THE ENDLESS ONLINE OPEN BAR
In uncertain economic times, it’s important to know where you can cop a sorrow-drowning free drink — and indeed, where you’re encouraged to do so. So myopenbar.com, which alerts people as to where the latest promotional alcohol giveaways are being held, is performing a recessionary social service.
Not to mention building a pretty good business model.
This sounds very much like the ingredients that go into Thrillist, DailyCandy.com, and other email-subscription powered services. Since those Web 1.0-type operations are proven to make big money and attract even bigger acquisition offers, I foresee a very bright future for this venture.
I also foresee regular check-ins for me on the New York City edition of the site. The immediate lineup of free-flowing spirits around Manhattan seems to be heavy on the vodka; that’s acceptable, although considering the nippy weather, I’d prefer a more warming whisky or rum. Moochers can’t be choosers, though — even marketing-friendly ones.
ZUNE-AGEDDON
If you gifted someone with a used Zune this holiday season, the recipient is probably hating you right now.
Looks like Microsoft has been blindsided by this meltdown and has yet to push out a fix. The good news is that it’s only affecting this one older version of the media player, not the other models; and contrary to some reports, the firmware updates aren’t to blame. Otherwise, many a Zune owner (assuming there are all that many — I’ve seen a grand total of two of these in the NYC wild) is now in proud ownership of a brick.
I’ll smugly note that my trusty iPod Touch (16GB, if that matters) has been plugging along without incident, last night and today. Suck it, Zunesters.