Foursquare says they'll help you meet up with your friends and let you earn points and unlock badges for discovering new places, doing new things and meeting new people. Will have to try the iphone app. Logo looks like a guy bowling.

The next Twitter? Probably not. 5k followers on their twitter blog at http://twitter.com/foursquare . Carve out a piece of the Twitter pie? Possibly. Most venues listed for Seattle have few check ins. All new.

Steps to use:

#1 find your friends nearby: use iphone app or mobile browser

#2 points and badges: earn check in points.

#3 explore the city - find all of the cool things to do in the city (NYC) and make to do lists of things you want to do.