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| Appy Hour: Our Favorite iPhone Applications for NYC Boozing
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November 4, 2009
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Having long ago gotten all the weapons on Zombieville USA, pounded the Blue Öyster Cult cowbell into oblivion and auto-tuned our voice enough for a Kanye West box set, we were starting to think our iPhone was about to go the way of the Atari 2600. Fortunately, great minds drink alike, and several have come up with handy applications for not only finding every open bar and happy hour in NYC, but for ensuring a friend with access to these boozing-related apps next time you want to get inter-faced.
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HAPPY HOURED
The new jack making the big splash is Happy Houred, an app that searches out all the happy hour specials in your immediate vicinity, based on search criteria including time and type of bar. Looking for a "hipster bar" with a wine special at 4:00 PM? No sweat. A cocktail bar with a midnight special? No problem! Tequila shots at 6:00 AM? You may have a problem.
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FREE BOOZE
Oh, you don’t want to pay for your drinks? Well, those cheap dates at Myopenbar finally pulled themselves away from their latest complimentary Dewar's binge to let you in on Free Booze. All the familiar features are there too: the calendar, the rating system and, of course, the commentary. Free Colt 45 at some dump in Bushwick? To the Shecky-Mobile!
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DRINK TRACKER
It’s like the Alcohawk…but fun! And since you don’t have to drive anywhere (ah, New York City), it’s gonna be hard not to use the Drink Tracker to establish—and break—personal drinking records. So it's a good thing this app not only keeps a real time measurement of how much blood is in your alcohol level, it also has handy ass-saving functions, like a location e-mailer so someone can pick you up.
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DON’T DIAL
Here’s a funny thing we just learned about iPhones… did you know you can use them to call people? This can be a dangerous proposition two tequila shots in, and that’s why we use Don't Dial. This app lets you lock out potentially devastating numbers (ex-, boss, both) for up to 24 hours, and it even lets you make a friend a “designated dialer.” By the time you’ve sobered up, your contact list will be back to normal..as will your life.
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EXIT STRATEGY
Exit strategy…sounds like a promising app after you’ve been the victim of the evenings’ 17th clumsy pick-up attempt. That said, this Exit Strategy is a bit more NYC nuts and bolts. When en route to an unfamiliar destination, this handy dandy app tells you exactly where to board the train so you have the easiest (read: laziest) time exiting! Yeah, so it has nothing to do with drinking. But it’s awesome.
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Honorable mention: We love the idea behind Beer Time!, where a quantity and brand of beer are boldly displayed so you can communicate your order over a loud bar. Now if someone can hack the app to give you more choices than Lite, let us know.
What's your favorite?
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