We kick off today's show with patent trolls: scourge of the tech world, or are they just misunderstood? (Hint: they are not misunderstood.) Jeff John Roberts tells us about the troubles with patent trolls and what we can do about them. Want to know how to get banned from Costco? Derrick Harris says you just need to buy tons of hard drives, like the guys from BackBlaze did. And finally, Apple's Passbook was a big hit with Major League Baseball fans, but how will smartphones impact America's pastime? Tom Krazit brings it all home (you're going to buy more stuff). 

SHOW NOTES:

0:00:00 - 0:11:00 - Patent Trollin' with Jeff Roberts 

0:11:00 - 0:12:00 - This episode is sponsored by the GigaOM RoadMap conference

0:12:00 - 0:22:00 - Backblaze gets banned from Costco

0:22:00 - 0:33:00 - Take me out to the ballgame... with Apple's Passbook

0:33:00 - 0:36:00 - Parting gifts:

Tom recommends the MLB's At Bat app

Erica likes Trover for previewing her travels

And for those with kids, Chris recommends the book "Goodnight iPad"

Music by Phil Reno