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6 New Apps for Uncovering the Best Local Knowledge

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At some point afterlaunched in 2009, the Q&A concept has moved from the realm of stodgy forums to burgeoning tech trend. Meanwhile, hoards of startups are taking cues from buzz-generating location-based services likeandby adding location to everything fromto .

It's no surprise that the latest generation of startups is combining these two concepts.

These six new location-based Q&A services send questions about places to locals likely to have the answers. Some of them, like Localmind, even go so far as to track down potential answerees, while others solicit more general suggestions.

1.

Loqly users can find local businesses via a Google-powered search, browsing by popular categories or by asking for a referral. Each business page has an option to share, mark as a favorite, or view itsreviews. From the same business pages, users can ask specific questions about the business to other users in the area. "What days of the week do they have free salsa classes?" or "What are some good strong beers here?" are some sample questions.

People can also use Loqly for more general recommendations like "What is a good sushi restaurant in the area?" After users tag the question with a city and category, Loqly adds it to a question queue for local users.

2.

Crowdbeacon helps users track down answers to location-based questions by directing them to local experts nearby. When users first download the app, they're asked to identify their location and broad categories for which they feel comfortable answering questions. These sections include active life, beauty, restaurants, shopping, etc.

When you ask a question, you identify which category experts it should be sent to. Founder Robert Boyle's vision is that some respondents will be local businesses who have whatever it is that you're looking for and can offer you a deal. There are about 100 such businesses currently participating in New York -- home of the just-launched startup's strongest user base.

If you happen to live elsewhere, you might need to recruit some fellow users before you get regular responses to your questions.

3.

Launched in early March byfounder Jyri Engestrom, Ditto encourages users to state what they're going to do before they do it. They can either push these statements to their friends or to strangers nearby. The idea is that others who see something like "I'm going to breakfast" will naturally respond with something like "Oh, I know a great place." Better yet, they might offer to join.

Ditto is unusual among location-based Q&A apps in that it covers activities in addition to location. Users can just as easily solicit book and movie recommendations as they can restaurant and bar recommendations.

4.

Switzerland-based Loqize.me is a Q&A service exclusively for location-based questions. Founder Philip Estrada Reichen was inspired to start the company after he moved to New York City. Most of the questions he asked using social media had to do with where to find things (a haircut, dinner, a place to watch a game, etc.) in the city.

"The way I solved it is I posted questions on Facebook, I tweeted, I asked my friends, but there was no real easy way to get these sort of questions answered," he says.

Loqize.me is still in private beta. It allows users to tag their questions with a location. Users who "follow" that city or that user will see the question in their feeds and have an opportunity to answer it or to read others' answers. It's also possible to browse the questions by most recent or unanswered questions.

5. Hipster

Formerly stealth startup Hipster gave the world a peak at its location-based Q&A service at SXSW this year with adedicated to the conference.

If Yelp and Quora had a child under the influence of GPS, it might look a bit like this web app. Users see newsfeeds of popular, recent and friend activity. They can also follow people, categories, neighborhoods, and specific questions to create a "My Topics" feed.

The app integrates with , Facebook andaccounts to let users follow locations that they've checked in to.

6.

Localmind's specificity sets it apart from most other location-based Q&A services. When you launch the app, it presents you with a list of locations that other users near you are currently checked in to. You can send those specific users questions about their current location. You can build karma points by answering these questions, replying you're busy, checking in, and inviting friends to join. Users who rack up enough points earn titles like "expert," "champion," and "legend." When users reach the expert level, they're able to answer questions regardless of whether they are checked in to a specific area.

"One vision we have for the expert layer is a crowdsourced customer support network, where your customers answer questions on your behalf, and are recognized for it," explains founder Lenny Rachitsky. "Recognition could be [as] simple as a deal/coupon, or as interesting as a plaque on the wall at the venue that we ship to the venue."

Localmind was smart not to launch its own check-in service. Accepting check ins from Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook gives it a broader reach and increases the chances you'll find someone to answer your local question. There's also an option for people who don't use check in services to sign up using their Twitter accounts.

Interested in more Startup resources? Check out , a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics.

Image courtesy of ,

Jean Auel concludes prehistoric saga with 6th book

Long before J.K. Rowling turned Harry Potter into a publishing phenomenon, another female author, Jean Auel, was launching her own bestselling series set in prehistory which concludes on Tuesday with the sixth book.

"The Land of Painted Caves," being released around the world, is the final chapter in the Earth's Children cycle and follows Ayla as she seeks to balance her role as mother with that of spiritual leader.

The cycle first appeared in 1980 with "The Clan of the Cave Bear," in which five-year-old Ayla, a Cro-Magnon girl, is left homeless by an earthquake and adopted by a group of Neanderthals called the "Clan."

Then came "The Valley of Horses" (1982), "The Mammoth Hunters" (1985), "The Plains of Passage" (1990) and "The Shelters of Stone" (2002).

With a combined print run of 45 million copies, the series has made Auel one of the book world's most bankable stars.

"Probably it's the last one of the Earth's Children series," the American told Reuters in a recent interview in London to discuss the book, published by Random House's Crown Publishing Group in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in Britain.

"I think it has reached a good ending. I hope it will leave you thinking a little bit," added the 75-year-old, who is renowned for her obsessive research and heavy tomes rich in period detail and description.

Asked how she felt leaving Ayla's world, she added: "I haven't really had to think about it and so I'm kind of avoiding thinking about it, because yes, I'm sure I'm going to be sad."

But Auel, who was a 40-year-old mother of five when she first had the idea of writing a short story about a young woman growing up tens of thousands of years ago, was already thinking about what came next.

"I'm thinking that it might be fun to find a whole other era, something like the beginnings of agriculture," she said.

"Why did we go from millions of years of hunting and gathering to putting seeds in the ground to putting fences around animals and domesticating them?"

DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS

Auel recalled the early days of the Earth's Children when she would pour over dozens of books borrowed from the library and work through the nights as the story became an obsession.

"I was caught up, I was obsessed and my in-laws were really upset, because they thought may be something was wrong," she said. "Here I was up all night and sleeping all day and avoiding friends. May be she needs a little help?

"(That was) until I got a book published, and then it was all right because writers can be crazy."

She produced nearly 500,000 words before stopping and realizing that her writing was "terrible." So Auel went back to the library and took out more books on how to write fiction before plowing back through her original copy.

The material kept expanding, and soon she realized she had the outline not for one novel, but six. Even then the research for each book could take years, including visits to caves in France and Spain to study the prehistoric drawings.

Auel's first book was not published until she was 44, but the success of the series has turned her into a millionaire.

Not that everything has gone Auel's way.

The one Hollywood movie adaptation of the series, starring Daryl Hannah as Ayla, was a flop which made less than $2 million at the North American box office upon release in 1986.

"I got burned so badly with that film," said Auel. "To me it was such a terrible film."

The author said she was never allowed the input into the movie that she had been promised, and after the bitter experience Auel has washed her hands of Hollywood and asked her children to deal with any future film adaptations.

"I'll just say (to my children) 'Look, you don't know what's in my heart, and you never will ... so don't worry about if it's accurate or not, just take the money and run. It's not that I was able to do that but they can."

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

JPMorgan CEO: I'm staying put, and bank is growing

NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said his bank will not be "goaded into doing something dumb" with its capital, even as it prepares an aggressive expansion in consumer and private banking over the next five years.

Speaking at the bank's annual investor day on Tuesday, Dimon said the bank is prepared to withstand any phasing out of mortgage financiers Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB), despite being the third-largest U.S. provider and servicer of mortgages.

This is in part because 2011 is expected to be a year of growth for the bank, primarily in its existing businesses, but also in market share in Latin America and Asia, Dimon said.

As the global economy stabilizes, JPMorgan plans to increase its dividend payout ratio to more than 30 percent of normalized earnings, executives said.

The nation's second-largest bank by assets slashed its annual dividend 87 percent to 20 cents per share in February 2009. Dimon said last month that JPMorgan could raise the annual payout to between 75 cents and $1 once regulators give the go-ahead, likely at the end of March.

Dimon, a Democrat, also downplayed persistent speculation he might leave JPMorgan to go into the political arena.

"I'm not going into politics and I'm not opening a restaurant. I love what I do. I want to be here. I want to stay," he said, but added: "There are people here who can take my spot."

BRANCH BANKING GROWTH

JPMorgan plans to add at least 1,000 branches in the next three years and could add up to 2,000 within five years, said retail financial services Chief Executive Charlie Scharf.

The bank said it expects "aggressive growth" in California and Florida in particular. It ended September with 5,172 U.S. branches, trailing Wells Fargo & Co's (WFC.N) roughly 6,500 and the nearly 6,000 that Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) operates.

Scharf said Chase will add branches largely in areas where it already operates. He also said there were few attractive opportunities for Chase to grow by buying another bank.

"When you look at our existing footprint, we know exactly who we'd be interested in and not interested in, and we know the same for out-of-footprint and it's not a long list of names," he said. "A lot of the smaller transactions that you see for us don't seem to make a whole lot of sense."

JPMorgan significantly boosted its branch network in 2008 when it bought the banking business of Washington Mutual Inc, the largest U.S. bank or thrift to fail.

JPMorgan also expects to add 50 private client locations in 2011, and have more than 150 by 2013.

CONCERNS

Despite beating analyst estimates for fourth-quarter earnings, JPMorgan faces questions about declining trading volumes, its long-time ties to imprisoned Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, its foreclosure practices and pending financial regulation, which could crimp profits.

Scharf addressed part of the regulation issue, saying JPMorgan was looking to offset the $1.3 billion of revenue it expects to lose because of new regulations on debit card processing fees.

Dimon declined to personally address the pending $6.4 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan by the trustee seeking money for Madoff's victims, who accused the bank of being "thoroughly complicit" in the Ponzi scheme.

But general counsel Stephen Cutler, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement chief, said JPMorgan would challenge how the trustee "conflates timelines, takes quotes out of context, seeks to penalize our firm for raising the sorts of issues you'd expect to be raised in a due diligence process and generally applies 20/20 hindsight to make his claims."

Though trading revenue trended downward over the course of 2010, falling to $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter from $5.5 billion in the first quarter, investment banking chief Jes Staley emphasized the stability within those results.

Staley, considered one of the leading candidates to succeed Dimon as chief executive, said his unit had only eight days of trading losses in 2010, and a perfect second half.

Shares of JPMorgan closed up 28 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $46.82, compared with a 0.3 percent decline in the KBW Bank Index (.BKX).

Two months after investor days, shares of a bank have historically risen an average of 15 percent, according to a Barclays Capital research note published last week.

(Writing by Ben Berkowitz and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Gunna Dickson and Steve Orlofsky)

Parent Tested Parent Approved Announces Latest and Greatest 2011 Family Products

PTPA Media, North America's leading parent testing community, is proud to announce the most recent award recipients for 2011.

Toronto, Ontario (Vocus/PRWEB) February 08, 2011

A fun and educational way to get children introduced to yoga; A newly designed backpack that makes travel easier and entertaining;An eco-themed playmat for tummy time and a natural anti inflammatory nursing buddy for nursing moms;These are just some of the submissions fromStafford House, Myrna J Gamesand who have recently been awarded the PTPA Seal of Approval.

PTPA Media is North America’s largest parent tester community – a credible third party resource for parents with over 40,000 volunteer parent testers.“Seeing the PTPA Winner's Seal on a product package or website helps parents identify products that have been tested and recommended by other parents.It's like shopping with your best friend,” says PTPA Founder and CEO, Sharon Vinderine.

Since 2008, PTPA has evaluated thousands of products and services from leading manufacturers and emerging brands. Because independent parents evaluate these products in their own homes, PTPA winners are chosen based on merit and consumer experience – not on commercial considerations.

PTPA Media has become a recognized source by the media for credible and reliable recommendations for the audience.PTPA Founder Sharon Vinderine has presented PTPA winners on over 40 morning shows including the Rachael Ray Show, Fox and Friends and Canada AM.Here are just a few of the innovative new products to receive the PTPA Winner’s Seal of Approval for Winter 2011:

Boom Boom! Cards – Family Edition – It may look like its only a deck of cards, but it helps inspire kindness, compassion and a sense of community within your family. Inspire every member of your family with 26 acts of kindness then pass on the revolution!

– Listen to cheerful and whimsical songs and get up and strut your stuff to the Pinkelmeyer Dance. You can also purchase a plush version Mrs. P and her adorable dog to snuggle with while you read.

– With added vitamin D, these specially formulated vitamins will help your little one grow up strong and healthy. Unflavoured, they contain no sugar coating, are lactose-free, and contain no artificial sweeteners, flavours, or colours.

Before They Know It All… - This book was designed to help you guide your teen or tween towards healthy relationships and sexuality in light of today’s social culture.

– Here’s an alternative solution to falling asleep and staying asleep, naturally. This innovative sleep aid aims to help you relax and replenish your mind as you work on stabilizing your sleeping patterns.For a complete list of award winners, visit the newly updated

About PTPA Media Inc.PTPA Media provides an objective framework for appraising and promoting new products designed to enrich family living. The company's mission is to marry innovative companies with discerning consumers, to improve consumer access to quality products and services for their families and homes.

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Sharon@ptpamedia.comPTPA Media Inc.9057381447 x.224Email Information

Belgium takes unbeatable lead over US in Fed Cup

ANTWERP, Belgium – Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-7 (10), 6-2, 6-1 to give Belgium an insurmountable 3-0 lead over the United States and a place in the Fed Cup semifinals.

Mattek-Sands gave the U.S. its first set of the weekend when she outlasted Clijsters in the tiebreaker, but the second-ranked Belgian dominated the No. 48 in the next two sets.

"It really feels good to see that 3-0 on the board so soon," Clijsters said, with still two matches to go in the best-of-five series.

It is the first time in Fed Cup competition that the Americans have lost two ties in a row, after being defeated by Italy in last year's final. Belgium advances to play the Czech Republic in Charleroi on April 16-17.

Yanina Wickmayer was due to play Melanie Oudin in the second reverse singles later Sunday.

After Mattek-Sands lost to Wickmayer on Saturday, with unforced errors costing her throughout, the American showed aggression and precision from the start Sunday. She served for the set at 5-4 but let Clijsters back in for the tiebreaker. Despite the noise from the 10,000 fans at Sports Palace, she didn't crumble in a tiebreaker in which both players struggled to win points on serve.

"Against top players, she can play a great game," Clijsters said. "I was just hoping she would not keep it up."

The loss of the set roused the fighter in Clijsters and she then took charge, never giving Mattek-Sands a chance in a speedy second set.

In the decider, Clijsters immediately broke and kept up the pressure as errors slipped back in Mattek-Sands' game.