TZ is a community platform for tech & media companies focused on connecting the great things going on in the vibrant Southern California tech scene. Constantly covering events & interviewing people with great ideas, we love the way TechZulu is connecting people with good ideas.

Another reason we’re crazy about this brand is because we’ve met several of the TZ crew & we would recommend you do the same if you asked for our opinion (at the very least, following @TechZulu & @acoolong on twitter is a good place to start).

Well known for their simple & reliable web applications (Basecamp, Backpack, etc…), we also love their take on life and what it takes to build good software. Whether you agree with them or not (link to Marsh post), they practice what they preach & we think not many companies can say that.

Shameless plug: 37signals wrote a post about our experience with Basecamp on the 37signal Product Blog (we are also members of the 37signal affiliate program, among others).

To say that the Obama, who started out as the clear underdog, has changed the face of politics is an understatement we will allow for now. Apart from bringing hope, the Obama campaign also built & empowered a community around a united cause (with help from social media, thank you very much). There are good lessons to be learned from the experience and we think the next few years are going to be an amazing, if not interesting, ride.

Ultimately, we love products from Google because they are reliable. When Google comes out with a product, you can almost guarantee it’s going to be solid. For example, Gmail has been in beta for years despite the fact that it is one of the best email clients out there. Another example (that hasn’t happened yet), is the Google phone, which will probably continue to develop head & heels over the competition because they played the long game.

Information is (almost) everything and we would be lost without a place to store the information that’s important to us. In our experience, LiquidWeb & their heroic support make one of the most important aspects of the web (storing information), as easy it gets.

Disclaimer: we are part of LiquidWeb‘s affiliate program.