From a foreign window: LSU’s Louisiana Business & Technology Center has received the National Business Incubation Association’s Soft Landings International Incubator designation, which recognizes incubators “especially capable of helping non-domestic companies enter the incubator’s domestic market.” The LBTC accentuates its standard incubation services with assistance tailored specifically to non-domestic firms, which helps foreign companies establish strategic relationships with a network of technology experts in Louisiana. The Soft Landings designation is good for two years; programs must reapply biennially for continuing designation. There is no cap on the number of designations available in a given year or over time, but the LBTC is one of just 23 business incubation programs from around the world that have earned the designation since NBIA began the program in 2005. Learn more about the designation and see who else has it at the NBIA website
Goodbye lullaby: It didn’t take former New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul long to find a stylish new pad in his new home, The Los Angeles Times reports. The Clippers guard has purchased the Bel-Air home of singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne for $8.495 million just a month after moving to Los Angeles. The Mediterranean-style house, sitting on more than half an acre in a gated community, came on the market in May at $9.5 million and had been reduced to $8,999,999. The 12,184-square-foot home, built in 2003, features Venetian plaster, wood-framed doors and windows, a two-story foyer, a wine cellar and tasting room, a gym, eight bedrooms and 10˝ bathrooms. A long eat-at counter off the open-plan kitchen can accommodate a starting lineup. The grounds include an expansive lawn, a swimming pool with spa, an outdoor covered living room and built-in barbecue/kitchen. There is garage parking for 10 cars. Take the full tour here.
Digital migration: As a general rule, teens don’t tweet. It’s too public. There are too many older users. Not cool. That’s been the prediction for a while now, borne out by numbers showing that fewer than one in 10 teens were using Twitter early on. But then their parents, grandparents, neighbors, parents’ friends and anyone in-between started friending them on Facebook, the social networking site of choice for many, and a curious thing began to happen. Suddenly, their space wasn’t just theirs anymore. So more young people have started shifting to Twitter, almost hiding in plain sight. “I love Twitter, it’s the only thing I have to myself … cause my parents don’t have one,” says Britteny Praznik, a 17-year-old who lives outside Milwaukee. The Associated Press has the full story here.
