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Berlin's Robotic Pub
Gallamine writes: "Take a trip to Berlin, and visit the Automaten Bar to have a drink served by a robot. This members-only bar is completely automated. While this may sound rather cool, the part I find disturbing is the fact that the owner plans on webcamming the security cameras so you can check on who's at the pub. The owner also wants to make it so you can have a SMS message sent to you when a particular person's entrance card is swiped by the system. I guess the idea is that you can get an e-mail to let you know that Bob is having a drink so you can stop by and chat. While it sounds like a bunch of baloney to me, it appears to be pretty popular in Berlin, as they've already got 130 members after 2 weeks without any advertising."
I would really like to decide for myself to whom I send an SMS message saying that I'm in a specific bar...
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http://www.cynbar.co.uk/
The robot was rather clunky and took ages to serve drinks...nothing at all like the nimble robots out of Short Circuit that mixed drinks. Also, it was all very 'mix this and mix this.' None of the cool presentation you get from a decent bartender. The worst thing is that they have to have a human to take your money anyhow (something to do with not having automated alchol serving machines by law IIRC).
Don't really like the place myself...when I went in about a year back it was all covered in mirrors and hady the most tacky decor. The Anchor nearby is a much better pub, with real beer, seats by the river for the summer and warm fire in the winter in a classic hundred+ year old english pub.
-- Sorry, I can't think of anything funny to say here.
So, in the US, there are all sorts of liability suits about things like "The bartender knew I was drunk, but he let me drive myself home anyway,"
I think the main problem is that really, one shoudl be responsible for your actions. If you drove while you are drunk it is nobodies fault but yours. You are stupid to do it, and if you hurt someone, you deserve to be punished. It's a silly thing to do. The bartender can't possibly be able to accurately guage whether the 200 people in his bar are above the legal limit for the region, and planning to drive home. It is unreasonable.
thenerd.
The camels are coming. I'm in love.
In France, certainly, it's quite common for children to be allowed a glass of wine at dinner, or at least wine mixed with water. Every Frenchie I know has told me they drank wine at home from age 10-12 (Note: I'm not reporting the finding of an official study!) and that there was nothing unusual about that. So you find fewer instances of 18-21-year-olds who take the first opportunity, and many subsequent opportunities, to go out and get blasted.
I don't know for sure that a similar attitude prevails in Germany; I've only been to Berlin once, for a week. They do love their beer!
"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality;..."
How about that you can decide not to visit the bar, but would be forced to resign your citizenship to get away from the ID card privacy issues?
You're comparing a hamster to Darth Vader here.
I can't speak for all the French, but I was educated by my parents on what is alcohol, why adult like to drink it, why it is sometimes bad (driving), why abusing is bad etc... Then they let me drink under their supervisory like other adult in my family a milimetter of red wine with many centimeter of water. Education and explanation is the snag. They did the same with cigarette,drug, and yes when I was very young (but too late), on sex. Now the very few US friend I know personally (2) told me about the same things : they werent educated, they were told *not to*. Which is the best way to force a teenie to "try" sometimes. It isn't probably a majority of parents doing so (2 aren't a statistic). But it can be clearly an indication. Now I am not sure we in Europa drive less drunk. How many death per million people is there each year due to drunk driving ? Anybody a statistic for US and europa ?
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All true, but I think the real difference is the legal culture. If I got arrested for drink driving after leaving my local, the last thing I'd think of doing would be too sue the barman. The british culture is one of "responsibility for your own actions", rather than the US one which is all too often "find someone else to blame".
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
Well, here in the U.S. (or at least in South Carolina) the cops can still pull you over for pretty much any reason they can think of, and the breathalyser test is used frequently, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. The penalties, from what I understand (never been charged with a DUI) are not as severe. A drunk driver can "get away" with a few points being shaved off of his license (which translates to higher insurance rates). Or he could have the book thrown at him. It all depends on the judge presiding over the case and who the defendant knows.
Thing is, there are cases reported fairly regularly about drivers who have been busted numerous times for drunk driving, lost their licenses, kept drinking and driving, continue to get busted even more, serve little to no time, continue drinking and driving and eventually kill someone. The U.S. judicial system needs a severe overhaul, IMAO, for anything to be done. Of course, the U.S. population is much higher then any one European country AND I think we have a much worse drinking problem.
What we need is a good Orwellian system to keep drunk drivers under control.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
Or you could just tell your wife that you're going to the bar. She's your wife, she has the right to know these things.... you'd want to know if she was out at a bar right?