… The Trepia program essentially turns network users into homing beacons. If they're sitting at their PCs and running the software, they broadcast their general locations along with whatever personal data they choose to make available. If two or more Trepia users happen to be near each other, they instantly become aware of that fact and are able to interact.

So if two Trepia-using college students who share a passion for the "Matrix" movies and the "Smallville" TV show are on the same campuswide network, they can electronically see each other. They are able to swap text messages and, soon, physically meet.

Likewise, if a St. Paul businesswoman checks into a Tokyo hotel and wants to find other Americans, she can fire up Trepia on her laptop to see who's nearby. If she's plugged into a hotel Ethernet network, the software searches it. If she's within range of public Wi-Fi wireless networks, Trepia also trolls those.

The latter technique so impressed Paul Boutin, a frequent contributor to Wired magazine, that he recently listed its parent firm, also called Trepia, as one of "25 companies to watch." The list appeared in a special "Unwired" issue focusing on wireless technologies.