checking

Five Foursquare hacks you need to use

Foursquare held its first-ever global hackathon a few weeks back, with developers and hackers gathering in cities all over the world, including Paris, London, Ottawa, San Francisco, and New York. All of the hackers had one goal in common: create some out-of-the-box idea on top of the Foursquare API. Not only did they accomplish their goal, but some of them even won prizes for doing so. … Read more

Just say "No" to boring slideshows - save over 84% now

UPDATE: This offer has now ended.

Ever spent hours trying to create a slideshow for your wedding, baby shower, or birthdays? I sure have. I specifically remember a time when I was in charge of creating my sister's baby shower slideshow. It started out as a beautiful San Francisco day that soon turned into a night with one too many cups of coffee, I might add, and by the time I was finished, the birds were chirping and it was morning again. I hadn't slept one bit and wondered, how was this possible? I remember trying to match … Read more

The 404 912: Where we're trashing your rights (podcast)

Wilson's out sick today, but CNET's Bridget Carey steps up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and knocks it out of the park with a full story rundown that includes Facebook iPad announcements, the next iPhone's killer app, Google's 13th birthday, camera lens thieves, and more! Did I use that baseball metaphor correctly?

The 404 Digest for Episode 912

Sprint to launch own 4G LTE network in early 2012 (scoop). New Amazon tablet called the Kindle Fire? Facebook's iPad app launching with new iPhone, report says. Apple holding iPhone 5 event on October 4. iPhone 5 to offer 1GB RAM and voice control? Facebook: We do track logged-out users, but trust us. Spotify users steamed over Facebook requirement. Google doodles into its teenage years. Canadian throws 4,800 messages in a bottle, gets 3,100 responses back. Doritos creator Arch West takes his cheesy legacy to the grave. Crafty thieves go for the lens rather than the camera body. Follow Bridget Carey on Twitter. Bathroom-break video of the day: A fat cat struggles to lose her weight.

Episode 912 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 905: Where we go twice as high with Bridget Carey (podcast)

Bridget Carey makes her first appearance on CNET TV today. She's the host of an upcoming daily tech news show on CNET called Checked In, so be sure to follow her on Twitter so you don't miss the first episode.

She'll help us out with our story rundown today and gives her take on LeVar Burton bringing back "Reading Rainbow" as an iPad app, an LA film studio constructing an underground "post-apocalyptic" fortress, and the resurgence of AOL e-mail addresses as a pre-Internet status symbol.

The 404 Digest for Episode 905

"Reading Rainbow" to be rebooted for iPad. LA porn studio begins construction on "post-apocalyptic" underground bunker. AOL e-mail as status symbol? Follow Bridget Carey on Twitter. The 404's daily bathroom break: Justin and Jeff's "Reading Rainbow"/Husky Dance Mash-up.

Episode 905 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Gowalla relaunching with travel guide focus

SAN FRANCISCO--At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference today, the first product announcement came from Gowalla CEO Josh Williams. The new version of Gowalla will be bringing city guides to the service, leveraging the company's large database of places and updates from users.

The new version will launch shortly with more than 60 city guides using, of course, user content. But the service has new editorial partners, including Disney, National Geographic, and several universities.

With Gowalla, you can now create "stories" around events. Anyone you tag in a location and time becomes a full authoring partner of the post, and the presentation of these stories is quite good.

The question is: by focusing on the traveler instead of the resident, does Gowalla give up the nice deal-based transactional business that Foursquare and Facebook can run with? Perhaps, but the travel business is in many ways a much sweeter place to be. The advertising money is national more than regional, bigger, and more stable. You can still use Gowalla to check in at locations, so this is a bigger--and smarter--change than it may appear at first.

TechCrunch has the preview post … Read more

Check a Web site's mobile appearance

When developing a Web site, it's always a good idea to consider how the site you're working on will appear on other people's different operating systems and browsers. With the rise in popularity of Internet-enabled phones and other devices, this visual check has never been more important. With so many different devices, checking all of them would require a lot of time and money. Luckily there's an application that makes this visual check a lot easier; just follow these steps to see for yourself.

Step 1: Download and install the latest version of the Opera Mobile … Read more

QR codes and GPS track dog-walking services

Dog-walking services have graduated from flyers on poles to full-fledged serious businesses. The final coming-of-age moment is the arrival of Pet Check Technology, a suite that brings QR codes, mobile apps, and GPS to the dog-walking experience.

For dog-walking entrepreneurs, Pet Check includes online tools for scheduling clients, billing, and tracking dog-walking employees. That's all well and good, but it's a lot more fun when you look at it from the customer's standpoint.

Customers can look to see exactly when Fido was taken out on a jaunt, where he went, and what time he got back. That can help with scheduling when you need to be home from work. Completed walk reports are stored for future reference.… Read more

GetGlue, a Foursquare for entertainment

On this week's episode of Tap That App, we take a look at GetGlue, a unique kind of social network that lets you "check in" to the movies and shows you're watching, books you're reading, games you're playing, and so on. Sort of like a Foursquare for entertainment, GetGlue takes your check-in data, your Likes, Favorites, and other Ratings, and uses them all to recommend other entertainment it thinks you'll enjoy. It even grants you collectible stickers--both virtual and physical--for all of your activity.

More than just a source of recommendations, though, GetGlue … Read more

Earn Foursquare-type badges by watching TV

Like a Foursquare for TV programs, Miso lets you check in to the movies and shows you're watching so you can earn points, unlock badges, and share your viewing experiences with friends. It's also a great platform for discovering new programs by following users with similar viewing interests.

Miso's interface is minimal and intuitive. Its Home screen has a search button and six icons for all of your basic functions: Activity, TV & Movies, Badges, Profiles, Friends, and Notifications. To check in, hit TV & Movies, search for the title and episode of the program you're … Read more