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Remember a few years back when we were first confronted with the big digital shift and it seemed that our information needs would be all about going “local”? Many believed that a world of micro news sites and blogs targeting very localized areas would pop up as many local newspapers began to take a plunge. This never really happened. Though something else captivated people: the rise of geo-location technology and apps. The fast ascension of companies like Foursquare, Gowalla and others have created a world of geo-location apps that offer Q&A services, meaning they answer pretty much any question you have about a localized area.

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As our ever faithful know, every so often we like to do a mid-week news round up of things happening in the GEOINT world. Well, today, we have decided to focus on location-based business sector with stories about Foursquare, Yelp, MapQuest, as well as a story about Visa using a phone’s location to prevent credit card fraud. As we always say on Monday, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on! Happy Wednesday!

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Small businesses are often them most nimble when it comes to embracing social media and geo-location services. By not being tied down by corporate approval processes, small businesses can easily tap into the power of these new resources to retain and grow their customer bases. The NY Times today ran a story about how Pacific Catch, a chain of three seafood restaurants in the Bay Area, is doing just this. A few months ago, the restaurant adopted Foursquare, the geolocation service that allows customers to claim special offers and earn badges by “checking in” to certain locations. When people used the Foursquare application within a few blocks of the restaurant, a special offer popped up on their mobile phones: check in five times and earn a free shrimp ceviche or a Hawaiian poke. Another special rewarded customers who checked in on Foursquare with a free side of sweet potato fries. Such offers have helped lure new customers: more than 1,400 people have checked in at Pacific Catch more than 2,800 times. See small business GEOINT. It works! Read more here.

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Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post. We hope everyone enjoyed the last official August weekend of 2010. Whether you were watching Entourage, or watching the Emmy Awards (go Modern Family!) last night, the inevitable was going to happen: Monday morning would eventually arrive. But fret not. We have pulled together all the news you need to ease the transition back into the real world. So, as we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on!

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As many of our got geoint? readers know, our editor team embraces anything that has to do with GEO-location, which often extends beyond the defense and intelligence arenas. This is why David Carr’s recent NY Times column about digital location and the SXSW conference caught our attention. He opens his column with a story about how a massive group of people immediately left a certain hot spot (en masse) to go to the CollegeHumor party, which turned out to be a less-than-stellar party. Of course, the flock moving to the next party was instigated by location-based applications like Foursquare. Yes, we are all over the use of these location-based application — and perhaps this is more of a Friday’s Food for Thought angle — but doesn’t this seem odd? As Carr pointed out, it’s as if a digital dog whistle took control of the masses. Very cool for those who want to “be in the know,” but what about those who prefer to strike out on their own? Is there any place for them in this scenario? And, perhaps if the CollegeHumor party turned out to be amazing, we would not be writing this post. Thoughts?

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As our loyal got geoint? readers know, we like to start the week off with our Monday Morning News Kick Off post, which highlights all the actionable news you need to get your week started on the right foot. Well, every so often we like to break out of the mold and do a news round up post in the middle of the week. And, since our research department just found a whole slew of very cool location, imagery and science stories, we had to do a “Thursday News Round Up” post. All the news you need to get through the last leg of the week. Read on and enjoy.

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The Where 2.0 conference program is almost complete. The focus is on the tech industry’s advances in Mapping, Mobile and Local. Each of these areas are being treated equally and each will have its own afternoon track. Coming back this year we have great speakers such as John Hanke (Google), Jack Dangermond (ESRI), Ryan Sarver (Twitter), Danny Sullivan (Search Engine Land) and Dennis Crowley (Foursquare). Maps have moved from flat and static creations to rich representations of the world. And now maps are moving to realtime. The idea of constantly-updated community maps are now the norm and the modifications are constant. The base data of the map you are looking at could have been updated in the past couple of days in time those updates will be instantaneous. Read the full O’Reilly Radar post from Brady Forrest here.

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