Smartlife

This is the “Smartlife” blog, not just the “Smartwork” one, which is why we’re improving your leisure time as well. There’s no point in using the latest and greatest in Internet-enabled everything to turbocharge your spreadsheets only to revert to a caveman in your actual life. What sort of cyber-priorities are those? Especially when things like alcohol are involved, and you might need electronically-enabled assistance just to make back up to “not stupid.”

That’s why we’re looking at four ways the Internet can upgrade your alcoholic entertainment in an excellent fusion of entertainment and electronics. The exact opposite of dropping your phone in your pint.

1. Mixologist

The mobile barman you can carry with you, Mixologist converts your iPhone into an expert alchemist. As well as the standard “great big list of drinks that isn’t actually of much use to anyone,” the app includes an essential “just tell it what you have and it’ll tell you what to make” mode. This might as well be called “I’m at a party and want to look good” button, and is alone worth the price.

2. Mail Goggles

Google’s Mail Goggles is an essential service, an ingenious idea, and further proof that those guys should be in charge of everything. Even more so than they already are. It’s a voluntary filter you can set up against those messages you send on the weekends or late at night, checking if it’s really you or the considerably simpler-minded soul who sometimes shares exactly what’s on your mind. Some timed math problems decide if you’re really together enough to be trusted with access to your address book.

Even better is Gmail’s “Undo” feature, which unfortunately can’t travel through time to the night before (yet), but is an absolute lifesaver in that cold-water-shocking second just after you hit send and suddenly scream “NOOOOOOOOO!”

3. DrinkTracker

An application which could go either way — used properly it’s a useful assistant, used stupidly (which seems to be its intended function) and it’s the worst misapplication of technology since the screaming child ringtone. But we trust you to be smart, so we’ll tell you about it. DrinkTracker is designed to record your rate of drinking and monitor your blood-alcohol level.

Obviously attempting to skate under a breathalyzer limit with this would be the dumbest drinking decision short of installing a bottle of scotch in your steering wheel. But realizing that relying on the person doing the drinking to remember how much they’ve had is a bad idea? That’s much better. The DrinkTracker is an intelligent way to track your intake, though whether it’s for reasons of health, curiosity, or boasting is up to you.

4. Cocktail Chemistry Set

We’ll be honest: sometimes “smarter” isn’t about being better, just looking it. Step forward the Cocktail Chemistry Set, the smartest way to get stupider as the night goes on.

There really isn’t anything to say other than “where can I get one?” and “how long will it take?” Just be sure to keep a few notepads lying around after you commence experimentation — you always come up with the best (seeming) ideas after a few, and with a motivator like this who knows what you might discover.

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Tags: Alcoholic Drinks, Drink Recipe, Drinks List