Author Archive: Andy Yen

LA Blogger Spotlight: Leslie Durso of lesliedurso.com

LA isn’t just home to a community of bright entrepreneurs; it’s also home to a legion of great writers and bloggers. Throughout the year, Lalawag will be chatting with some of the city’s most prominent bloggers to find out a bit more about what makes them tick.

Leslie Sarna (@lesliesarna) is “The Dainty Vegetarian,” but don’t let that trick you into thinking that her blog isn’t for carnivores as well. She’s a self-taught cook, foodie, and event planner with a focus on great tasting dishes and recipes that just happen to not contain meat in them. Her blog is read in over 130 countries and is one of the top-searched vegetarian sites from Google. We had a nice chat with Leslie about her inspiration in blogging and also discover one of her favorite healthy recipes for a working lunch!

Jason Nazar’s Docstoc Finally Releases Free iPad App

It’s been a long time coming, but outspoken LA entrepreneur Jason Nazar’s Docstoc has finally released an iPad app. Docstoc is an online document sharing service that is geared towards small businesses and freelance professionals.

Pacsun Bikini Flash Mob At The Grove Looks Like Fun

Last weekend, The Grove in West Hollywood was graced with the fun of a choreographed flash mob dancing to the tunes of a Passion Pit mixed mashup entitled, “My Body’s Not Your Toy” featuring La Roux’s “I’m Not Your Toy” versus Young the Giant’s “My Body.”

BorderStyle’s Retrollect iPhone/Android Photo Sharing App Brings Back Memories Of View-Master Discs

Our friends over at BorderStylo (creators of GLASS) are channeling this feel of nostalgia with their new free iPhone/Android App, Retrollect. It’s essentially a scrapbook album creator in the style of the old View-Master disks.

Google Announces Chromebooks Built By Samsung And Acer Available June 15th With “Subscription” Pricing For Business/Education

Day two of Google’s I/O conference was all about Chrome and the big announcement was the pricing and availability of the Chromebook netbook featuring Google’s new Chrome OS. It’s essentially a very streamlined and efficient netbook and will be available worldwide on June 15th, with models produced by Samsung and Acer and ranging from $349-$499.

Microsoft Buys Skype For $8.5 Billion (Or $1000 Per Paying Skype User)

While Google was busy launching its Music Beta service at Google I/O this morning, Microsoft dropped its own bombshell of a news headline by announcing its agreement with Skype to acquire the online communications company for $8.5 billion in cash. It’s a large markup from the $3.1 billion that EBay paid for the company back in 2005, but somehow Microsoft thinks its worth it.

Google Announces Music Beta Cloud Locker Streaming Service, We Yawn

Google’s I/O developer conference officially kicked off this morning with a keynote of several product and service announcements. The Pièce de résistance was the unveiling of Google’s long awaited cloud music service, called “Music Beta.”

A Retrospective Of Google Product Announcements During Past I/O Event Keynotes

Search Engine Land has a nice retrospective of the different products Google has announced since the first I/O conference back in 2008. Looking through them is a little like looking down the memory lane of failure, though.

Tech Headlines For May 9th: Conde Nast Joins iPad Subscription push, Google Starts Construction On New Office Campus

Tech headlines for May 9th, 2011.

The Anatomy Of A Newborn Tech Startup [infographic]

Did you know that the majority of tech startups spend less than $170 on tech hardware each month?

It’s just one of the many interesting facts that this infographic from business expertise repository site Focus shows.

This British Dude Made A USB Stick Sized PC For ~$25

It almost doesn’t seem possible, but UK game developer David Braben has created a fully functional PC the size of a USB thumb drive that only costs $25.

LA Startup Profle: Kristin McClune, President of Events Clique

Kristin McClune is a Pepperdine graduate who started off her career working on marketing for a couple of LA-based startups. Her entrepreneurial drive has been burning inside her ever since she was a little girl, though, and has recently founded her own startup with the support of her family. Events Clique is a unique web service that allows people to plan and design event areas utilizing an industry-first real time 3D interface. It’s a small company, but a hard working one that has launched an impressive service.

A New Way Of Finding An Assistant For Your Company

Jason Fried is the co-founder of 37 Signals, an innovative software startup that is known for its work on the Ruby on Rails web software platform. He’s been in business for 11 years and only now has considered hiring an assistant to help out his company with more of the administrative duties.

Tech Headlines For May 4th: Spotify Adds iPod Support, AT&T Rep Confirms No New iPhone in June, Apple Releases iOS 4.3.3

Tech headlines for May 5th, 2011.

A Chat With CORE Foods Founder Corey Rennell

It’s a problem Corey Rennell, founder of CORE Foods, wants to solve for the working professional. He refuses to eat processed foods with candy-like ingredients. He is regularly spotted in San Francisco traffic with a huge bowl of salad in his lap. In founding CORE Foods, Corey and his team seek to provide truly healthy food for busy people.