tom.ternquist – a place for my things.

They say that alcohol and technology don’t mix — I beg to differ. I’ve always been a little on the geeky side, especially when it comes to the Saturday night bar crawls. And while a few shots of tequila certainly can make for a fun evening, a careful (or not so careful) mix of alcohol and technology can make a good night even more memorable. Thanks to Apple, there is literally an App for everything — including your social life.

Whether you’re hosting a party or going out to the bars, knowing what what goes into a drink and what each drink is called can definitely come in handy. On the iPhone, there are plenty of mixology applications that will not only let you browse literally thousands of drink recipes, but also help you find drinks by ingredient. One of the most useful features that some of the better applications have is the ‘in my bar’ mode, letting you browse drinks based on a set of ingredients you have on hand. I’ve found that both Mixology and 5800+ Drink and Cocktail Recipes Free for the iPhone are easy to use and are full of features.

If you don’t have an iPhone, but have a computer nearby, “The Webtender” (http://webtender.com) gives its users a no frills interface for looking up drink recipes, and includes an ‘in my bar’ mode. Unfortunately, Blackberry users are a bit out of luck for free options, but there is a $4.99 application that’s pretty comparable to the iPhone alternatives.

A few drinks may get the evening started, but it’s what you do when you go out that makes the night — or makes your sober self want to forget the next morning. But don’t let the sober you win out! This is where Twitter and all its geeky coolness comes in. There are countless Twitter applications for the iPhone, Blackberry and virtually any other phone you can dream up. Even if you don’t have a phone that supports a Twitter application, you can always send tweets via text message.

Be warned though, tweeting under the influence can be risky — the rest of the world, including Google, will likely get a glimpse of your night out. That said, tipsy tweeting is undeniably fun, especially when your tweets come with photos of your adventures.

Most Twitter applications for mobile devices let you take a photo and then upload it to one of several photo sites designed for use on Twitter. These handy services just work by themselves, and make sharing photos on Twitter a fun time for all.

Some of the more popular iPhone Twitter applications include Twitterific, Tweetie and TwitterFon. On the Blackberry both UberTwitter and Twitterberry are popular choices.

Now if these applications seem a little too much for you, I’ve got one more that puts the rest to shame. If you’ve seen one of Apple’s most recent ads for the iPhone, you may have noticed the Bump App — where you two people can ‘bump’ iPhones and share phone numbers. I can’t say I’ve tried it, but I do know that anyone who can successfully get someone’s number from bumping iPhones has my undying respect ... and also may be the biggest geek on campus.