NY Tech Meetup Has No Internet Service...

"I cannot believe there is no fking service in here. It's a fking tech meetup."

So started my experience at the March NY Tech Meetup on March 10. In order to accommodate larger numbers of tech enthusiasts, the event had moved from the smaller, WiFi enabled IAC venue to the larger Haft Auditorium at FIT where service was scarce. This prioritization of people over full bars was not appreciated by the large man next to me, whose inability to connect to the internet left him mildly panicked, lightly perspiring, and perpetually harrumphing. Nonetheless, the rest of the attendees, who included Caroline McCarthy, Soraya Darabi, Anthony "Soup Soup" Derosa, Julia Kaganskiy, Kelly Reeves, and Harry Heymann, seemed to enjoy themselves in spite of their PDA deprivations.

[Where's the f'ing internet!? via Flickr]

Starting off the evening was the unveiling of FourSquare, the most anticipated launch of the month. Dodgeball founder Dennis Crowley and his partner Naveen Selvadurai introduced their friend-finder-cum-video-game to much enthusiasm and not a few "YEAH, DENS!" from the crowd. Also well received was TigerBow, an application that allows you to send real-life gifts (chocolate, flowers, books) to anyone with an email address or Facebook profile (your sister, friend, stalking victim). Sam Lessin revealed the new real-time streaming of Drop.io, capabilities so advanced it purportedly caused host Nate Westheimer's father to exclaim, "You can do that on the web?" Thanks to the brilliant minds at the NY Tech Meetup, you can do pretty much anything on the web.

[Top photo via SoupSoup via Ted Roden]