Mashable: Latest 6 News Updates - including “5 Awesome Arcade Games for the iPhone” |  |
- 5 Awesome Arcade Games for the iPhone
- The Most Social Music Game Yet: “Def Jam Rapstar”
- HOW TO: Organize A Successful Meetup
- HOW TO: Find Good Food Online
- White iPhone 4 Spotted in UK Apple Store [VIDEO]
- Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]
- Top 10 Checkin Locations on Gowalla
| 5 Awesome Arcade Games for the iPhone Posted: 26 Jun 2010 10:05 PM PDT  Thanks to the modern console, arcade games will never hold as large a place in gaming as they did in the 1970s and 1980s. But there is some good news for reto-gaming fans, as many arcade classics are now available in the App Store just waiting for you to download. Here are five awesome games that have made the leap from coin-operated arcade machine to your iPhone’s screen. So limber up your thumbs and let us know your favorites in the comments below. 1. Pang: Pocket Pong The Atari classic arcade game Pong, is undoubtedly the seminal title in the modern computer game industry. While it might be hard to believe now, back in the mid-70s, a home Pong console was the modern-day equivalent of having a PS3 hooked up to your television. Being the only game on the market at the time made it an obvious success, but the game itself is surprisingly addictive. No “official” Pong app exists, but this version is pretty faithful to the early versions of the game, complete with authentic sound effects. There are several modes of play, which include the classic two-player action, player versus computer mode, and “rebound” in which you rally against the “wall.” There’s also a kind of volleyball variant if you want to mix it up. Available as Separate iPad App? No 2. Space Invaders Despite the price tag, this is a must-have app for true fans of the original arcade game. There are three different options for controls — tricky tilt controls, drag controls and the easiest arrows method — as well as the ability to customize the screen, although you may prefer the simple “color” option over other more convoluted choices. This app is from Taito, the game’s original developers, and one nice touch is the inclusion of a gallery of rare artwork and materials from the game’s development. Whether you can remember playing Space Invaders in an arcade, or you’re just curious about the game rumored to have lead to a shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan, then this is the app to opt for. Available as Separate iPad App? No 3. PAC-MAN Namco has brought back Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, and the eponymous hero for the iPhone with this excellent mobile version of the vintage gaming giant. Play the “Lite” version (just the first level) for fork out the cash, and you can gobble dots and eat ghosts to your heart’s content. Like other arcade games ported to the iPhone platform, you get a choice of controls, as well as the choice of your own music from your iPhone that you can select to play. Download this app on the game’s 30th anniversary and you’ll still be playing it in years to come. Available as Separate iPad App? Yes 4. Frogger Frogger is a classic and fan favorite, appearing on multiple platforms, including unofficial incarnations such as “Froggy” and “Hopper”, since its introduction into arcades in 1981. Here, Konami manages to keep a more-or-less retro feel to the game, although the graphics are not arcade-original. It also includes up-to-date functionality, such as the ability to post your scores to Facebook. There are three control options, but slide is the only one that really works – making guiding your little frogs across the roads, and past the various foes, a strange touch experience for anyone used to real-life controls. Available as Separate iPad App? Yes 5. Original Duck Hunt Despite Nintendo’s dominance in the history of gaming, because they’re a rival to Apple as far as hand held games go, they haven’t been very keen to develop for the platform, meaning a severe lack of vintage Nintendo titles are available on the mobile platform. So far its existence has escaped the glare of Nintendo’s legal department, so this app is perfect for those nostalgic for Nintendo’s golden days of gaming. You may think Duck Hunt just won’t be the same without a bright orange NES Zapper, but it’s worth giving the game a “shot” on a touchscreen. The colorful 8-bit graphics and fun sound effects will have you reminiscing about the 80s in no time, while the gameplay is faithful as far as the one duck/two duck options go, and that adorably frustrating pooch giggling if you miss, or retrieving if you don’t. Unfortunately, the clay pigeon shooting option has not been ported. Available as Separate iPad App? No Image courtesy of iStockphoto, manley099 For more Apple coverage:
More iPhone resources from Mashable:
Reviews: App Store, Facebook, Frogger, Twitter, iStockphoto More About: Apple iPad, arcade games, duck hunt, frogger, ipad, ipad games, iphone, iphone apps, iPhone games, pac-man, pong, retro games, space invaders, video games    
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| The Most Social Music Game Yet: “Def Jam Rapstar” Posted: 26 Jun 2010 07:29 PM PDT  The new game Def Jam Rapstar from Konami and 4mm Games isn’t just a hip hop karaoke game or a challenging performance simulator like Rock Band 3. It’s a social media platform for building connections, promoting yourself, speaking your mind and maybe (just maybe) becoming an actual rap star. We were given a behind-close-doors tour of the game by representatives from Konami, 4mm Games and Def Jam Enterprises, and we learned most of the details about the core music game play and the social media “metagame” that’s attached. The Music Game The game itself is similar to other karaoke games; you pick up a microphone and rap along with the track you’ve selected, and the game grades you on lyrical accuracy, timing and other musical factors. Songs are presented with their music videos, profanity-free, though you’re free to use the harsh language from the original recordings if you want — it won’t affect your score. You can even play in Duet mode, bringing your friends in to perform different parts in a song with multiple performers. Konami will offer new songs for download weekly, starting on day one. There are several other modes, but the most unique and exciting is the Freestyle mode. We’ll talk about that alongside the game’s social media features. The Ambitious Social Features The social features of the game are tied primarily to the Freestyle mode, which you can use to rap on top of original beats and samples provided by Konami. As you lay down your audio track, the game uses your game console’s camera (the PlayStation Eye, the Xbox Live Vision Camera, and probably Microsoft Kinect) to record your performance on video. You can edit the video afterwards, throwing in special effects and graphics, then post it to Def Jam Rapstar’s online community. Links to videos and other updates are sharable on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace, but it’s not just about socializing. A whole game is built around a system of rap “battles” between users who upload video challenges to one another. Winners of battles (and MCs who accomplish other objectives) gain badges similar to the Xbox 360’s achievements. All the profiles, news feeds and videos from Rapstar’s community are viewable by anyone on the web whether they have a game console or a copy of the game or not. You can join crews, find followers and fans, or even strike up rivalries — either by challenging someone to battles frequently, or by getting kicked out of your crew. That last one will make you a rival to everyone in the old crew. There are even roles for people who don’t rap. Promoters have their own metagame; they gain badges for using social media to spread the word about their favorite artists. Becoming a Real Rap Star Konami, 4mm and Def Jam Enterprises see the game as a breeding ground for new talent, and they’ve designed the Freestyle mode and the online tools with artists’ self-promotion and expression in mind. They’ll cherry pick the finest talent — rappers who stir up vast armies of fans with superior lyricism, timing and pitch — and put them in professional production studios to create featured content for the network. That would seem to fit with the hip hop ethos of coming from nowhere to conquer the whole world. The game will launch on the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 with at least 40 songs and videos from artists like Dr. Dre, 2 Pac, 50 Cent, Ice Cube and more this October 5 in North America and November 2 in Europe. For more Entertainment coverage:
Reviews: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter More About: def jam enterprises, def jam rapstar, e3, E3 2010, facebook, gaming, hip-hop, Konami, music, playstation 3, rap, social media, twitter, video games, Wii, Xbox 360 
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| HOW TO: Organize A Successful Meetup Posted: 26 Jun 2010 05:51 PM PDT  This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. Gathering friends, followers and “likers” online can only take you so far in the world of networking. Organizing a Meetup is a great way to move your virtual network to a tangible territory. Quite simply, a Meetup is a planned event where like-minded people meet and typically chat over cocktails and listen to a guest speaker. Organizing one of these events is an excellent way to establish yourself or your business as a “go-to” person in your industry. Yet it is easier said than done. Anyone who has ever tried to organize a dinner with just a small group of friends knows that preparation is the key to any successful event. Meetups require planning, and given that you want to make a good impression you should take your time to make sure everything goes smoothly. 1. Why Your Meetup?First, consider why you want to organize a Meetup. Do your research and find out what groups are already meeting, and decided what your Meetup could bring to your industry. Sign up on Meetup’s website and create a personal profile to see what the scene is like already. Search for terms that pertain to your field, and decide on what is missing so you can position your Meetup to satisfy that void. Next, you need to craft a clear lead statement that explains exactly what your Meetup is about. Break it down so that people will understand what type of conversations you hope to develop. 2. Create a Meetup Group Meetup’s services make it easy to get the group rolling. Create your group, and choose your location, the group's name, headline and your lead statement describing what the group is all about. Pick a theme for your group’s page; you can choose from several templates or create your own. The next step is important. Pick up to 15 topics that describe what your group is targeting. Picking the right keywords is how you’ll find the right members for your group. Meetup’s site offers some good suggestions and shows you how many groups already exist under each umbrella topic. Then pick a pricing plan. Meetup is free to join, but if you want to actually start a group, pricing will run as low as $12 a month. With more than 6.5 million people signed up and over 60,000 groups formed it’s the simplest way to organize a group and reach out to the most people. Now that you have created the group, you're officially the “organizer.” Seventy-two hours after you have created the group the site sends out an alert blast to everyone who has listed the topics or keywords you choose to categorize the group, and invites them to join.
If you have contacts who aren’t members of the site but that you know you’d want to attend, send off a personalized e-mail informing them of your new group. You can also tweet the link to your group’s page so your Twitter followers get the message as well. 3. Grow Membership
Don’t rush to create an event right away says Yuli Ziv, who organizes the Meetups for her group Fashion 2.0 and is the co-founder of My It Things and Style Coalition. Ziv’s group has more than 1,000 members, and she has organized 20 Meetups since 2008. She advises that you wait for the membership to grow before you announce your first event. Once you decide to put a Meetup event on the calendar make sure you announce it and give yourself some time to promote the event so that people can RSVP. 4. FormatMeetups don’t have to adhere to one format. Most include networking over cocktails and often feature a panel discussion or guest speak and Q and A session from the audience. If it’s you’re first event, you may want to try something more informal. Julia Kaganskiy organizes the 1,300 member strong Arts, Culture and Technology group. A former social media strategist and community manager for an entertainment agency, and current Digital Learning department intern at the MoMA, Kaganskiy held her first meet up nearly two years ago as a way to meet people in the specific communities she wanted to work in. For her first event, Kaganskiy says she ran more of relaxed gathering because she wanted to get a feeling for who would come out. “I wanted to see what fields people were in and find out what they were really interested in. I worked the room and got a sense of what kinds of questions people wanted to explore.” Fourteen Meetups later, Kaganskiy now creates each event with a different theme or topic and invites top industry leaders as guest speakers. Sometimes she’ll invite a few speakers to speak for 30 minutes or she’ll invite four or five guests with a variety of viewpoints to each speak for 10 minutes. Either way, the goal is to get the conversation flowing. 5. VenueOnce you decide what you’ll be doing at the event, you need to tell people where to actually meet. Finding a venue to hold your event can be the most difficult part. Depending on where you live there may be more or less available space. The key is, and both Kaganskiy and Ziv agree, is to find somewhere for free. “Find a bar on a Monday or Tuesday, and most places will be thrilled to have you. If it’s a low traffic area they’ll be more than happy to have you bring in 50 people for a couple of hours,” says Kaganskiy. Once you have space set there is always the question of if you’ll have enough. In places like New York City, space is often an issue. As Fashion 2.0 has grown in membership, Ziv says that they have outgrown the venues where past events have taken place. To avoid turning people away, Ziv suggests capping the number of people admitted if there is enough interest. “Some events are better in an intimate setting,” she says. “A big event doesn’t mean a great event. It could be 30 people and be just as relevant and interesting as one with 100.” Once you have established yourself as a group, Ziv suggests making a wait list if too many people RSVP to your event. “It can make people more excited. It means it’s a special event and people want to be a part of it. This way you can encourage people to RSVP early,” she says. 6. Day of the MeetupFor everything to run smoothly, it’s important that you do some last-minute preparation before your group meets. Call the venue to confirm, and make sure they have all the equipment you need (microphones, speakers, screens). If you’re bringing your own supplies, make sure the venue knows that ahead of time and confirm that you’ll be their early to set up. If you’re in a private room at a bar or restaurant, try to make sure that the staff know who you are and that they'll communicate to arriving guests where the event is being held. On the day of, don’t forget your Sharpie pens, name tags, and the RSVP list. Have someone besides yourself man the door, so you can take care of last-minute needs. If you decide not to cap your admission number, make sure to have a sign-in sheet so you can get everyone’s contact information. 7. Sponsorships Initial Meetups tend to be low-key affairs, but once you’ve organized a few and keep gaining members, sponsorship is a great way to make your Meetup more professional and enjoyable, while taking the costs off your hands. Getting sponsored can happen in different ways. Fashion 2.0 was lucky enough to find some of its sponsors within some of its own members according to Ziv. “We have executives in the group and it’s to their benefit to tell their companies about a relevant group with great people who they would want to reach out to.” The benefits of being sponsored mean that Fashion 2.0 can afford a bigger venue and host events with an open bar, which definitely attracts people. “It really takes it to the next level and makes it a serious event. The fashion industry has high standards and people expect a big production,” she says. Another way to find a sponsor is through Meetup’s website. Three years ago the website noticed that groups were starting to get sponsored by local businesses. “Running groups were sponsored by the neighborhood running store, and we saw that there was an opportunity for big brands to come in and support these groups,” said Cindy Laning, the account manager for Meetup sponsors. Since organizers pay to use the site, Meetup is committed to supporting the success of each group, and found that groups grow, on average, 7 percent faster with a sponsor. Laning explained that organizers have the option of whether or not they would be interested in sponsorship, and Meetup reaches out to groups who they think would benefit from working with, including dozens of top brands like Columbia Sports, Dove, Vitamin Water, Equinox, Blackberry, Huggies and Microsoft. “The point is to get as many groups sponsored as possible. We reach out to the group and act as the middleman between them and the brand.” According to Laning, Meetup has a 75% opt-in rate for sponsorship, which insures that brands are welcomed into the community. “We get qualitative feedback; brands come in and they recognize these communities by financing them or with other things. The groups are so grateful for that support, that when it comes time to make a purchase decision they are likely to use the brand that has been helping them out. It’s a pay it forward mentality.” 8. The FutureOnce you’ve organized your first Meetup, start thinking about the next. Talk to people to find out what will keep bringing them back, and try to come up with innovative ideas that will place you where you want to be in your industry: a connected, relevant contributor. “Running the Meetup was the single most important move I’ve made in my professional career thus far,” said Kaganskiy. “It positioned me at the center of this community that I was just making my way into. It allowed me to create my own networking opportunities. Because I’m creating a public service by organizing these events, I’ve gain a lot of respect.” 9. Keep Connected The event may be over, but your work is far from done. Now that you’ve met all these new people, it’s your job to stay connected with them via your group’s Meetup page, but also through other social media platforms. Follow your members on Twitter and Facebook. Keep your community buzzing. Was there a controversial question that generated a lot of discussion? Tweet it after the event and keep people thinking about you so that they can’t wait for the next event. For example, John Hyland and Anthony Quintano of the NYC DSLR Meetup, keep up with their members via Twitter to keep conversation rolling before, during and after their Meetups. At Fashion 2.0 there is a whole conversation on Twitter in addition to the event. Ziv says members all follow and support each other, and foster new discussions. Kaganskiy uses her personal Twitter account to promote the group and says that following up with members on other networking sites really helps to cement the relationships. She reflects, “I was an outsider looking in. Now I have friends at every major museum in the city, and it is because I maintained those connections I made at the Meetups.” Have you organized a Meetup in your community? Add your own tips on organizing a successful Meetup in the comments below. For more Business coverage:
More business resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, iofoto Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iStockphoto More About: business, meeting, meetup, networking, social networking 
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| Posted: 26 Jun 2010 03:30 PM PDT  Nowadays you can get pretty much anything you want online, but what if you really want a burrito at three in the morning, or some hand-picked beets at three in the afternoon? There are a lot of ways to get good food out there, and the Internet is becoming an increasingly useful, and effective, way to find exactly what you want. This list can help you find new vendors and new meals that you might have otherwise missed. From those delicious candies you once had in Germany, to the nearest farmers market, to that great sushi place just around the corner, here are a bunch of ways to help you feed yourself online. Get It Delivered There are two modes of thought on this one: Do you want groceries or do you want hot, prepared meals? Regardless of which you prefer, there's a bounty of resources. If you're looking for local organic foods, our favorite site is Greenling. Based in Texas, the company will deliver fresh produce to your door. Greenling’s site does an amazing job with its farmer info sections, including bios and farm specialty for each of their major providers. Their zip code look-up is a huge help even if you don’t live in Texas. If Greenling doesn't deliver to your house, they'll give you a fantastic list of available grocers who will. One of the sites included might be Local Harvest, another online market with a wide range of produce picked from farmers markets. More established, mainstream sites like Peapod, Netgrocer, or FreshDirect can offer more name brand goods like Corn Pops or Oscar Mayer hot dogs, for example. Some of these sites, such as Peapod, even team up with major supermarkets like Stop & Shop.  Now for the hot stuff. If you want to skip the middle man-or-woman entirely, these sites can help you get cooked food delivered straight to your door. Cer té in New York is good for something a little fancier, but those looking to see if their favorite BBQ place delivers can check out GrubHub, a site now in 10 U.S. cities and still growing. Type in your address and GrubHub will tell you what's nearby, who delivers, and other juicy details like minimum order requirements. Another useful feature lets you search by type of cuisine if all you really want is that BBQ. Other sites like Delivery.com, Eat24Hours, SeamlessWeb, and OrderLunch.com feature similar services. Schwan's is a little different, offering both gourmet foods and goods like fruits, veggies, and meats that can be delivered across the country. Hunting for Food Carts Daily hunts used to be a big deal back in the Stone Age, when every outing was a life or death affair. Even though the stakes might have dropped, you can still hunt for those elusive mobile street vendors. While it can be difficult to find these transitory gems, there are several ways you can reliably track them down online. If you're just sort of peckish and looking for some good street food in your neighborhood, most major cities have a site devoted to cataloging food carts. Some good examples include AustinFoodCarts, AtlantaFoodCarts, and Food Carts Portland. Each of these sites has a surprisingly wide range of cuisines. Some are better updated than others, but a simple Google search should turn up your own city's offering. The mother lode of food cart finders is Yelp. With information on more than 50 U.S. cities (even some locations overseas), Yelp keeps tabs on every cart you could imagine. Simply search for "food carts/stands" and prepare to get reading. You can narrow by district, area, or type of food cart to tailor your responses. Yelp is also a great way to read up on that cart you've been dying to try. If you need to follow your favorite, most major food carts have started up Twitter accounts with daily tweets about locations and specials. Another Google search can help you track them down. And the new Cartspotting website aggregates tweets from a growing number of food trucks. Farmers Markets If the last section left you feeling a little heavy, try walking over to a local farmers market to load up on leafy vegetables, fresh cheeses, and all sorts of healthy produce. Farmers markets are nothing new, but their growth online makes finding them even easier. Like the food carts, many major cities have websites devoted to cataloging local farmers markets such as Farmer Net and Certified Farmers' Market in California, or GrowNYC and the Farmers Market Federation in New York. A great all-around resource is America's Favorite Farmers Markets. This comprehensive site covers all of America (yes, even Hawaii and Alaska), documenting a plethora of markets nationwide. A simple zip code look-up can pinpoint the markets closest to you. Handy pop-ups provide context and some information on what is sold. A voting system keeps track of which markets top the rest. Also check out Local Harvest for a huge listing of farmer’s markets, family farms and CSAs. The Online Classics If you're looking for some easily-shippable snacks, you really can't go wrong with classic online stores like Amazon or eBay. While their inclusion in this list might be puzzling, just try typing in your favorite candy, chocolate, or chips and see what pops up. Word of advice: Because of shipping restrictions, your odds of finding a pack of Wine Gums or Yorkies are usually much higher than landing a hot meal. Hopefully we've opened up some new options for our hungry readers, or finally reunited you with your favorite, hard-to-find snack. Please use the comments to let us know about more resources, or to share your success stories. More food resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, izanoza Reviews: Amazon.com, Google, Twitter, Yelp, eBay, iStockphoto More About: amazon, america's favorite farmers market, certe, ebay, farmer net, farmers market, Food, food carts, freshdirect, Google, greenling, grubhub, local harvest, netgrocer, peapod, twitter, yelp  For more Entertainment coverage:
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| White iPhone 4 Spotted in UK Apple Store [VIDEO] Posted: 26 Jun 2010 02:24 PM PDT  The white iPhone 4 didn’t make it out on launch day, much to some excited Apple fans’ chagrin — or did it? This Sky News video report shows two people using the new white iPhone in a central London Apple store nearly a month before it’s expected to be available. Though it didn’t offer pre-orders of the white iPhone 4, Apple waited until the day before the iPhone 4 launch to announce that no white iPhones would be available until the second half of July because they had “proven more challenging to manufacture than expected.” The Sky News report embedded below focuses on Apple mania and expresses doubts as to whether or not the gadget is worth the excitement, but the producer of the segment either didn’t know about the white iPhone delay or didn’t care to ask about it, so there’s no explanation. Have you seen any white iPhone 4s in the wild? [via 9 to 5 Mac, ConnorJack] For more Apple coverage:
Reviews: Facebook, Twitter, iPhone More About: apple, cell phone, gadgets, iphone, iphone 4, Mobile 2.0, trending, uk, White 
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| Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART] Posted: 26 Jun 2010 12:10 PM PDT
The 2010 World Cup continues to dominate the planet’s Twitter streams as contenders are knocked out of the tournament one-by-one, and the NBA Finals came in at number two following the L.A. Lakers’ victory over the Boston Celtics. A bit further down in the trends, the world’s longest Tennis match had tweeters riled up at the thought of an 11 hour rivalry that ultimately went to U.S. player John Isner. As always, our partners in data at What The Trend have provided the complete chart below. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart. You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past week's trends on What The Trend. Top Twitter Trends This Week: 6/19 – 6/25
 This Twitter Trends Series is supported by Bing.™ Check out the Bing Local Twitter Trends Map on Mashable. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ricardoinfante Reviews: Australia, Bing, Mashable, Twitter, iStockphoto More About: bing-twitter-trends, gulf oil spill, social media, Top Twitter Topics, trends, twitter, twitter trends, world cup  For more Social Media coverage:
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| Top 10 Checkin Locations on Gowalla Posted: 26 Jun 2010 10:10 AM PDT What are the most visited places by location-based social networkers? Besides major transit hubs like airports and rail stations — which always top the charts — Gowalla users are a global bunch who check-in at a variety of interesting locales. Using compiled data directly from Gowalla, we’ve rounded up the hottest spots in the network’s 10 most popular cities. Have you checked-in at any of the locations featured? Let us know in the comments. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - Austin, TX Austin is the capital of Texas, the state's fourth largest city, the birthplace of Gowalla itself, and its metro area is home to about 1.7 million people. Austin is also is home to the SXSW festival, which has attracted thousands of music, film, and tech lovers down South since 1987. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - The Alamo Drafthouse, is a chain of movie theaters (with four in Austin) where Austinians can catch the latest Hollywood offerings and take in special second viewings of films like The Wiz, Meatballs, and quote-a-long showings of Anchorman. With waiters taking your order throughout the film, a fully stocked wet bar and a diverse menu offering so much more than popcorn and soda, even the worst movies don't seem so bad. Whole Foods and Uncle Billy's Brew & Que are Austin's other most popular check in destinations. [img credit: Bruce Turner] TD Garden - Boston, MA Boston is the capital and largest city in Massachusetts, and home to more than 4.5 million people in the greater Boston area. Known for its history as one of the oldest cities in the U.S., Boston is a center of academia, research and technology. But it's also the home to some of country's most passionate sports fans. TD Garden was built in 1995 and has undergone a number of titular changes. With a capacity to seat 20,000 people, the arena is home to the Boston Bruins, the Celtics, and the Boston Blazers. With three of the NBA playoff games between the Celtics and L.A. Lakers taking place in the last month, it's no wonder it's such a hot spot. Other popular locations include Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox, and Boston Common. [img credit: Chris Denver] Cloud Gate - Chicago, IL Chicago is the largest city in Illinois and in the entire mid-west region with a population of 2.8 million people. The "Windy City" is known as a center for jazz, architecture and the occasional political scandal. The Cloud Gate is a huge sculpture located at the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park. Completed in 2006 and designed by British artist Anish Kapoor, the 33 foot, by 66 foot, by 42 foot, stainless steel, bean-shaped piece, weights 110 tons. Other popular check in locations in "Chi-Town" include the Chicago Cub's Wrigley Field, and Millennium Park as a whole. [img credit: jmcmichael] Lincoln Memorial - Washington, DC Washington, DC is the nation's capital, the political center, and boasts a 5.3 million-strong population in the metropolitan area. With museums, monuments, and plenty of political history, the city is flooded with tourists, school children, interns, and policymakers. Along with Washington Nationals Park and the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial is one of the most popular DC checkin places. Built in 1922 to honor the 16th President Abraham Lincoln, it's located on the National Mall (which includes the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and National World War II Memorial) and is open for visiting 24-hours a day. Architect Henry Bacon designed the building, while Daniel Chester French sculpted the statue of "Honest Abe." The interior murals were courtesy of painter Jules Guerin. [img credit: Chadh] Trafalgar Square - London, UK London is the capital of England and the entire United Kingdom. With a population of 7.5 million people living within Greater London, the city is home to many famous historical and tourist-friendly sites like Buckingham Place, Big Ben and Kensington Market. Trafalgar Square is in the heart of London and is a huge tourist attraction. At the center is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues. The square is a popular hang out location, and has been the site of many political protests and celebrations including New Year's Eve festivities. Art-loving Gowalla users also check in often at the Tate Modern when in London. [img credit: damo1977] Disneyland - Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, with a population just shy of 15 million. Also known as The City of Angels, La-La Land or Hell-A, it's a city like no other and is best known for beaches, tans and Hollywood glamor. Disneyland is located in Anaheim (near LA) and opened in 1955. It has attracted close to 600 million guests to date. In 2009, 15.9 million visitors came to see Mickey Mouse and the rest of the Disney gang, making it the second most visited theme park in the world after Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Gowalla users check-in and share their favorite rides and attractions. [img credit: Kristian Vinkenes] Times Square - New York City New York City is considered by some to be the center of the universe. With 22 million people living in the greater metro area, it's the largest city in the United States. Home to diverse cultures and known as the center of finance, fashion, art and media, New York's streets swell with tourists all year long. Times Square is a major commercial intersection, from Broadway and Seventh Avenue, stretching from West 42nd Street to West 47th Street, with the surrounding area known as the Theatre District. Times Square is a tourist Mecca filled with restaurants, stores, theaters, and people stopping to take photos and double check their maps. There are plenty of popular places to check-in to in New York, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art is another hot destination on Gowalla. [img credit: Francisco Diez] Moscone Center - San Francisco, CA 7.4 million people call the San Francisco Bay area home. Known for its streetcars, hilly terrain, and as home base for a number of tech companies. The Moscone Center is a convention center first built in 1981 and named after George Moscone, a former mayor of San Francisco who was assassinated in 1978. Later expansions were added in 1992 and 2003, bringing the exhibition hall to 700,000 square feet. Some of the year's biggest tech events are held there -- including WWDC and the Web 2.0 Expo -- which could explain why it is such a popular place to check-in. Not surprisingly, the famed Golden Gate Bridge is another hot San Fran check-in spot. [img credit: AdamJackson1984] Pike Place Market - Seattle, WA Seattle has a population of about 600,000 people and is known for lots of rain, coffee, and the birth place of 90s era grunge music. Pike Place Market has overlooked the Elliott Bay waterfront since it first opened in 1907. As one of the oldest farmers' markets in the U.S. it attracts many local merchants and small businesses. Built on the edge of a steep hill, the market consists of different levels of shopping. Tourists and locals come to shop for fresh produce, antiques and freshly caught fish among other things. Seattle's Safeco Field, home to the Mariners, is another top check in spot in the Northwest. [img credit: Alexa Boud ] Trädgården - Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm is the capital of Sweden with a population of two million people living in the greater metro area. It's an international tourist destination and definitely a place to you'll want to tout visiting online. Trädgården is a popular bar and nightclub located under the Johanneshovsbron bridge in Stockholm, Sweden. Other hot Swedish checkin locations include the music venue Huset Under Bron, and Kungsträdgården -- a public park. [img credit: Jon Åslund] For more Mobile coverage:
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