There was a time well before PS3 and Xbox 360 that the best games were not on your console or computer but at the arcade, bowling alley, or bar. Technology made the standup arcade game mostly obsolete; we can get better graphics and more engaging play from the comfort of our homes. Bar favorites like Golden Tee and Mortal Combat lost their coin-eating appeal. McKinney Ad Agency out of Durham, NC, has a 10% rule. The McKinney Ten Percent is a program that encourages employees to use 1/10th of their work time on non-client related projects and as a result, Beercade was born. Created for Big Boss Brewing…

It seems that BBDO New York has come up with another way for bars to become a different kind of “social”.  As I opened Mashable today and saw one of my favorite things, a pint of Guinness, intertwined with a symbol of the digital age, the QR code. We all know that people flock to the local watering hole to relieve stress from work or meet up with friends to talk about what’s new in their lives.  The type of social scene at a bar can often determine its patrons and vice versa but either way, people go to certain bars because they either want to socialize with their friends or meet new people. The capabilities…

Even dorks need downtime, and what better way to relax than with a nice cold beer? But wait. What if you didn’t know the exact temperature of the beer you were drinking? What if there wasn’t a computer involved in any part of the beer drinking and/or partying that may or may not happen once said beer was consumed? What if you needed a wide array of data about the quality of the beer and which of your friends had consumed the most beer in any given time frame? The guys from Yelp have you covered. They’ve invented an iPad controlled beer keg. Using RFID tags, beer drinkers must “check in” before pouring a beer,…

Concerned less with bettering mankind so much as revelry, the team at Willow Garage has spent what I can only assume must’ve been an enormous amount of effort creating a ‘beer-bot’: a robot that – surprise! – goes to the fridge and grabs you a beer. ‘Now, Ty,’ you say, ‘Ty, this beer-bot business is old hat!’ I hear that. Musty, crumpled stovepipe hat. Every time you turn around, everyone and their grandma is building a beer-bot. The market saturation of beer-bots is just getting ridiculous. Gee whiz, guys. Slow down. But this isn’t grandma’s beer-bot. The PR2 (Willow couldn’t be arsed to give the…

Awhile ago, I wanted to purchase some custom Converse shoes. Y’know, how on their website, they let you design your own? I’m all sorts of Canadian, so I was turned away upon checking out. I’ve been ensaddened ever since. In fact, it isn’t the first time my online shopping experience has been stifled by my nationality. But lo! Now I can drown my sorrows! Taking a page from Converse and throwing iconic brand visibility to the wind, Heineken has begun a bizarre online campaign  that allows you to ditch the green bottle and design your own, for a truly… uh… custom drinking experience? That seems weird…

Ever found a beer that you really like but not too sure on where to get it? BreweryFans.com is a new website that was created to help beer fans ask different breweries “where can I get your beer?” The website uses Web 2.0 and maps which restaurants, bars and beer stores carry a specific beer so that fans can easily find where to purchase their beer. “BreweryFans.com aims to make history by being the first company to use Web 2.0 tools to begin to show where any of the more than 10,000 craft beer brands in the U.S. can be found, purchased, and drank,” said Jonathon Lunardi, BreweryFans.com CEO and…