As some 25,000 attendees begin to gather at the Moscone soon for the 29th annual Macworld show that opens on January 31st, we spoke with Paul Kent, general manager of the event, about the way the long-running show is changing.

“It is evolving into a consumer mobile lifestyle show,” Kent said. “It is a big coming together, where the attendees are looking to presenters for new apps and ideas, and the presenters and developers are looking to these early adopters for feedback.”

A little over a year ago, when we took our first look at LiquidSpace it was just a few months old, and mainly focused on helping individuals like freelance consultants book short-term office space while they were out and on the go.

One of the main buzzwords emerging from the tech world the past two years has been “big data.”

But from a non-techie perspective, what exactly is big data? And how does it work?

I sat down with Barry Eggers, the Managing Director of Lightspeed Venture Partners the other day to discuss his unique approach to the subject of big data. He likes to explain its impact by focusing on how it is beginning to transform major league baseball.

Between fines from the state PUC and class-action lawsuits by taxi drivers, several of the ride-sharing services we’ve covered here – Lyft, Uber and SideCar – have been under fire lately.

On the surface it appears to be a classic case of technology startups disrupting an industry that has failed to innovate, of using smartphone apps to find rides almost instantly vs. waiting on the street corner wondering whether the cab you ordered the old-fashioned way will actually show up.

Well, Flywheel (formerly Cabulous) is a San Francisco company with a different solution. Since 2009 it has been building digital dispatch apps and forming relationships with the taxi companies to help bring the industry into the 21st century.