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Science

Beer Stein Goes Hi Tech 294

Posted by CmdrTaco from the well-its-about-time dept.
Spudley writes "Beer is a subject close to many slashdot-readers' hearts, so you'll be pleased to learn that Mitsubishi has invented a glass that can tell when it's empty, and order a refill from the bar. Of course, it'll still have to be filled the old fashioned way, but at least the bar staff will know which ones need refilling - the... ehm... empty ones." I like that it's dishwasher safe. Drunk people can't be trusted to hand wash glass.
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Beer Stein Goes Hi Tech More

Beer Stein Goes Hi Tech

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  • If only... (Score:3, Funny)

    by bluprint ( 557000 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:11PM (#3285438) Homepage
    Wonder if I can get my wife to monitor the glass...

    • ... and in related news..... (Score:4, Funny)

      by CharlezManning ( 551849 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:38PM (#3285694)
      Mitsubishi Beer Glass Division (MBG) to be sued by mother of social misfit that drank himself to death.

      Says Mrs B Sober:"My boy, Larry (37), was such a nice boy. Sure he couldn't talk to people so never went out. When he drank at home I would switch to serving him warm milk after the third glass and send him off to bed. Then MBG came along and he could sit in the corner of the pub and the beer kept coming. The MBG didn't know when to stop, didn't order milk after the third glass or snuggle him into bed. MBG killed my son. MBG is responsible because they should have a warning label that says it can enhance addictive behaviour and won't order milk or put you to bed."

  • bah (Score:1, Redundant)

    by qqtortqq ( 521284 )
    Absolutely completely useless. This makes your life easier how, by not having to utter two words to a bartender?

    • Re:bah (Score:2, Insightful)

      by bluprint ( 557000 )
      I think the bigger thing is for restaurants. It would allow them to provide a higher level of service, with little additional cost (except for the initial cost of the system), providing that costs associated with replacing broken steins is relatively low...
      • it's probably way cheap. the technology is like that used in sensormatic - probably well under $1 per unit, even at release. i bet they throw in 1000 glasses with your order of the base station (where the margin is).
    • if the bartender isn't paying attention this could be a big timesaver. remember who buys this: not the bartender, who wants to schmooze the pretty women and get tips, but the owner, who wants to sell more beer.
  • Especially if they are too drunk to notice they need a refill without an alarm going off...

  • Next thing on the list (Score:3, Funny)

    by llamalicious ( 448215 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:13PM (#3285455) Journal
    is to modify one of those Japanese humanoid robots to home-in on the signals from these empty glasses.
    Strap a keg on it's back, give it a serious collision avoidance and guidance system, and let it roam the bars, filling empties.
    • I'm getting a mental image of an Omnibot running around, screaming "Beer, Will Robinson! Beer, Will Robinson!"...
    • The problem with this, of course, is that those robots are only 32" tall. That would really freak the drunks out, having a little robot walk up and pull on their pant leg, asking if they can refill their beer for them. One possible quote: "Whoa, hey little guy. You know, back when I was a teenager, you were a pink elephant."
  • As a home brewer and a geek this invention is very near and dear to my heart. Anything that can make it easier to get another beer in a crowded bar, and uses technology to do it has got to be a good think. I love Mitsubishi, and beer.

  • win (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by ArsonSmith ( 13997 )
    can we win beer stien's money? That would be cool

  • Don't entrust your glass with your credit-card number... :)

    Or, on the contrary: "I don't know, darling, maybe I forgot to reset the glass when I left the pub..." :)
  • we have brains. we can tell if a glass is empty or not. even a child can do this. what the fuck?

  • How many men does it take to open a beer bottle? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    None. The beer should be open when the woman brings it to you.

    BOOYAH!

  • drunk tasks. (Score:3, Funny)

    by r00tarded ( 553054 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:15PM (#3285475)
    i dunno about you taco, but about the only thing i won't do when i'm drunk is the dishes.
    • Strangely, every time I get drunk enough to regret it the next morning, I wake up and find that I've done all the dishes.

      I'm just a sick fuck, I guess.

  • this might be more useful... (Score:5, Funny)

    by bje2 ( 533276 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:15PM (#3285479)
    how about a beer stein that can scan the crowd in the bar...and then keep ordering you beers until the ladies look good...

    • Re:this might be more useful... (Score:5, Funny)

      by binner1 ( 516856 ) <bdwalton&gmail,com> on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:31PM (#3285638) Homepage
      How about it keeps ordering them beers until you look good?

      -Ben
    • but if you have to rely on the mug to know you need another, rather than figuring it out for yourself, you're *way* past the point it matters . . .


      :)


      hawk

  • *Real* High Tech: Larry Niven's Glass (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Embedded Geek ( 532893 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:15PM (#3285480) Homepage
    In one of his stories, SF author Larry Niven proposed a beer mug that had a matter transporter in the bottom. Instead of calling the bartender, it automatically, silently refilled itself from the keg.

    One of the narrator's comments was "A glass like that could destroy a man"

  • Giant Japanese Conglomerates that make everything from cars, to televisions to electronic beer steins? Because success, is celebrated... anyway.

    This is, sorta neat I guess. But, isn't it easier just to flag down the waitress? Maybe the clubs they go to are really crowded or something. its easy to get a drink at the strip clubs I go to.

  • Interesting, but. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by viper21 ( 16860 ) <scott@NoSPaM.iqfoundry.com> on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:16PM (#3285486) Homepage
    I'm sorry, but does anybody realize how stupid this is?

    Like people that work at bars (or the bars themselves) are organized enough to guarantee that:

    a. somebody will keep track of who, at which table, has which glass.

    b. waitstaff will actually use this.

    Come on. You look at a table. Glass is either full or empty. Or, if you are smart, you sold them a pitcher. That was probably the last technological update that any beer pouring establishment needed.

    Fill glasses, fill pitcher, deliver to table. Periodically monitor the pitcher mechanism until you no longer detect an amber, or red, or dark, frothy content. When content is empty, fork a process to your waitress. Have her deliver a new pitcher of frothy goodness.

    Electronic beer glasses, heh. Are they going to assign individual addresses to every glass made? Where there is one bar, there are more bars. Talk about miscommunication.

    "OH! That must be glass 716 from across the street"

    Heh,

    -S
    • Yah, how long before the hackers get involved? This was invented over by MIT after all, so it can't be long before folks have devices to order rounds for folks who aren't done yet, order goofy girly drinks with umbrellas in them instead of the beer the person had been drinking, or even jam a specific mug so that your annoying drunk buddy won't get any more until he gets off his lazy ass and staggers off to the bar.

      And wouldn't these need a GPS beacon so that a waitress would know *where* the empty was? And maybe some sort of means of determining what the person was drinking, either special glasses for each offering or have the glasses be uniquely ID'd and the contents updated by the staff at each refill? Yikes. Too hard to implement, too easy to mess with. The only tech advance the local bar needs is some form of EZ-Pass, so I can just wave my keychain at a sensor and they send me a bill or charge my credit card instead of messing with change. That I could use.
    • Come on. You look at a table. Glass is either full or empty. Or, if you are smart, you sold them a pitcher. That was probably the last technological update that any beer pouring establishment needed.

      Obviously you've never been in a high-end restaurant in the midst of a dinner rush (or a popular bar at the peak of partytime, like 2 or 3am). It can be murder to get the pretty lady who brings the magic jump juice to come around. If they can make a cocktail and wineglass version (and I don't see why not) they might just have something to contribute to the future of the service industry.

      Most establishments in NYC (my base of experience) already run their ordering off a touch-screen system, eliminating errors, waste and such. The next logical step is a bluetooth-enabled waiter PDA that maps the floor, the tables, and shows the frazzles server whos glasses are empty at a strategic level. She/he can then plan her/his serving game plan.

      Trust me, keeping track of 5 or more tables eatch with large parties and seperate orders spread out over a large floor plan is a headache even for a seasoned server. Sure, if I'm talking about my sleepy corner bar, this is the most frivilous thing in the world, but for a hectic place like the W or Soho Grand (or some of the more classy clubs) this could be a big sell.
      • Obviously you've never been in a high-end restaurant in the midst of a dinner rush

        Whoops! s/been/worked

        I assume most people have been in a busy place, but not many people know what it's like from the other end of the equation.
        • Well, I have worked in high-end and low-end establishments, behind the bar and on the floor, and IMHO this is a misapplication of technology.

          Truly, it's not that different from walking the floor, noting who needs drinks, and consolidating everything you need for the return trip. The real problem with most places, in my experience, is that at least 90% of servers don't know how to consolidate their orders very well. It doesn't matter if they know everyone who needs a drink, they're still bringing one table's drinks out at a time.

          So instead, why not have touchscreens at every table, where the order can be made, paid for, and the drink delivered by whomever is available?

          It just seems to me that the mug idea would only work if you were employing 'top 5%'-type servers in your establishment, and even most high-end clubs don't hire for that kind of brain power. 5'9" and curvy, yes, brainy, uh...no.

    • You must not get out much.

      If only the glass could broadcast location and nightly drinking history. I need the waitress to find me and keep me serving until I've had about ten, then know to tell me to sod off and go home instead of bringing me an eleventh.

      (Of course this would be hard to implement across three or four bars/clubs in a night...)

    • Beer glasses? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by TheEidukas ( 319478 )
      Why drink beer from a glass when my PBR comes pre-packaged in an easily disposable container?
      Quite frankly this project is a waste of time and resources that could be more useful in the attaining of more beer and the consuming of materials thereof.
      Why waste money on these glasses when the R&D money would be better suited to get more beer, cheaper for you and me... who's with me?
    • Are they going to assign individual addresses to every glass made? Where there is one bar, there are more bars. Talk about miscommunication.

      This is what IPv6 is designed to facilitate. We'd have enough IPs to give each beer glass on Earth its own address.
  • that is the second best usage i can think of for 802.11b...

  • And this helps how? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by ProppaT ( 557551 )
    So, an invention that helps the drunk get drunker, quicker. Sounds like a real winner...

    I think a more worthwhile invention would be a mug that electronically disables the drinkers car keys for a certain amount of time when the mug runs dry.

  • Good idea? Maybe... (Score:4, Informative)

    by donutz ( 195717 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:17PM (#3285501) Homepage Journal
    Yahoo is also running a similar story [yahoo.com], based on a New Scientist article [newscientist.com]. In the New Scientist article, this technology makes sense: in a restaurant setting, waiters can make sure to keep people's glasses topped off, that way the customers stay happier. But in a pub setting, I dont see this technology working as well. I mean, how does the glass know when the drinker has drunk enough for the night? Obviously it doesn't....and because everyone is different, there's no algorithm that can tell you how much a person should be allowed to drink, and that'd be treading on the person's privacy anyway. But yeah, I'd love to see this used on restaurant soda and water glasses...
    • Well my friend the glass may not know how much the person has had, but the device it will be signaling to might.

      Then if you want to get real crazy maybe we can put a little device in the stool that sends a signal of how much the person weighs, then we can match his/her weight with the amount of drink he/she has had and have an intelligent idea whether they have had too much to drink or not.

      All this talk is making me thirsty...
      • Well my friend the glass may not know how much the person has had, but the device it will be signaling to might.

        I had that same thought, but then you need to know the person's weight...which means you either ask them (will they tell the truth?), make them step on a scale (maybe as you herd people in through the door?), or guess (are they wearing bulky clothes? Are they fat or muscular?).

        So once you get past that, then you realize that some people can really handle their liquor and some cant, regardless of how much they weigh. I wouldnt want to be refused a drink when a computer tells me I'm already too drunk if I'm really not. That's an insult. And if I really am am drunk, well hell, I'd probably be just as mad at that computer for thinking it's so smart and knows so much about me.

        Then will pubs have to start formulating privacy policies, given that they are collecting all this personal information from you?

        It just sounds like a lot of trouble.
    • Also, a pub/bar is more of a social setting than a restaurant. Part of the deal is bothering the bartender with your life, or using the "let me get a drink" excuse to cruise the bar, or the "can I get you a drink?" to talk to someone of the opposite sex just enough to hear the "not interested" part. Having an excuse to move around the bar lets you interact with other people, even (specially) if they're strangers.

      "Automating" the re-fill would not be a convenience but a hassle, it would remove a great part of the ritual from the whole bar-thing. It's not like we have a lot of excuses left... going to the bathroom is a perfectly valid but too attractive excuse to use in public. Since the whole point of going to a bar is the ritual, that's probably not a good idea.

      In a restaurant, you normally don't interact with other customers. Contacting the waiter/waitress may actually be an excercise in acrobatics and gesticulation, but it's definitely a disposable part of the restaurant ritual: you go there to eat and interact with those at your table, any moment interacting with someone else is usually an interruption and minimizing it makes sense.
    • >I mean, how does the glass know when the drinker
      >has drunk enough for the night?


      well, to drink, first ya gots to bring the mug to yo mout. Den ya breeds out, and den ya drinks.


      And they test on the exhale . . .


      :)


      hawk

  • Need a new bar (Score:3, Funny)

    by saintm ( 142527 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:18PM (#3285513)
    I like that it's dishwasher safe. Drunk people can't be trusted to hand wash glass.

    Either the bars you go to are staffed by drunks.. or they make you clean your own glasses.

    Either way I'd find a new bar.
    • Either the bars you go to are staffed by drunks.. or they make you clean your own glasses.

      Either way I'd find a new bar.

      Or just remember your wallet the next time you go out. Then maybe they won't make you wash the dishes to pay for your beers :p

  • Price per glass? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Arethan ( 223197 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:18PM (#3285515) Journal
    I didn't see any mention of price on the page.
    It has to be comparable to the price of a regular glass, or bars and restaurants simply won't buy them. Broken dishes happen in these places. There is simply no denying it, and no way around it. Damn near everyone has been in an establishment and heard it happen. I can understand an owner shying away from these if they turn $100 in broken dishes into $1000 in broken dishes.
  • I mean ain't life already more than easy enough for us? What's next? A device that'll let you know when you need to get off?
    • A device that'll let you know when you need to get off?

      Some sort of auto-eroticiser... I'll have to think about that. Might be a business plan in there somewhere.

  • Whats next? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ZaneMcAuley ( 266747 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:23PM (#3285565) Homepage Journal
    GPS navigation embedded in the glass so it can tell you where to find the toilets?

  • Not quite... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BadDoggie ( 145310 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:28PM (#3285609) Homepage Journal
    Umm... Taco? The drunk people are the customers, who are rarely called upon to wash their own glasses, and most bars don't let the staff drink (bah!).

    This might be kinda interesting for Oktoberfest, but the cost for more than 1M of the 1-liter mugs would be incredible. Speaking of Oktoberfest, I'll let you all in on how it all works here:

    1. Put your butt on a bench and they'll bring you a beer. You will NOT be served at Oktoberfest unless you are seated. Everyone will let you sit down for the two or three minutes necessary to order a beer if you ask nicely and tell them that's what you're doing.
    2. Tourists go to the HB (Hofbräuhaus); the best beer is Augustiner.
    3. To be sure to get faster service, fuller beer steins and better food, tip 15% or more. The women work HARD (and if you had to listen to the "Hey, Baby" song 3 times an hour, 13 hours a day for 2 1/2 weeks straight, you'd understand).
    woof.

    What I need is not a beer mug that tells the staff I need another. I need one that tells me I don't!

    • The drunk people are the customers, who are rarely called upon to wash their own glasses

      Maybe Taco should carry more money with him the next time he goes to the bar so he doesn't have to wash glasses to work his tab off.

  • Japanese "to do" list (Score:4, Interesting)

    by totallygeek ( 263191 ) <sellis@totallygeek.com> on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:30PM (#3285629) Homepage
    I would like to see the Japanese "to do" list. I mean, they come up with some interesting stuff, but it is all filler for Sharper Image or some other yuppie, worthless rag.

    • I was in one conveyor belt sushi bar - for the uninitiated these are where plates of sushi whizz around on conveyor belts, you pick the piece you want, and then keep a growing stack of plates at your side for counting. Different coloured plates carry different priced sushi, so a typical check out is something like three red, two blue, eight green, OK, you owe us 8000 yen or whatever.

      Anyway I was in this one conveyor belt sushi bar where the plates had different patterns, but instead of counting them the waitress came over with something that looked like a bar code scanner, but no laser, she waved it vaguely at the pile of plates from several feet away, and the thing printed out an itemised list of everything we had eaten ... (and yes I did check there were no obvious marks on the rims of the stack of plates). Just had to give her the cc and we were off. Often wondered exactly how that was done, guess it's embedded stuff again ...

      • ...the waitress came over with something that looked like a bar code scanner, but no laser, she waved it vaguely at the pile of plates from several feet away, and the thing printed out an itemised list of everything we had eaten.


        Actually, that is pretty cool. I always liked the BASF or 3M commercial where it talked about inventions of the future, and then said "DONE" to Typhoon-proof glass. I guess I would rather have more genius people working on things other than automated sushi calculators.

    • This product sounds like an example of chindogu [chindogu.com]

      There's a fine line between that and Sharper Image products.

  • Bars are too chaotic (Score:3, Interesting)

    by e1en0r ( 529063 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:36PM (#3285676) Homepage
    Unless this has a GPS embedded in it, how are the waitresses going to find the glass to refill it? People wander around at bars so the glass probably won't be in the same place that it was filled. It's too much to keep track of.

    A better use of this would be at a restaurant where there's assigned seating and people stay in the same place.
    • Simple... bluetooth transceivers in both the glasses and tables!


    • This is the third post I've seen suggesting that these glasses should have GPS embedded in them so the waitress can locate them.

      GPS is a GLOBAL Positioning System. Do we really need to be able to locate a glass in another hemisphere? And besides, if GPS's resolution is only granular down to the square-meter level, what good will that do in a bar that has a dozen glasses per square meter?

      A simple RF "marco-polo" kind of system, where the wait staff has a receiver that beeps quicker the closer they get to the glass, would be more than sufficient.

      And annoying, too.
      • GPS is a GLOBAL Positioning System. Do we really need to be able to locate a glass in another hemisphere? And besides, if GPS's resolution is only granular down to the square-meter level, what good will that do in a bar that has a dozen glasses per square meter?

        If the server can't figure out which glass in a square meter needs refilling then he/she has problems.
      • This is the third post I've seen suggesting that these glasses should have GPS embedded in them so the waitress can locate them.

        GPS is a GLOBAL Positioning System. Do we really need to be able to locate a glass in another hemisphere? And besides, if GPS's resolution is only granular down to the square-meter level, what good will that do in a bar that has a dozen glasses per square meter?

        So what we need here isn't a GPS, but a BPS (Beer Positioning System). Instead of having the glass figure out where it is, just have it figure out when the glass needs to be refilled. It broadcasts a basic "fill me" signal containing not much more than an id #. Located at various points around the bar you have a half dozen or more receivers that all listen for the signal of glasses asking for refills. Some or all of the receivers hear the signal at different times and different strengths, transmit the info to a central computer, and the central computer calculates the beer's position.

    • GPS. Rule. I can snitch mine and take it on a mountain hike.

      "We need a refill at table 2, two at table 11, and one at ... glacier national park? dispatch a chopper..."

  • Can you configure it to decide if a glass is half full or half empty? I'd say the pessimist glasses [despair.com] from Despair.com already provide a clear enough indication.

    Or see the recent 9 Chickweed Lane [comics.com] takes on the question (starting around the beginning of March).

  • Rather than just a way of improving customer service this strikes me as more a way of selling more beer. The moment your glass is empty someone comes offering to fill it it. Not only are they selling more beer but they're getting people a LOT more drunk as it's now so much more convenient to have another one.

  • Costs more, but works just as well (Score:5, Funny)

    by Enry ( 630 ) <enry@@@wayga...net> on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:43PM (#3285741) Journal
    I go to the local Irish pub and say:

    "Keep this Guinness full"

    Then leave a nice tip.

    Works every time.
    • And Guinness would be tricky for this poor little glass. I hope it's configurable...how dorky-cool would that be -- to know what kind of beer you were drinking and how long it takes to properly pour it...

    • Obviously you don't know much about Guinness or you wouldn't suggest such a thing. It should be poured slowly, left to settle and then drunk at leisure. You go up to the bar to order the new Guinness when the old one is about 1/5th from the bottom, to give the new one time to settle while you finish off the old one. If you keep topping it up, it will never settle properly.


      Personally I drink Murphy's which is nicer.

  • Where the beer really is (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tattva ( 53901 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @02:46PM (#3285757) Homepage Journal
    Beer is a subject close to many slashdot-readers' hearts

    Prolly closer to their guts.

  • Finally, a product announcement on Slashdot where I could actually use a Beowulf cluster of them!

  • Future Upgrades (Score:5, Funny)

    by DeadBugs ( 546475 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @03:07PM (#3285935) Homepage
    If the girl with the mustache and 3 chins starts looking attractive the Beer mug should stop ordering refills and start ordering coffee.

  • Application: karaoke bars. (Score:4, Informative)

    by sulli ( 195030 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @03:08PM (#3285940) Journal
    Those of you who have been to Japan or Japanese neighborhoods in the US will be familiar with the "karaoke box" type bar, where the user rents a room and sings with 10-20 of his closest friends.

    Now many of these places offer bottled beer because there isn't a good way to offer draft beer when you don't have a bartender in the room. And putting a tap in the room would be an invitation to massive floods when a drunken salaryman (or woman) accidentally forgets that he needs a glass for all that beer he's drinking.

    But with this solution, problem solved! The manager simply looks at the beer status display, and when enough glasses show up as empty on the display, he sends a waiter back to the room with freshly poured Super Dry. [asahibeer.co.jp] Happy customers, more revenue, perfect!

  • Half empty? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bender Unit 22 ( 216955 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @03:14PM (#3285990) Journal
    So when it's only half filled, will the chip see it as half empty or half full??

  • Beer? Whisky glasses are more important. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Igirisu ( 197598 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @03:22PM (#3286034) Journal
    Heck, when my pint's finished, it's pretty obvious, and I'm not overly pissed off if the bar stewards nick the last few dribbles...but when they walk off with a not-yet-empty tumbler of whisky, that really pisses me off.

    This is the type of glass that needs to have a loud "I'm not empty, leave me alone" sensor. Bar staff are just blind when it comes to whisky tumblers!
  • I mean really, the Big Brother Beer Stein! Now my drinking is being electronicly spied on. Does everyone on the planet have to know everything that I'm doing every second?

    How annoying to have the waitress zoom over the very second you sip the last of your beer every time. "Would you like another?". Uh, no... I'll ask for another if I want one thank you :P

  • what you really need is a device that will tell you how many drinks all the ladies in the bar have ordered.

  • Privacy Alert! (Score:3, Funny)

    by ConceptJunkie ( 24823 ) on Thursday April 04, 2002 @03:48PM (#3286224) Homepage Journal
    How dare they consider this?! Now every time I visit a bar, they will be keeping tabs on when and how much I drink and sell it to the Alcohol industry. This is a gross violation of my privacy and I will only ever drink straight from the bottle/keg/bathtub/still to preserve my precious privacy!

    Won't someone think of the children?!?! er...

    • Yeah, just wait until amazon.com [amazon.com] starts opening bars using this technology.. You'll see things like this printed on your receipt:

      Customers who consumed 8 drafts also purchased:
      o Trojan Brand PreLubricated Latex Condoms
      o Freezer King Microwave Buritos
      o Certs Wintergreen Breath Mints
      o Pepto-Bismal (economy size)
      o Medic Ibuprofen (economy size)
      o Female Escort (1 hour minimum)

      Please visit our gift shop on the way out

      Shayne

  • Beer is a subject close to many slashdot-readers

    Frankly, I think drinking alcohol as a beverage is downright stupid--and no, I'm not trying to make some moral point. It's just not the slightest bit practical. C'mon now, think about it:

    - it's expensive
    - it really doesn't taste very good by itself
    - it doesn't quench your thirst
    - it damages your brain and liver
    - it has a high fat content (10g/std. serving)
    - it wastes your time if you get tipsy or a hangover
    - it dulls your wit, judgment, and intelligence
    - it creates all sorts of societal problems when used irresponsibly
    - used as an escape, it is highly unhealthy psychologically

    ..and if you think it'll help you get guys/girls, you've got a bigger problem than lack of a mate. (ie. it should not be a requisite for acting sociable)

    Why on earth would any self-respecting geek want to poison themselves with this crap? Stop listening to the big beer companies. Drink water. Live healthfully. Enjoy life.
    • Christ man, most of your reasons also apply to computers!

      Too expensize!
      Does nothing by itself!
      Does not satisfy your thirst for knowledge!
      It damages your wrists!
      It causes you to not excersize and you get fat!
      It wastes ALL your time!
      Sites like /. dull your wit, judgement and intelligence!
      It creates all sorts of societal problems when used irresponsively!
      Used as an escape, it is highly unhealthy psychologically!

      I could also go on about cars, or fire or any other possible subject that I was personally aganst! Oh NO!

      You know there have been several studies that beer is actually good for you in moderation
      (1-2 drinks a day!)

      But thanks for your uninformed FUD, /. would be nothing without it.

  • I think this is a left-over April Fool's joke, you know it's late because of the time-difference and all... :)

  • How about personal medallions that learn your pickup preferences and glow when you approach someone compatible. That way you could, for example, bypass the ones who are searching for that special someone and go right to the ones who just came in to get laid.
  • As a Brit, I'll tell you the most annoying thing about bars that serve you at the table - waiters who take away the glasses before you've finished. It's like they watching you, waiting for you to get within 1cm of the bottom of the glass (a good mouthful) and then they rush up to take it away. Bastards!


    I've travelled most of the world and I've never found a bar that beats an English/Irish pub. Other nationalities simply don't get it.

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