pack a bar

FREE BEER!!!!

That was the rallying cry for the Reddit party in New York's East Village on Saturday night, the latest stop on the social news site's "Drankkit World Tour 2007"--an event series that has made it to San Francisco and Boston so far, with Toronto, Chicago, D.C., and a few others still to come. The Gotham installment took place in a woefully undersized Alphabet City dive called The Hanger Bar, and was not-so-woefully under-publicized. Reddit had reason to keep the rabble out.

That's because the beer was free all night long. Guess … Read more

This week in laptops

This week's product announcements included the sub-$1,000 Fujitsu LifeBook A6110 as well as two new sub-$1,000 Satellite Pros from Toshiba. Asus revealed specs for the sub-$400 Eee PC and promised North America availability within a few weeks. Acme stretched the notion of portable computing with its fold-out gaming computer, which includes three 17-inch screens. And Lenovo seemed to be toying with the idea of bringing fully rugged ThinkPads to the U.S.

In Apple news, Mac OS X Leopard was officially given an October 26 release date. Rumors of a fresh 13-inch Mac laptop … Read more

In Japan, signs are smelled as well as seen

After the introduction of scented phones, it was inevitable that more technology playing to the olfactory glands would make its way to the public. Yet we didn't anticipate seeing it put to use in commercial signage.

NTT Communications is doing just that in Tokyo, where it's been experimenting with "its latest aroma-emitting digital sign technology, called 'Kaoru Digital Signage,'" according to Pink Tentacle. And its test site is one of the most significant venues in Japanese culture: a pub. Outside the Kirin City Beer Hall are 19-inch displays that provide aromas to match particular images. But … Read more

Beer on tap, straight from the fridge door

It's a good thing colleague Caroline McCarthy is swamped at DigitalLife, or she'd be accusing me of blatantly poaching on her beat with this item. (And she'd be right.) But some things just can't wait.

Behold the "HomePub" fridge freezer from Sweden's Asko, which brilliantly designed a special tap recess so it wouldn't take away any internal space--obviously anticipating potential spousal objections. Appliancist says there's also a shelf inside made especially to store "spare kegs," as if there are such things. And the whole appliance, which lists for about $… Read more

Vote: Battle of the nonviolent robots (The Elite 1000)

Voting is now closed for this round. See the results of these battles here and vote on the Final Four matchups here.

Get it now! Your updated, printer-friendly tournament bracket.

This is why they call it Late September Lack-of-Sanity. Upsets, upsets, upsets were the theme of last week's nonviolent robot vote-battles, and only two No. 1 seeds are still in the mix.

Which nonviolent robots will win their division finals and go on to the Final Four? Vote for the winners right now; you have until Sept. 23 to vote on these Elite 1000 matchups.

See last week's final scores … Read more

Dysfunctional-workplace anecdotes

I joined Texas Instruments as a chip design engineer in 1980, straight out of school. I had thought we partied hard in New York; I realized how wrong I was when I moved to the Lone Star State.

Open containers of alcohol and drinking while driving were actually legal in Texas, back then. That's right, you couldn't drive drunk, but you could pull up right next to a cop with a beer in your hand. Wild.

Lots of guys--including our manager--would sometimes go out drinking at lunch. I'm not talking about a beer with lunch; I'm talking about pitchers of beer with maybe some food. In case you were wondering, we worked on defense projects, like missile and radar guidance systems. We all had secret security clearances.

Our manager used to throw annual keg parties at his home. They were a blast and great for morale.

The timeframe happened to coincide with America's country-western phase. You know, when Dallas was a hit show and everybody wanted to know who shot J.R. A bar called The Corral served, not two-for-one, but three-for-one happy hour drinks. I wish there was a videotape of all those engineers from New York and everywhere else trying to do the Texas Two-Step after a few triple Jack and Cokes.… Read more

Vote: Battle of the nonviolent robots (The Sweet Sixteen)

Voting is now closed for this round. See the results of these battles here and vote on the Elite Eight matchups here.

Get it now! Your full-size, printer-friendly tournament bracket.

And then there were 16.

These robots don't want to fight. That's why you have to pick the winners. After two weeks of "battling" it out, our field of nonviolent robots is down to 16 competitors.

Voting is open from now until Sept. 17. Check back then for the results of this round and vote on the Elite Eight matchups.

See last week's final scores … Read more