We’re still annoyed when we talk to people who think there are only high tech companies in Silicon Valley. Once upon a long time ago, our main competition in covering Southern California technology news was the Digital Coast Reporter–run by Jason Calacanis, pre-bulldogs. We believe there’s a one degree of separation to Southern California’s high tech community.  There’s a new craze on Facebook, where people are tagging their friends and posting “25 Random Things About Me”. The idea is to share random facts about yourself that other

Last month we Launched Los Angeles Tech and in the announcement we provide the Hot List for the first half of January 2009. But, in running it now for the second half of January, the keyword that popped to the top was: Layoffs And this is definitely a sign of the times. When I drill down on that term, you can see why with posts like: Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Lops A Third Of Company THQ Lays Off 100 Employees, This hot list is based on various social signals of what people are writing about, reading, bookmarking, searching, etc. You can go to the

Shea, Kinship Partners, Liberty Partners, Merrill Lynch Ventures, and the Tech Coast Angels. Aliso Viejo-based High Tower Software, a venture-backed developer of security, compliance, and log management software, has shut down. A spokesperson at the firm told socalTECH that the shutdown occurred yesterday, and that the firm is now in the process