Like many of the recent specials, this deal includes a coupon code directly in the text to help prevent cashier confusion, but this coupon code goes one step further: it can be used on payless.com as well.

Search for Payless on foursquare to find a store offering the deal in your area.

Users who friend the Coke Machine Fairy will get notifications when she checks in at a machine that’s been loaded with a special bottle. The first person to get to the machine, press the marked button and retrieve the bottle then needs to shout on foursquare that they’ve retrieved the bottle. The Fairy will arrive to award their prize.

There are 10 prizes available through the promotion, including gift certificates, concert tickets, flight vouchers, chauffeur services, a helicopter ride and a private movie screening.

They’ve added Coke machines around the city as foursquare venues, complete with their own special so you’ll know which ones will be participating.

This sounds like a fun promotion reminiscent of the Barbie and Jimmy Choo chases that have recently been run using foursquare. Apparently Australian fairies are a little larger than those in the US, though, since Coke here was able to get one inside the machine:

/Thanks to Joel Baldwin for the tip!

Vlingo understands the following commands:

• Check in  to locations
  • Check in Hong Kong Express
  • Check into Logan Airport
• Locate friends
  • Where are my friends?
  • Who’s nearby
• Send shout outs
  • Shout headed to Fenway for the Sox game
  • foursquare shout at Starbucks grabbing a latte

You can also shout to foursquare while simultaneously updating your Facebook and Twitter statuses by saying “update social status.”

“Location and social networking have become an integral part of consumers’ everyday lives—so having a strategic alliance with foursquare to provide users with a simple, easy way to connect with their friends is a natural fit for Vlingo,” said Hadley Harris, VP of Marketing at Vlingo.

Do you think Vlingo’s foursquare integration will make it easier to check in?

This video from Vlingo shows the service in action:

Several theaters working with Broadway marketing firm Situation Interactive are launching foursquare specials for their visitors. They’re hoping to capitalize on the viral nature of foursquare checkins that are posted to Twitter and Facebook.

The shows planning to participate are “Mamma Mia,” “Billy Elliot,” “The Addams Family,” “Next to Normal,” “Lion King,” and “Mary Poppins.” The two Disney productions were the first to launch their specials. Users can check in to receive 20% off a purchase of $25 or more at the souvenir stands for “Lion King” or “Mary Poppins.”

What do you think of these new Broadway specials?

The unlock text reads:

Welcome to the Great Outdoors! Behold Mother Nature’s true beauty. Now if only she’d throw a double rainbow up in this piece.

Of course, when I earned the Camping merit badge, they didn’t mention anything about the infamous double rainbow video, but I think the concept is basically the same.

Stand by for gratuitous use of said double rainbow video:

/Thanks to Byron Brewer for the tip!

Hey now! That’s your 5th check-in near the water. Let’s hope this isn’t followed-up by unlocking our “Unlucky Shark Attack” badge.

It looks like this badge will be available worldwide, so it should be a fun one for everyone to try to unlock.

/Spotted via Matters of Grey’s Foursquare Badge List

Adding SSL support solves a potential security issue that has existed since foursquare’s first app: passwords were sent in clear text without any encryption. If a hacker had access to any routers between you and foursquare, or if you were connected to public WiFi where someone was intercepting HTTP requests, your password could potentially have been compromised.

With SSL, passwords are sent over HTTPS in encrypted format, so they’re only readable by the end server.

This is a common problem that affects a number of products, including foursquare rival Gowalla. They say they’ll be releasing a new client soon that fixes the issue.

Although this problem has existed since last year, no one had called any attention to it until Martin Kou noticed it and blogged about it on August 22. The story hit Slashdot and other tech news sites. That evening foursquare responded with a post on their blog saying an update would be available shortly.

It’s not clear exactly what the “API Updates” include. There are no visible changes to the app.

You should update the app as soon as possible to prevent any possibly security issues.

UPDATE: The Android app has been updated with SSL support, as well. A WebOS update will be available tomorrow later this week (see Geoff’s comment below) and a BlackBerry update next week.

If you’ve seen the movie Animal House, you’ve seen the interior of UO President Lariviere’s office! This 1978 comedy classic was filmed on the UO Campus.

Students who friend the Oregon Duck and check in at all 10 locations with tips on Friday, September 24 can show their checkin history to redeem a real-life InDUCKted badge. The badge is good for 20% on Oregon Ducks sportswear at the Duck Store.

This is a fun, inexpensive way for colleges to use foursquare that shows off some of the interesting capabilities of the tips platform.

Every year there are more than 19 million cases of STDs in the US. By age 25, one in two sexually active people will contract an STD. Many show no signs or symptoms, so the only way to properly diagnose them is with an STD test. Many STDs are treatable and even curable. You can find your nearest STD testing center here or by texting your zip code to GYTNOW (498669).

MTV’s GYT (Get Yourself Talking, Get Yourself Tested) project aims to get young people communicating with their partners, friends and health care providers openly and to encourage them to get tested and treated in an effort to lower the incidence of STDs. It’s presented by MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Planned Parenthood.

It’s unclear exactly how you unlock the badge, but hopefully there will be a special shout involved to make sure no one inadvertently unlocks it and makes it a public part of their foursquare profile. MTV promises to post more information about the badge and sweepstakes tomorrow.

What do you think of badges like this that help inspire social consciousness?

UPDATE: Mashable reports that the badge will be unlocked by shouting GYT after checking in at a testing center.

/Spotted via Yahoo’s Starting Points Blog