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Top Seven Boston Tech Startups

Boston is one of the oldest, most iconic cities in the United States. It founding predates the founding the USA by well over a century. Beginning in the 1960s, Boston has also been one of the central locations in the United States in which tech companies were brought into being.

Long before the creation of Silicon Valley, Boston was known by (the admittedly less catchy) “America’s Technology Region.” With a variety of highly regarded institutions of higher education in the area, including MIT, Harvard, and Boston University, Boston was a natural location for the birth and nurture of tech startup enterprises.

Boston experienced a bit of a slump when it came to tech startups, a downturn that roughly coincided with the Great Recession that surprised the country in 2008. Boston has moved from that slump and is once again on the road to becoming a prime location for the creation and launch of new tech ventures.

Through the years, Boston has been the launching pad for a number of successful tech startups. Seven of these startups have enjoyed considerable success in the United States and, in some cases, around the world.

Wayfair

Wayfair launched in Boston six years before the Great Recession, in 2002. Wayfair is an online furniture retailer that has turned the world of furniture sales on its head. The company exists completely in cyberspace, with no brick and mortar world presence.

Within recent years, Wayfair has taken the furniture sales marketplace across the United States by storm. The company has amassed an amazing track record utilizing a wide array of web-based resources, particularly social media.

Acquia

In many ways, Acquia become an industry leader when it comes to content management systems for businesses of different types. Indeed, launched in Boston in 2007, Acquia was the content management system before businesses fully understood what these solutions were all about.

Acquia continues to grown. It now includes among its clients a number of major players, including Mercedes Benz and Twitter.

Sure, Twitter and Facebook are fun, but the Web has millions more sites full of other great stuff. More than 4,000 big companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Quicken, use Acquia for their Content Management System to enhance their digital experiences and personalize displays for customers. Clients also include Twitter and Mercedes Benz.

Carbonite

Carbonite was a new startup in Boston in 2005. Carbonite provides cloud-based storage and backup for individuals and small businesses. Carbonite was a pioneer in the realm of cloud backup. Among small businesses, and more than a few individuals, Carbonite has become a household world, synonymous with safe, reliable cloud backup and storage.

Brightcove

2004 brought the birth of Brightcove in Boston. The company was conceived in response to the growing number of people who wanted to share video via the Internet. Brightcove leverages its cloud-based platform as a means to publish and then distribute digital media of all kinds, including video. In point of fact, a live event streamed online very well may have been distributed via Brightcove.

American Well

The medical and healthcare industry is evolving. Since 2006, American Well has been a part of that evolution. A Boston startup, American Well connects doctors with patients for consultations via secure video links Oftentimes, this protocol is referred to as tele-medicine or tele-health.

Level Up

Launched in Boston in 2008, Level Up is a unique, powerful app that allows people on the go the ability to order ahead at many popular restaurants across the country. Not only can they order ahead, but they can pay their tabs via Level Up. Level Up truly has become a powerful application as a majority of consumers now transact online business via mobile devices. Restaurants indicate they have seen a notable jump in their carryout and order ahead business when they connect with prospective patrons via Level Up.

DataXu

DataXu heads the pack when it comes to utilizing science and data to improve targeted ad placements on the internet. In other words, DataXu has designed a system that tremendously enhances the targeting of a business’ digital ads to precisely those consumers who want that particular information. In the end, both advertisers and consumers are fair happier and satisfied. The company started in Boston in 2009 and has been garnering investors and customers ever since.

As mentioned at the outset, the tech startup scene is again powering up in Boston. Industry analysts predict that more than a few of the “next best things” will spring to life in Boston during the coming decade.

Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Faxage a leading company that provides Internet fax service for individuals and businesses.

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Automobile

What Insurance Is Needed When Hiring a Car in the USA 

USA is an ultimate destination for travelers and they often hire cars to either travel for pleasure or business. Before you hire a car, you need to understand that car hire insurance process in the USA is different than any other country. If you are covered already, this is not something that should bother you.

We often feel buying a Collision damage waiver insurance (CDW) is unnecessary. Well agreeably so, but do you know how life saving it becomes at such times when you don’t have any primary insurance in place? 

Read further to get a hang of what the insurance process looks like in the US territory and how it can make your life simpler. 

The best way to move around while on vacation in the United States is with a car. If you are visiting for a short period, hiring is your best option; hence insurance should be taken seriously. This article offers insight on the major insurance needed when hiring a car in the USA.

Collision Damage Waiver

Collision Damage Waiver is like a loss damage waiver, typically sold by car hiring companies, it covers you financially; from damage and theft. 

It’s not compulsory to purchase this insurance, but, it is useful. For instance, say your credit card rental insurance already covers for collision damage; getting claims will take a longer process because you will have to pass through your auto insurance company first. However, with Collision Damage Waiver you’ll engage in a direct transaction. 

Supplemental Liability Insurance

This type of insurance protects you on damages done to other people, their cars, and other properties. If a third party gets injured within the rental period, the Supplemental Liability Insurance will pay for medical expenses. 

The United States takes Supplemental Liability Insurance seriously, so be prepared to buy it if you are renting in any of her States. However you must know; Supplemental Liability Insurance bought within the United States won’t cover you abroad.

You can buy supplemental liability insurance directly from your insurance company, a third party or the umbrella liability insurance.

Personal Accident Insurance

This is the alternate version of the supplementary liability coverage insurance. Rather than cover other people, the personal damage insurance covers you. 

If you have an accident, both you and your passengers get medical, ambulance and death coverage.

However, the personal insurance coverage can overlap with health, life and car insurance policies, so it’s important to read their terms and conditions to avoid paying for a policy that you are already covered for. 

If you are holidaying in the United States,  ensure your travel insurance covers your medical expenses, if it doesn’t, consider getting a personal insurance coverage. 

Personal Effects Coverage

With personal effect coverage, you don’t have to worry if items from the rented car get stolen so long the stolen property is within the set dollar limit.

If you already have rental insurance however, you may not need the personal effects insurance. Thus, It is important to check your policy documents or call the customer care service to know if you have such coverage already.

Car excess waiver rental insurance

In the United States it is compulsory to pay car hiring companies a certain amount “excess” this excess serves as collateral in case there is damage to the rented vehicle. Car excess waiver rental insurance is a policy that will help you cover the excess.

 There is no fixed amount for excess, it varies according to factors like location, vehicle type, and age. Car excess waiver rental insurance keeps you covered.

Car rental excess waiver insurance  insurance can be confusing, but here’s a breakdown of how it works if you already have collision damage waiver you’ll still have to pay for excess in case of damage or theft. 

Excess are expensive ranging from $200 to $5000, but with a car excess waiver rental insurance you’ll already be protected from excess fee.

The car excess waiver rental insurance is just like the travel insurance because you can buy it as a single policy or annual policy (if you are renting frequently). 

Conclusion

Finding out which Insurance is needed when hiring a car in the USA can be tricky, you can’t perform a random pick. You might be buying a policy that you don’t need or a policy that you are already covered for. So, you must do a thorough research first and measure your risks. 

This will help you identify areas that makes you vulnerable and cover them accordingly. Next, you’ll have to decide whether you’ll be buying from the car hire company, credit card coverage, or a third party.  Consider cost too, there are companies that offer discounts. Finally, don’t just make assumptions, if you are not sure of an adequately coverage, buy new insurance. 

Thanks for reading.

 

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Mom Stuff

Mommy Makeovers for Confidence and Sensuality

There is a new trend in the makeover industry. The good folks over at https://www.theplasticsurgeon.org/ are telling us more and more that new mothers are coming in for all sorts of procedures that improve their quality of life and appearance.

Some people don’t understand and think that maybe plastic surgery is pure vanity. But the fact of the matter is, your mental state is important, and in this often highly competitive world, self-confidence is highly important. Ultimately these procedures should always of course be done for the benefit of the subject in question, and not to please those around them.

This is the reason why mommy makeovers, as they are called, are rapidly gaining in popularity. Let’s be perfectly honest here: having a baby is far from easy and it takes its physical toll on the mother. For many new mommies, nothing is better for them on a psychological than bouncing back quickly and looking like they never had a baby in the first place, although of course baby and all the blessings he or she brings to the family is very much still there!

Every new mommy is different, and every labor and childbirth is very different as well, so there are a range of procedures that can or may be performed or not as part of any given mommy makeover.

Some common procedures new mommies feel are the most useful are: breast lift, abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), mini abdominoplasty (mini tummy tuck), and liposuction, to various degrees and as needed. Also, sometimes breast augmentation or reduction is indicated, depending on the individual case at hand.

Perhaps the most common necessary and useful procedure that can be done is a much simpler and less invasive procedure: that of laser skin rejuvenation. This procedure, as its name implies, smooths out the skin using a laser, reducing or even eliminating those famously annoying and unwanted stretch marks and other skin blemishes that may have been caused by the pregnancy labor and childbirth processes. It can be very worth it in cases ranging from major to minor skin issues.

If you’re a new mommy, you may feel one or more of these procedures are right for you. Once again, the important thing is that if you do this, you do it for you yourself and not to please anybody else. But your self-confidence is a thing and that thing is important and should not be denied.

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