PLUGHITZ Live Presents (Video)

Paramvir Maniktala is the founder of Servicio, which delivers a competitive gig-economy platform for e-commerce and retail where anyone can become a courier. Servicio is a supply chain & logistics company with a twist: think Ubereats but which delivers a lot more than food inexpensively to your doorstep. Servicio delivers everything from groceries to electronics, clothing and more.

Inspired to solve the challenge of expensive gas and high delivery costs encountered in his native India, which can shrink already modest profit margins, Maniktala took a page out of the peer-to-peer rideshare platforms common today, and launched Servicio, with the tagline "Connecting Life to Life." Now even small companies with limited delivery needs can offer the perk of local shipping without incurring the expense of contracted services, in-house staff or the cost of a company delivery vehicle. In addition to the low cost, the system provides fast turn around within a small hyperlocal delivery area, transparency, and a verification process that ensures products are safe and drivers are vetted. Servicio also changes the delivery dynamic by giving 90% of the delivery fee to local couriers, with only 10% commission to Servicio.

With the peer-to-peer web platform, users can book their consignments with the goal of better brand placement for retail, e-commerce & SME industry at affordable pricing. Servicio benefits from low overhead costs, requiring neither warehouses nor a delivery fleet. It's a decentralized process of one person to one person, with no middleman or central distribution center to incur additional costs.

For individuals, the website platform allows users to sign up to book their own consignments. Local transport company owners can also participate. Servicio is banking both on the social welfare component of its mission, that not only motivates local couriers with the majority of delivery fee earnings, but also a royalty program, as well as the lure of cheap labor for companies wanting to offer local deliveries as an extra perk.

Servicio is currently an alpha stage company, which Mankitala brought to Collision 2018 to help raise interest and capital. Learn more at their website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Mike Fairclough, is the founder of eebudee, an Australian software company dedicated to helping keep kids ages 4-12 safe and savvy online behavior through an emphasis on digital citizenship and social media education. Inspired by the personal experience of a friend's 14-year-old daughter killing herself because of cyberbullying, Fairclough joined with other tech-savvy parents and experts to create eebudee as a family friendly platform where parents can educate their children about the online world in a safe, secure but also fun environment.

eebudee recognizes the positive aspects of being digitally connected - like access to information, communities of like-minded friends, and staying connected to family - but hopes to help children develop digital armor and digital resiliency, protecting them from falling into internet addictions and falling prey to online predators. The point of eebudee is not to shield kids from the online world but to empower them to reap the benefits while properly protecting themselves and developing effective communication and positive social skills. "Bud", developed by kids for kids, is the digital safety mascot of the eebudee community, a friendly cartoon fridge recalling the kitchen as the symbolic gathering place for families, and which has all the ingredients needed to raise digitally resilient kids - education and social media training.

For a modest monthly subscription fee of less than $10/month, a portion of which goes to the eebudee Foundation to help fight problems associated with digital addiction and cyberbullying, families have access to all the educational curricula and resources in the platform. Once subscribed, families receive guidance on appropriate usage to set the stage for savvy usage from the start, and then children have access to regularly updated games and other content that reinforce safe online behavior.

Next steps for eebudee is expanding roll out in the United States and Fairclough hopes to leverage the experience of Collision 2018 to connect with investors and raise awareness of the importance of the work being done through eebudee. You can learn more by visiting the company website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Vladimir Goloborodko had been an IT Consultant for 15 years and while managing a large team with clients that had multibillion-dollar budgets, he realized that he wanted to do something new and take the path of a startup with a great idea. So he founded a crypto payment system for small and medium-sized merchants to assist them and their clientele with those smaller purchases that decrease the profit margin because of certain roadblocks that are inherent in the system. The result is a really great idea called SmartPay.

As busy humans in the middle of our on-the-go lifestyles, we've all been in situations where we need to grab a quick drink and pack of gum while we're out or pick up that quintessential loaf of bread on the way home. Then we realize that either we don't have any cash on us at the time, or we have a large bill that we don't want to break for something that totals three dollars and seventy-two cents (the "large bill" example not being me, by the way). Not only is this a hassle for us consumers, but it's an even bigger hassle for the merchants. Especially considering the fact that up to 30% of their profit margin get automatically eaten up with bank merchant fees when we use our debit and credit cards. So they end up either imposing minimum purchase amounts when we use a card for payment, or they increase their pricing across the board to help compensate. That leaves us to either pay more for what should have been a quick and easy purchase or keeps us from making these types of purchases at all.

SmartPay has a perfect solution that makes it easy for both parties to quickly and easily make these smaller transactions a breeze. Their payment platform is specifically designed to accommodate these exact transaction that we encounter on a daily basis and it doesn't even require them to have any special equipment. The basic premise consists of QR codes that are either generated on their existing smartphone or tablet and in cases with preset pricing, they don't need anything except a sheet or sticker with the QR code. It only takes them about 10 minutes to set up the mobile app to start excepting payments. So customers merely need to scan the code for the payments to instantly be sent to the merchant from their mobile account.

It's such an interesting idea, not only for the simplicity of use but also the cost savings and it takes the multiple middlemen out of the processing of each payment transaction down to just two. And as if that weren't incredible enough, it also takes the banks out of the equation as the payments will now go straight through your mobile provider. According to their statistics, mobile operators already have approx. 5 billion customers, while banks have 2 billion. Payment technology on this level has the opportunity to streamline efficiency in much the same manner that the video streaming companies have with network and cable television viewing. We also love how many different uses it would be able to accommodate. It would make paying for lunch, or even things like bus fare, so much easier.

Their model also includes proximity marketing that will allow participating merchants the opportunity to send out digital campaigns that are designed to generate new leads, increase business and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Check out Vladimir's full interview to learn more about this blockchain solution and then head over to their website to find their roadmap for future platforms that include a web-based gift version and financial services.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Although Michele has worked in the banking industry full time for many years, she originally went to school with a concentration in communications, advertising and marketing. She began her career in sales and retail management, selling electronics and computers. Her love of all things tech eventually brought her back into the electronics arena three years ago when she started with PLuGHiTz Corporation to help with special events as a Production Assistant. Soon she began to dabble with the audio and video and is loving her role as Producer. She's also one of our content writers and assists with product reviews. Looking forward, she is excited to expand her skill set into editing and helping the company continue to grow.

Many people old and young have problems keeping track of and remembering to take their medications. Lenny George and another co-founder have developed a wonderful adherence device, which they call HEXIS from CueMed. This device is a voice-enabled connected pill organizer designed to contain your meds. It can hold up to 7 days worth of pills, as many as 14 pills a day and can separate them into 4 groups per day. It comes in a smart-looking little tower that contains 7 containers for your medications. It is a very discreet way to have your meds handy without advertising that you are carrying them. HEXIS recognizes only your voice and will only respond to you, keeping your medication schedule private.

Lenny states that there are as much as 65% of prescription users that do not finish their meds. This can have very serious side effects, resulting in hospitalizations, and increased or recurring illnesses. He also tells of his co-founder having trouble with her thyroid meds. It seems that "life problems" get in the way as they do for so many people.

HEXIS keeps you on track by educating you that there are serious consequences to not taking them on time or at all. This device can also be work with other health devices such as Fitbit, glucose meters or blood pressure monitors or electronic scales that track your sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose levels. Proper monitoring is so very important to your health and HEXIS is a way to make it easy. This isn't just a pill organizer but it actually has an analytic approach to help you form and keep good health habits to ensure your improving health. They have gone through several prototypes to come up with the correct hardware solution that serves as your personal health coach.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

More and more companies these days are looking to get involved with assisting those in need around them and getting their employees more engaged in these volunteer efforts. There are multiple benefits of adopting a culture of volunteerism. Not only does it offer much-needed assistance while increasing the company's exposure in the community, but it also creates a sense of satisfaction for the employees. This, in turn, can increase their overall output. After all, happy employees are productive employees. It's truly a win for the companies, not to mention the wonderful impact on many deserving nonprofit organizations.

For these efforts to truly be successful, it needs to be easy to set up, track and measure. It also needs to be simple for the employees to log their hours. If it's too cumbersome, nobody will use it. MobileServe took all of this into consideration and has built the perfect solution to help businesses and their employees reach new heights in their volunteer efforts. CEO Ben Reno-Weber gave us the full rundown on what they have to offer.

MobileServe is a new platform offering smart volunteer tracking that is useful to both businesses and their employee volunteers. The company believes that it should be easy for you to measure your organization's social impact. And that logging these service activities should not be annoying to the volunteers. With this system, the employees are able to log their time with just a couple of taps. This easy to maneuver tracker offers more reliable verification options and more accurate reporting with quick and easy stats that include economic impact. Also included are searchable, exportable reports and infographics. All of this eliminates the need for archaic spreadsheets and paper tracking. The volunteers can easily create & verify service logs and the employer has everything they need in a central dashboard.

To learn more about implementing this easy to use platform into your business, be sure to watch the full interview and then check out their website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Although Michele has worked in the banking industry full time for many years, she originally went to school with a concentration in communications, advertising and marketing. She began her career in sales and retail management, selling electronics and computers. Her love of all things tech eventually brought her back into the electronics arena three years ago when she started with PLuGHiTz Corporation to help with special events as a Production Assistant. Soon she began to dabble with the audio and video and is loving her role as Producer. She's also one of our content writers and assists with product reviews. Looking forward, she is excited to expand her skill set into editing and helping the company continue to grow.

One of the hardest things in this life is to be faced with a challenging situation that you are unfamiliar with and there is an overwhelming feeling that you are totally alone and on your own. You feel as if you have absolutely no support and no one to turn to. Having caring friends is a good thing, but often times is not enough. You need someone who has literally walked in your shoes and knows what you are dealing with. Not everyone knows someone like that and they do not know where to turn.

This is where LifeGuides can help you. This is a platform created to help people help others in serious life situations when they do not know where to turn. They pair you up with others that have been in the situation that you are in so that you can be guided and supported to get you through. There are a lot of people that share the experiences that we all face. Being able to talk to and communicate with them is so important. It is so very helpful to realize that you are not facing this alone. Everyone needs a "buddy" that they can call and rely on.

LifeGuides is currently focusing on that dreaded disease of Alzheimer's. There are so many family members that are dealing with this. Knowing that there is someone to listen to them and feel their pain is so important to them getting through the experience. LifeGuides is in a private testing phase at this time with a spotlight on the people affected by Alzheimer's. The company plans to expand beyond this single topic and launch to the general public in April of 2019.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Have you ever found yourself in need of something for whatever project you are working on and just don't have it? Now there is a platform for sharing items with your neighbors that they or you don't need or use all the time. It's called Nehbur, co-founded by Chris Reel from Canada.

Nehbur is a rental platform designed to provide items to share by renting or selling to your neighbors and friends. The purpose is to try to bring neighbors and communities together in a symbiotic manner. One example is given by Chris. He told of a time when he saw for sale an electronic drum set. He, being an avid drummer, was blown away by the sale price of $100. when they usually go for at least $1400. He called and asked if there was something wrong with the set. The girl told him that there was nothing wrong, but she just had to make her rent. He realized that if she rented the drum set out over and over she would make more than her rent, and possibly recoup her cost of the set AND she would get to keep it! The idea for Nehbur was born.

Another very good example is when the PLuGHiTz Live team arrived at Collision and found out we were without monitors. We had to immediately have a late-night road trip to purchase some. If this app had been available, we could have rented them from someone local instead. We were not alone with this problem. The Nehbur team itself had to locate a screen for their booth at Collision.

This obviously-needed is not yet available but should be in the near future. For more information on this important app, go to their website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

It's Saturday night and you're out on the town with a group of friends. You want to have dinner at your favorite restaurant but it's quite popular and they are always packed. So getting a table can be a challenge. You certainly don't want to waste time standing around waiting for a table. On the flip side, popular restaurants want to be able to maximize their table turn over while maintaining that balance of happy customers. We spoke with Jose Mendez, Co-Founder of apptaizer, about their solution to this challenge. apptaizer is a cloud-based solution for restaurants that also provides an improved customer experience by reducing wait times to be seated. It also goes the extra step and assists with everything from ordering to paying the bill.

apptaizer offers a digital platform for restaurant and bar owners who are continually looking for new ways to improve their branding and customer experience. To accomplish this, they have created a direct channel between the business and the consumers that allows them to reduce wait times for seating. It also provides easy ordering and an alternative for splitting the bill between large groups. Sure, there are already online reservations, kiosk ordering at the table and bill pay apps out there. What makes apptaizer so unique and user-friendly is that it combines all of these functions into one, easy to use, app. It also brings users an easy way to find nearby places and get exclusive promotions with its Business To Customer (B2C) advertising platform and business intelligence system.

It's a great way for restaurants to boost sales while also enhancing the dining experience for their customers. It's not just a way for them to simplify the seating, ordering and paying process. While using these features to maximize efficiency, they can also utilize targeted advertising that will specifically fit their needs. All of this saves time and money while increasing customer satisfaction.

Be sure to watch the full interview to find out how Jose and his business partner came up with the idea for this great new app. You can also learn more and keep up with their progress by visiting their website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Although Michele has worked in the banking industry full time for many years, she originally went to school with a concentration in communications, advertising and marketing. She began her career in sales and retail management, selling electronics and computers. Her love of all things tech eventually brought her back into the electronics arena three years ago when she started with PLuGHiTz Corporation to help with special events as a Production Assistant. Soon she began to dabble with the audio and video and is loving her role as Producer. She's also one of our content writers and assists with product reviews. Looking forward, she is excited to expand her skill set into editing and helping the company continue to grow.

Diabetes is a disease that completely changes your life, and managing the symptoms is getting easier thanks to technology. If you're early in the progression, there are products like DiabiLive to help you prevent insulin issues, but when the disease progresses, the symptoms get harder to deal with. For example, foot ulcers are an issue that come about in later stages, and can be difficult to predict. Even worse, if they are not recognized quickly enough, they can lead to amputations. In fact, every day 200 people lose a limb as a result of diabetes complications.

Bonbouton, founded by Linh Li, is a company trying to help solve the massive amputation problem with a seemingly simple insole for your shoes. Similar to a Dr. Scholl's insole, this product has built-in sensors that constantly monitor body temperature and step pressure and, combined with optional ECG and EMG data, can help predict a possible foot ulcer before it develops. The sensors are made from graphene, which is a very thin material, meaning that they can go into your shoes without discomfort.

The insole pairs with a phone via Bluetooth, and syncs data to the cloud. The data that is collected can be shared with your primary care physician so that appropriate decisions can be made. If an issue arises, the application will alert you so that you can take the necessary action. You can also monitor the sensor readings yourself through the application.

Because this is a first-of-its-kind medical product, it means that it must go through clinical trials for FDA approval. The company is in the process of preparing its next 100 patients in the evaluation. Once the evaluation is complete, the data will be used to apply to the FDA and to work with insurance companies to provide reimbursement for the devices. The goal is to have most, if not all, of the cost covered by health insurers.

For more information about the product, check out their website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Imagine that you are a college student and your dorm is closing for the summer. You have a big problem of where to store your stuff. The choices are limited. You can either rent an expensive storage unit or if you are lucky, you can find a friend with available space to rent. This is what happened to Yoshi Tsuji and Win-Kel was created. Win-Kel is a company that is like an Airbnb for storage space rental, either as a lessor or a lessee.

In the marketplace, you can find people who either have space that they are looking to rent out or people who need that space. The cost is a lot less than the price of commercial storage spaces. You only have to pay for the specific size you need, such as a 3x7 rather than a 5x10. Besides the example of the college student, another scenario is if you have traveled to a convention site and after your business is done you want to explore the area. What do you do with your things such as your big table? That is what Win-Kel is perfect for. You can choose to travel around for any number of days you want and those are the number of days you pay for, no more days than what you need. Other companies would lock you into a pricey monthly contract. Win-Kel totally frees you up to enjoy the area without worrying about getting back before your contract is up.

Win-Kel is partnering with Google now and they want to go international within 2 years. The app is available now for Android and iOS and listings can be created and found nationally now. For more information go to their website.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.