INSIDE: New ‘i’ application helping to save endangered language Pg. 7 T U E S D A Y
January 4, 2011
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E N T E R T A I N M E N T chilliwacktimes.com
Inventor getting big recognition
New York Times Magazine calls ToneCheck one of 2010’s best BY CORNELIA NAYLOR cnaylor@chilliwacktimes.com
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n just under two years Matt Eldridge has taken a personal frustration with e-mail miscommunication and turned it into an award-winning business attracting international attention. The 33-year-old Sardis secondary graduate is the co-founder and
CEO of Lymbix Inc., a high-tech Moncton, N.B.-based company that developed ToneCheck, a software program that scans e-mail and flags words that might convey the wrong emotion or tone before the author hits send. Last month the New York Times Magazine named the product one of the most innovative ideas of 2010.
“We were all pretty pumped,” said Eldridge. His brainchild, often called the “emotional spell-checker,” was one of 28 ideas picked by the Times and one of four featured on the magazine’s hard-copy cover along with singer Lady Gaga’s raw-meat dress (worn as a human rights statement) and basketball star LeBron James’s reality TV show about his decision to sign with the Miami Heat. “At first we didn’t really understand the magnitude of just how big this innovative ideas for 2010
was,” said Eldridge. “It’s obviously now kind of hit home because we’re getting a lot of continued press, and obviously it’s filling our sales pipeline for ToneCheck.” The media attention validates the need for his product, Eldridge said. He came up with the idea when he was struggling with his own email headaches. In an earlier venture as a franchise salesman, he was good at closing deals in person, but over See INVENTOR, Page 4
Matt Eldridge
Building bridges at Cultus BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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Paul J. Henderson
f the Fraser River ever floods Chilliwack in a serious way, the men and women training up at Cultus Lake between Christmas and New Year’s would likely be the ones who come to the rescue. In what has become a near-annual sight at Cultus Lake, more than 150 combat engineer reservists from the Canadian Forces took part in Exercise Paladin Response between Dec. 26 and Dec. 31. The engineers come to Cultus to work on bridge-building, rafting and assault boat skills. “Cultus Lake is the only training area that the engineers can use to do bridging and rafting training,” according to Chris Poulton, public affairs officer for 39 Canadian Brigade Group (39 CBG). “Training that they wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else in the country.”
Canadian Forces engineer reservists took part in training exercises on Cultus Lake between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve. See page three for more photos.
See RESERVISTS, Page 3
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