ReadWriteWeb

Best known for its movie stars, sun and surf, Los Angeles probably isn't the first place you'd think to breed technology. But when you consider the influence of investors like Jason Calacanis and Mark Suster, in addition to the fact that companies like Demand Media and Docstoc call Southern California home, it's not surprising that the community is emerging as one of the country's hottest startup hubs. ReadWriteWeb caught up with some defining characters of the LA Tech scene to find out why they've made their homes away from the traditional tech haunts of Silicon Valley.

Bing Shopping, the comparison shopping tool that is part of Microsoft's new search engine, saw some impressive growth last month. According to Hitwise's Heather Dougherty, visits to Bing Shopping increased 169% last month and Bing is now the 4th most popular shopping comparison site in the US. Just last month, Bing was still in 8th place. Clearly, Microsoft's marketing muscle behind Bing.com and consumer interest in Microsoft's Double Cashback promotion brought a lot of new users to Bing Shopping in June.