Category Archives: Technology

Mo's in town & The real meaning of the iPhone.

Julie Rubinstein, Mo Thompson, Nik Bronder at the Cubby Bear.

Mo was in the Chicago area for the past week for a little bit of a (or maybe a lot) Family Vacation. Before heading out of town she stopped by for dinner and a couple of drinks. We ended up walking to the Goose Island Brewery in Wrigleyville for dinner and then headed to the Cubby Bear for a a couple of drinks. Neither Julie or I have been there and my only comparison would have to be any Choch bar (sp?) in Columbus, Ohio. Take your pick; The Lodge Bar, Frog, Bear & Wild Turd, you get the idea.

Nik Bronder and Julie at the Cubby Bear.Mo Thompson and Zack.Nik Bronder and Mo Thompson at the Cubby Bear.

The iPhone and its’ real meaning

I got an iPhone the other day to celebrate the end of my unemployment vacation and besides waiting 2 days to receive calls it’s been pretty awesome. I’ve been pointing out to Julie whenever she, I or anyone we’re with has a question that if I had the iPhone we would know. Well that day has come. Below you will see me being proven right (the first of many times to come) with the power of the iPhone. Basically the iPhone’s greatest feature is a it’s quick ability prove anyone wrong, at any time, in any place.

Nik Bronder using is his iPhone to prove people wrong.

iPhone searching…More searching…You can’t argue with the Internet.

* Side Note #1:

Below is the first photo I’ve taken with the iPhone. It’s not great but better than any camera phone photo I’ve ever seen.

Mo and Zak

* Side Note #2:

The rest of the photographs from the afternoon are on Flickr.

NASA: Against the odds, Winging it.

NASA: Drinking the right stuff.

What’s Space travel without a little alcohol and sabotage?

NASA has released two reports that claim Astronauts on more than one occasion were drunk before liftoff and that recently a computer was sabotaged. Awesome.

Aviation Week & Space Technology reported on its Web site that a special panel studying astronaut health found that on two occasions, astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so drunk they posed a safety risk.

The independent panel also found “heavy use of alcohol” before launch — within the standard 12-hour “bottle-to-throttle” rule, the magazine reported.

What is “Bottle-to-throttle”? I’m going to start using this term and make sure it takes. Whenever I’m in a hurry: “Let’s go, the game is starting. Bottle-to-throttle.”

This whole episode just proves there is no reason for a man space program. These guys don’t even fly the ‘ship’ they just sit on top of the rocket.

Bottle-to-throttle.

Barcade.

Tapper at Barcade.
Nik Bronder playing Tapper at Barcade.

Wednesday night Julie and I finally went to Barcade to spend all of our quarters in vain trying to defeat the Deathstar. Barcade has about 30 arcade games (all are only $0.25 per play) and even more beer on tap in what looks like and old garage. Julie and I found out the Mario Brothers is much harder to play with a joystick than a controller as we both really didn’t get past the first level. Also, Punchout (minus-Mike Tyson) is just as hard with joystick considering Glass Joe whupped my ass. I did my best work playing Tapper which seems to be a Budweiser promtional game. The idea is your a bar tender and you have to serve drinks before the customers get to the end of the bar or you break a pitcher. My kind of game.

Barcade lineup.Tapper joystick... a tap.Nik Bronder dominating Tapper.

Some other games of note:

Ghost ‘N Goblins, 1943, and the Star Wars game from my childhood.