Category Archives: Entertainment

Calm Radio can fit into your busy lifestyle and create your calm



Calm RadioThere is a phrase that goes “Music has charms to soothe a savage beast”. There is a lot to be said for those words. Eric Harry, the founder of Calm Radio, knows all too well how tue that phrase is. He is in the business of streaming music. The company was second behind Pandora before all the others came in. They specialize in relaxation music and have the world’s largest classical channel collection. They do also offer sleep and meditation music, which is a very popular genre now.

There is competition today in the listening space, such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. However, Calm Radio is a family-run business that, in the last two years, has done a deep dive in the market study to analyze their mobile and marketing space to see where they stand. They then made a lot of changes and found out that they have grown about 50% year after year though they had not started marketing until last October.

In addition to providing music for relaxation and sleep, the aspect of health and wellness is becoming popular. There are a lot of channels with a variety of unique artists. They offer those with long formats for helping with sleep and meditation or even for students who are studying. The availability is world-wide and there are 20 platforms such as Roku, Alexa, Apple TV, IOS and Android. The music is very high-end and has a great graphic interface. The cost is $10 per month, $99 per year or $160 for two years. The selection of music is varied and you can select from several genres for own listening pleasure. He is realizing that recently, that this is great for the wellness and health practitioners. In a focused study, they found out that there was a large percentage of men who chose this. Employers are encouraged to offer this to their employees to create a more peaceful working environment and thus be more productive For more information, go to the website.

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Assister is making software assistants easier and safer for all



Assister AI Digital AssistantsFor software developers today, if they want to integrate an assistant into their products, they either have to rely on a third-party service, integrate with a general-purpose solution like Siri or Cortana, or limit themselves to the low value add features like FAQs and basic questions. But most developers want more capability – they want the strength of a full-featured system, with the nuance of their software. That is where Assister comes into play.

This system is designed to help software developers implement a natural language assistant into their products without having to spend the incredible amount of time and resources to build the technology themselves. What that means is that they can allow their users to ask questions or, more interestingly, pose complex challenges, in the same way they would ask another person. Imagine if your bank allowed you to ask the app, “How much money have I spent on tacos this month?” instead of looking at a list and filtering by transaction type. Or how about being able to ask Facebook messenger, “When was the last time I talked with Michele?” rather than trying to find her on your conversation list. All of this and more is possible through Assister.

Most importantly, this technology can live within the company’s platform. This means that there is no need to transfer data between systems. If the bank were to integrate that question into Siri, it would require them to give Apple the answer to the question to display on your screen. By keeping everything housed within the platform, developers no longer have to share critical information with third parties, protecting your privacy and theirs.

For more information about Assister, or to get a demo of the platform, check out the company’s website.

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Common Networks is developing a wireless home internet service



Common NetworksA Stable internet connection is one of the most important parts of modern life. For most people, if they’re at home and the internet connection goes down, they don’t know what to do with themselves. We rely on it for work, entertainment and, for some of us, even for food. Somehow, despite our reliance on the technology, it has not improved in any meaningful way in years. Most of us still rely on copper wires that were placed in the ground decades ago to provide our connection to the outside world. Common Networks has a new idea, using a decentralized wireless network structure to make installation easy and connectivity nearly unbreakable.

Using a combination of wireless technologies, the company is producing a wide-area mesh network. This means that if one node is damaged, the network traffic can route around the bad node and keep your internet connection alive. It also means that the network setup is less expensive to maintain because there will be no emergency late-night service tech calls, which can be a huge cost for a network operator. This cost-saving is passed on to the users, with 300 Mbps running only $49 per month with no installation fee, additional taxes, or equipment rentals.

Impressively, this is accomplished without the speed degradation we have seen with previous wireless networks. When 4G, both LTE and WiMax, came about, companies tried to build home systems on top of that technology. Unfortunately, the strength of the signal and the design of the networks made it impossible. That is no longer the case, as Common Networks has worked through those issues, designing a custom network infrastructure that is cloud-controlled and self-healing.

The company is in active development of its network in a handful of cities in California, with hopes to expand beyond the state. For more information and to see if your address is covered, check out their website.

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Play a fun game and earn crypto coin at the same time with Hedgie



Hedgie Crypto GameAt PLuGHiTz Live, we enjoy getting out and covering special events like Collision Conference. When we do these special events, we love being among the first to get a glimpse of new products. This is especially true when it comes to the new mobile apps, and even more so when they are games. Hedgie co-founder, Stas Zlobinski, stopped by to show us their fun new game, and we were not disappointed.

Hedgie is a unique strategy and exploration game that is free to play. You start by choosing your Hedgie. Each of these legendary creatures come with an interesting backstory with unique powers and skillsets. They are considered skilled explorers with a storied past that are limited edition digital collectibles (or “crypto-collectibles”) and they are on a never-ending mission to uncover lost treasure and ultimately earn you Curio coin. Your journey with your Hedgie takes you through four unique kingdoms, digging up all kinds of loot that will boost your Hedgie’s performance. And to make it even better, you also earn crypto coin along the way. There are four different kingdoms to explore and you need to strategize as you go.

The coin that you collect is also spendable in real-world businesses. They have partnered with a few global businesses, so far. This was important to them because it is a game that will have players throughout the world. Most of their current partners are located in Toronto, as that is where the app has been launched initially. Some of the partnerships are with businesses that sell digital products which makes it easier to give their users things like a free one month subscriptions or free items in exchange for coins. So users make this coin in the game and then spend it on real-world awards. They can also make purchases within the game, to enhance their level of play.

You can learn more about this exciting game that we all downloaded right there in Toronto by watching the full interview. You can also get more details by visiting their website.

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Chumaround brings like-minded people together for travel and dining



Chumaround Local Travel ExperiencesImagine being able to travel to a particular city without the fear of not knowing anyone or where to go to get the best experience possible. Chumaround is now available to help alleviate that problem. Michael Cruz is the CEO and is very excited to share his business to help people with their travel experiences. Chumaround is a web-based platform that connects travelers with locals who are like-minded in their interests.

Based in Orlando, they currently have 6500 hosts available in 100 of the biggest cities in America and are rapidly growing in Europe and Asia. After being compared to a tour guide, Michael says “We are everything a tour guide is not.” He gives the example of being a “traditional traveler”: having taken pictures from a bus window and posting them on Facebook. With Chumaround, you get to become an “experiential traveler”, that being one who can truly experience the full culture, food, and people of the area. You can enjoy it much more because you are getting the effect by sharing it with someone who shares your interests and appreciation. You can and are supporting locals when you sign up for Chumaround.

In addition to making travel engaging, Chumaround can be an exciting and very beneficial tool to use if you are relocating to a new area. One of the most challenging parts of moving to a new area is meeting and making nee friends. Whether it be for relocating for business or starting a new married life or even going to college, this can help ease your frustrations and make your life a lot easier because you have people to associate with that are like yourself in their interests.

This new and exciting platform is currently available now globally. For more information and to book an experience, go the website.

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Granthika brings continuity management to authors of fiction



Granthika Fiction Author ToolsFor authors of fiction, several issues can make the experience challenging. Some of those issues end up making the final work frustrating for the reader. We’ve all gotten into reading a book series or watched a television series in which a known fact, about a character or a location, is contradicted – not because of plot development, but because of the difficulty of maintaining the details of a universe that doesn’t exist (did Michael Scott go to college or not?!). For those writers who want to prevent this issue, there is Granthika.

Normally, writers keep a notebook or a separate document with the individual details of the development of the world or universe being created. However, no one is ever able to maintain all of the details. When did two characters first meet? Who started working at Dunder Mifflin first: Jim or Pam? These types of questions can take the reader or watcher out of the action, but Granthika can help prevent it. Using natural language processing, the software can essentially read a book and begin to build a timeline and fact database for the author.

While this is great for a solo author, it has a particular value for a universe with multiple authors. It doesn’t matter if it is two authors working together on a book, or an open-source universe like Isaac’s Universe, created by Isaac Asimov and contributed to by authors all over the world. When a rule is created, or experience documented, that data can be shared with the other authors, to prevent continuity issues or storylines based on false accounts.

Granthika is currently in an open beta phase, and an author can try it out today. To get in on the beta, or to find out more about the software, check out the Granthika website.

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Locelle is helping women connect and excel in today’s workplace



Locelle Social NetworkingIn most professional industries, it is difficult for women to make connections and meet like-minded women in the workplace. This problem has created a huge hurdle for women to overcome in their careers. Humaira Ahmed has been working on ways to improve this dilemma with her company, Locelle. Locelle is a safe engagement application for women to easily connect for support and mentorship. This app is like a more personalized LinkedIn for women to expand their networks through business connections, friendship, or even helpful conversation with women from similar backgrounds, industries, and organizations.

Locelle provides its users with curated matches based upon things like their professional and personal interests, and industry, as well as preferred meetup. A woman using this platform can easily establish a meaningful, long-lasting professional relationship such as mentorship by just creating a profile. You can even attend events that are related to the Locelle mission to make those initial connections in person before adding them to your network in the app.

Many women struggle with the culture of their day to day in the office due to a majority of today’s industries facing a male-dominated atmosphere. This can be detrimental to a woman’s confidence, network, and even their overall career. Locelle prides themselves with helping to establish meaningful relationships that can assist women in these situations. One way they accomplish this is by facilitating interaction with other women who may have already tackled problems similar to what you are currently facing. Advice is very important to help someone excel in their career and very helpful to learn from others and their situations. It is not about just surviving in your workplace; it’s about thriving and progressing in your career! Every obstacle is a stepping stone into a better you and you can share your experiences with other women that get it.

Locelle is available now for download through iOS and Android users. The app launched first in Canada with currently 1,000 users and is looking to expand its horizons. For more information on Locelle, you can visit their website. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram under @locelleapp.

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Bee My Ears brings market research capabilities to small artists



Bee My Ears Indie Musician PlatformBeing an independent musician can be incredibly difficult. Signed artists have the weight of a publisher behind them, giving them access to tools and processes to expand the reach of their music. Without those tools, indie artists struggle to get useful feedback about their music, as well as finding new avenues for listeners to learn about them. Bee My Ears is trying to help bring some of these tools to the artists that need them the most.

There are three tiers to the platform, with all offering the most important aspect for artists: feedback. Listeners are given access to the music provided by the artists and are then asked to complete a survey about what they have heard. This survey allows artists to know what the public likes and, more importantly, what they do not. This gives the artist the ability to adjust their style to respond to the feedback, hopefully without abandoning what makes them who they are as an artist.

For more detailed information, the upper tiers expand the depth of the survey and, with it, the type of information available. For example, artists can get information on whether or not the music they are hearing would make sense to be paired with particular brands. Some music is obvious, referencing the brand by name, while others are more subtle. For example, the inclusion of MC Chris’s Hoodie Ninja in a Honda Civic commercial was far from obvious but was a good match in the end. You can also gain the feedback of professionals in both the music industry and in advertising, helping to pair music with brands on an even higher level.

Bee My Ears is currently in testing in Brazil, with plans to expand the reach in time. To find out more about the platform, check out their website.

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FarCloser Travel allows adventurers to experience a whole new world



FarCloser Travel AdventuresFor some, travel is a simple function of exploring somewhere that is not home. They travel to a city and explore the local hot spots and tourist experiences. For others, it’s a more specialized experience designed to get to experience life in a new location. They find big tours that explore sights that most people never get the opportunity to see. For those adventurers, there is FarCloser Travel a platform that allows travelers to find and book exciting experiences.

There are talented local guides in every location around the world. They know the area like no one else and can provide experiences that are unmatched. But, there are also risks involved. How do you know that the listing you are reading is legitimate? What happens when you wire the money internationally? Did they get it? Most importantly, when you get to the meeting location, will there be anyone there to meet you? All of these examples are real-world and happen more often than is fair to these adventurers. FarCloser Travel makes all of those concerns a thing of the past, giving safety and security to both parties.

For travelers, you now have one place to find and explore in-depth experiences all over the globe. Some can be short, like a 2 day Lake Nakuru Safari in Nairobi. Others can be more involved, like 8 days in Kilimanjaro Marangu in Moshi. Once you find the experience you want, you can pay directly through the platform, and the money is held in escrow. The guide can only get the money once the experience has been delivered. This protects the traveler, their safety, and their money.

For the guide, it brings a new way of discovery for their excursions, allowing these guides to make more money and bring their experiences to more people. It also eliminates the negotiation and trepidation that travelers have to deal with people they do not know.

To learn more about the platform and explore the experiences available, check out their website.

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BooknBrunch brings people together over food, fun, and reading



BooknBrunch Book ClubsIn an age where technology is becoming our companion, it is getting harder and harder to feel connected to other people. For some, it can create a deep depression, which causes isolation, only exacerbating the problem. In this case, simply finding a way to connect with someone over a commonality can be a lifesaver. Such was the case for the sister of Daniela Kelloway, who created BooknBrunch after seeing her sister’s experience with depression. By simply creating a book club and spending time with people, her depression began to lift.

BooknBrunch is a platform that allows people to create a meal-based meetup group without all of the overhead of going out to eat with a group. The platform has information about restaurants that cater to groups, including group menus and private room details. Once the restaurant is chosen, the style of meeting can be chosen. You can have people pay for their meals ahead of time, taking the financial burden off of the organizer. It also eliminates the awkward and annoying period at the end of the meal, but before the end of the event, where a server comes around with checks. Now you can simply enjoy the event during the event.

There are also big benefits for attendees, in addition to the end of event financial benefits. If the organizer has made the event public, anyone can find it and join the group. You can see the restaurant details, event menu, and price of the meetup. Plus, you can see the book that the group will be discussing with a link to purchase, so you can make sure to read it ahead of time. You can also see information about the host, including a rating of their past events.

Because of the need to build venue relationships, BooknBrunch is currently available in a couple of parts of Canada, with expansion plans for the near and long term future. Find out more about the platform on their website.

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