Retail therapy has long been a rich country’s rite of passage. Although, the way we indulge our retail therapy is changing as quickly as our smartphones. This Black Friday we reached record retail sales at traditional brick-and-mortar stores, yet the merging Cyber Monday is proving to be a fighting younger brother. Up 33% this year, according to the Washington Post, online commerce is trending upwards from $175 billion in 2007 to a projection of $335 billion in 2012 (Forrester Research).

These days we rarely find startups or mobile applications being built to focus on the progression of a children abilities for learning and their growth of a wider knowledge based from a younger age. Go Go Mongo, steps into that realm and has helped children learn about healthy eating. They’ve creatively done this with making a game that’s simple and fun that has children wanting to learn and eat cauliflower.

Los Angeles’s premier online marketplace for musicians, Hello Music, launched their mobile application last week. The new iPhone app provides instant access to all the deals on the best instruments, gear, and services. As a musician, you’re always out. Whether you’re on the open road touring the country for your latest show.

Just about every Startup at some point and especially if you do not have a designer, is going to need icons to help spruce up those websites. TechZulu caught up with Martin LeBlanc Eigtved Founder and CEO of IconFinder. We dive into the very beginnings of IconFinder, where Matin personal need led him to start the site, to how he was able to fit working on IconFinder into his school projects to finish the site and all the way to where the site is now and where they are heading.

It’s always interesting to see how we’ve progressed over the years in industry. The most rapid of those industry’s being technology. Over the last 15 years we’ve seen a surge of industry and even overall life changes that have come from the tech space.

TechZulu and The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) are pleased to announce Spotlight: LA Tech Winter. Spotlight: LA Tech is part of a quarterly demo series that will highlight the finest technology entrepreneurship in Southern California. We’re looking for companies with new technology to demonstrate (or better yet, those with upcoming launches they wish to promote among savvy peers).

TechZulu is heading out to CES and we have tons of products/gadgets/games/companies to review and interview. We want to hear from you as well and get what you are really interested in.

How much more would consumers spend if they didn’t have to share sensitive person data or type in long credit card numbers to complete their purchase? According to an online survey conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, online merchants could add an aggregated yearly revenue amount of $109.8 billion simply by offering alternative payment options that don’t require credit cards.

Everyone needs a date at some point, why not get it right the first time (or three). We all have our types of attractions and it’s a difficult dating world out there. The women at Three Day Rule have set out to change that for all of us. And luckily I was able to catch up with Talia Goldstein

After three years of being in Silicon Valley, the Teens in Tech Conference is expanding, and coming to Los Angeles! Join them on Saturday, December 17th, at Microsoft’s Los Angeles office for a conference all about youth, entrepreneurship, media, entertainment, startups, and more. Founder and CEO of Teens In Tech Daniel Brusilovsky was kind enough to offer up our readers 50% off any ticket price.