Top 5 Futuristic Bar Trends

As the world around us transforms and adapts to the never-ending development of technology, we’re constantly seeing trends pop up all around us. Considering the fact that indulging in spirits with friends is one of the oldest traditions held by humanity, the bar scene has remained relatively unchanged in comparison to our other surroundings. But nothing can stay the same forever, so what does the future hold for bars, beer, and cocktails? ABCey has compiled some of the newest trends that you may be seeing in the not-so-distant future…

1. Bartendro – A fast, portable, precise cocktail robot that can mix your drink in just 10 seconds. Using your smart phone or tablet, you can personalize your drink menu by adding your favorite cocktails made just the way you like them, and Bartendro will do the work. Just put your cup under the dispenser and let it be filled with a delicious cocktail, no measuring or mess to deal with!

2. The Vaporized Cocktail – McCall‘s Catering in SF puts a twist on the regular ol’ cocktail with their vaporized cocktails. The trick behind a vaporized cocktail is the alcohol infused with different ingredients, giving it a delicious and unique taste. After igniting the ingredients, a vaporizer is used to turn them into pure aromatic vapor. The vapor is then captured under a glass bell jar and infused into the alcohol, leaving you with a cocktail flavored unlike any other.

3. Molecular Mixology – A special practice of mixing drinks using the analysis and techniques found in science to understand and experiment with cocktail ingredients on the molecular level. Molecular Mixology includes the use of foams, liquid nitrogen, gels, mists, heat, solidifying liquids, and countless other options to create a truly harmonious taste.

4. Edible Barware – In the effort to rid the use of disposable cups, Loliware is a line of edible cups that come in five flavors (sweet vanilla, spicy pepper, salty lime, sour lemon, and bitters) designed to complement classic cocktails. The two-ounce cups are completely biodegradable and made from all-natural, vegan ingredients.

5. Wall Of Drink Tanks – An interesting new way to let you get creative, getting bored of your drink is not an option with this wall! And say goodbye to ingredient errors, as well. Saunter up to the dispensers and mix up some of your favorite flavors before heading to the bartender to top it off with the alcohol of your choice.

Which of these do you hope to see popping up at your favorite bar? What other trends did we miss? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Twitter Walls

Social media has clearly become an integral part of any big event. Live social media displays are a great way to energize the crowd, source user generated content, and encourage people to tweet and Instagram away. There are many options these days for displaying your audience’s tweets, and moderating those that may be inappropriate or brand damaging! Check out five great recommendations for Live Tweeting!

1. Wall of Tweets: Wall of Tweets offers many different functionalities – from a basic display of text messages to very interactive involvement of attendees in discussions, Q&As, and video and audio streams. Essentially, if it’s digital –it can be included in your Wall of Tweets experience. Price depends heavily on the type of the event, its duration and expected number of visitors.

2. Visible Tweets: Visible Tweets is a visualization of Twitter messages designed for display in public spaces. It is definitely more about the visual display of the individual Tweets rather than the display of collective Tweets. It’s not for every event but it could be the perfect tool for a specific type of event like an art show. Give Visible Tweets a try on their website.

3. Tweet Wall Pro: Tweet Wall Pro is great because it allows for automatic moderation which ban Tweets containing a list of inappropriate words or swear words and/or one or several users. You also have the option of having a person moderate in real-time with the live moderation feature. Tweet Wall Pro is highly customizable and also provides Tweet analytics.

4. Revisit: Revisit is a real-time visualization of the latest twitter messages around a specific topic. Use it create your own twitter wall at a conference or an ambient display at your company or whatever other idea you come up with.

5. Another Tweet on The Wall: Another Tweet on The Wall also posts Tweets one at a time but puts a nice strong emphasis on the profile of the Tweeter. The background of the wall borrows the image from the poster’s Twitter Profile. This might be an interesting way to encourage live conversations at the event between the attendees.

Have you used a Twitter Wall for your events? At our most recent BlackJet SF Launch Party, we featured a Twitter Feed Wall on a giant LCD screen to display all the tweets with our hashtag #BlackJetSFLaunch. Let us know your favorite tool in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Startup Monday: Ask Your Target Market

In a time where it’s crucial to know whether or not your newest idea is going to be a hit or a flop, market research is key. It can be far too expensive to hire a firm, and often too time consuming and difficult to find the resources on your own. With the help of Ask Your Target Market, or AYTM, you can put your market research stressing behind you.

AYTM is a cool new way for companies of all different types and sizes to learn more about their potential customers. Using a panel of over 4.5 millions of consumers across 5 different countries, the firm helps you define your target market, create your survey, and make sense of the data that is returned to you.

If you’ve ever tried to conduct market research on your own, you know that having a tool like AYTM would eliminate countless headaches! We think it’s great the way that they can utilize their broad span of panelists to provide you with the most ideal respondents and information.

Would you consider using AYTM the next time you’re thinking about doing some market research? Tell us why or why not in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Top 5 Fitness Apps

It’s March and Summer is just around the corner. It’s time to start getting in shape and toning those beach bods. Not that you’ll be anywhere near the beaches here in San Francisco, but you can use this time to get ready for your next tropical vacation. ABCey has compiled a list of our favorite lifestyle apps for you to take advantage of before Summer hits!

1. MyFitnessPal: This is the best app for you to record your daily activity, food consumption and workouts. It’s super easy to use and can be extremely beneficial if used everyday!

2. Sworkit: Hallelujah! We have found a simple, on-the-go type of workout program. Choose from a quick 5 minute workout, to a more difficult 60 minute routine. It has two options: cardio and strength training. From there, you pick which area of the body you’d like to focus on.

3. Fooducate: Scan the barcode of the food you’re purchasing and Fooducate analyzes information found in each product’s nutrition panel and ingredient list. You get to see the stuff manufacturers don’t want you to notice, such as excessive sugar and tricky trans fats.

4. Runtastic: Take your fitness to a new level with Runtastic, the best running and fitness app on Android! Runtastic uses GPS to map your sports and fitness activities, such as: running, jogging, biking, or walking.

5. Bleep Fitness Test: Before you begin your fitness kick, Perform the mutli-stage Bleep Fitness Test to determine your true level of fitness. Use it as a tool to improve yourself. It is designed to push your stamina and endurance to the limit.

Challenge yourself with these apps! Let us know which ones worked best for you in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

ABCey’s Weekend Line-up: 3.7.13 – 3.10.13

There are tons of great activities in San Francisco this weekend and ABCey has selected the best for your entertainment! We’re particularly hoping for some good weather for Saturday in lieu of the Naked Bike Ride…

1. Lower Polk Art Walk | 3.7.13 | Polk/Sutter – SF | The Art Walk transforms Fern Alley into the “Artists in the Alley” night gallery and is open to all independent artists who register before the event. It will feature video projected works, live art, food trucks, as well as something fun for the kids.

2. Kaleidoscope Indie Dance Party | 3.8.13 | The Rock Steady – Oakland | Dance your pants off at a free indie dance party at The Rock Steady in Oakland. Kaleidoscope features synth pop, indie dance and alt music and is held every second Friday of the month with resident DJ Becky Knox plus guests.

3. Mischief Burlesque | 3.8.13 | Skylark Bar – SF | Are you a big fan of the Christina Aguilera move “Burlesque?” Come watch it live and see the tantalizing lovely ladies, Hunny Bunny and her Hot Toddies, perform a sizzling burlesque show at Skylark Bar in the Mission.4. World Naked Bike Ride | 3.9.13 | Justin Herman Plaza – SF | Meet at 11:00am for body painting and a Noon departure from the Plaza so that the ride will (thankfully) take place in the warmest part of the day. The ride generally hits AT&T Park, the Embarcadero, Fisherman’s Wharf, North Beach, the Haight, the Castro and more.5. Alicia Keys | 3.10.13 | Oracle Arena – Oakland | Fourteen-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, and producer Alicia Keys comes to the Bay Area for her highly anticipated ‘Girl on Fire’ tour.

Will we being seeing you at any of these events? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter.

Top 5 Mobile Dating Apps

What’s the newest trend that is rapidly gaining acceptance? Online dating apps! You heard right- apps, not sites. Research says that more singles are taking their search for love wherever they go, with mobile apps on phones or other devices. The proliferation of dating apps is now taking love to a whole new level, remaking an industry that’s expected to reach $1.2 billion this year. ABCey has compiled a list of mobile apps that make finding a potential love interest simpler and easier than ever!

1. Blendr: Essentially a broader replica of the famed Grindr (which, of course, is also an option and owned by the same company), Blendr is designed to get you and the object of your desire together as quickly as possible. The app displays your potential partners based a little on a short interest survey and a whole lot on who’s currently nearby and willing. You can set how precise your displayed location is, meaning you can get as creepy or aloof as you want.

2. Tinder: Tinder’s user interface is simple and relatively clean compared to the other free dating apps floating around, and there’s a definite emphasis on anonymity, which turns out to be great for both privacy and pride’s sake. You anonymously pick who intrigues you nearby based on their picture, and if the object of your desire reciprocates, you’ll both be alerted. If they decline, you remain blissfully ignorant

3. OKCupid: For the traditionalists among you, OkCupid’s comprehensive app might make you the most comfortable. You’ll get all the perks of the traditional, web-based OkCupid matchups, with the added option of broadcasting your general location and your willingness to… uh… make a new friend. All you have to do is switch on the “Locals” option, and you can send messages to anyone else in the area who has done the same. The best part is that you get to feel less creepy by pretending its not just an app for finding nearby sex buddies but with all of the perks.

4. Let’s Date: This app has unveiled a new feature designed to help match users with others in the hope of finding something compatible. Calling it the Wingman feature, this Science-backed company allows men and women, who are not actively looking to date, the ability to scour through the service’s dating pool and share the dater cards of interesting people with their single friends. This feature is available on its iOS app today.

5. Badoo: Top rated and the world’s largest social network that you probably haven’t yet heard of, Badoo is brilliantly effective at providing one simple and universally compelling service: hooking up members according to their profile pictures and location. “Chat, flirt, socialise and have fun!,” implores the home page, alongside photos of prospective friends.

How do you feel about online dating apps? Are there any we missed? And of course, if you need help planning that big date- you know who to ask! Let us know which ones you’ve tried in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Top 5 Camera Apps

Tech Tuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

Everyone loves to document the events they plan and attend. There’s just something fun about sharing the pictures with your friends to say “Hey, look what I did!” and we fully encourage everyone to do so. Here are five apps to help you capture the best images and edit them to look just right!

1. Camera+ is an app designed for not only editing your photos, but for taking them as well. The app has a built-in stabilizer for steadying your camera while taking pictures, a 6x zoom for getting close to your subject, and a grid to help you line up your shot perfectly.

2. Switchcam is a web app that automatically synchronizes footage of an event from multiple cameras and turns it into one tidy interactive video. Their philosophy is that most of the best video content contains multiple angles, so why shouldn’t you and your friends be able to compile footage to create an awesome video with different angles too? You can even set up events to let your friends know when you want to shoot something, and they can let you know if they’re going or not through the app!

3. Photoshop Express is a free, lightweight version of the popular photo editor that allows you to do things like crop and straighten your photos, as well as apply filters, effects and even borders to your prints.

4. Filterstorm can support up to five layers at a time, and allows you to make adjustments to the image including brush, gradient, color range, vignette or selecting opacity. You can work with the brightness/contrast in a photo, the temperature, exposure, and saturation as well as crop a picture how you would like and specify a specific aspect ratio you’d like the final image to be.

5. Pixlr-o-matic allows you to edit pictures that are already on your phone as well as take new ones with the app. With more than 100 effects, 280 overlays, and close to 200 different borders, your editing capabilities are endless!

Using any of these apps would make for even better photos and videos to post from all of your events! Have you used any of these before? Which are your favorites? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Startup Monday: Wanderable

Unique and new experiences can often be a more valuable gift than any new cookware or furniture. This is why Wanderable, a site for honeymoon registries, is such a great tool for wedding couples. Not only that, Wanderable also makes the tedious task of sending out thank you cards a breeze! At ABCey, we think that it’s a wonderful idea and would recommend this to any couple about to tie the knot!

One of the best aspects of Wanderable is that it will also help you plan your honeymoon by suggesting destinations and activities based on your travel style. Wanderable also gives you the control to customize your registry and make it beautiful with designer themes and various layouts. You can even choose your own custom link!

Wanderable makes it equally easy for you share your new and exciting experiences with the very people that helped pay for it. With the iPhone app, you can make a real or virtual postcard with the snap of your camera phone and a personal message to your guests. Wanderable will save you a trip (or more) to the post office by stamping and mailing your postcards. Finally, it keeps track of you who you’ve sent a thank-you card to and who you have yet to thank. Super!

With the help of Wanderable, you are able cut down one more stressful component of planning your wedding. Would you try Wanderable for your upcoming nuptuals? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Penetralia: Privacy Matters Event Recap

On Monday night, ABCey was excited to produce Penetralia 2013: Privacy Matters sponsored by SpiderOak and Silent Circle. The event took place in conjunction with the RSA Conference happening this week here in San Francisco. The conference focuses on advances in internet security and cryptography, attracting tech professionals from all over to gather and share the latest advancements in the information security industry.

To view the Facebook album of the Penetralia 2013 photos, click here or view our main photo gallery, here!

We were delighted to work with SpiderOak and CEO, Ethan Oberman for this important event. Their service provides a secure, central location to store all of your important data without compromising the privacy of your information. They are different from giants’ Dropbox and Box in that they make data backup, synchronization and sharing 100% private, flexible and secure.

SpiderOak — the ‘Zero-Knowledge’ privacy cloud technologies provider — launched privacy into the mainstream with the unveiling of Crypton, the world’s first ‘Zero-Knowledge’ application framework. Crypton makes it possible to build cryptographically secure applications and push privacy further into the web than previously possible. Their technology offers meaningful privacy assurance to end users because the servers running the application cannot read the data created and stored by the application. It’s the closest thing to storing your information in a locked safe!

This event was also co-sponsored by SilentCircle, a comprehensive suite of simple yet secure tools for your mobile devices that was created by NAVY Seals and Silicon Valley cryptography experts.

Penetralia 2013: Privacy Matters was a great way for professionals in the industry to further the privacy-in-technology conversation. Guests were welcomed with delicious food and signature drinks such as the Encyrpto Sour or the Alice and Bob. The atmosphere was cozy with music provided by DJ Mancub of the beloved San Francisco Space Cowboy dj collective. The walls and ceilings had interactive 3D mapping showing the history and evolution of internet privacy. There was also an experiential display of two boxes entitled “Privacy” and “Security” to emphasize the difference between the two terms.

What do you think the difference between Privacy and Security is? What does Privacy mean to you? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!