Archive for July 14, 2022

Interac Is Apparently Down…. Again

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 14, 2022 by itnerd

After being caught up in the Rogers outage because they apparently are completely reliant on Rogers, though they plan to fix that, news is filtering through via Down Detector that Interac who handles debit card payments for Canada is down again:

Apparently credit cards are still working and good old cash works as well. But that’s not enough to make people happy:

I had a look at Interac’s Twitter feed and they haven’t acknowledged an outage. But clearly something is going on. Thus sooner or later they will have to say something. And hopefully they get the same level of scrutiny from the federal government that Rogers is getting at the moment because two outages in a week and having a lack of redundancy is not acceptable.

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netTALK Appears To Be Down…. Maybe For The Count [UPDATE: Fixed]

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 14, 2022 by itnerd

Earlier today I got a call from a client saying that their netTALK Duo was not connecting to the Internet. After arriving and having a look, it became clear that this was a netTALK issue. And that was further confirmed when I tried to log into the netTALK website to log a support ticket:

To me this looked like a larger issue. I then took to Twitter to see if I could reach them, but I didn’t get a response. Thus I posted this:

And I am not the only one seeing this:

https://twitter.com/denisebrain/status/1547634721298923524

There’s only two reasons why this is happening:

  • netTALK is having an issue that took them offline completely.
  • netTALK has gone under. Given their past history, this would not surprise me.

I tried to reach out to Nick Kryikides who is the COO of netTALK for comment. But I got this response instead (click to enlarge):

So it sounds like this is the former. But I will only believe that when they come back online.

Updates to come.

UPDATE: This is now fixed with no explanation from the company as to what happened.

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Iron Galaxy’s Rumbleverse Launching This August

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 14, 2022 by itnerd

Today, developer Iron Galaxy Studios and publisher Epic Games announced that the free-to-play 40-person Brawler Royale, Rumbleverse, will launch on Thursday, August 11. Launch day is just the start, and begins the countdown to Rumbleverse’s Season One, which begins just one week later, on August 18.

To mark the occasion, Iron Galaxy and Epic Games have released a new trailer highlighting some of the best moments from Rumbleverse’s network tests leading up to launch.

Rumbleverse will be available for PC on the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles. The game will fully support crossplay and cross-progression, making it easy to team up with or take on your friends no matter where you play.

For more information, head to www.rumbleverse.com.,

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12 Canadian Startups Selected For The 2022 Google For Startups Accelerator Canada

Posted in Commentary with tags on July 14, 2022 by itnerd

12 startups from across Canada have been selected to participate in our 2022 Google for Startups Accelerator Canada program. 

  • Fillip (Calgary, AB) is the first digital payments platform built for business fleets of all sizes. It gives driver’s purchasing power for vehicle-related expenses with a secure digital wallet, spend controls and real-time transaction notifications.
  • Fyyne (Toronto, ON) is a social marketplace for beauty services and products.
  • Haze Automotive (Oshawa, ON) democratizes carbon fiber to mass market EVs.
  • Helcim (Calgary, AB) strives to be the world’s most loved payments company, by giving small businesses every possible edge, from lower rates, smarter tools and putting a human touch to its service.
  • LatenceTech (Montreal, QC) offers a SaaS analytics and monetization solution for cellular networks with a special focus on ultra-low latency connectivity. It uses real-time active measurements and AI, to help mobile operators, telecom vendors and advanced industries track, predict and secure the new benefits of 5G cellular technology.
  • MintList (Vancouver, BC) is an AI-powered online marketplace that enables buying and selling of cars between consumers and dealers, all within 24 hours.
  • Miru (Vancouver, BC) develops dynamic electrochromic windows which help lower carbon footprint, reduce emissions, and connect people to the outside by removing reliance on blinds. Its next generation, smart window technology and innovative distribution model is disrupting the glass industry, by offering builders and automobile manufacturers an alternative to conventional glass.
  • OraQ (Calgary, AB) is a state-of-the-art dental software solution that harnesses the analytical power of AI and ML to automate data collection. It provides advanced patient assessment support and detailed risk-profiling in a fraction of the time, improving patient outcomes while enhancing practice revenue. 
  • STEM Minds (Aurora, ON) provides parents, schools and educators with cutting edge STEM content and learning experiences for children ages 4-18. Its advanced STEM curriculum includes a range of dynamic virtual classes and on-demand courses designed and delivered by certified teachers and STEM professionals. STEM Minds education helps break down barriers, empowering the next generation of future-ready students.
  • Tali AI (Toronto, ON) is a voice-enabled virtual assistant for physicians to help them with administrative tasks at the point of care.
  • Ukko Agro (Toronto, ON) is an agriculture technology company helping commercial farms and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector reduce uncertainty in growing successful crops while balancing environmental sustainability and bottom-line profitability.
  • WeavAir (Toronto, ON) offers proactive end-to-end software and hardware solutions for air distribution systems that prevent the spread of air contamination and infection, while saving energy and reducing operational and maintenance costs.

Supporting the next generation of Canadian founders, the intensive 10-week Google for Startups Accelerator program brings the best of Google’s products, people and technology to startups that leverage machine learning and AI today, or plan to in the future. 

Now in its third year, the Google for Startups Accelerator builds on Google’s continued support for Canada’s startup ecosystem. The program is one of five accelerators developed specifically for Canadian companies, including the Cloud Accelerator, Women Founders Accelerator, Black Founders Accelerator, and the Climate Change Accelerator. 

Google has a blog post on this here.

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