Due to a 25 percent withholding in its fiscal year 2010 state appropriation, the State Historical Society of Missouri has decreased its hours open to the public to Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

…

To continue operations and implement the withholding, the society’s 22 staff members have voluntarily taken a 20 percent pay reduction, and three staff positions have been eliminated. These positions included one unfilled position left temporarily vacant, one retirement and one layoff.

The society will seek private funds to continue its newspaper microfilming program and to print the Missouri Historical Review.

Read the full article in the December 30, 2009 edition of BuffaloReflex.com.

For more info., see the notice posted at the society website.

The lights of some 868 high-powered stroboscopes will be integrated into the facade of Burj Dubai, and each stroboscope will be fired individually to create a series of hypnotic lighting sequences.

Powerful strobe lights will be fixed near the pinnacle of the tower, and six narrow-beamed search lights will be positioned 700 meters up the tower.

The entire inauguration show consists of a pre-show and three themed acts, while the concluding ceremony will only include a firework display.

A giant screen on Burj Park Island, as well as several television screens placed across Downtown Burj Dubai including the Waterfront Promenade, will broadcast the inauguration in real-time.

Hundreds of international media, including Dubai TV, will report live from the scene.
The opening performance is to begin with a short documentary depicting the story of Dubai and the evolution of Burj Dubai as the world’s tallest building. A precisely choreographed sound, light, water and firework display will then follow.

Standing at more than 800 meters (2,625 ft) high and with over 160 storeys, Burj Dubai is the world’s tallest building developed by Emaar Properties.

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The lights of some 868 high-powered stroboscopes will be integrated into the facade of Burj Dubai, and each stroboscope will be fired individually to create a series of hypnotic lighting sequences.

Powerful strobe lights will be fixed near the pinnacle of the tower, and six narrow-beamed search lights will be positioned 700 meters up the tower.

The entire inauguration show consists of a pre-show and three themed acts, while the concluding ceremony will only include a firework display.

A giant screen on Burj Park Island, as well as several television screens placed across Downtown Burj Dubai including the Waterfront Promenade, will broadcast the inauguration in real-time.

Hundreds of international media, including Dubai TV, will report live from the scene.
The opening performance is to begin with a short documentary depicting the story of Dubai and the evolution of Burj Dubai as the world’s tallest building. A precisely choreographed sound, light, water and firework display will then follow.

Standing at more than 800 meters (2,625 ft) high and with over 160 storeys, Burj Dubai is the world’s tallest building developed by Emaar Properties.

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The lights of some 868 high-powered stroboscopes will be integrated into the facade of Burj Dubai, and each stroboscope will be fired individually to create a series of hypnotic lighting sequences.

Powerful strobe lights will be fixed near the pinnacle of the tower, and six narrow-beamed search lights will be positioned 700 meters up the tower.

The entire inauguration show consists of a pre-show and three themed acts, while the concluding ceremony will only include a firework display.

A giant screen on Burj Park Island, as well as several television screens placed across Downtown Burj Dubai including the Waterfront Promenade, will broadcast the inauguration in real-time.

Hundreds of international media, including Dubai TV, will report live from the scene.
The opening performance is to begin with a short documentary depicting the story of Dubai and the evolution of Burj Dubai as the world’s tallest building. A precisely choreographed sound, light, water and firework display will then follow.

Standing at more than 800 meters (2,625 ft) high and with over 160 storeys, Burj Dubai is the world’s tallest building developed by Emaar Properties.

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1. World Tallest Builing Burj Dubai Opening Today 2010 The lights of some 868 high-powered stroboscopes will be integrated…
2. World Tallest Building Burj Dubai Opening Today 2010 The lights of some 868 high-powered stroboscopes will be integrated…
3. Tallest Building In The World Burj Dubai Opening Today 2010 The Burj Dubai Soaring 818 meters (2,684 feet) the Burj…

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HONESDALE [PENNSYLVANIA] – A museum dedicated to preserving Wayne County’s history and Honesdale’s role as the birthplace of the American railroad will be shuttered over the winter due to a loss in critical state funding.

“The easiest way to make up for that was just to close,” said Ann O’Hara, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Historical Society, which manages the downtown museum.

“It’s painful. We don’t like doing it,” she said.

The museum, which houses a replica of the Stourbridge Lion, the first locomotive to run on commercial rails in the United States, will be closed today. It is expected to reopen April 15.

Widespread state budget cuts this year affected non-profits throughout the state, with county historical societies taking big hits since their operations generally run on tight budgets supported through community fundraisers and memberships.

The Wayne County Historical Society lost its generally reliable $10,000 state grant, a significant portion of its $90,000 annual operating budget, Ms. O’Hara said.

The museum’s executive director, Sally Talaga, will be laid off until the museum reopens. A part-time employee will now volunteer her services; and one other part-time employee will have her hours scaled back.

Read the full article in the January 1, 2010 edition of The Times Tribune.

Somewhere between the buttoned-up utility of the ThinkPad and the sleek efficiency of the IdeaPad sits an untapped sweet spot for affordable, entry-level notebooks. At least, that’s clearly what Lenovo is banking on with their new ThinkPad Edge series.

The ThinkPad Edge purports to be targeted towards small and medium-sized businesses, but it’s just as easy to say that it’s equally unfit for both casual users and serious professionals. While it’s a perfectly capable machine in most respects and a decent buy for the money, it often feels like a compromise to an argument no one was having.

Price and Configuration

The system we tested was loaded up with a 1.3 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 ULV processor and Intel GS45 chipset, and 4GB (2x2GB) of DDR3 RAM (1066MHz). You can also customize up to 500 GB of HDD storage. That set-up will run you $899, while the $549 base model ships with either AMD’s Turion (clocked at 1.6GHz) or Althon (1.5 GHz) dual core processor, 4GB (2x2GB) of DDR2 RAM (667MHz), and a 160GB HDD.

Design

The mash-up is clear the instant you unbox the Edge. The rounded corners and glossy black finish are reminiscent of the IdeaPad, but when combined with the ThinkPad-like flat display back, the 13.3″ model I reviewed (14″ and 15″ models will be available in the spring) brings to mind a futuristic cafeteria tray.

The reflective gloss is also a fingerprint trap, so expect a lot of smudges unless you’re prepared to give your notebook regular wipe-downs.

The 13.3″, 720p (1366×768) screen offers better sharpness than you might expect from an entry-level rig. There’s no latch to keep it closed, but it opens easily on its hinges. And my god is this thing flexible: I’m not sure why you’d ever want it to, but the display can recline over 180 degrees.

Like the rest of the ThinkPad line, the Edge comes equipped with both a trackpad and a TrackPoint nub. The trackpad’s multitouch capabilities are appreciated, but its narrowness and frenetic responses definitely aren’t. As for the nub, I’ve never been a big fan, but it’s integrated well with the keyboard and works just dandy, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Speaking of that keyboard: the island style that Lenovo has moved to for the Edge is a welcome design improvement over previous ThinkPad models. It’s less industrial, more welcoming. The keys are raised and have some spring to them, and while they feel a bit blocky at times it’s overall a smooth typing experience.

The Edge also has the distinction of being a thin and light notebook that’s not that thin (one inch, although the 6-cell battery in our test model adds another .5 inches in the rear) and not that light (3.6 lbs. with a 4-cell battery and about 4 lbs. with the 6-cell). But it’s still portable enough that it wouldn’t be cumbersome to take on all of those small and medium-sized business trips.

The ports are distributed along the sides, as on the IdeaPad, and it’s a decent array: three USB ports, VGA out, HDMI, and a multi-card reader to go along with your standard ethernet, microphone, and speaker jacks. Conspicuously absent is a DVD drive.

The Edge’s solution to potential design blemishes like speakers and the battery appears to be to sweep them under the rug. The speakers are placed on the notebook’s underside, and offer decent—though at times tinny—sound quality. I actually love the battery solution: its placement underneath the rear of the computer creates a natural keyboard incline.

Performance

This isn’t a computer you’re going to want to do intensive gaming on (thanks largely to the integrated graphics), but then again it’s not supposed to be. To its credit, the Edge does handle streaming HD videos without a hitch for when you need a Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody fix at the office.

As far as benchmarks, the Edge falls where you’d expect it to: somewhere between the IdeaPad U350 and the ThinkPad T400. A more appropriate comparison would be another 13″ thin-and-light like the Asus UL30A, and our GeekBench testing indicates that the two are pretty evenly matched.

Bottom line, you’re not going to want to do much more with the ThinkPad Edge than get on the internet, send some emails, and bang out a few Excel spreadsheets. And that’s what it’s designed to do. Then again, so are netbooks.

Battery Life

Here’s where the Edge really delivers. Lenovo claims that the six-cell Intel model gets an impressive 7.8 hours of battery life. I tested our system with higher performance settings, medium screen brightness, Bluetooth off, and a page automatically reloading every 30 seconds on Firefox to simulate active web browsing.

Total Run Time: 5 hours, 20 minutes

And that obviously can be further improved by settling for lower performance/higher battery life settings.

The Reason of Edge?

So what has Lenovo introduced to the world? A lot of not quite. It’s a thin-and-light that’s not quite either. It’s a notebook that’s not quite powerful enough for heavy lifting and not quite affordable enough for casual use. It has a contemporary design that’s not quite, well, smudge-proof. And for all it does right, this new ThinkPad still strikes me as a computer with a target audience that’s not quite identifiable.

At its introductory price point, the Edge sounds like a competitive machine, but remember that you’re also losing most of the things that distinguish it in the first place-the ULV Intel processor and the 6-cell battery, in particular. Honestly, if you’re in the market for a new notebook, there’s a good chance Lenovo already has something that fits exactly what you’re looking for. And that it’s called either IdeaPad or ThinkPad.

Solid battery life

Good number of ports

Island-style keyboard is a welcome improvement

Glossy top is a smudge-magnet

Frenetic track-pad

Who is this really for?

There’s even a subject index, to get around Brown’s propensity for giving his episodes clever, albeit occasionally hard-to-decipher names.
Zada was creatively involved from conception to final product. This being a nonlinear creative execution, Jason worked closely with the agency creatives to conceptualize the games and help write the scripts and story trees. He also designed the set and shot all of the live-action footage, orchestrated the Web integration of live action and digital, and led the Tool digital team that constructed the Web site.

“The agency got way more than they asked for when they chose Jason to lead this project,” notes Tool digital EP Dustin Callif. “Not only is he one of the best integrated directors around and totally comfortable working with celebrity talent like Alton Brown, but he’s doing some incredibly interesting things in the cross-platform space. He handled all the live action and creative directed all the post, Web design and Web development. The interactive games are fun and flawless. This is exactly the type of project that not only Jason but all of Tool’s directors are looking to do much more of in the future.”



“This was a one-of-a-kind project, and it was an incredible experience on multiple levels,” says Zada. “First off, the agency was incredible to work with—very easy to collaborate with on the scripts, and they gave me a ton of room to run with the creative. Second, Alton is a really passionate and knowledgeable guy, and we had a lot of fun tweaking the scripts to add a touch of his peculiar humor without turning him into a character—he wanted to play himself. Finally, creating a site that was at once compelling and educational was an awesome challenge, and everyone around me, from the agency to Alton to the staff at Tool, really came together to make this a memorable experience.”

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What to Read – Inside the Hermit Kingdom Salon.com

…. the bizarre spectacle of the vacant Ryugyong Hotel (aka the “Hotel of Doom”) towering over Pyongyang…

… If you went out on a moonless night in the years after the nation’s electrical grid effectively collapsed, the only way you could tell anyone else was around was by the coal of their cigarette burning in the dark. There’s the writing paper sold in state stores, made of corn husks that “would crumble easily if you scratched too hard,” so that people wrote on paper scavenged from the margins of newspapers. And then there’s Vinalon, “a stiff, shiny synthetic material unique to North Korea,” of which the fatherland was ludicrously proud. Vinalon takes dye so poorly that everyone’s clothes (which were mostly uniforms to begin with) were limited to drab grays, blues and browns…

…With the factories and electricity shut down, the air over Chungjin is pristine again, and you can see every star in the night sky. Doctors provide herbal remedies, but only because they have nothing else; furthermore, they are required to spend weeks camping out in the mountainous countryside, harvesting wild plants. Some resort to growing their own cotton in order to have bandages. Most North Koreans have never seen a mobile phone and don’t know that the Internet exists….

A cross between Shangri-La and Auschwitz, forever mysterious, untouchable, inaccessi…

The following small databases have been posted at Family Tree Connection in the last several weeks.

CONNECTICUT

Connecticut College for Women 1926-1927 Catalogue – Thirteenth Annual Catalogue of Connecticut College. Announcements for 1927-1928. Published at New London, Connecticut, March 30, 1927. Twelfth Series, Third Number.

Connecticut College for Women 1924-1925 Catalogue – Eleventh Annual Catalogue of Connecticut College. Announcements for 1925-1926. Published at New London, Connecticut, March 30, 1925. Tenth Series, Third Number. Connecticut College for Women, chartered in 1911 by the State of Connecticut, is a liberal college of arts and sciences for the higher education of women, located in New London.

ILLINOIS

The Chicago Club 1923 – Charter, Articles of Association, By-Laws, House Rules, Officers and Members of The Chicago Club (Revised Edition), Chicago, Ill., 1923. Club House: Michigan Avenue and Van Buren Street.

National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union 1910 Leaflet – Annual Leaflet, National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Organized 1874. Statement of Principles, W. C. T. U. Catechism, List of Officers, Departments, 1910. Address National W. C. T. U., Evanston, Illinois.

Hopkins Township High School 1928 Commencement – Class of 1928, Hopkins Township High School, Exercises of Graduation, May Twenty-seventh and June first, High School Auditorium. [No location listed. Possibly near Granville, Illinois]

Hopkins Township High School 1927 Commencement – Class of Nineteen Hundred Twenty-seven. Hopkins Township High School, Commencement Exercises, Thursday Evening, May Twenty-sixth, at Eight O’Clock, High School Auditorium. Baccalaureate Service Sunday Evening, May 22 at 8 O’clock. [No location listed. Possibly near Granville, Illinois]

Magnolia Township High School 1935 Commencement – Class of Nineteen Hundred Thirty-five, Magnolia Township High School, Commencement Exercises, Friday evening, May thirty-first, at eight o’clock, Community Church Auditorium, Magnolia, Illinois.

INDIANA

Home Lodge, F. & A. M., 1922 Roster – Home Lodge, No. 342, F. & A. M., Fort Wayne, Indiana, By-Laws and Roster of Membership, March 1st, 1922.

IOWA

North Western Classical Academy 1921 Commencement – The Class of Nineteen Hundred Twenty-one, North Western Classical Academy, Commencement Exercises, Wednesday, June Fifteenth, at seven-thirty o’clock, First Reformed Church, Orange City, Iowa.

KANSAS

Leavenworth Public Schools 1913-1914 Directory – Manual and Directory, Leavenworth Public Schools, Containing General Information Concerning the Board of Education, Officers, A list of Employes, Teacher and Janitors, Locations of Schools, Etc. Leavenworth, Kansas. Compiled by Robert J. Morgan, Clerk, October, 1913.

Oxford Rural High School 1928 Commencement – Oxford Rural High School, Commencement Exercises, Thursday evening, May seventeenth, Nineteen Hundred Twenty-eight, M. E. Church. [No location listed. Possibly Oxford, Kansas]

MICHIGAN

St. Paul High School 1931 Commencement – St. Paul High School, Commencement Exercises, Friday, June twelfth at eight o’clock, St. Paul Church. [No location listed, Possibly Shiawassee county, Michigan]

NEW HAMPSHIRE

New London Literary and Scientific Institution 1873 Catalogue – Twentieth Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the New London Literary and Scientific Institution, New London, N. H., for the Academical Year 1873.

NEW JERSEY

Battles of Trenton 151st Anniversary Program – Celebration of The One Hundred and Fifty-first Anniversary of the Battles of Trenton by The Trenton Historical Society at the Old Barracks, January second, nineteen twenty-eight. Includes a listing of Speakers.

NEW YORK

Harvard Engineering Society 1916-1917 Year Book – Harvard Engineering Society of New York, Organize June 18, 1907, Year Book, 1916-1917.

New York University 1896 Class Day Exercises – New York University, Class Day, June 2nd, 1896. Includes a listing of class officers.

New York University 1897 Class Day Exercises – Class Day Exercises, Class of ‘97, New York University, Gymnasium Hall, University Heights, June Eight, 1897. Includes a listing of class officers.

The Metropolitan, Volume XXVII, No. 7 – Published by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (Incorporated) of New York, Home Office, No. 7 Madison Avenue, New York City. Includes Death Claims and Mortuary Bonuses [Paid in the State of New York], Ed. 37, 1-1-16. The Mortuary Bonus is an additional voluntary amount paid by the Company under certain policies over and above the amount called for by the policy contracts.

NYC University Club 1886 Members – Charter, Constitution, House Rules and List of Officers and Members of the University Club. Clubhouse, Madison Square and Twenty-Sixth Street, East, New York.

OHIO

Akron Firemen’s Relief Association 1904 By-Laws – Revised By-Laws, The Akron Firemen’s Relief Association, 1904.

PENNSYLVANIA

Hazelton City Roster 1908-1909 – City of Hazleton [PA.], Roster, City Officials and Joint Standing Committees of City Councils, 1908-1909. Compiled by Stephen J. Hughes, City Clerk. Incorporated 1892.

Hazelton City Roster 1907-1908 – City of Hazleton [PA.], Roster, City Officials and Joint Standing Committees of City Councils, 1907-1908. Compiled by Stephen J. Hughes, City Clerk. Incorporated 1892.

Hazelton City Roster 1904-1905 – City of Hazleton [PA.], Roster, City Officials and Joint Standing Committees of City Councils, 1904-1905. Compiled by Stephen J. Hughes, City Clerk. Incorporated 1892.

Swarthmore College 1925 Commencement – Fifty-third Annual Commencement, Swarthmore College, Sixth Month Twelfth to Sixth Month Fifteenth, Class of 1925.

Jefferson Medical College 1898-99 Announcement – 74th Annual Announcement of the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia and its Hospital. Register of Students for 1897-98. Session of 1898-99.

SOUTH DAKOTA

Bowdle High School 1915 Commencement – Bowdle High School, Commencement Exercises, Opera House, Thursday Evening, May Twenty-Seventh, at Eight O’Clock, Nineteen Hundred Fifteen. [No location listed. Possibly Bowdle, South Dakota]

UNKNOWN LOCATION

Tryon High School 1925 Commencement – Class of Nineteen hundred twenty-five, Tryon High School, Commencement Exercises, Christian Church, Thursday evening, May, twenty-first, 8 o’clock. [No location listed]

Division No. 8, O. R. C. Roster (1899) – Roster, January, 1899. Rochester Division No. 8, O. R. C. (Order of Railway Conductors), Meets Every Sunday at 3 P. M., at No. 100 Reynolds Arcade, Except during July and August.

Benevolent Lodge, F. & A. M. 1909 Program – Benevolent Lodge, No. 28, F. & A. M., Third Annual Entertainment and Reception, Thursday evening, December Second, Nineteen nine, Harlem Casino.

What good would the rumor mill be if it didn’t voice our innermost desires? Apparently not content with giving us the roomy 4.3-inch HD2, HTC is now said to be actively testing out fully fledged tablet devices. Slated (get it?) to be driven by Google’s Android and minimalist Chrome OS, multiple varieties are currently being run through their paces and there’s even word that “core HTC customers” will get to check them out at CES. Who these doyens are and whether they’ll be so kind as to leak us a few photos is unknown, but word is that Qualcomm and Adobe are engaged to provide their hardware and software knowhow — making for an impressive corporate combo if nothing else. This is still strictly uncorroborated, one-source rumormongering, but ain’t it fun?

HTC testing out ‘touch tablets’ for Android and Chrome OS? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Manchester, UK (December 7, 2009) RTS Life Science, a worldwide supplier of automated sample management and drug delivery testing systems announces the launch of its innovative Tube Auditor instrument. With units already on order from 3 of the top 10 pharma and a major US Biobank, the Tube Auditor features unique vision technology, (patent pending*) allowing for fast and accurate volume measurement of samples, and is targeted at the Compound Management, High Throughput Screening and Bio-banking marketplace. RTS Life Science will unveil this new instrument on booth #644 at LabAutomation 2010, which will take place at the Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, CA from January 23-27, 2010.

The RTS Tube Auditor is a bench-top instrument suitable for manual operation or integration into automated systems. It enables fast and accurate measurement of sample volumes and, uniquely, the detection of precipitate in sample tubes. Its high speed vision technology allows a full 96-way SBS tube rack to be audited in less than 2 minutes. Unlike other automated solutions, the RTS Tube Auditor ensures complete sample safety and avoids the potential for sample degradation as there is no need to de-cap tubes during the auditing process.

During LabAutomation 2010, RTS Life Science will be hosting a workshop in collaboration with Microsonics Systems. The workshop, entitled “See and Hear how Vision and Acoustic Technology Could save $$$ in Your Screening and Library Collection,” will highlight how two complementary technologies can minimise poor quality screening and improve results by finding and then correcting solubility issues within compound libraries. With a focus on the new Tube Auditor and its innovative vision technology, and how Microsonics use ultrasonic energy to re-solubilise compounds, this workshop is sure to be of great interest. The workshop will take place on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at 12:30 – 2:00p.m in the Convention Center, room Smoketree DE.

For more information about RTS Life Science, please visit www.rtslifescience.com, for preliminary Tube Auditor information click here, email [email protected] or call +44 (0) 161 777 2065 (EU) or +4 (865) 642 4095 (USA)

*Patent Application 12/565157

For further press information please contact: Celine Callender, The Scott Partnership, 1, Whiteside, Station Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, CW4 8AA United Kingdom Tel: +44 1477 539539 Fax: +44 1477 539540 e-mail to: [email protected]

Over-Current Protection for Primary and Secondary Circuits

In niche markets with limited space, customers might look for a solution where SMD fuses should be replacable without soldering. The successful standard UMT 250 has been extended for this reason with a clip option.

The UMZ 250 offers time-lag characteristic according to IEC 60127-4 and is a Universal Modular Fuse (UMF) with rated current values from 315 mA to 4 A. The product provides a high breaking capacity of up to 200 A at 250 VAC. The clip option allows a customer fuse replacement with the benefit that only the UMT 250 fits. This has the advantage that e.g. the technical specification in contrast to a 5×20 mm solution does not vary and spare fuses could be sold through the equipment manufacturer. With this setup, the manufacturer receives important information about equipment failures in the field. Gold caps are required in order that the clip and the fuse are not soldered together in the reflow soldering process. As replacement, the standard UMT 250 can be used instead.

Technical Feature:
– Current range: 315 mA to 4 A
– Rated voltage: 250 VAC, 125 VDC
– Time-lag characteristic according to IEC 60127-4
– Breaking capacity of 200 A @ 250 VAC according to IEC and for 35 A @ 250 VDC according to UL

One of the most compelling aspects of the location-based service Foursquare is that they are increasingly enticing users to check-in to venues by partnering up to offer special deals to those who do. A person who checks-in at a coffee shop and shows the barista, may get a free coffee, for example. It’s a win-win for both the service and the venue because it gets people using the app more and gets people visiting the venue more. But what if users and venues go around Foursquare and start using Twitter for that?

That has started to happen recently, as venues are getting wise to the idea of using these special deals. For example, Patxi’s Pizza, a Bay Area-based restaurant, recently announced that it would offer a special deal to anyone who simply tweeted that they were at the restaurant, and showed their server the tweet. To be clear, they also have the same deal in place if you check-in on Foursquare, but using Twitter in a way similar to Foursquare is interesting.

One issue with venues offering these deals through Foursquare is that the service is still relatively small and unknown. Twitter, by comparison, is much larger and has become a known entity in the media and other areas of the mainstream. A public tweet by someone that they were at a certain restaurant is potentially a much more powerful form of free advertising for the venue than a Foursquare check-in.

Of course, there’s a downside too. Since Twitter is more popular, doing deals such as the tweet one could mean the restaurant would have to give out a lot more free stuff (depending on what the deal is, obviously). But again, it might be worth it for the free advertising.

Foursquare has another potential leg up as well. Because they’re predicated around the concept of the check-in, they can keep track of who is checking in the most and give out “mayorships.” So far, deals surrounding harder-to-obtain mayorships are at least just as popular as the check-in deals. And some venues appear willing to offer more to these known loyal customers. Patxi’s, for example, offers a you one free pizza a week if you’re the mayor. For checking-in or tweeting, you only get a free soft drink or $1 beer.

Another location-based service, Gowalla, is working on its own similar concept for venue deals. Since that service is largely based around the picking up and dropping of virtual goods at venues, if you got a special good, you could trade it for a free item at a restaurant, for example. This too, is more of a game element, and beyond what Twitter can easily do.

Still, I’d bet that we can expect to see a lot more of venues offering deals to people who tweet about being at a place. And because they don’t have to work on any sort of arrangement to get their deal placed in an app like Foursquare, there’s a much lower barrier to entry for these venues. They could simply tweet about how to secure the deal, as Patxi’s did.

And perhaps Twitter is even thinking of officially offering something along these lines when it rolls out its supposedly premium offering to businesses at some point this year, as it tries to pull in more revenues.

Then of course there’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room: Facebook. If and when Facebook implements its location element, their 300-million-plus user base will be awfully enticing for a lot of venues looking to promote.

[photo: flickr/andre charland]

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

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Bow Wow drinks, drives, and Tweets! Where’s that “You’re A Dumb F&Ck” graphic when you need it?

-Kate Hudson’s love life may be lukewarm, but her former hubby Chris Robinson sure isn’t having any trouble! The Black Crowes frontman has welcomed a baby girl with the new lady in his life, wife Allison Bridges….

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