The new hotness in tech investing today is the location check-in app. From social services like Foursquare and Gowalla to shopping-focused business like Shopkick, investors love check-in. And why not? They're making money already, even though but a tiny fraction of the population has ever used a check-in app.
But there are issues: Privacy. Crime. And: Why have Google and Twitter not been successful in this market?
Our experts today are two writers covering this space. First, Claire Cain Miller of The New York Times, who wrote, "Technology Aside, Most People Still Decline to Be Located." We also have Adrianne Jeffries of ReadWriteWeb, who covered the launch of Facebook Places.
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... Read MoreIf you're heading out of town and leaving the electronic world behind, don't forget that your e-mail contacts, Facebook friends, and Farmville plants will still be expecting to see you around online, interacting with them. Here are some tips for managing your electronic world when you step away from it. Also: Your questions answered, including how to extend Wi-Fi range, and fix a Droid's messed-up contact list.
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Today we're talking about an issue that's been in the news a lot in the past few days: Net neutrality -- the concept of a network infrastructure that is nondiscriminatory when it comes to types and sources and the content of Internet traffic. To support Net neutrality is to support freedom, openness, fair competition, and economic growth, according to supporters. On the other hand, somebody's got to pay for the Internet, both its wires and its wireless towers and radios. Who should that be? And if someone's paying for it, shouldn't they have some say in what goes over their equipment? Isn't telling businesses what they have to do with their privately built infrastructure antibusiness, antigrowth, and short-sighted?
That's the fundamental argument over Net neutrality, and there are some interesting specifics being added to the dialogue. Most recently, Google and Verizon produced what the two companies want to serve as a framework for Net neutrality going forward. AT&T has endorsed this proposal. Facebook has come out against it.
Today we're going to talk about these developments, and look at Net neutrality overall. How we got to where we are, where we're going, and who the actors are in the debate.
My guests today are two regular writers on the topic. First, here in the studio, Larry Downes, a well-known writer and thinker about emerging technology and policy issues. He's the author of the books "Laws of Disruption" and "Unleashing the Killer App," and writes frequently on CNET as well as on other publications about Net neutrality.
Joining us from our New York bureau is CNET writer Maggie Reardon. Maggie reports regularly on telecommunications policy and technology issues for CNET, and was on our show most recently about a month ago when we were discussing the iPhone 4 antenna issues.
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... Read MoreWe've got an interesting topic to talk about before getting into questions today. It's how to look good in your pictures. Dating site OkCupid has aggregated 11.4 million opinions on what its members classify as "great" or otherwise attractive photos.
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We sent three reporters to the dual security conferences, Black Hat and Defcon, last week in Las Vegas. Each has a different coverage area and perspective: Elinor Mills is CNET's security reporter. Declan McCullagh covers government and policy, and Seth Rosenblatt is an editor and reviewer for CNET Download.com. Today we talk with these three security wonks about their experiences and their takeaways from the annual hackathon in the desert.
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... Read MoreToday we get wrapped up in cables. We're talking about the best ways to manager an unruly rat's nest of data and power wires into a thing of beauty and logic. With bonus rat's nest pictures from listeners--so watch the video for the full experience. Also, questions about moving from and to Android phones, moving a TV to Singapore, and encrypting Mac hard drives.
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Today we're talking about how to start a company in 2010 and 2011. A little background: I started covering startups in 1998 at a magazine called Red Herring. I wrote a daily column about startups called Catch of the Day. Over three years, I interviewed the leaders of over 1000 companies.
Most of those companies are now out of business. The methods of starting companies in that dotcom bubble were, clearly, temporary. The companies didn't last. Today we're going to try to learn from the last bubble, look at the current state of the economy and of technology, and try to come up with some guidelines for starting a new tech business today.
Our guests: First, in the studio, we have James Joaqin, CEO of the browser bookmark sync company XMarks. I asked James to be on this show, though, because he was also co-founder of a dotcom bubble company called When.com, a calendaring app that was acquired by AOL in 1999 for $200 million, almost exactly one year after the company was founded. When.com won the lottery. We'll be talking about that, and whether we think it's possible, or even desirable, to have that happen again. James was also co-founder and CEO of Ofoto, which was acquired by Kodak.
And joining us from Santa Monica:Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo and co-founder of ThisWeekIn, a podcast network for which Jason just happens to host a podcast called This Week in Startups. If, after this show, you want a deeper dive into the workings of starting a tech business, be sure to check it out. Jason is an angel investor in companies and was previously CEO founder Weblogs Inc, which launched blogs like Engadget -- which AOL acquired.
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... Read MoreOn our show today: our favorite smartphone apps to help find stuff to do, things to eat, and people to connect with. Also, your questions and calls answered, including tips on painting laptops. But not until Josh shows off his USB-powered warning lights and a beer cooler that looks like a laptop case.
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Blogs: What are they good for? Where are they going? We have three experienced guests today to discuss. Don't miss this look into the current and future state of the blogosphere.
Our guests:
Anil Dash of Expert Labs, an independent nonprofit which creates new Web technologies to help policy makers in the White House and the rest of the federal government tap into the public's expertise using social networks. Anil was also employee No. 1 at Six Apart, the blogging platform company that makes Movable Type, Typepad, Vox, and that ran LiveJournal for several years. Welcome.
Kourosh Karimkhany, chief operating officer of TPM Media, which runs the influential left-wing blog Talking Points Memo. Kourosh was a vice president at Conde Nast Digital, where he was responsible for acquisitions and investments. He also served as the general manager of Wired.com.
Sachin Agarwal, CEO of the microblogging service Posterous. Like Tumblr, Posterous is a new type of blogging platform, designed to bring blogging to a whole new audience by integrating tightly with e-mail. It is challenging incumbents WordPress, Movable Type, and Google's Blogger.
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... Read MoreToday, we rescue you from the indignities of working in a cubicle. We've got your rear-view mirrors, your headphones, and should all else fail, your USB foam rocket launchers. Because, you know, work is war. Also: How to stream music on an iPhone, how to test your home network for open ports, and much more.
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